Can dogs lie?  No, I don’t mean hanging around on the sofa but actually communicate a falsehood?  Curiosity was killing the cat, so to speak, so I put the question to the Dali Lama of the Internet  to see what I could find out.

Well, I didn’t find much.  Not even my fav Cesar Millan really answered the question on his website.  (I did pose it to him via Twitter @cesarmillan, so we’ll see if he responds.)  What I did find though, were answers from various psychologists who posit that deception is a sign of intelligence, thus the more intelligent an animal is, the more the capability to lie – humans of course, being at top of the brain chain.  A couple of other psychologists explored the idea that a “true lie” is where the liar knows  what he is doing, versus a “behavioral lie,” where the liar is getting the target to behave in a certain way without knowing he (the liar) is doing it.  This point of view suggests that behavioral lying may not require strong cognitive ability.  We do it, but it is not a conscious thing.  Rather it’s something useful that we’ve learned from past experience that gets us what we want.  That’s probably what dogs do, I bet.

True or “real” lying then, may require an understanding that people see the world differently from each other and so have different desires, beliefs and intentions.  To intentionally lie, or manipulate another person’s beliefs, one needs to understand that they have a point of view that can be manipulated.  This is where intelligence comes in.  But behaviorists also tell us that even when a true lie is being verbally expressed, our bodies still give us away.  This is because our brain first has to stop itself from telling the truth, make up the lie and then handle the emotional stress of guilt and fear of getting caught.  Mouths can lie, but bodies can’t.

And thus, the popularity of television shows such as The Mentalist and Lie to Me.

I recently had the experience of observing a panel interview for a client who wanted to be sure the organization was bringing in the right person into its c-suite.  There had been a huge issue with the previous executive who not only demoralized the staff, but caused great stress (financial and otherwise) for the company as a whole.  They asked me to observe each of the five candidates during the interview process to determine any behavioral cues being given that could help indicate whether or not the person was the right person for the position.  The experience was exhausting, (it’s hard to stare at people all day), but one of the most interesting tasks I’ve had the pleasure of working on.

Well, things progressed and after the third interview I was getting pretty good at observation.  I began to notice several things the fourth candidate was doing that led me to believe she was lying through her teeth.  Here’s what I saw:

Hint #1.  Heightened stress response – the candidate sailed through the first set of questions, which were designed to help put candidates at ease.  It’s a similar strategy that police interrogators use with subjects; start with non-threatening questions first and then watch for changes in the nonverbals that indicate deception when the questions get harder.  In candidates who are telling the truth, I find they will start to settle down, rather than ramp up emotionally, as the interview progresses.  But, the longer this interview went on, the more this candidate became agitated and unable to sit still.

Hint #2.  Longer, more direct eye contact – it’s a myth that people avoid direct  eye contact when they are lying.  The opposite is true.  Some people will actually stare you right in the eye as if to dare you to confront them with the fact they are lying.  This was what the candidate was doing with the interview panel.  I was opposite her at the conference table and she picked one person to consistently make eye contact with; and it wasn’t me.  As a matter of fact, she picked the person probably with the least influence on the panel.  That didn’t bode well with the rest of the team.  It made them not like her.

Hint #3.  Shorter response time – when a lie is premeditated, the person will start to respond more quickly to a question than someone telling the truth.  But if caught off guard, the opposite will be true; the person will take longer to frame a response as creating a lie takes some brain time.  You guessed right; this candidate was taking a tad too long to respond, and coupled with the other cues I was getting, was leading me to believe she was not telling the truth.

Hint #4.  Different verbal cues – this one was easy to spot.  When lying, a person’s voice will change pitch and get higher.  Think of a little kid who shouts out, “But I didn’t do it, Mom!” with that little squeak at the  end.  The other verbal cues I was getting from this candidate included a lot of rambling (went all around the questions, but didn’t really answer many of them), stammering (uttering the phrase, “you know?” way too much), and qualifying (using phrases such as “well, to the best of my knowledge”) in answering questions.  I caught this one when responding to the questions regarding company operations, which made me believe she didn’t even read the candidate prep package.  She also kept swallowing and licking her lips.

