the fine art of meticulous planning

For the past 3.5 months, I have been working closely with my IT department on the upgrade to Office 2007 for our PC users.

A number of years ago, a friend Dante, referred to me as an Alpha Female and it was pretty apparent during our Office 2007 kickoff meeting, that he was quite correct in his characterization. Without premeditation or desire, I found myself in the role of team leader and project manager for this enormous undertaking.

Worst of all, one of the team members suggested that I send out a project plan to the team in Microsoft Project. I had never used, let alone, seen Microsoft Project so I gulped and agreed to task.

So, I logged onto the online learning portal I purchased for the company and spent 5 hours taking online courses in Microsoft Project. Once the software was loaded onto my laptop by the wonderful folks in IT, I was on my way. After a few hiccups and restarts, I finally prepared the project plan and presented it to the group about 2 weeks later. I was quite relieved when the feedback was positive.

As we continued in the project, we added additional items to the project plan including a comprehensive communication/internal marketing plan as well as a training plan. There were a few bumps along the way but all in all, it came together really well. We decided to over-communicate with employees about the upgrade and the available training which worked out really well. The communication/marketing plan included posters, stickers on paychecks, tent cards on desks and e-mail blasts.

As the upgrade began on Friday evening, we all held our breaths. The IT folks had a few dilemmas over the weekend, but nothing too major. I drove in 200 fantastic bagels (from the fine folks at BagelMasters in Shrewsbury), a variety of schmears & orange juice from the Jersey shore on Monday morning for employees to enjoy while they waited for their Outlook 2007 to configure. Even the movie set on the street blocking my access to the building didn't deter me from my mission. Bagels, cream cheeses and juice were safely delivered to each floor.

We started training sessions on Monday morning to provide employees with an overview of the major changes for each software program. My first session had over 40 attendees! I walked the floors later that day and was pleased to hear lots of keyboard clicking. My initial fears of lost productivity due to the significant changes in the Office 2007 suite were gone. We had done our job and done it well. (sigh of relief)

HR pros to follow on twitter

I'm finally back after a morning sickness induced hiatus. Hooray!

Steve Boese (@steveboese) compiled a lengthy and fantastic list of HR people on twitter. You can find it here: http://steveboese.squarespace.com/

I was super psyched to be able to access such a list because I use twitter to strengthen my skills as an HR professional. When I tell people this I usually get a face full of confusion. 99% of the people I am connected to on twitter are HR related. I use the service to keep up to date on best practices, advances in recruiting (e.g. leveraging social networking), legal issues and to be part of the HR conversation.

I have connected with some of the most amazing, intelligent, clever and downright funny HR people via twitter. Initially I was seriously humbled and felt a little insecure because these folks were awesome. I eventually got over myself and dove in. It really took me about 6 months to understand how to use twitter in a meaningful way and boy, am I glad I figured it out.

I share information with my HR colleagues that I learn on twitter via the folks I follow and more often than not, the response is "how'd you find out about that?". It's all on twitter (wink!).

Thank you Steve Boese for compiling this great list and even bigger thanks for including me. Now, get to tweetin!

Managing Poor Performers - the District 9 Approach

So I saw the movie District 9 yesterday. Thought it was fantastic but this is an HR blog, not a movie review blog (bummer).

The movie really got me thinking about the idea of either physically or mentally cordoning off people and how we do this in the workplace - consciously or subconsciously.

Have you ever worked with, for or been one of those supervisors that engages in 'aversion management'? This is when a manager doesn't want to directly address a performance issue and simply ignores it...hoping it will go away or the person will quit. I've never seen this approach actually be successful so if you've got any stories, I'd love to hear them.

Spoiler Alert - I'm gonna give away some of the movie here

In the movie, the government has segregated the aliens to a slum called District 9. In some companies, poor performers can be segregated too. For example, they can be reassigned over and over again (just like poor Milton in Office Space), shut out of the information loop, or not included on important projects that drive business forward.

In an economic environment where resources (e.g. $$) are so stretched or unavailable, it boggles the mind when managers don't address performance issues with corrective action. If you are open and honest with your employees regarding expectations and whether the employee is meeting those expectations, you will see increased productivity, loyalty and customer/client satisfaction.

I think most of us want to know how we're doing and be part of the solution. This was one of the things that stuck out while watching the movie. Why didn't the government or evil multinational corporation enlist the 'prawns' to fix the ship and get the heck outta dodge? They had procured enough of the alien weaponry & aliens themselves to study them. Why on earth would they want to pay to house over a million aliens to do nothing?

It's kind of like asking why would a manager want to continue paying for a non-performing employee when they could be helping turn them around or replacing them.

take your passive agressiveness and shove it!

Call me a dreamer but I honestly believe that most employees, including us HR people, come to work each day with the expectation to do good work and accomplish something meaningful. There's nothing worse than having to deal with a colleague who is passive aggressive. What sort of good does it do to say "Oh I wish someone would have bothered to tell me that". It's lame and makes you look bad.

