OD and Title VII Consulting

There's a curious thing about being an Organization Development (OD) Consultant. Few in the recruiting and HR spaces understand what it is. Then toss in a specialty in Title VII (also known as Diversity and Inclusion) and eyes begin to blur. How does one succinctly but definitively describe that role? It's a hybrid. And when you toss in a few ancillary matters such as training and development, compliance, ethics, and workplace (or domestic) abuse, the waters get very muddy for many.

Said succinctly, RapidBI explains that OD's focus is on improvement via ". . . a complex strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, culture and structure of organizations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and challenges." It's about performance improvement.

What's the correct job title for such a person? Perhaps we should look to a job description site for the right fit. However, job search expert, Ed Han, as well as many of his advocates, recommends creating your own title that describes who you are and what you do. Now there's a challenge. Aptly admitted by David Wride, OD is not the same as HR. The waters are pretty murky. It isn't about recruiting and hiring yet it's associated with making certain you've got the right input that will result in the optimal output for the organization.

However, I'm getting away from the mission of this writing. The focus is why this OD consultant loves the hybrid HR/recruiting work. Still, the fundamentals of OD dive deep into the necessity to research and analyze what's happening before implementing any form of change that's intended to improve the organization in regard to its people, its culture, its product and brand, and its overall effectiveness and profitability.

First, There's the Legal Aspect

Our legal system has various entities that strive to exact fairness among the participants in the "marketplace." With regard to labor and employment, especially those who have differences, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB in relation to union issues) provide guidance. However, there are other entities and there are federal as well as state laws that guide what are the proper practices. There is also case law that serves as guidance. When trying to determine what is happening and how to best address the situation, it's a good idea to research what the actual rules are and how they're applied in order to reach the best outcome. It's important to know not only the "how" but the driving force of "why" in order to come to a best possible solution. The law is the orderliness of all things; it's the rule book that helps keep things in order.

The Seldom Discussed Issue: Compliance

After knowing where to find the rules, and then forming an accurate interpretation of what they are, when they're applied, and the effect on the situation, it's important to make certain there's adherence to them. It makes for a greater amount of sanity in the environment.

To be certain, compliance is not a matter of "you must not do" as much as making certain the playing field is as open to all participants as possible while protecting many of the interests involved. The OD consultant is not only helpful with regard to compliance matters, the OD consultant finds the empowerment that is buoyed through adhering to the rules - or at least understands why those rules work toward a betterment of the situations that arise and need to be addressed before they become the tempest.

Ethics in the Mix

Still part and parcel with regard to the law and compliance is the matter of ethics. Ethics examines the fairness of matters, given the circumstances. Ethics relates to the proper way of doing things so that the organization and those who are part of it are putting forth reliable end product. Ethics is about being held accountable for what is related to proper governance.

"Is it ethical?" may be the driving question. However, researching, understanding, and knowing the answer, based on the law, is an exciting asset.

Workplace Culture and Morale

Examination of the workplace, all of it, is critical to producing the most desirable end product, whether goods or services. Sometimes it only takes a quick immersion into the workplace to become aware of where the strengths and where the weaknesses reside. Poor workplace culture results in poor morale. Those two aspects combined spell a high turnover rate and employment (not to mention product) costs that are inflated while offering poor return on investment (ROI). They also mean a workplace that is in a constant state of churn - and possibly disarray and confusion.,

Being part of the means of finding solutions is also exciting. Setting the proper tone, as well as providing equity among the participants, respecting them as individuals whose differences have value to the overall health of where they are, is so critical. It is also a brand magnet because customers and clients are immediately struck by the health of the organization; it drives their decisions about repeat business.

Training and Development

Is the universe expanding to an infinite point or is it expanding to a predictable distance only to collapse back onto itself? That same question can be posed to an organization. Are the members of it in a state of expanding their knowledge and skills, constantly offered the opportunity to continue to grow? In the alternative, are the members of the organization allowed to reach a particular plateau and then find themselves in a persistent vegetative state until they die, retire, or just become so obsolete that they're terminated? I like the idea that the universe is expanding into yet undiscovered areas. Organizations and people should follow that prescription - in a constant state of growth and being revived and renewed by the advances in knowledge, through the use of ever-improving technology and tools.

The Bottom Line

There's so much more to be said about the OD consultant, especially with regard to Title VII Diversity and Inclusion. However, the bottom line is OD is not really recruiting. It isn't even an actual part of HR. Instead, it's that vitally necessary middle ground that helps to bring those two functions together to form the best possible performance at many levels and in innumerable ways.

Resources:

• Organization Development, Wikipedia
  
• organizational development OD, Mike Morrison, RapidBI (29/09/2007)
  
• What is Organization Development?, Organization Development Network
  
• What is Organization Development? (video), Organization Development Network
  
• What’s the Difference Between Human Resources and Organizational Development?, Matthew Wride, DecisionWise (May 16, 2017),
  

You May be Interested:

• Assessment and Diagnosis for Organization Development: Powerful Tools and Perspectives for the OD Practitioner
  
• Organization Development: A Practitioner's Guide for OD and HR
  

What's Your Emphasis

LinkedIn has a poll that asks which of four qualities is most important in running your business:

• Learning from mistakes
• Embracing change
  
• Taking calculated risks
  
• Focusing on the future
  

One of the things an Organizational Development person does is encourage change where it's necessary. And change is part of the evolution of things. Another term for change is "progress."
Being in business for yourself means you take calculated risks much of the time. Even making the decision to start a business shows the tendency to embrace risk because there are no guarantees of success except for what you put into the effort. Even then, the guarantees of success are not there because many other factors come into play and impact the plans that were initially formulated.