Hint #5.  Self-comforting behaviors – when lying many people will try to calm themselves by various tics and twitches.  They’ll shuffle their feet, root around in their chair, and stretch to get rid of tension.  Some of the best cues regarding self-calming behaviors though, are when people start to touch their face.  This was the big red flag for me.  Our candidate was constantly rubbing her nose (did you know that when you lie you get a rush of adrenaline which opens the capillaries in your nose and makes it itch?).  She kept crossing and uncrossing her arms.  Playing with her hair.  Rubbing her knees.  Shrugging her shoulders.  Hunching over and then sitting up straight.  Covering her eyes of and on with her hands.  And the biggie:  not mirroring the behavior of the rest of the panel members.  Snag.  Caught her.

Of course there are pathological liars who can outsmart even the most experienced human lie detectors.  If the person truly believes the falsehood there pretty much is almost no way to detect the lie.

Needless to say, this candidate didn’t make the cut.  And I bet she knows the truth why.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire is a post from: The HR Whisperer

I received this gem of a poem from one of my clients.  We’ve been working together on an intervention to help his department and collective organization get employees more engaged.  Tough thing to do, given folks don’t get recognition or even raises, really and job satisfaction is very high.  Just the fact that he sent this to me though, screams volumes in where his head is at, what he’s all about, and what he wants to do.  I’m proud and excited to be helping this fine organization; they’ve got leaders, positional and personal, who want to do the right thing.  Bravo.

I’ve since found out that these “rules to lead by” are called The Paradoxical Commandments.   Written by Kent Keith in 1968 when he was a sophomore at Harvard College, the commandments were part of The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council, his first booklet for high school student leaders.

Kent was 19 when he wrote this.  A babe.  What a great way to think – and act – when living a life.  I’m inspired and I hope you are, too.

So, here they are in the spirit of our forefathers who also wanted to do the right thing – and succeeded.  My best to you and Happy 4th of July, everyone!

The Commandments of Leadership

If you do good, people will accuse you of ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

Honesty will make you vulnerable.
Be honest anyway.

The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down
by the smallest people with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.      
Build anyway.

People really need help, but may attack you if you help them.    
Help them anyway.

Give the world the best you’ve got, knowing you may get kicked in the teeth.        
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Leadership Commandments…Personal or Otherwise is a post from: The HR Whisperer

Photo courtesy of Carol McDaniel

I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Daytona 500 NASCAR race on Sunday courtesy of OrlandoJobs.com. It truly was a lifetime, bucket list experience that I’ll never forget. OMG, it was fun – and LOUD.

Being ever the Whisperer though, I couldn’t help but watch everything that was happening around me and how people behaved. The audience, I guess was pretty typical. Never having been to a car race of this type before, I rather expected that fans would be mostly young men. Not true. Yes, a ton of guys (which made the lines incredibly long for the restroom, which I thought was hilarious, BTW, as it’s usually the other way around!), but really most of the audience were middle-aged couples who were out for the day. Lots of what I call trick-or-treating too, at all of the booths in the exhibit area leading to the track. I was amazed at how long the line was to get free snack-size boxes of cereal. Who knew?

But what really struck me was during the race itself. I don’t know if you follow NASCAR or watched the race, but the cars are traveling in excess of 220 miles per hour and literally stack up one against the other for drafting purposes. Well, this strategy often ends up in one car losing control and crashing either into another car or the wall. That’s a lot of what makes NASCAR so exciting. Fortunately, most of the time no one gets hurt, but the car gets trashed. These cars then limp off to the pit where miraculously they are put back together in mere seconds and then tossed back into the race.

Know what the team uses to put the car panels and bumpers back together?

You guessed it. Duct tape.

Which got me thinking about how HR is really the duct tape of an organization.

Consider. We are the essential element in making the organization “stick” together. Yes, pun intended.

More and more we see HR moving from the transactional, compliance-focused function to a strategic partner with expertise in people and human behavior. Without a good understanding of people and how they behave, especially in situations of constant change, NO organization will be successful.

Good HR is about observation and analysis behind the scenes, compiling data and then creating the processes to create or maintain organizational integrity, coherence and congruence. We use processes to inform, influence and define behavior and culture.

