Propaganda, Culture & Employer Brand

You spend so much time telling me your culture and people are the most valuable assets of your organization....but you don't round, you don't invest precious resources in employees, and you spend your whole day in meetings claiming to be busy.

You don't have the culture you think you do.

Your turnover hasn't improved in a meaningful way for years

You don't dare take risks to move your organization from old school to a cutting edge contemporary company...but...

...you care about your organization and your employees.

Please. Stop. Talking.
All of this has happened on your watch.

If you believe that your press releases, HR policies, and "Memos to Staff" are even remotely based on how your employees, and potential employees view your organization you are kidding yourself.

You can not hide from reality.
You can not hide from indecision.
You can not hide from how the world sees you.

Please. Start. Doing.
Here's the good news. You have the ability, today, to turn your excuses into a well thought out plan of action. It will require effort. It will require perceived risk...and it will require your leadership.

No one else can do it but you.

Step One
Take a look at your value statements, your messages to your employees, and (if you have anything) the messages to prospective candidates about your organization on your career site.

Now, align your behavior, the time on your calendar, and the words you use with your colleagues to match these messages.

Step Two
Build a comprehensive employer brand strategy to immediately begin using your employees as both retention and talent attraction tools.

Step Three
Ignore the noise. Your senior leadership colleagues will not understand what you're doing. Your Marketing department will feel incredibly threatened because they will have no idea what you're doing either.

Keep pushing. Only you can make this happen. 

It will be lonely...and nerve-wracking...and...

...IT WILL WORK!

How About You
Are you ready to finally get rid of all of those tired excuses you've been using since the 1990s?

There is a reason HR does not get the respect it deserves, and that starts with us.

You can do it...and I will help you if you need me.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Bleed the Fifth

"If you are a boss, ask yourself: When you look back at how you've treated followers, peers, and superiors, in their eyes, will you have earned the right to be proud of yourself? Or will they believe that you ought to be ashamed of yourself and be embarrassed by how you have trampled others' dignity day after day?"
- Robert I. Sutton

Fear
For those that believe they are "great leaders" and have so much experience and "always know the answers" I have some bad news for you.

You have created a corporate culture rife with fear. 

Yes you have. 

Your arrogance and "coaching" are not perceived the way you've convinced yourself that they are. Your teams are not being honest with you, they are worried about losing their jobs, and the fact that you are "always right" simply adds fuel to the culture bonfire you've created.

You Can't Change
Well, maybe you can change. But I suspect it will be the most difficult thing you've ever done in your career, and here's why.

You have to actively infuse humility into who you are as a leader.

I'm not talking about dropping a bunch of leadership jargon on the team. I'm not talking about employee feedback sessions that you facilitate and get the comments that you were expecting all along.

Newsflash! They are not going to tell you their truth. They will continue to bleed quietly and "accept" your reality.

As the high value team members slip away, and you continue to behave in the exact same way year after year, it makes me wonder how much longer the tired excuses can be used to justify the same results?

How About You
What would it take for you to really change your style? Perhaps if you were threatened with your position? Maybe if you publicly fell flat on your face and your team, despite their feelings about how you treat them, rallied to support you?

What would it take for you to get over yourself?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Expectations and Engaged Employees

The concept of employee engagement is used so frequently in the world of work, I often see my leadership colleagues in a variety of industries roll their eyes when it comes up in conversation.

Yet, they publicly espouse the value and priority of having an engaged workforce...that it will make a huge difference in the performance of their companies...and that without it they will fall behind their competition.

Wait, what? 

I think I've stumbled onto one of the disconnects between leaders and engaged employees.

Expectations.

The Leader Lens
In my experience, I see many leaders wishing they could somehow "see" or "feel" the engagement of the employees. I'm not entirely sure what this means though.

- Should there be big smiles all day every day?
- Should there be verbal expressions of gratitude?
- Should there be public displays of a$$ kissing?

Regardless the expectation, the notion that a tangible behavior validates a degree of workforce engagement seems to be more important than whether or not they actually are engaged in the first place.