The failure to learn from one's past and from the mistakes that put you where you are today means, like Sisyphus, you are in a constant state of striving to get "there" instead of moving forward. The lessons aren't being learned. Your business is doomed before the birth is complete.

Thus, the major watchword is "focus" and staying focused. The objective is to achieve the goal while stamping out the distractions. Staying focused also means recognizing the trivia that can become a distraction and does nothing for aiding in projecting your plans and goals compared with the distractions that are major issues that merit attention and dispatch in resolution. So in many instances, the most important quality is focusing on the future. Another way of saying this is to say focus on achieving the goal.

One of the ways to put order into ones business endeavors and plateaus is to know how to prioritize as well as how to balance the various aspects of the business. And the next important issue in creating balance is to know how to create a healthy work/life balance so that running your business isn't a matter of running to your grave.

Resources:

• How to Learn From Your Mistakes
  
• A Strategy for Learning From Mistakes
  
• Learning From Mistakes
  
• Small Business Planning: Developing a Business Plan
  
• Developing a Marketing Plan
  
• Keys to Prudence: Setting Priorities, Goals and Objectives
  
• How to Set Goals
  
• Setting Objectives & Planning: A Key Managerial Task
  
• 7 Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance
  
• Forecasting for Growth
  
• Using Technology to Stay Competitive
  

Sponsored Link:
Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction

Hospital Recommendations Upheld

The impact of the announcement left a humming chill in the air that resonated for several minutes. It made the listener want to stop and wait for the next sounds, the syllables that would unfold the remainder of the story, reveal the inevitable. Then the realization came that the suspense would have to wait until July 31 or later.

It was the morning of July 23. Radio news announced that U.S. inspectors had just arrived at King-Drew Hospital for a surprise evaluation visit. The hospital has a long history of troubles, poor performance by the workers, lack of discretion, and a nickname that sends shudders down the spine -- Killer King.

Earlier this week, the outcome of the inspection was announced. The hospital will be closed. In fact, one reporter stood in front of the empty building yesterday and spoke of the falling action of this drama. No emergency patients were being accepted. Ambulances were being redirected to other hospitals. Existing patients in the various specialty wings were transferred throughout this week to other facilities.

It was not the equipment that failed. It was not the integrity of the building that lacked. It was not 100 percent of the staff. But there were too many who were charged with the welfare of individuals who could not perform their duties. One reporter cited the fact that a worker could not accurately calculate the dosage that was to be dispensed to a patient. Another could not read the indicators provided by their equipment. Another left things unattended and problems arose.

This does not account for the tales of people being summarily lumped together as stereotypical entities rather than unique individuals. This does not include condescending statements that belittled the patients, making them feel less than human. And the fact that the hospital personnel would provide directions to one part of the hospital campus to another that on any occasion could be accurate or not is also not in the measures of credibility.

This last issue is important because if a person is seeking treatment for a health condition, it is highly likely that navigating two or more blocks to go from one part of the plant to the outlying bungalows on the campus may not be an easy task. Although there was a shuttle, it was difficult to actually catch it because it did not show up at the intervals that were supposed to be its rounds.

It was the screening and testing of personnel that caused the fall. The measures that were too low. The lack of taking charge of a situation that was not acceptable and letting it "slide" because the person in question needed a break. But a hospital, the health and welfare of people striving to live and care for theirselves, is not a place where people should let things slide. An individual's integrity at that point is one of the most critical issues and of paramount importance.

Let this second failure and ultimate closure be a lesson to Human Resource and recruiting professionals. Let this be a lesson to schools and universities. In preparing the people who will work in these environs, there should be care to make certain that their grades accurately reflect ability. Attention to detail is premium and should be part of the main concerns of the candidates. A first mistake can be forgiven but it needs to be attended with remediation. A second mistake needs more drastic measures.

In a previous post, there was an observation that some of the personnel showed signs of being heavily medicated on anti-depressants. Yet they were still on full duty in critical areas and managing records and documents. We will not speculate on whether the records always got into the correct files or not. The sins of the overall facility make that thought to terrifying to consider. But again, management and Human Resources should have worked together to find some means of providing time off until the reason for the medication was resolved and then return the worker to their position.

But that brings me to yet another observation about the personnel. So much reliance on using pills to cure anything and everything, from the least to the greatest. Again, there was no screening with regard to whether that medication was appropriate. In fact, some medications that have been found to be contra-indicated for use were still being prescribed. Other medications created physical dependency on the drugs (not addiction) that cause the condition to worsen and require higher doses. But the patient was still seen as the stereotype who would be suseptible to the family of related maladies. Indeed, the medications being prescribed would become the precipitants of the related conditions and add to the number of issues with which the patient contended rather than actually healing and freeing them from dependence on artificial remedies. Perhaps this last indictment is a failing of the training rather than the practice or the hospital. I will invalidate it -- for now.

We say in the recruiting industry that we are in pursuit of the "qualified talent." King-Drew shows us where things can go when we do not hold our standards as high as possible and settle for less than qualified. But King-Drew's Personnel department, no doubt, was attempting to give these "D" and "F" performers (according to Yaroslavsky) another chance at making it in a reputable facility. Unfortunately, they were given the chance to make it but not the support and supervision necessary to actualize it.