Essentially, any other organizational resource depends on the human resource.

So, HR keeps things together. Just like duct tape.

HR and Duct Tape is a post from: The HR Whisperer

I’ve been following with great interest all of the news reports regarding the assignation attempt on Rep.  Gabrielle Giffords.  My heart goes out to her, her family, and to all people who were affected by this senseless act of insanity.

In case you haven’t been following the news, Jared Loughner  is accused of engaging in a shooting rampage at a “Congress on the Corner” a town hall-style event in Tucson, AZ on Saturday that left six dead, including a judge, and severely wounded Rep. Giffords, who apparently was the target of the attack.

I read Loughner used a Glock semiautomatic pistol.  Jeez.  Only 22 and he was able to purchase a gun.  Gun-control proponents once again are calling for stricter laws regarding guns and access to them.  Gun-rights advocates once again purport that more regulation would not have stopped the tragedy.

Don’t know a damn thing about guns and really don’t want to.  I honestly don’t believe that guns really have a place in our society now.  But that’s me – and that’s not what I want to blog about today. 

 What I do want to talk about is what I see as one of the biggest issues in the case which, aside from the obvious need for stricter gun permitting and background checks, is the necessity for stronger  mental health policies and practices.

 All I kept thinking over the weekend and into today was the fact that this young man had to have been mentally ill to do what he did.   And it appears that Loughner does indeed have a history of mental illness. 

 Which it also appears was not attended to.

 What President Obama said in his speech on Wednesday in Arizona really struck a chord with me:

 “When a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations – to try to impose some order on the chaos, and make sense out of that which seems senseless…already we’ve seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems. Much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.”

Let’s exercise our self-government and debate the issue by looking at the fact pattern. 

The kid had issues – he had trouble with the law, got rejected by the military, and college officials canned him because they considered him a threat to other students and faculty.  Apparently the college police were called in five timesto deal with Loughner’s library and classroom disruptions.

The college did right in removing him from the campus.  And they did right in wanting him to undergo a mental health exam to prove he was not a danger to others before they would readmit him.

Michael J. Fitzpatrick, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness said that “the reality is most people with mental illness are not violent.  The issue, frankly, is getting people into treatment. It’s not about guns.”

We may not be able to control the public space, but as HR business professionals we can – and must – control the work space.

There’s nothing wrong with mental illness.  It is what it is.  If it’s in the work space though, we need to make sure it’s diagnosed and there are tools in place to help manage it and any resulting behavior. If you think about it, all health, physical or mental, is behavioral management really.

So, make sure your organization has mental health as a part of its benefits package.  Make sure your organization has some type of employee assistance program (EAP).  Hold stress management seminars for employees; give them a quiet space where they can decompress after a particularly frustrating encounter.  Support work-life balance – and put your organization’s money where it’s mouth is by enacting policies and practices that help employees do just that. 

Also make sure your supervisors document BEHAVIOR, not opinions or personality quirks.  Educate supervisors on the signs of substance abuse, which often will make a person behave differently than he or she normally would.  Teach them how to differentiate between a disgruntled employee and one who is suffering from mental issues.  Even the most even keeled person in the world can experience a mental problem when confronted with a person or event that takes away their control or power. 

Finally, start fostering a work environment of empowerment.  Give employees a level of choice, influence and control they can exercise over the events in their work lives.

After all, it really is about control, self and otherwise.

It’s Not Mental, but Behavioral Management Really is a post from: The HR Whisperer

 We’re just on the other side of Thanksgiving and bingo!  Here we go.  The office parties, Yankee swaps, white elephant exchanges, Secret Santa’s and other saccharine holiday cheer. Oh boy.

Nah, I’m not a Scrooge.  I really do love the holidays – all of ‘em.  You name it:  Alban Arthuan, Christmas, Eid-al-adha, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Rohatsu, Soyal, Yule, etc., and I’m happy to celebrate.  I’m an equal opportunity celebrator. 

 [BTW, if you don’t know what all these holidays are, scroll down to the bottom of the post for their meaning.]  