The Employee Lens
Here's my candid take on the employee side of the engagement issue. 

Create a positive energy in the workplace, prioritize their needs, be supportive and inclusive, share as much as you can as quickly as possible, pay competitively, recognize good performers and remove poor ones, be accessible to the team, be clear on expectations and performance, don't trick yourself into believing your job title makes you smarter than the team, laugh at yourself, be honest, be fair, be human.

Oh, and I don't think they necessarily want to jump up and down in joyful praise...they just want to do a good job.

How About You
Try strapping the employee lens on when you walk out of your office this afternoon. How does your world look now? Any different?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

Recruiters Talk to Candidates, Right?

No, I'm not joking. There are some organizations out there that believe a recruiter's job is to wander around in the ATS, find applicants that match minimum job requirements, and forward those resumes to various hiring managers.

Well, friends, that is not recruiting. That is simply embarrassing.

(extra long pause here for those of you frantically wondering if this is how your recruitment team operates)

Seeing It Differently
For many traditional human resources departments, and in particular #HealthcareHR teams, the notion of sourcing, screening, and actively recruiting...is something that they don't have to do. 

Their organizations believe they are so special that they can just blindly meander through the flood of applicants and eventually find viable candidates. 

This simply can not continue if quality patient care is actually a priority for the organization. 

An outdated and poorly trained "recruitment" team is unacceptable in the competitive healthcare industry.

Stop With the Ancient Excuses
Many of my colleagues in the #HealthcareHR space cling to old behaviors, wasteful strategies, and tired excuses as to why they can no longer find talent.

Consider the consequences of their ineffectiveness:
- rampant use of expensive contract labor
- excessive overtime
- low morale due to persistent staffing shortages
- patient diversions due to the inability to fill critical positions
- lost revenue

It is (far beyond) time for massive changes in how human resources positions itself. There is no more important part of the organization when one takes into account the devastating impact of staffing shortfalls.

No one should stand in the way of a high impact talent acquisition strategy.

No one should deny that unless healthcare organizations compete in the most contemporary of ways they will struggle, and ultimately fail.

No one should assume they have greater authority over the work that HR must deliver on in the name of "protecting the brand" or "worrying about social media."

Good God, it's 2017. If you have anyone pushing back using these excuses you have every right to run them over with the reality of the business case that ensures organizational survival.

But first...

How About You
...but first...you must step up your professional game and embrace the strategies that work in today's digital world. The old approaches you've used for so long, that are failing miserably, must be let go.

Reach out to a trusted friend, colleague, mentor...me...to get the support you need. There isn't any time left to wait.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

Hiring Leaders: Your Network Should Be Better

I'm not surprised anymore. I used to be...a lot...but those days are long gone. It is clear that the challenge of building and leveraging networks to find talent is the sole responsibility of HR.

Hiring leaders are simply incapable of building a network on their own. They are too scared, too full of excuses, and candidly, enjoy having someone to target when their hiring struggles persist.

Meet Director #1
This person has been a loyal and hard-working part of the organization's leadership team for years. She works hard, tries to support her employees as much as possible, and attends a conference or two each year. She's bright, and keeps her team informed of the latest equipment, clinical practices, and news about the hospital.

Problem: she has been so focused internally that she is useless when it comes time to recruit talent, spread good news about organizational breakthroughs, or to simply tell the story about what it means to be a part of the organization.

Meet Director #2
This person has also been a loyal and hard-working member of the leadership team for a long time. However, in addition to putting a tremendous amount of energy into her staff, she also has worked hard to develop her leader brand. 

When it comes time to fill vacancies, she has already differentiated herself pushing out thought leadership, stories about the hospital, and adding some personal touches as well. She has a network she can tap into, and she does.

How About You
Who are the leaders you work with that have such tight organizational blinders on that they're hurting themselves? 

Help them see the big picture. Help them understand that the investment they make in their internal and external brand, will make a huge difference.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Violator

Who is the negative disruptive force in your organization? You know the one...they violate every value you have posted on the wall and espouse in new employee orientation. 

