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HR Rep of the future
Human resources team works to improve customer service (Photo credit: USACEpublicaffairs)
The other day I was talking about this column to an acquaintance. I was telling them about the various themes that we dwell upon—offices, policies, co-workers, human resource (HR) departments, Sodexo passes—and the conversations that this leads to amongst readers—“He gets paid to write this every week?”
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Scary HR Issues(thehrstrategiesblog.wordpress.com)
The Importance of Succession Planning and Talent Management
English: Logo of Best Buy, US-based retail chain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When considering the characteristics of an excellent leader, what are the key elements? Is it the ability to develop a clear and inspiring vision? Is it the ability to make a decision even without perfect information? Is it the ability to recognize sources of sustainable competitive advantage? And then, drive execution accordingly? Is it the ability to make tough choices? Does the leader rightfully stand on the moral high ground?
If you answered all of the above and believe that’s not nearly an all-inclusive list, you’d probably be right. However, I firmly believe that, at least as important as what’s on the above (or your) list, is the leader’s diligence in ensuring that he/she can be readily replaced. In other words, having a successor/succession plan.
How many times have we seen this happen recently? The guy at Yahoo gets axed for falsifying his academic records. The guy at Best Buy gets kicked out for misconduct and misuse of his office. The guy at HP is let go because he was a bad fit to begin with and made too many bad choices.
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- Perfect information or perfect instinct [William Buist] (ecademy.com)
- ‘The Resource-Based View is an appealing model, but it is plagued with conceptual and practical difficulties for those implementing it’. Critically discuss. (ivythesis.typepad.com)
- Business Lessons From Olympic Innovators (techcrunch.com)
- Letter to the Board: Competive Advantage & Customer Centricity (relevant to 99% of companies) (customerthink.com)
When the Boss Is a Screamer
No one forgets a screamer—a boss who yells at workers, leaving them feeling powerless and constantly on edge, and sometimes reduced to tears when the explosion comes.
It is a figure Andrew Cornell vows not to become. He sometimes feels like yelling when employees at his manufacturing company don’t meet his expectations. But he bites his tongue. “Yelling is a vestige of a past time, and I always regret it,” says Mr. Cornell, chief executive of Cornell Iron Works in Mountaintop, Pa. Instead, he holds short, frequent meetings with employees having problems, rather than “waiting until the end, throwing a nuclear bomb and leaving blood all over the wall.”
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- How to deal with a boss that yells (codefir3.com)
- Screaming Bosses Are So Yesterday (thecareerist.typepad.com)
- When Did I Get Like This? The Screamer, the Worrier, the Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, and Other Mothers I Swore Iâd Never Be (smartypantsvitamins.com)
- Why Do You Yell at Your Employees? (inc.com)
- The Yelling Boss Disappears (patspapers.com)
Culture shock
Cougar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
For the purpose of today’s column, I am going to assume that you have a few friends. I don’t mean vague digital friends who you poke or tweet. I mean friends in the real world you speak to on the phone and you are always set to meet “next weekend”.
Now among these friends there will always be at least one fellow who is incapable of having a sustained conversation about anything except his work. Involve him in a chat about anything—Olympics, inflation, OS X Mountain Lion—and in five minutes everyone is sitting with their heads in their hands complaining about the office.
I confess that I am one such fiend. I simply cannot have a conversation with anyone, friends or strangers, without eventually asking them about their work and their workplace.
Partly this is me being manipulative. I am just trying to get material for this column and my books. Trust me, nothing in the world of fiction can come close to the bizarre things that happen in real people’s offices. You cannot make these things up.
Transparency in Succession Planning: To Tell or Not To Tell?
Transparency in Succession Planning: To Tell or Not To Tell?
I recently attended a talent management networking meeting hosting by PDI Ninth House. It was well attended, with over 100 participants, all responsible for some aspect of talent management. The two presenters had a packed agenda with over 50 slides to get through.
While it was all good and interesting, the part that sparked the most questions and discussions was the section on “transparency”.
At one point, participants were asked to raise their hands if their high potential programs were:
1. Not transparent;
2. Somewhat transparent; or
3. Fully transparent
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- 5 Tips To Effective Succession Planning (milliondollarbuzz.wordpress.com)
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Do’s and Don’ts for Having a 360 Degree Assessment Development Discussion
Effective Feedback (Photo credit: teachandlearn)
A 360 degree assessment is a great way for a manager to get feedback on their strengths and development needs. As a follow-up, the recipient of this great feedback should review the data with their manager as a springboard to a development discussion.While this sounds like a good idea in theory, I’ve seen way too many managers screw it up. Here are some lessons learned, from both the perspective of the 360 participant, and their own manager (the “coach”).When you get a 360 assessment and are ready to discuss it with you manager, DO:1. Prepare for the discussion. Be ready to share your reactions, surprises, top 3 strengths, top 1-3 development needs and why2. Prepare a draft Individual Development Plan (IDP)3. Ask clarifying questions
Great Leadership: Do’s and Don’ts for Having a 360 Degree Assessment Development Discussion