TAGS: organizational development, staffing, screening, qualified, competency, King-Drew Hospital,

Enforcement of Employment Standards

One of the considerations in Organizational Development is examining employee behavior as it could and does affect corporate image. Many elements are part of the company brand. I've spoken of and identified several of them several times in the past. There's attire, speech, socialization skills, emotional maturity, creativity, problem solving, and leadership, to name a few. And while it's important to allow willing workers to earn a living through gainful employment, whether they have an impairment or not, there is a time to draw the line.

The courts have drawn that line in recent months in regard to business employees. As yet, they are silent with regard to treatment of personnel in an industry that is self governed and where the individuals are self employed.

There have been several rulings on ADA mental illness cases where the plaintiffs said they should have been given more leeway than others because of the unique health condition from which they suffer -- paranoid schizophrenia in one case and bi-polar disorder in another. The plaintiffs argued that they should be protected from punishment because they suffer from a disease just as an alcoholic or drug user suffers from a disease.

In the cases of Sista v. CDC IXIS, So. District of NY. No. 02-Civ. 3740 (2/15/05) and Mammone v. Harvard College, Mass. Supreme Judicial Court, 446 Mass. 657 (5/12/06), the courts were consistent in their rulings. Egregious misconduct is no excuse under any circumstances and the person should be terminated. A recent criminal case, People v. Reynolds considered the death penalty as punishment for the defendant where the situation was very similar. In Reynolds, the defendant also suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and admitted that he knew he had done horrid wrongs for which he deserved punishment. The judge agreed and sentenced him to death because Reynolds was very congizant of the gravity and reality of his acts.

Employment Industry Code of Ethics

This is leading us to look at the codes of ethics that are promulgated by our various employment industry organizations. There are words that talk about how the member will adhere to the rules. However, in none of the codes that I have reviewed do I see any language about what should be done if the rules are violated. So it appears there are no consequences except loss of membership, which is not really a grave loss if you play out the thought process a bit. Membership can be volulntarily discontinued by a member at any time and for any reason. And if the person is not already a member of the organization (or any of the several in the industry), then the attitude will be a very flippant "So what?"

Additionally, there does not seem to be anything that talks about what to do when a non-member performs an act that is unethical and/or harms some member of the unsuspecting consuming public, be it a candidate or a business of any size. What should be done in a situation like this goes unanswered. Who holds this representative of the employment industry accountable for their malfeasance is a matter that goes silently into the dark of night.

Using Mammone as a Barometer

With many interruptions, I've been reading the Mammone case where the court performs its analysis by discussing one case on which plaintiff heavily relied in arguing that he should not have been fired, Garrity. The court says of Garrity, ". . . we conclude that Garrity applies to all employment discrimination cases brought . . ., regardless of the type of handicap underlying the workplace misconduct . . ."

The court looked very carefully at Garrity and discussed the circumstances that brought that case under judicial review. It seems Mammone should not have chosen Garrity as his key argument. Although the reading of the above cite seems to support the argument that a person with a handicap is protected, it reasoned in just the opposite manner. The description was:

Garrity suffered from alcoholism. As part of her employment, she was asked to distribute "chits" to passengers, which could be exchanged for free drinks during flight. When some passengers declined the chits, Garrity, irresistibly compelled by her disease, kept them for herself. After her shift, she boarded a United Airlines flight, paying a significantly reduced employee fare. On the flight, Garrity exchanged the chits for free drinks, "became intoxicated and began drawing attention to herself and to the fact that she was a United Airlines employee." . . . Garrity "demanded excessive service and attention" and complained to and in front of passengers "about how United 'screws us.'" . . . United Airlines terminated Garrity for "violating company policies by accepting 'drink chits' from customers, using those chits while flying on a United pass . . . and for becoming intoxicated" while on the flight.

The court spoke of right to terminate in a situation where there is workplace misconduct (emphasis supplied) and said in one of its citations,

("'[A]n employer . . . must be permitted to terminate its employee on account of egregious misconduct, irrespective of whether the employee is handicapped.' . . . [A] handicapped employee who engages in conduct significantly inimical to the interests of his employer and in violation of the employer's rules . . . is not a 'qualified handicapped person' within the meaning of G. L. c. 151B").

What Manner of Enforcement Where There Is No Employer

In the Garrity case, as with Mammone and Sista, there was an employer, a business, that had in place a code of conduct and could enforce the letter of the employee handbook by terminating the employee for going against the rules. However, a solo practitioner has no such rule book. And if they are not a member of any of the various employment industry associations, they have nothing except their conscience to hold them to any standard of good conduct. In a situation where there is misconduct -- of any type -- who should enforce the rules of conduct?

A Possible Model

The Direct Selling Association has a Code of Ethics that is quite comprehensive. It includes a definition of how to file a complaint for misconduct and the procedure to be used in that instance. If there are any other Codes that have similar provisions, I'd like to know of them. But that's the Direct Selling Association and not any of the employment (or recruiting and staffing) organizations. Still, sales has such a common denominator in regard to recruiting, it makes one wonder why the DSA's code was not used as a model by any of SHRM, NAPS, CPS, or ASA.

Online Conduct and Representation of Industry

Additionally, there is online life. The sole practitioner has a unique space in the employment industry. They are a representative of their own self. Simultaneously, they are a representative of the industry. Although there are times when it seems as though we are simply a lone individual sitting quietly with our thoughts, of one sort or another, in front of a computer, that is not really the case. It may seem we can say and do whatever we want. It is very easy to forget that although we keyboard our words in the solitude of our home office at our computer, the words are going out to the Web where however we conduct ourselves is a matter of public knowledge and scrutiny. We are our own representative, creating our own brand and reputation. And where that repesentation is harmful to the standards of the industry, who steps in and enforces its rules?