The month of December, or really the winter season, has a lot of holidays because many of them are linked in some way to the winter solstice.  Interpretation varies worldwide, but most cultures have some sort of recognition of birth and rebirth involving celebrations, gift giving, and general merry making.

Jennifer Grasz of CareerBuilder points out in the December 8^th PRNewswire that “the economic scrooge may be loosening its grip on holiday cheer as employers indicate their intent to offer more holiday bonuses, parties, and gifts than last year.”  Surveying over 2,600 employers in early September, CareerBuilder found out that:

• “Thirty-three percent of employers plan to give a holiday bonus this year, up from 29% in 2009.  Only 9% say they won’t be giving a bonus this year, down from 12% last year.
• More than half of the employers surveyed (52%) are planning a holiday party, up from 49% in 2009, and 29% plan to give holiday gifts (up from 26%).
• Twenty-five percent of employees say they plan to buy holiday gifts for co-workers this year, with 86% planning to spend less than $25.  Twenty-two percent plan to buy their boss a gift…”

As great as it is to get into the holiday spirit and spread some cheer, along with the hoopla comes the anxiety, sweat and tears because you’ve got to give gifts – and giving gifts at the office can be as  hazardous as that fourth or fifth glass of eggnog at the annual party. 

And then there’s the horrifying tales of the suck-up gift, the obvious re-gift, the totally inappropriate gag gift…you see where’s I’m going with this.

Sure, it’s important to give gifts during the holidays; it’s a great way to say thank you to those who have helped you throughout the year.  They just need to be meaningful and appropriate.  So, go get your gift-radar in gear and keep those eyes and ears open for some good ideas.

In the spirit of the season, here’s some thoughts to help you in your office giving protocol…one of my holiday de-stressing gifts to you!

First of all, get ideas for great gifts from the gift-getters themselves.  Everyone loves receiving that small something that shows true interest and thoughtfulness.

And speaking of small, don’t spend more than what the IRS usually allows, which is no more than $25.

If you’re “up-gifting” or giving a gift to your boss, be careful not to appear as if you are brown nosing.  Give something that relates to the person’s interests or hobbies.  When in doubt, make a donation to the person’s favorite charity or give a nice engraved pen.  Or better yet – don’t give a gift by yourself; make it a group gift with your colleagues. 

Don’t give alcohol unless you know if the person likes it or drinks it.  Careful here, it may be against company policy.  Do some gourmet food instead.

Whatever you do, make sure you don’t assume the folks in your office crib share your tastes – tickets to the Monster Truck rally are just not for everyone.

And no gifts that even appear to be a gag or too personal.  That’s a no-no to Chia-pets, snuggies, toilet mugs, antlers, light up hats, or anything to do with politics.  Same goes for too personal things, such as lingerie, underwear, jewelry, perfume or cologne.  Yes, Will Farrell’s elf tights fall into this category.

Oh, and no funny t-shirts either, that say something brilliant as “I sue therefore I am” or “computer programmers don’t byte, they nibble a bit” or “accountants do it by the numbers.”

Flowers and plants are good; unless the person is allergic.  And be careful giving if you know the person has a house pet.  Many holiday plants are toxic  to dogs, cats, and birds.  You don’t want to give the biological gift that keeps on giving right on the living room rug, so unless you know, stay away from  poinsettias, mistletoe, holly, lilies, daffodils, and ivy.

Nothing should be given that could possibly be misconstrued.  Think gift certificate for the newest diet craze book, coaching tapes for the type A personality…you get the picture.

And finally, if your boss or a co-worker gives you a gift, it’s not necessary to give one in return unless you want to.  Most folks give gifts without the expectation of receiving one in return.  What you do need to do though, is show your gratitude by sending a thank you note to him or her. 

Sincere appreciation.  That’s the best gift of all.  

Happy December!