So, take this heart. If something bothers you at work, be direct about it with the person. There's a big difference between being direct and confrontational. Learning this will make you a trusted & valued colleague and a leader.

Seriously people, life is too short to be a jerk at work. It doesn't matter if you work to live or live to work. In the immortal words of Ali G - "Respect!"

excuses, excuses

So I had this big plan to post something earlier in the week on office bullies. I even went to twitter and asked folks for their input. Got a great response from @Dr_Vee (thanks!). Checked out a website from the UK called www.bullyonline.org too and there were some interesting tidbits there.

But that's as far as I got.

I have a bevy of excuses (e.g. too busy, don't feel well, etc.) but the truth is, I just didn't feel motivated to do it.

Mean people suck. They are a virus. They ruin morale and demotivate employees. The worst part is that these folks are rewarded for this behavior with promotions, raises and bonuses so the behavior continues (hey if it ain't broke, don't fix it) and sometimes gets worse (gotta take it up a notch to get that corner office).

I spend an inordinate amount of time as an HR person speaking with employees who are victims of office bullies. It's debilitating for an organization when one person can infect your culture with their aggressive behavior. Your organization should adopt "The No Asshole Rule" (taken from the book by Robert Sutton). If it doesn't, go somewhere else that does.

The end.

Layoff Aftermath - Manager Edition

It's been weeks of evaluating, decision making, and planning and finally, you and your HR person met with all the folks on the layoff list and did the deed. Now the hard part is over.

Um, not so fast.

I'd argue that the hardest, and most crucial, part for managers is about to begin. You cannot ignore what just happened and not communicate with the remaining members of your team. Employees don't feel motivated when they work in a vacuum. Your HR person should guide you on appropriate talking points. For example, you certainly don't want to tell the team that Johnny was chosen to be part of the layoff because of performance related absenteeism. This will get back to Johnny and you will undoubtedly hear from Johnny's lawyer since those absences were due to religious observance. So listen to your HR person. We're here to make sure you don't get yourself into any legal trouble.

If there are layoffs across different functional areas in your company, your HR and Communications departments probably have written talking points for you. Use them. Stay on message. But most importantly, get the message out. Don't think that 'no news is good news' because that approach will backfire. Badly.

If you are a manager in a group that wasn't affected by the layoffs and no one has communicated with you, don't just sit there! Seek out the message and make sure you communicate it with your team immediately. And never, ever announce that the layoffs are over, there won't be anymore, or your job is safe. You can't guarantee that and if something changes, you lose all credibility. As a manager, one of the things you must always ensure is that you don't over promise and under deliver. Once you do this, your employees won't trust or like you very much.

And finally, be honest. If an employee asks you a question, answer it to the best of your ability. If you don't know the answer or the best way to answer, consult your HR buddies. It's ok to tell an employee that you need to get the scoop and back to them. What's not ok is if you don't ever respond. It'll just be another example of your lack of managerial credibility.

Layoff Aftermath - What to do when you are left behind

There are a ton of resources online for folks who have been directly affected by layoffs and the recession. I'm connected to many on Facebook and Twitter who add tremendous value for job seekers from interview or resume tips to personal branding.

I haven't seen a whole lot for those employees who weren't part of the layoff. What do you do once the company has let all those people go? Is it ok to ask questions? Should you immediately start looking for a job?

Most employees realize is that HR a partner with management when preparing and conducting layoffs. They know we prepare the severance agreements and in some cases, are (and should be) in the room when you're notified of layoff. In addition, employees are generally directed to HR if they have any benefit questions so they're pretty clear on our role in the process.

What isn't always clear to the employee, and sometimes HR folks, is that we aren't done once the layoffs are over. It's just as important and business critical for HR to work with managers on the communication to employees who weren't affected by the layoff.

And it doesn't stop there! As an employee, you should know that you are valued and appreciated. Even better, someone (namely your manager, department head, company CEO or President) should tell you, and often. Your company should have an environment and culture that is open and transparent. You should absolutely ask your boss about your role and responsibilities after a layoff and, gulp, be prepared for the answer.

One of the most common reason for layoffs is usually in response to a business downturn or business loss. If a project fails or if a client leaves your company, one would assume that those associated with the project or client are laid off. Sometimes what happens is that the company will keep the top performers from these projects &/or clients and reassign them. There is collateral damage with this approach because employees on other projects or clients who aren't considered top performers go on the layoff list. While you probably won't be told that you were saved from layoff because you are a top performer, there is some solace in knowing that it's probably the reason why you are still there.

Knowing this, the best thing you can remember and do after a layoff is your job. And do it well. Exceed expectations. Demonstrate your value everyday. This is something that you did during the interview process. You outlined it on your resume. Prove your worth every day. Not only will it advance your career, it should positively affect your company's bottom line.

If you don't feel appreciated or if no one communicates with you in your company, then it's probably time to look for another job. Just don't do it on company time or with company equipment or you could end up in the unemployment line with your former colleagues. The only difference is that they've got severance and you don't.