But that question presumes that there is an industry standard, a norm, a bar that is held at a certain elevation and everyone in the industry is aware of it, is trained about it, is held to that standard in their doing all manner of business, and completely understand that standard and course of doing business.

Perhaps we should just avert our eyes when one in the employment industry deviates from what is our personal standard of conduct. Unfortunately, that act is a form of tacit confirmation of behavior. It's feeding and rewarding misconduct. But then, if we reward and commend egregious behavior, are we then changing the standards by which industry "professionals" should be held? After all, leading by example is a very real management concept that is used in all forms of life.

When the Teens Grow Up

I just found a link to a site called Delete Cyberbullying. It's related to McGruff, the take a bite out of crime dog. The discussion relates to cyberbullying as a teen phenomenon. Okay. I'll allow that cyberbullying has a higher incidence among the teen population by virtue that they are online more than adults and are in chat rooms and using IM far more frequently than adults.

But the age of majority throughout the United States is 18 years. In some states, it's lower. In many states, it should be much higher. Oh, I guess that relates to Emotional Intelligence, which is an entirely different subject and concept altogether. The point is, eventually those teens reach the age of majority and venture into the workforce. As time passes, somehow these former teen bullies manage to stumble and finesse their ways into management positions. However, their bullying habits have traveled with them and been visited on many along the path to today's point in time. Some are now discussion board bullies (whether they want to believe it or not) and some are abusive managers.

Too bad McGruff doesn't have any suggestions about what adults can do to control the destructive patterns of adult bullies. However, they do have a white paper that highlights findings of a Harris Poll study and is called Cyberbullying Executive Summary-2007. That's a good first step. And the full report (Teens and Cyberbullying) is something that will require extrapolation and analogy (of which all we adult professionals are capable) but is well defined and lends us additional explanation of what can be done about our bullies of whatever age.

Resources:

• Positive Change through Policy
  
• Positive Change Through Policy: Hate Crimes
  
• Law Enforcement, Race, and Reconciliation in Washington State (PDF format)
  

Drawing on a Point

Earlier this month, I talked about the major resistance that the recruiting population expressed at seeing analogies in politics compared with corporate and recruiting matters. There was one small voice among the shouters, amid the threats and bullying, that acknowledged that politics do have an impact on the direction in which our economy is headed and their impact on job market numbers. One voice out of nearly 50 is such a pitiful showing. (I weary myself with those musings.)

There's an article on today's AOL that seems to drive home, in exquisite form, why the Bush press conference has so much significance in regard to jobs and employment, especially in relation to the direction in which the economy is headed.

American Optimism at New Low, Poll Finds talks about the matter that is affecting men and women, blacks (actually, minorities of all colors) and whites. The survey indicators continue to plummet. One of the reasons why is because people are seeing that their financial security, job opportunities, and other things related to offshore spending rather than reinvesting in America are shortchanging everyone's viability.

The other thing people are seeing is that too much time is being spent on a situation (Iraq) that is not a domestic issue. Still another and even more compelling fault cited is poor leadership.

The reason women and minorities express concern and disdain for current policies, according to the AP article, is "numbers for women and minorities result largely because both groups tend to be more Democratic, less supportive of the war and more vulnerable to economic downturns, analysts say."

The latter is the essential reason. The article does an excellent job of fair reporting by virtue of the fact that interviewees who were cited are from both major parties, one even noted as being a conservative Republican, but still expressing the same dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately, this month's survey was of a scant 1,000 respondents over a three-day period. While 300 people per day is a good number, it is difficult for 1,000 to be a truly accurate sampling of a few billion in national population. Still, this survey has been running since 2003. The statisticians are using a good margin for error number and the results are steady. The numbers compare and contrast to others used in similar surveys. Thus, I would say even though the sampling is small, it is reliable, realistic and deserves our attention to the issues called into question.

Evaluating the Evaluator

There are times when we need to either evaluate a candidate before extending an offer or do a reference check on them in order to learn what others who have experience in working or interacting with them have determined about the person's character and personality. These are people whose observations have validity. Were this not the case, they would not hold the positions that they do or they would not have been offered as a reference. Some positions are so sensitive, have so much public interaction and focus that a psychological evaluation may even be appropriate. So we send the candidate to take a psychological assessment and rely on the clinical results.

Sometimes we get feedback from these experts that is unexpected. We're startled when we learn from a previous manager that the candidate seemed lazy and unreliable, had a propensity to speak in unbridled terms. Or an associate tells of incidents wherein the candidate seems to have an over-inflated sense of self. And the psychologist reports that the candidate has strange, repressed ideations.

Given the events of Virginia Tech, it's wise to take these evaluations seriously. But it is also wise to take the words with a grain of salt and question assessments that are 180 degrees in opposition to what was observed during the several in-person interview sessions. It is entirely possible that the evaluator is the one who is flawed, not the candidate.

In providing this counsel, it is given with quite a number of experiences and reliable references. But let us do this examination in a disciplined manner. Dr. Sam Vaknin is an expert on narcissism and in psychology. He discusses the lack of reliability of mental health evaluations that are offered by those who are essentially not qualified to dispense them but nevertheless do so. Says, Dr. Sam, "Mental health professionals are human. Many of them suffer from mental disorders. Many of them chose their profession simply in order to to be able to cope with their own deficiencies and problems."

