HR Girl 4'11" Blog

Longevity Doesn't Equal Contribution

Finding a candidate with some staying power is such an awesome thing. There are a lot of candidates out there who are willing to stick with a good employer, and there are others who are just looking to build their resume.

Though you may find candidates who have been with a company for several years. They may appear to have staying power, or they could have a bad case of the "Warm Body Syndrome". 

Before your recruiting campaign kicks off, look at your current employees to see what their track record has been and how much they are contributing to your business. Think about it:

• When was the last time your employees were evaluated for performance?
• When were they held accountable for the things they do?
• Does your company have an invisible grandfather clause?

Ask them for some feedback on how they enjoy their job and what could happen in order to make their job a little better. Besides there is always room for improvement. Some of your old timers may not like the fact that you are asking questions, however, it is critical to your bottom line. Be brave and just do it! You both will have a lot to gain from it.

The idea here is simply to slow down the hiring mistakes. You don't want a warm body migrating from another company, to sit in your chairs for another 15-20 years. It doesn't necessarily mean that an employee who has managed to stay under the radar for a long period of time without any spots, has the capability to make a contribution to their employer.

Here are some critical questions to ask your candidates:

1. When you participated in a team project, what position are you normally nominated for?
2. When was the last workshop / seminar you attended? Was it mandated or voluntary?
3. What are some of the goals that you foresee setting in this new role?
4. How would you like to grow with this company?
5. How do you stay on top of your field?

The goal here is to hire staff with some staying power, along with the ability to contribute and grow. The bottomline is you have a business to run. Though there is no such thing as a perfect person or candidate, you still should strive towards a contributor and steer away from the warm body.

Girl Bullies in the Workplace

The fact that 40% of workplace bullies are women, should make you wonder who's really getting their work done. That victim has to put up with a lot of crap from a bully, while maintaining their quality of work. The reality is, bullies are a drain to your business, and could cost you thousands down the road. Even though the person doing the bullying is a manager or a top performer. So what should you do at this crossroads?   

If your company doesn't have a culture, now is the time to get one established along with a set of behavioral standards. A policy has to be written and signed off by all employees, even those out in the field. This policy will fall somewhere in between harassment and hostile workplace tolerance. Which actually should be ZERO. It should cover all the events that are considered bullying, i.e. screaming, shoving, setting traps, nagging, scheming and physical contact etc.

Now wouldn't it be nice if women solved problems similar to men? Like either dukeing it out followed by a handshake and a beer. But this isn't the case. What we have here is simply one woman picking another woman to pick on who appears to be a little weaker or presents some sort of threat to her position. Other factors could include stress on the home front, or just the need to be evil.

But if you would like to hear my opinion, i think that if a woman is taking her career seriously she wouldn't have time to worry about what other women are doing and if she poses a threat, so MYOB.

No body likes a bully, and no business owner wants their profit to suffer because of a bully. Nor wanting to end up in court or face an act of violence in their place of business as a result of retaliation from the victim. At any rate, action should to be taken immediately in order to exterminate the fire so everyone else involved can get back to work.

The HR Quarterback

Everyone knows how vital the HR Department can be for an organization. Just as within a football team, every team member has an important role to play. But without the Quarterback, the leader, it would be impossible for the team to succeed. Therefore the key player within an organization, should be the HR Quarterback.

Call it… my imagination has ran a little wild, but here is a different way of looking at your HR department. Let me set up the playing field:

• The Ball = The Objective

• Team Members = All Departments and their Employees within

• The Coach = Company President

• Yard Lines = Charts the progression of the Objective

• Line of Scrimmage = The place where management meets on a regular basis to document the progress of the project at hand

• Center = The designated member within the organization who is responsible for giving the ball to the HR Quarterback

• End Zone = The ultimate Goal or final destination of the Objective

Ideally every organization should be running in offensive mode. If not, then there is no control over the Ball, in fact the Ball is in the hands of the enemy and the organization is in defense mode. But all members must work together to get the Ball back under control. Once you’re in offensive mode, then you have a place for the HR Quarterback.

The HR Quarterback has spoken directly with the Coach and knows what is expecting out of the team members within the organization. The Coach hands the Ball to the Quarterback and expects a report at the end of every Quarter. The HR Quarterback takes the Ball to the Line of Scrimmage where the snap is to take place. It’s time to play ball!!

Notice, the HR Quarterback is out on the playing field because he/she already knows the needs of the organization. The old strategies and techniques have been studied and the new ones are being analyzed on a regular basis. He/she has a good idea of what will work by utilizing a variety of technologies available.

The HR Quarterback is well informed about the new legislations that affect the organizational structure, and ways of retaining the top performing employees through various mediums. Therefore, taking care of the employees is paramount, because without them, there is no company. Strengths and weaknesses of the employees are constantly monitored prior to their annual performance. Regularly scheduled rewards and recognitions are given to employees who have gone above and beyond their individual duties. If there are members who are in need of a little more training, then the HR Quarterback arranges time for the training to occur, realizing that there is no room for a weak link.

When a strong performer is noticed, then they can be place strategically within the organization in order to effectively drive the company closer towards the goal. And if all fails, the HR Quarterback is willing to drive the objective all the way into the end zone alone.

Well, that’s my football rant for today. Hope you all enjoyed reading. By the way, do you know an HR Quarterback who you would like to recognize?