Alban Arthuan - celebrating transformation; the Sun God’s journey through the underworld to learn the secrets of death and life and to bring out those souls to be reincarnated. [Druidism]

Christmas – celebrating the birth of Yeshua of Nazareth, better known as Jesus Christ. [Christian]

Eid-al-Adha - celebrating Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, at the behest of God. [Muslim]

Hanukkah/Festival of Lights – a celebration of the successful revolution against the suppression of the Jewish religion by Antiochus and the restoration of the menorah to the temple where it miraculously burned for eight days. [Judiaism]

Kwanzaa – celebrating collective ideals such as responsibility, self-determination; cooperation, purpose; creativity, faith and unity.  Meaning ‘first fruits’, Kwanzza is based on the ancient harvest festival of Africa. [African American and Pan-African]

Rohatsu/Bodhi Day  – celebrating the enlightenment of the Buddha in 596 BCE. [Buddhist]

Soyal – celebrating the return of  the Sun and the rebirth of life. [Native American]

Holiday Horrors and Other Gifts Gone Bad is a post from: The HR Whisperer

Just finished reading Ben Eubanks’ blog on men in HR for his “National Geographic Exclusive” and it struck me enough to stop what I was doing and start writing.  Not that I don’t LIKE writing a session description for a total rewards seminar, but…

Good question to explore – why is it that men have traditionally shied away from human resources?  Is it because back in the day “personnel” was purely administrative and considered a short step away from being a secretary, which was typically a woman due to the organizational power structures in the ‘50s?  Is it because, as Ben said, that the compliance part of the job tends to attract more females than males?

Now, I know that Ben is not trying to stereotype and he states that in his remarks.

But, it gets me thinking. 

Personally, I think a lot of women gravitate to HR because of the “friend factor,” meaning that HR folks have to do a lot of listening and dispensing of advice, which is some of what friends do for each other.  Friends also take the good with the bad and roll with the punches and will put up with most things, just as HR does.  Could possibly be a girl thing….could possibly be not; research has found that women’s focus on relationships is what leadership truly needs today to get ahead.

Ben says,

“I don’t want to lay any blanket statements on the ladies out there, but my little experience seems to point to most of them focusing on compliance and how to keep things “safe.” More of the males, however, seem to be focused on how to keep the goals moving forward and holding onto the strategic focus…”

Rather than this being a “men are from Mars, women are from Venus” issue, could the fact that women dominate the HR landscape be because of:

(a) the lasting legacy of administrative work in HR, which has chased away a lot of men,

(b) because women like the relationship part and so gravitate towards HR as it fulfills a need, or

(c) because the work itself has evolved into a compliance-centric model and needs a burning platform.

I’m kinda of going with (a), (b) and (c) here. 

Think about how HR has changed–or not changed–in the past 20 or 30 years.  Big, big focus on compliance.  Big, big, focus on protecting the organization from employee litigation.  Big, big focus on cost control.  Lots of administration. Lots of paperwork.  Lots of women in mid-level roles looking for balance.

To me, it really has to do with society’s view of women and their roles.  It’s not necessarily because HR tends to be compliance-bound.  A great article I found on www.referenceforbusiness.com regarding gender and leadership says,

“Other reasons women ascend to leadership positions less frequently than men are that women most frequently inhabit managerial positions with little power , little advancement opportunity, or where other women are so rare that their presence is attributed to their sexuality or affirmative action…outside their paid jobs, women usually have significant responsibility for the care of their families and home, thereby depleting the energy they might otherwise devote to the pursuit of leadership positions of consequence…”

Now, granted this article is several years old, but I don’t believe a whole lot has changed in society quite yet, athough I do believe the sea change will be hitting hard come 2018-2020 when over 50% of the workforce will be women.  

It’s interesting that men are in the minority in HR, but yet may be perceived as the go-getters and strategic focusers.  It’s probably because of the unconscious bias of society toward working women.  Or, it could be the function of HR.  Or, it could be simply one thing…

We women are tired from all that multitasking.  Coffee, anyone?

Is It Really A Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus Thing? is a post from: The HR Whisperer

How many companies can create excitement about a new product like Apple does? Once again, with the advent of the iPad they are in the lead when it comes to creative disruption. Creative disruption is when a person creates something or solves a problem that transforms. Nintendo also did it with its Wii console. Did you know that one of the fastest growing markets for the Wii is nursing homes where residents can get exercise and be entertained at the same time? Wow, who knew?