Dr. Splash

Indeed, there was one psychiatrist (who we will call "Dr. Splash") suffered from various deficiencies and regularly inflicted them on patients, staff, and contractors. In order to live up to Doctor's expectations and gain his approval, the staff would adopt his flair for saying work was done in slipshod fashion and he should not be required to pay full price. Or that the work was not delivered on time, therefore, he should not be required to pay expedited processing fees.

As time passed, the truth of the matter became clear. Doctor sent out work done in a sloppy manner that required three to four times as much effort as usual. Doctor's evaluations were questionable but his position caused staff to second guess theirselves and fall back on bad decisions that resulted in costly mistakes, delays, or needless duplication of effort. Doctor would intentionally phrase things in such a fashion that would cast a negative pall on the person being evaluated.

The question of patient impropriety arose. Doctor's association with the truth began to be questioned. Professional colleagues would affirm that they knew him but would thereafter become silent.

Of this sort of mental health professional, Dr. Sam says, "Unfortunately, some of them are not sufficiently conscientious. They engage in the delicate art of therapy long before they overcome their own problems.

"They bring their problematic, even sick, selves into the therapeutic setting and, in doing so, they aggravate the patient's issues."

In fact in the example of Dr. Splash, exacerbating his own problems as well as those of his patients was routine. Since he operated his own practice, there was no one to actually supervise his work. His habits created profound insecurities in nearly everyone associated with him. Although I am unaware of the end of Dr. Splash's story, it seems his practices became so widespread that he eventually drove himself out of business. His record became very obvious and people learned to hold him to firm quality standards that had no room for equivocation.

Again, let me refer this examination to the explanations of Dr. Sam wherein he says, "Analysts are supposed to work to solve their own problems prior to practicing. Therapists are supposed to work under supervision and to refer and defer to these supervisors. An outside perspective is often very helpful to them. But not all therapists and psychiatrists adopt these professional standards and work methods." In the case of Dr. Splash, he had the professional backup of those associated with Medi-Cal and Medi-Care as well as other industry and professional associations. It was the state and federal agencies that began to see the flaws in his practice.

Dr. Splish

Dr. Splish is also a noted psychologist. His specialty is in personality assessments and he has published some very interesting pronouncements. It was interesting to review some of the tests and assessments he has prepared. A casual reading revealed nothing outrageous. In fact, everything seemed to fall into a very reasonable sequence. But that was the problem. Without doing any critical reading of the assessments, the fact that the questions were skewed and structured in such a way that they actually exhibited bias in many instances that tended to disqualify candidates of color.

The other interesting thing about Dr. Splish is his propensity to perform unsolicited psychological and psychiatric evaluations of people over the phone. It has been indicated that he shares these evaluations with others who have relied on the information to make business decisions about associations with the individuals who were unsuspectingly evaluated.

As with Dr. Splash, Dr. Splish suffers from a number of unresolved insecurities. They are revealed in small snippets of rueful statements splattered here and there during conversation. It sometimes seems as though he uses his negative evaluations as a tool to lash out at those who he perceives to be outdistancing him and thereby compensate for what Dr. Sam has called "insecurities." With this revelation, you have to wonder whether it is actually safe to come in contact with Dr. Splish at all, much less rely on his evaluations. It is safe, but only in small doses and for a limited amount of time. The heart of dealing with him effectively is to draw a standard that must be met and not equivocate on the bar. Remind him that there is a standard. Acknowledge expertise and valid insight when appropriate and thank him.

How to Handle the Evaluation

What we should learn from the examples of Dr. Splash and Dr. Splish is that not all psychologists or psychiatrists, even those with long lists of letters and professional associations after (or associated with) their names should be looked to as ones who dispense gospel. There is one example of a sound psychological / psychiatric professional I have found. Noted for his work as the foresic psychiatrist in the "Son of Sam" case, Dr. Jay Ziskin's words stand the test of critical evaluation. He is incisive and has no axe to grind. He deals with the facts and disciplined principles and uses them to provide an accurate assessment.

What this means for us as we look to mental health experts for information relating to hiring decisions is we need to listen carefully to what is being said. We need to ask questions when the evaluation does not match what we have already seen. We should not be enamored with the person's credentials. Rather we should also be evaluating the one who is speaking in order to determine whether they have some type of bias, whether they are capable of making an impartial determination based on proven standards. We should make an attempt to ascertain whether the person who has performed the evaluation had authorization to do so. Finally, it is very important that we determine whether the evaluator comes to us with a solid foundation and has used reliable industry resources to validate their work. We should not be afraid to seek a second opinion.

Human Resource Library: Administration & Policies

Undoing the Talent Crisis

Who said this is the last year that Ms. Foundation will produce Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day? The radio news reader must have made a mistake. There are arguments for not allowing our 9- to 15-year-old youth to go to a real, live, working office for one day each year. And the arguments run the gamut from mere excuse for missing school, not sufficiently structured to give a real slice of business life, too many risks and corporate liabilities, to attendees are too young to grasp what’s happening.

There’s this buzz in the recruiting community that a talent crisis is imminent. By 2010 (or is it 2017?) we will no longer have a college (or even high school) graduating class that’s capable of critical thinking, able to process information and come up with accurate assessment of it, theorize and draw analogies. There’s shrieking in the industry that the employable numbers are shrinking and completely insufficient to replace the retiring Baby Boomers.

What I say is these are merely shrieks of lazy recruiting Chicken Littles. Actually, several years ago I studied the numbers of our high school graduates and population growth. Both are holding quite strong and steady. There is no decline. What is in decline, however, is the number who are capable of doing good training and who are disciplined enough to explain various nuances in order to develop the skills and talents that are needed for the future jobs.

