They Didn't Apply

Some managers believe they are fully informed about good management practices. They proclaim their qualifications in terms of association with others in similar capacities or familial involvement in management. The trouble is, these types have no formal training in management or leadership and they have not been groomed for the responsibilities of the position.

When it comes to inclusion, it's important to let everyone in your department know about the event or the open position so that they may choose to attend the event or apply for the position. It is rationalized that some do not attend events because they chose to stay away. Likewise, some reason that some employees do not apply for open positions because they were not interested. The problem with the reasoning in either situation is that the employee was not aware of the opportunity. The choice to not be in attendance or to not compete for the position was removed from their discretion and they were, therefore, excluded from it.

The Open Position

Penny Morey tells us it's simply good management practice to post notice about a new open position internally. There may be workers who are very qualified for the position who were previously invisible to management. There may be others who are interested in that type of position. This is their opportunity to learn more about what it takes to be qualified to compete.

Some companies have a candidate in mind but have guidelines that require the posting of the availability. That candidate has already been pre-screened and probably has been trained in the disciplines of the position. But there may be others who have been quietly going about performing their duties, doing what they're told to do, and polishing their skills through off-duty classes or via social and service organizations. What a loss if one of your long standing loyal is also the best qualified and has been interfacing with the clientele to develop their loyalty to your brand and product - for years.

Susan M. Heathfield explains why it's a good idea to internally post a notice of open positions first from several perspectives. Generically speaking, the requirement may be among the policies listed in the employee handbook. Another reason is in relation to a union shop and the terms of a labor agreement or where the position is in civil service.

Even if the company is not bound by the terms of a bargaining agreement or civil service requirements, it's a good idea to internally post notice of open positions in order to develop a culture where the workforce feels there is opportunity for career growth and development. It's another form of transparency. And it tends to nurture camaraderie by having other team members do what they can to support the one who is vying for the new situation. The practice tends to build morale.

We're not just talking out of the top of our hat. Consider the admonitions of the EEOC when it comes to posting job opportunities and policies in regard to other matters concerning employment.

Did You Go to the Company Picnic?

The company promo says, "We're a fun and inclusive place. There are monthly group activities for all employees. Morale is important here. That's why you'll find happy, satisfied workers serving our clients with the best attitude and abilities ever." The trouble is, only certain ones get the notice about those monthly group activities. The ones who didn't attend? They heard about the event - two days later as an overheard conversation.

If it's an inclusive environment, if there's a desire for healthy diversity, if there's a plan to grow the workforce in order to keep pace with an increasing demand for the company's product, there needs to be a team atmosphere. Cliques just don't work. The result of those will be high turnover and increased costs due to advertising, screening, intake, training, and other factors. Those are dollars that could be put to better use by simply using better talent management strategies.

And Then There's Training

As we've been considering the matter of transparency and inclusiveness with regard to notification of open positions and with regard to internal events, the importance of notifying personnel about the availability of training is also important. It's important for the business to grow in order to keep pace with demands. It's also important to keep pace with innovations and improvements in processes, equipment, and style of delivery. Additionally, there are some members of the workforce who are very interested in continuing to develop themselves and their career opportunities within the company. Remaining in a static position is not everyone's cup of tea.

When there is a company sponsored training, it's wise to alert your personnel. Sometimes a simple notice on the bulletin board will suffice. But they need to know it's available. Of course, they can attend a training elsewhere. But it would be more desirable to attend a training that has company approval so that there's assurance that the content will be in consonance with the needs of the enterprise. Just make certain that the ones who attend the training have ample opportunity to practice what was learned and also apply the training to actual projects.

They Chose Not to - False

It may be convenient to say there were those who were absent by choice. The critical issue is whether they were aware that there was even a choice to be made. Constructive and actual notice are concepts applied to law and real estate, not to participation in activities or vying for a position open to all who are qualified.