Disruptive leadership is a concept that is rapidly gaining ground in the new millennia – leaders create problems that must be solved. The solving of the problem serves as the catalyst for the organization to create change, whether that change is a new product, new service, or just a new way of doing things. When an organization has to solve a problem, it can provoke the necessary motivation to make a huge leap in innovation.

It can be hard for a leader to create problems. It’s counterintuitive when you think that most of us are taught from an early age to either fix a problem quickly or find a way to get rid of it. A study on NPR a few months ago noted that in a classroom, kids with disruptive behavior have more influence than the kids who behaved. If you took out the behaving kids from the class, it made no difference to the learning environment, but if you took out the kids who were disruptive it made the class unstable in a negative way.

But we teach kids to behave and we do the same thing at work – teach people to behave by solving problems we want them to solve.

As a leader, who do you look for in the next generation of leadership? The person who behaves or the person who disrupts?

True disruptive leadership comes from learning continuously and managing chaos. While change can be chaotic and distressing to some, if an organization and its people do not evolve, that stagnation can be fatal. Apple realized it when Pat Scully kicked out Steve Jobs and they later had to bring Jobs back in resurrect the company.

Sometimes it’s better to be disruptive than to behave.

So, how to begin to think like a disruptive leader? There is a wonderful case study in Forbes magazine about P&G’s invention of Align, an over-the-counter probiotic supplement. Check it out here. In the article ,chief technology officer Bruce Brown offers the following words of wisdom for those wishing to become disruptive leaders. He says:

Be a coach, not a gatekeeper. Don’t just say yes or no – work along side your team to help them solve the problems the encounter.

Embrace uncertainty. There are innumerable opportunities for creative disruption. Disruptive opportunities are characterized by high levels of assumption and low levels of knowledge.

Learn to trust your judgment. Your gut is based on past experience and intuition. Making decisions based on only hard data might be a mistake.

Change your mind. Stop meetings midstream to get new people in the room to change the dynamics and the thinking.

Problems are opportunities to misbehave. Your mindset will determine how clearly you see what is in front of you.  Problem…or opportunity?

Aim to Misbehave is a post from: The HR Whisperer

Read a great article in the February 2010 edition of FAST COMPANY magazine about Volkswagen’s “drive to succeed in America.” 

1968 VW ad photo courtesy of www.thinkingouttabox.com

Tough stuff.  America that is. 

By the way, how many beans do you think are in that car? (The answer is at the end of this post…) 

Anyway, the article caught my eye as I grew up in a Volkswagen household, so nicknamed “King Gee” for our old 1968 VW bus noise which made a “king-gee, king-gee” sound as the engine turned over (which was great to fall asleep to as kids laying on top of the engine, which was in the back of the vehicle in those days) and subsequently turned into an adult user with three VWs to my name before I jumped the Autobahn to Honda. 

Why Honda, you ask?  

Because it met my needs. 

More from the FAST COMPANY article: 

“Volkswagen, originally a beloved, albeit quirky, counterculture brand, has never seemed to fully grasp the American market. When Jacoby took over the U.S. operation in 2007, Volkswagen (including Audi) was clinging to a 2% share of the U.S. market, down from 7% during its Beetle heyday in the 1970s. (VW is now at nearly 2.9% — a significant increase, but slightly less than Hyundai’s market-share jump from 2.9% to 4.3% during the same period.) The dealer network was in disrepair, fatigued by shipment delays, product complaints, and a confusing and occasionally short-lived parade of brands. The German reputation for design and engineering excellence sometimes came across to distributors as arrogance: You will accept the perfect cars we give you, not the rolling living rooms you ask for. Except the cars weren’t always perfect, especially for Americans…” 

Guess when I switched brands – you got it, 2007. 

What I take from this article is that in order to get Americans to drink the VW bug juice (yes, pun intended!), Volkswagen automakers have to recognize and meet their needs.  I don’t know about you, but I spend a TON of time in my car and so my car needs to (a) have a place for my diet Coke, (b) have a trunk big enough to load four deck chairs, six backpacks, 20 towels, two 20-packs of Gatorade and enough protein bars to feed a swarm of hungry swimmers, (c) have a decent air conditioning system so my drive is cool and comfortable, and (d) be sturdy enough to not have to be in the shop every other month.  Oh, and I forgot – be AFFORDABLE.