In Keeping with the History

The history of TOD/SWD is long and admirable. Originating in opening the options for young girls and allowing them the freedom to aspire to leadership in a corporation, the day (due to social pressures) opened itself to being inclusive of boys. Both genders need to be able to evaluate what their future work options are. By exploring these options together, they also level the playing field and open the table to dialogue about the similar challenges and how they can be managed. It is also a time when both genders can see things not as a “him against her” battle. Instead, it is a time when both can consider how to develop the communication and relationship skills so desperately needed for a fully diverse and functional organization.

Early Adopters

University of Pennsylvania grabbed onto the idea of activities for the day and stepped it up a notch or so. It’s a day when business can take advantage of doing something about the emergency shriek of Talent Crisis advent in 2010. Not many businesses have internship programs for youth of these ages. Child labor laws prevent most of those in the 9 to 15 years age brackets from working. But here is the opportunity to make this fourth Thursday of April a time when mentors can develop their initial relationships. Managers can allow job shadowing. And youth can get a feel for what the real workplace is about.

The perpetual objection to Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (TOD/SWD) is the youth will see this as a day to skip school. From some of the plans laid out by a few businesses, the youth may as well do so rather than collate and staple sheaves of paper. Yet, in addition to University of Pennsylvania, University of Illinois at Chicago (in 2000) had some compelling content to offer its participating adults and youth. Stanford’s WorkLife Office also had the right idea in 1998. Maybe your office has some great tweaks on all of this. But here are some suggestions for the day.

Learning Modules

This is a day when a manager and their job shadowing youth can actually get involved in the grist of what it takes to run that part of the business. A situation arises, the two discuss the details of it. In Socratic mode, the pair work through the various alternatives in dealing with it: why one method will be successful, why another will not, and why yet another may be the optimal or a second choice. Then, together, they can determine which step to take. If there is time (that is, by the end of the day), the youth can see the result of their decision making and implementation.

The youth can be involved in telephone conversations and conferences so that they may get the sense of how many are part of the routine day and what is involved in these types of conversations. Before some are started, it would be a good idea to outline how a good conversation should be structured, what is included, the style of language, what’s complete taboo. Likewise with telephone conferences. Here, there is a definite outline and youth should be apprised of this so that they do not have the impression that these are off the cuff telephone calls with a little more splash.

Critical Thinking Challenges

Cheating would be where there is an emergency and the adult assumes complete control of the situation to the exclusion of the youth. Emergencies are the training fodder. Keep the youth involved, talk through the steps. Ask what they believe should be done next and why they have reasoned in that manner. Develop critical thinking skills. Verify, explain what the typical outcome will be and why it is good or not. The adult just may learn from the youth’s feedback. Explain which choice will be implemented. Watch for the results.

Reporting

Proof of the job shadowing and learning process is simple and can be a lesson for the entire class. Have the ones who did job shadowing write a report on what they did for the day. The report should have certain required content so that it is standard and not as prone to subjective grading.

That report can then turned into an oral presentation to the most relevant class. Youth will then field questions and provide answers about the business, what they saw, how things worked, whether they would work in that industry with their new knowledge of the actual workplace compared with stylized presentations from other places.

The Beginning of a Career

Ah, good old TOD/SWD! A time to ready our new workforce for the challenges and actually share with them the joy we derive from our livelihood challenges. A time to explain why we do what we do and why we opted for that. It’s a time to lead another into the fold.

This is the opportunity of a lifetime. If we plan for these annual events, we can develop the skills to prepare a meaningful intern program. Growing from that, a good training regimen can be developed. Managers can begin to discipline themselves to explain processes and build teams who collaborate in developing product for clients and consumers. We’ll watch ourselves growing the qualified talent from the cradle to the official first day. What an impact!

This couldn’t possibly be the last year Ms. Foundation is going to produce Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.


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Analogies and Conversations with the CEO

It was on April 4, 2007 that President Bush held a press conference. He did many Bush-like things. But added to the mix at this press conference were some additional nuances that brought to mind holding this situation as analogous to instances when there are blatant signs that someone needs to take the CEO aside and have a very matter-of-fact conversation about succession planning. Immediate succession planning should be the subject of the conversation, or in the alternative, removal.

It was obvious that this is a sensitive conversation that should be broached by someone on a similar level. But when the situation is obvious to all who are part of the communication, who is the right person to start the ball rolling? Should the principal officer in HR seek out the most senior director or EVP? Should one of the recruiters broach the subject with one of these people? It’s a difficult situation and these are difficult questions to answer.

Perhaps that is why there was such balking on ERE.net when the situation was posed to the minds there. Not only was there resistance to facing the situation, there was refusal to see the analogy. Even more ridiculous was the posting of comments that were completely off the topic and reported on the current price of gasoline in a particular location.

What also ensued from the community of employment workers were flaming statements, attacks, threats, insults, demeaning and defamatory comments and insinuations.

Indeed, there are some subjects that are very difficult to swallow. More recent analogies were not available this day. Patricia Dunn’s sins were more recent but not as similar to the matter being addressed. The only other examples that still come to mind are those of Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, Arthur Andersen, et al. These examples of CEOs gone very wrong hail back to 2002. And in this regard, the person who most notably went against the grain was Sherron Watkins.

The discussion post to ERE employment workers was a gesture to hear others’ thoughts about how to handle such a touchy situation. It began with fair and accurate reportage in order to set the stage. Then it proposed to look at the matter as one in a corporate scenario and asked how it should be handled and by whom. The brief discussion post is below.