Can you picture them?

You're Too Slow
How long did it take for you to see their face in your mind? Three seconds? Maybe, one second?

Why are they still there? How could someone that negative, that you identified so quickly, possibly still be employed with your company?

That makes no sense to me.

You realize your employees know you haven't taken any action...so you're losing credibility while you're reading this post instead of doing your job, right?

Now
Stop reading. Earn your leadership pay. You do more than attend meetings and approve payroll. You have to get into the difficult work of confronting...yes, confronting... behaviors that do not jive with your corporate culture. 

It's not easy. In fact, it can be downright stressful. So what? Your employees, your organization, and candidly, for your own sense of self-respect, you need to get on with it.

Remove them from your organization today.

How About You
Make the decision to step up and build the team you want to have, not that you "inherited." That lame excuse works for six months, then guess what? They are your team.

What are you waiting for?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Retention Is A Leadership Problem

I've heard the excuses for years...literally. Leaders complaining about everything under the sun that is negatively impacting their departments. It is rarely their inaction or overinflated ego that is to blame; but instead, is an unfair productivity standard, a poor candidate pool, budget pressure, unreasonable physicians, and on and on...

Listen
I've also had the pleasure to work with some gifted leaders who chose to not let the excuses get in the way of their connection to their teams. They accepted the fact that leadership is hard, and took a path focused on relationships and trust, instead of blame and excuses.

Some leaders are uncomfortable in groups. (excuse)
Some leaders don't have an outgoing personality. (excuse)
Some leaders have great ideas but struggle delivering the message. (excuse)

The most effective leaders don't hide behind these issues, instead they make themselves vulnerable.

That's right. Vulnerable leaders. I know, it's a counterintuitive approach as compared to the massive ego trip many leaders embrace in an almost drunken stupor. 

Be
Instead of the stupor, I recommend focusing on these five behaviors:
- be present
- be visible
- be compassionate
- be humble
- be real

These aren't nearly as hard as you think. 

You are your biggest barrier at this point.

How About You
Who are the leaders in your organization that can name every problem across the company yet refuse to see their role in those problems? Maybe today is the day you pull them aside and have a good old fashioned blunt force trauma type conversation with them.

Let me know how it goes.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Dead World Assembly

I hear a lot of leaders talking about culture, teamwork, and how they have a "vision" for how work should be done.

Ha!

Sadly, many of these same leaders are so out of touch with how the modern world of work functions that they don't even realize they are the root of the problem.

Team
Let me toss out a few questions to get us started:

- Are you losing valuable employees?
- Have you convinced yourself and the other executives that this is all "good turnover?"
- Do you still believe in the embarrassingly ineffective command and control style of leadership?

How is that working out for you?

I'm Calling You Out
The responsibility to create a culture that actually values employees in a tangible way is entirely up to the leader. No one else. 

I don't want to hear that employees complain too much. 

I don't want to hear about your fancy job title. (I've had a fancy job title for years, and the only result was that the burden on me to be a better leader grew exponentially.)

Guess what? Your staff meetings are nothing more than a dead world assembly. 

Stop trying to justify your struggles. No one believes you anymore.

How About You
It's time for a new start. Get over yourself. Accept that you've made some mistakes...and open your mind to leading in 2016.

Otherwise, you're going to lose the rest of your team. I promise.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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The Future of Talent is Leader Brand

I've been a strong advocate that leaders need to be brand ambassadors for their organizations. I don't mean simply saying nice things about their companies when asked; I'm talking about a proactive approach to spread the word about the great things their organizations do on a regular basis.

After all, a strong brand attracts talented people. Talent is the name of the game in the world of business today. No talent, no product, no customers, no revenue. Capiche?

Except I've discovered a major flaw in my approach to brand.

Organizational Brand Is Not Enough
One of the core strategies of talent acquisition is to position the organization's brand in such a way that it attracts quality applicants. From there a talent pipeline is developed and the best candidates are brought on board. The organization brand is the key attraction point that brings the talent into the company. 