But I digress – those are my needs, not all Americans. 

Back to the story.  I’m reading this article and it got me thinking about recognition and meeting needs.  And making the leap – doesn’t recognition need to meet employee’s needs for it to be effective?  You bet. 

Various motivational theories tell us that all people have different degrees of need for acceptance, approval, and appreciation.  It’s up to the supervisor to figure out what those degrees of need are and craft a individual recognition plan that will compliment recognition provided from an organizational perspective.  For example, a 2007 survey conducted by  Accountemps found that a simple thank you wins over most employees.  They also found that 35% of workers and 30% chief financial officers cited frequent recognition of accomplishments as the most effective nonmonetary reward, followed by regular communication (20% for employees and 36% for CFOs).  

Now, notice the difference in the statistics – CFOs appear to have less need for frequent recognition of accomplishments, but a higher need for regular communication.  So, would a CFO care to be told everyday that the he/she is doing a great job?  Maybe….or maybe not.  It depends on the individual. 

Here’s three things to consider when giving recognition to individual employees: 

1. Recognition it must be respectful, timely and attached to a specific goal achievement or outcome. Not everyone likes goofiness and sometimes goofiness can overpower the intent of the recognition. Reminds me of when my sister-in-law hired a singing gorilla to sing to my brother at their wedding reception. Totally true story.  Goal? Check.  Timely?  Check. Respectful?   No check. The guy was thrilled mortified.
2. Keep recognition as a mix between public and private.  Some people just love, love, love jumping on a stage to receive their kudos.  Others don’t.  The occasional recognition in the boss’s office can pack just as much punch as an announcement in the company newsletter.  Find out from the employee what they prefer.  One of my favorites is a hand written thank you note.  I still have one note from an employee of mine who told me I was the best supervisor she ever had.  I treasure that thing.
3. Ensure you have a balance between formal and informal recognition.  Not only is it good practice, but it helps to meet a broad range of needs.  Cost can be an issue for formal programs, but there are many inexpensive ways to recognize service anniversaries, employee of the month, etc.  Check out the cool ideas, here, here, and here.

So, how did I get from Volkswagens to recognition?  Oh yes, it’s all about recognizing and meeting needs.  Once I’m done hauling Gatorade and towels, I think my next car is going to be a VW Bug!

And how many beans did you say?   There are 1,612,462 beans in the bus – gotta love their advertising!

Volkswagen and the Leap to Recognition is a post from: The HR Whisperer

I was watching an old Cesar Milan rerun the other day on how to train puppies and in it he introduced a new pitbull puppy named Junior.  Now for anyone who watches the Dog Whisperer, you know that his all time fav and constant pit companion, Daddy, passed away in February of this year at the ripe old dog age of 15.

In Cesar’s Way magazine, Milan discusses his selection of Junior:

“…when the time came – about a year-and-a-half ago – I took Daddy along. Any newcomer in our house would first have to get Daddy’s approval. That’s how we wound up at the home of a friend whose female pit bull had given birth to a litter about two months earlier. One puppy, all gray with just a little dash of white on his chest, caught my attention immediately. Some people – the Dali Lama, for instance – have this calm energy. So do some dogs. Daddy has it. And I quickly realized that this little gray puppy had it too. In fact, he reminded me of Daddy when he was a puppy…”

This got me thinking about succession planning.  That is what Milan was doing when he found Junior – preparing for a new Daddy or top dog.

When was the last time you had succession planning on the agenda?

Executive transition is a crucial moment in any organization’s life and should be broached even when nobody’s anticipating a change in leadership.  Think back to 2004 when McDonald’s CEO Jim Canalupo died from a heart attack; the company named Charlie Bell six hours later.  Then a few weeks after that, Bell was diagnosed with cancer and the board again needed to make a replacement.  Sometimes a company has time to prepare – and sometimes they don’t.

Without a plan, an executive leaving can be uncertain, painful and difficult, both operationally and politically.  It’s hard to think strategically when you’re busy putting out a fire.  So, here’s three things to think about in preparing for succession.