Resources:

• Do you legally have to advertise an open position in your company?
  
• Does HR Have to Post Job Openings Internally?
  
• Theories in Total Quality Management
  
• Five Disciplines
  
• Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices
  

Sponsored Links:

• Talent Genius HR Training
  
• PHR/SPHR Certification Exam Preparation
  

Nine Tips for Diversity Leaders

This morning, a discussion on LinkedIn finally grabbed my attention. An editor wanted to know (paraphrasing) what tips the group members have for future diversity leaders in terms of necessary skills and expertise. It was the type of question that a nurturing personality has difficulty letting get overlooked. So I responded.

Skills:

• Ability to listen carefully, process the information, and respond with an appropriate response. Most would call all of that "good communication skills" but communication involves more than just talking at people or reciting anecdotes about 'this happened to me.'
  
• Ability to operate as a professional without projecting an air of pride or smugness. Become a beacon and role model but first, and most importantly, be human.
  
• Use your maturity. It's important to have the maturity to deal with human nature and various age demographics in order to learn from them as well as convey useful information to them.
  
• Communication is critical. If your message isn't getting through, take some time to review what you're saying and how you're saying it. Then modify your strategy so that the vocabulary and voice are not only understandable but also heard. Also consider aligning yourself with someone who more closely identifies with your target demographic so that they are speaking the language. Then the message more easily reaches its destination and becomes effective.
  

Expertise:

• Choose a specialty area and learn as much about it as possible. The learning should not be solely classroom- and textbook-centric. Those are clinical settings based on what others are telling you. In many instances, the best experience is to be out in the field interacting with the people and situations that constitute your specialty area. In order to gain that experience while still learning your specialty, it would be good to do volunteer work at a nonprofit that specializes in your calling or intern for them.
  
• There are many ways to gain an appreciation of the needs and wants of your audience. Some people have walked and lived among their specialty constituency (sometimes not on a willing basis). That can be extremely dangerous if it's done with no safety tether (others outside of the situation who can help you get out of harm fast). However, that type of immersion provides real life awareness and the ability to develop meaningful strategies to address issues.
  
• Having a real appreciation of the constituency needs leads to engendering trust from the members. That is extremely important to being effective as well as developing respect.
• A leader needs to have the sophistication to appreciate when transparency is mandatory.
  
• Recognize that privacy and confidentiality are imperative.
  
• It's important to do proper screening, usually couched in casual conversation that makes the person comfortable enough to share their philosophies that wouldn't ordinarily be verbalized (or demonstrated) in an employment interview setting. That will make proper selection of the most effective personnel possible.
  

Someone recently asked whether it's possible for a White person to be a leader of a Black organization. The ancillary query related to whether a woman could be an effective leader of that same group. As that conversation evolved, we looked at the NAACP as an example. It was founded by mutually concerned individuals from all ethnicities and walks of life. Among the founders were abolitionists, Jews, Gentiles, Blacks, Whites, men and women. One of the most pivotal of the founders was Mary White Ovington. The first "president" of the organization (who served in that capacity for ten years) was a White man, Joel Spingarn.

A few words about being a leader, no matter what the cause or organization, is having foresight and vision. Those skills will allow the leader to see most of the pitfalls before they arise. That will then enable them to develop strategies to avert the difficulties, use them to the organization's advantage, or overcome them with as much ease as is reasonable. In order to garner the support to execute the plans and goals of the organization, a leader must have excellent communication skills or a trusted adviser and speaker who can communicate the rallying cry on their behalf.

Finally, it's extremely important that the leader be able to understand the psychology of their opposition. Doing so will empower them to gain the ear of those who resist. Sometimes resistance is nothing more than fear dressed as aggression or hate. The ability to allay those fears by showing the benefits of becoming aligned takes significant skill and ability while yielding results useful for more than the constituent group.

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HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication (with featured article "The Necessary Art of Persuasion," by Jay A. Conger)