When we are filling positions, enhancing the corporate culture, and making progress we wrap ourselves in the corporate brand.

However, when turnover occurs, or morale dips, or there is too much "noise" in the workplace, the accountability shifts away from the spotless corporate brand and falls fully on the individual leader responsible for that area.

Wait a minute. What just happened?

Leader Brand Is Better Than Corporate Brand
Much has been written, though few have fully embraced, the concept of developing their personal brand. Honestly, I do not understand why any serious leader today is not focused like a laser on their personal brand. Here's why...

"Employees want to work for good leaders much more than they want to work for good organizations." 

Today's talent (read here really good people) know that good leaders...by default...already work for good organizations, which makes the obsession with corporate brand as a stand-alone strategy a waste of time.

It is only when a strong personal (leader) brand is paired with a strong corporate brand that real talent attraction and retention can be realized.

How About You
Have you put any energy into developing your personal brand; or, are you so experienced and smart and good that you don't need one? I hate to break this to you, but if you haven't invested the time to develop your brand you are invisible...regardless of what your resume says. 

Maybe we should talk?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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The Hand Grenades HR Still Juggles

The world of work, and more specifically, professional leadership, has evolved quite a bit over the last few decades. The new norms that address behavior, equal treatment, political correctness, and a general sense of decency have all made positive inroads in our work lives.

This is progress!

Old Habits (Crutches) Die Hard

For HR leaders everywhere the changes listed above are a welcomed step forward. So many hours are wasted each year addressing juvenile behavior from leaders who believe their job title or advanced academic degree gives them license to be an absolute buffoon.

Helpful hint: Buffoons are losers, not leaders.

The changes above should mean that other areas of business also move past traditional stereotypes of responsibility and reporting as well. Let's examine two of the most common urban legends that many organizations continue to believe.

Turnover

Over the years I've been asked countless times about the turnover woes of various departments in the organizations where I've worked. The interest is well-intended and sincere, but is usually misguided. Quite simply, I don't lead the team where the turnover rate is high. I haven't set the example in those departments, nor have I role-modeled the behavior that I want the other team members to replicate.

I can ask questions...I can learn a few facts...but I honestly cannot speak to another department's turnover because I do not lead that department. Yet, human resources is so often "responsible" for turnover.

That simply no longer applies in the modern world.

Culture 

"The assumption that HR is responsible for culture is one of the biggest leadership failures of our time."

I'm serious. If an organization is going to assign culture to a department, it needs to forget about improving culture and resign itself to the fact that it's competition is about to recruit away their talent and annihilate their market share.

Culture is every leader's responsibility...and ultimately every team member's as well. Culture speaks to "the whole thing" and candidly HR is not the whole organization. So how in the world can one department be responsible for it? 

Employee engagement surveys, recognition programs, and other forms of interactive initiatives with employees may begin in the human resources department, but it is the leadership team that executes those programs.

Only leadership can drive culture...not a department.  

How About You

Are you still feeling the pressure to "manage" the turnover and culture in your organization? If so, it might be time to let the other members of the leadership team know that they are failing...miserably. If it's too much to tell them yourself...it's probably because the culture isn't quite where it should be. Imagine that?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Where Is The Accountability?

Sometimes I feel we've all gotten a bit soft in today's world. It's so easy to turn away, claim we need a bit more documentation, or to simply ignore the situation until it is so polluted that the decision you should have made months ago is now pathetically obvious (and nearly risk-free.)

But at what cost?

It's Okay To Get Involved

What happens in our organizations when we as HR leaders identify issues but do nothing about them? Here's a short list:

- Low morale

- Decreased productivity

- Bad turnover

- Poor quality work product or service
- A spot on the "Worst Places to Work" list

How About You
Where are you on this issue HR? Do feel more comfortable waiting for people to come to you with full documentation of every little issue that has ever occurred before you act?

Or, do you go get the information you need so you can actually contribute and support all of those great employees that are watching and waiting for someone to take action?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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