Have a bus book.  Robert VanHook and Jackie Eder-VanHook call this the “what to do if the executive is hit by a bus” plan.  A bus book is a compendium of critical information about an organization.  While it doesn’t take the place of succession planning, the book can help an interim executive get up to speed while the organization assesses its next step.  Bus books should include contact information, organizational policies and procedures, financial statements, audits, budgets, board minutes, staff lists and resumes, important contracts, etc.  Remember, it’s a supplement to the succession plan, not a substitute.

Ensure that there is a succession contingency plan. With a plan in place, the organization will have coverage while leadership decides what its next step should be.  The plan should include an assessment of where the organization is, where it wants to go and what kind of leadership it needs to help it get there.  The plan should also include an outline and timeline of succession procedures, a communications plan that discusses who should be told of executive departures and when, a plan for how the leader will be replaced and a financial plan for covering the costs of replacement, whether the successor comes from inside or outside the organization.

Align the succession plan with the organizational strategy from a people as well as a business perspective.  This is key.  There are a ton of examples out there of senior leaders brought into place in a succession arrangement – and failing spectacularly.  Emotional intelligence is just as important as business acumen.  Think of when Sam Walton retired in 1988 and put David Glass in place.  Wal-Mart did great financially, but from an emotional intelligence perspective, not so much.  Same thing with Carly Fiorina and HP.  Great culture shift when she took over the reins, but at a huge cost to employees.  It was no surprise that employees at one of the HP plants passed out Ding Dongs to announce “the witch is dead” when Carly was fired in early 2005. 

Finally, make sure that your succession plan has a process to recruit high potential employees, develop their skills and abilities and prepare them for advancement.  Succession planning is not just for senior leadership positions; it is often the mid- level positions that are the most crucial to the organization in terms of business and cultural success.  These mid-level positions are a great feeder pool and often are ignored in favor of bringing in someone new in. 

Planning takes energy and time but it’s worth it.  Do you have a Junior ready in your organization?

Succession Planning for the Top Dog is a post from: The HR Whisperer

Happy to be back in the blog saddle once again – it’s been a busy month with billable work, so I just know the economy is on the rebound!

Can’t say the same about Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.  Just read a Reuters article this morning announcing that a New York jury decided on $250M damages against Novartis on behalf of 5,600 past and present women employees, only two days after finding that a U.S. division discriminated against women in pay, promotion and pregnancy (Velez et al v Novartis Corporation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 04-09194).

What were they thinking?

 The jury found that Novartis systematically denied promotions, paid less and subjected 5,600 women to discrimination up to and during 2004.  Court papers said that the women made complaints to Novartis’ human resources division, which were routinely ignored.

That scares me.

We know that employee behavior is often the product of the pressures of the organizational culture.  And we know that organizational culture often comes from a history of “that’s always been the way we do  things around here.” 

 Aren’t we, as HR professionals, supposed to be able to think and operate outside the confines of an organizational culture, especially when confronted with policies or acts that are in direct conflict with what we know to be the best thing for the organization and the employees?  I suspect that the Novartis HR folks “knew or should have known” that this discrimination was going on.  They were probably told not to worry about it by the execs or legal reps as the inequities were” justified.”  Or they too, got stuck in the rut of a bad culture and found it easier to walk away than put up a fight.

What does that say about the HR pros?  It says they weren’t behaving strategically and putting a strong case in play to move toward a gender equitable environment.

 HR Executive Online points out that it may be no surprise that women outnumber men two-to-one in HR, but make over 30% less than their male colleagues.  Former SHRM chairman Johnny Taylor says it’s because “the senior HR roles are dominated by men.” 

Kate Sweetman, principal with The RBL Group and former editor at the Harvard Business Review adds that “it’s terribly ironic because HR should play a key role in helping women and organizations make changes if the ‘leaky pipeline’ to leadership is ever to be patched.”  She adds that “HR needs to create the business case and help find practical ways for gender equity to happen all the way to the top. HR has failed if they don’t have it from top to bottom.”

 So, did Novartis HR create a “leaky pipeline” fail in this situation?

 In my opinion, yes, they did.  Now where is HR going to find the duct tape?

The Leaky Pipeline: Second Edition of What Was HR Thinking?? is a post from: The HR Whisperer