Bush held a press conference yesterday and made some averments regarding our troops and his intentions if Congress doesn't do what he says he wants in regard to the troops deployed in the Iraq and Iran wars. In recent months, news analysts and commentators are finally admitting that Bush simply ignores facts and barrels ahead with what he wants to do irrespective of what is the best or better option, in spite of advice and counsel, in spite of public opinion both domestic and abroad. He feels he is exempt and above all the rules. He seems determined to bend the rules to his designs and satisfaction instead of seeing that the rules set some limits on even the President.

But during the press conference, Bush did something that was an undeniable verification that he is out of touch with at least a small amount of reality. One of the reporters asked him about gasoline prices. Bush began spouting some type of answer that was incongruous with reality. A member of the press corps asked him if he knew how much gasoline costs these days. "$2.50 a gallon," was his response. There was a hiccupped laugh throughout the room.

Fortunately, Bush realized immediately that his answer was very far out of line. He tap danced a cover. Gasoline prices are regional and taking the average of all prices across the nation, gas costs $2.50 a gallon. The reporters recognized the covered embarrassment, stopped laughing, and resumed taking notes and asking other questions.

Bush has no clue what the prevailing price of gasoline is. [He] is oblivious to the fact that it is approaching $4 per gallon.

Let's look to Bush as an example of a Fortune 500 CEO. When you realize the CEO is self-motivated as opposed to making decisions based on the welfare of the corporation, its shareholders' interests, and the welfare of its workforce; when the CEO is oblivious to industry demands; when the CEO has lost touch with economic pressures and industry prices -- and it's obvious to everyone -- who should step in and talk with the CEO about stepping down, assigning his/her role to someone else?

It seems to me this is a job for another executive officer, not the corporate recruiter nor for the most senior level officer in HR.

Was this the wrong question to ask or just the wrong audience? What I later discovered was having gone through some of this analysis several years ago, before Enron et al. were part of the news wherein there was an analysis of

• Terminations That Save Face
• Survivor: Managing Company Downsizing
• Executive Candidates: Still Consider Doing a Background Check, and then
• Performance Reviews and Ratings for C-Workers

Given these thoughts, you are now challenged to answer the two questions.

Additional Resources:

• Going Against the Grain
• A prophet of loss
• Enron Fired Workers for Complaining Online
• AAA - Gas Prices Idle Near Records

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Where Does Money Come From?

Those of you who are parents (or aunts or uncles) have probably heard the question from the youngster on the order of, "Where do babies come from?"

You look around the room, blink a bit, speculate about how far back in the process you should go or whether you should just gloss over the entire thing, a la stork story, and then seize on a direction and follow it.

How many youngsters ask, "Where does money come from?" or "How do we keep all of this stuff we have here?" or while in the store, "Can we pay/afford this?"

Where does money come from?

We talk about the trained workforce, the one that asks the critical questions and either knows the answers or else knows how to find them. But do they have a sense of cost of business and economics? It appears to our youth (and some adults, as well) have the impression that money is simply pulled out of the air. If it's needed, it will appear from some invisible source and line the bank account. The impression is also that they believe those who have it (money) have an ever-lasting supply of it.

What's disheartening is that even when the "deep pockets" says there is no budget (or sponsor, or funds), the words seem to be brushed off like a bad case of dandruff. The overuse, misuse, and cavalier depletion continues. The appearance is that there is an acclimation to having wants and demands catered to without heed to the sacrifices necessary to accommodate the unearned reward. Unfortunately, they are oblivious to the evidence of sacrifice; the demands and expectations simply continue or increase.

Where does money come from?

More importantly, we need to develop a future workforce that is mindful of the answer and appreciates what it takes to earn the revenue. Actually, the development needs to start at a time that is not somewhere in the future. The development can and should start now, today, with our present workforce. And it is entirely possible to do this without allocating funds and time for a tremendous training program.

It's too simple. It's a bit like the purloined letter.

Each supervisor has a team of workers. The team should be made aware of what the goal is and what it costs to make goal and still have a profit. Where project profit is not easily measured because it's loading or packing widgets, there's another solution to encouraging time efficiency and therefore profitability. Structure some type of informal competition to measure who can pack the most within a certain time frame without incurring an injury. Then focus on those members' exceeding their personal best. Delta Environmental Consultants seems to have gotten the formula with their development and retention strategies.

There have been companies that were about to go under. Delta Airlines is a prime example of that situation. Rather than lose their jobs, the employees rallied. They focused on where the costs were and what it would take to save the company. The employees decided to become the owners. The result: the employees are still keeping the planes in the air and the customers happy. The employees are making some tough choices under sensitive circumstances. But they're still flying. The point is, the employees developed an appreciation of where the money comes from and how to make it stretch to cover the needs, make a profit, and not kill the cash cow. Rather, they need to learn how to make their department the cash cow.

With proper on-the-job training that includes cost and profit awareness, efficiency, appreciation of goodwill, and the importance of repeat business, it is definitely possible for us to reverse the forecast of a qualified talent drought in 2010. Any one of them will be able to answer the question, "Where does money come from?"

training, value of money, value of time, organizational development,
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The Jobster Question

Last week I talked with Jason Davis. "I'm planning to write something about the Jobster layoffs after I've researched the subject. You won't take offensse or feel like I'm making a personal attack if I do so, correct?" We agreed that I have the right to do my work without concern for retribution from those who suffer paranoia.

So I went into reporter mode for a few minutes and probed for a good quote. "How do you feel about this news coming out that Jobster is going to lay off so many people?" Jason is great. There wasn't a second's hesitation. He went straight for the answer, "I hate to see anyone lose their job," was his reply. Good PR answer. Good answer. Whether someone coached him on what to say if asked or whether he's been through this probe so much that he's primed to respond in such manner, it was the right answer to have.

In striving to collect the facts, in searching the Web for the news of what's going on at Jobster, I discovered there's lots of blogging (which, as far as I'm concerned, is opinion), a couple of snippets here and there of information, and little else. So I'm still left the way I started. I have opinion, observation, and conclusions based on the same.

Sometime during the summer, John Sumser wrote about Jobster and its lack of identity. He essentially commented that the business seemed to morph at various, continuous junctures. To ask "What is Jobster?" or "What does Jobster do?" was to ask an unanswerable question. No one had an answer and they sort or (literally) tap danced away before getting to any point. As the company took on and absorbed (or merged or acquired) another business, it could arguably be said that they were in that business. But they were not. Over the past two years (that is, from 2004 to 2006), I've asked a few of the company's representatives to talk with the Los Angeles Metro Recruiting Network during either one of their monthly online meetings or else at one of the quarterly live meetings. Each representative sort of disappeared and a substitute had to be found. It isn't clear if that means during those periods they had no identity and rather than admit as much, they simply chose to not speak.

Whatever the case, Sumser and I agree. It's difficult to say what Jobster's identity is. How can an outsider define them when the internals can not? So it shouldn't be a surprise that Jobster is talking about profitability for 2007 and layoffs of 41 people, looking for C-level replacements, and doing maneuvers that indicate restructuring.

some of the current barbs about Jobster relate to the corporate attitude. This also seems to be a pretty consistent observation. The evaluation that comes up most is the smugness of the people, from the top, down. When you're a start-up, it's healthy to have a lot of confidence in order to have the strength to carry on through difficult situations. There's a delicate balance between confidence and smugness. It's better to err on the side of humble and accommodating in order to retain goodwill, customer relations, and public appeal. But the criticism is there and to some extent, it is verifiably legitimate. There's time to fix that.

So what does Jobster have to offer that sets it apart from others? I decided to give them a test drive. I signed up for an account. Pretty snazzy site. Very clean looking. A few places where you stumble. Interesting attributes. It is a social networking site. It appears its focus is creating a profile so that the passive job seeker can connect with viable opportunities and the active job seeker can connect even more readily.

It is possible to create your profile of interests, location, contact information. You can upload your resume. You can connect with others on the site by sending an invitation to network. Here, Jobster is very much on top of their job. They have their employees connect with new registrants to say they want to connect. But when you have four Jobster employees invite you to network in three to five days and no one else contacts you within two to three weeks, the likelihood of this being a good place for results begins to dim.

The list of potential employers who are connected to the site is short. Some, such as the L.A. Times, are going through major layoffs. Some are relatively unknown. That is actually a positive because there won't be as many people inundating the employer with resumes and queries. What is left is to do the proper research.

Getting oriented in the community was interesting. There were questions that could be answered that were basically like questions fielded at a cocktail party. They were not from anyone in particular. They were simply questions randomly spat out at the user by the algorithms of the site. Unfortunately, the questions didn't have a lot of relevance to disclosing significant things about the user. Most likely no one cares how meticulously I keep house or scrub my pots and pans. I doubt that whether I listened to any music yesterday will make me better at something or worse at it. What I'm saying is the questions were a little senseless. I lost interest in responding to them after reading about four. There are hundreds.

My experience with the trial membership was around early November. I cancelled my membership after three weeks or so. That was also interesting. There's no way to cancel the account. But the person who responded to my "Help" request was polite. They wanted to be certain that I truly wanted to cancel the account and assured me that I was more than welcome to return at any time in the future. I like people who are polite and efficient.

During Blog Swap I, Jason (as in Goldberg) contacted me for some comments that were to be used on his blog. There was a timely response from all of those he solicited. Mine got lost. I resubmitted. It never got published. It appears my response was too much of the same as others. But that's something that starts to impact users of a networking site -- lack of responsiveness. If the pattern continues and over a protracted period of time, you get back to the impression of smugness and that there's little to no value in the connection or the person.

When there are no answers about what a company does, it begins to appear that there's a reason for the secretiveness other than lack of information and an accurate focus. When there are no answers, the spectre of being untrustworthy rises. If there were initial questions in the back of the mind of one who is not popular with the site, then their discomfort begins to be confirmed, even if inaccurately so. One can preach and shout "transparency" all the day long but when there are no answers, there is no transparency. Try the adjective "occult" instead.

We are struggling to survive one of the worst economic depressions in the last 75 years. I still call it the New Millennium Depression. Our President keeps manipulating our economic tools in order to create a false recovery. Thus, we are continuously struggling to make the best of being survivors of the Dot Com Bust. Just when you think you've got things under control, like yeast bread, something pops out somewhere else. In this regard, I'd say Jobster is going through a spontaneous start with little planning. It's been changing course at many junctures in order to find its niche. And in the process, it's been spending.

It's time for the start-up to grow up. It's time for the start-up to stretch through adolescence. I believe it will get its bearings. Meanwhile, at least one worried employee attests to having found the best employer they've ever had. No doubt they'll be able to repeat that accomplishment many times over and in short order.

Jobster, corporate evolution, corporate identity, layoffs, restructuring,


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