Holiday Best Practices and Experiences

For most people it’s the holiday season, and the HR forums are filled with posts asking, “What should we do for our employees this holiday season?” or, “How does your organization celebrate the holiday season?”  The replies to these posts are diverse.  A few organizations avoid holiday celebrations in order to avoid disparate impact claims from employees.  Many organizations create teams of employees to plan and implement holiday activities, sponsor food drives for local homeless shelters, or allow each department to organize potlucks and gift exchanges. 
 
My favorite employer-sponsored event was the “adopt a school” event in which the company adopted a nearby elementary or high school, erected a Christmas tree in the location's main lobby, and asked children to create “wish list” ornaments.  The ornaments indicated the child’s gender, age, and what the child wanted for Christmas.  Employees were encouraged to voluntarily pick an ornament, buy one or two items on the child’s wish list, wrap the gift(s), and place the gift(s) under the Christmas tree.  I was surprised to find that many of my Islamic, Wiccan, atheist, Buddhist, and Jewish co-workers participated in the event and found it as touching as I did.  It was hard not to be moved by the children’s wish list items because they were surprisingly practical.  Most of the wish lists included school supplies, clothes, coats, and one or two specific toys/games. 

For example, the last time I participated in an “adopt a school” event, I chose an ornament designed by a seven-year old girl who asked for size 2 shoes, crayons, pencils, and a Fairy Princess Barbie.  Not only did she get the shoes, crayons, pencils, and a Fairy Princess Barbie; she also got the Fairy Princess's unicorn, several Barbie outfits, and a child-size Fairy Princess Barbie outfit because it seemed unfair to me when I was a child her age that Barbie got all of the “nice” outfits. 

On that note, I’d like to ask you to share some of your best practices and experiences with regard to observing the holidays in your organization.  What works for your organization, and why do you think it works?

Thank you for sharing, and have a wonderful holiday season!

Terms of Employee Engagement

The face of human resources is changing. Gone are the days when lower-level employees would mentally hum the “Darth Vader theme" when a HR associate entered the room, or imagined HR as a group of axe-wielding ogres who were drooling over the thought of terminating employees. Today we work as liaisons between employees and management; delicately balancing the needs of the organization with the needs of its employees. As a profession, we have our own buzzwords to keep up with the times; we “select” candidates instead of hire, our duties are “transitional” rather than transactional, we must now “brand” our recruitment activities to gain a “competitive advantage,” and we firmly believe that “employee engagement” is the key to a successful organization. As a student, I find myself frequently using Google to discover the true definition of these terms, and I have observed many of my classmates using the term “employee engagement” synonymously with employee happiness and satisfaction; which lead me to ask, “What exactly is employee engagement?” and “How does an organization achieve this?”

Google led me to an issue of Forbes on the subject where I discovered that employee happiness and satisfaction are not synonymous with employee engagement; in fact, Forbes  defined it as, “... the emotional commitment an employee has to the organization and goals.” Reading the article led me to another interesting conclusion; employee happiness and satisfaction can lead to employee engagement, and employee engagement can lead to employee happiness and satisfaction... I know that when I felt pride in the work I did and the organization I was employed by, I was happy and satisfied; also, when I felt happy and satisfied about the work I performed, I felt pride in my work and the organization I worked for. Why did I feel this way? I understood my place in the organization, I was confident in leadership’s decisions, I liked my co-workers, I was recognized and rewarded for my efforts, and I had the tools I needed to succeed. 

A report published by PeopleMetrics confirmed my experiences by listing the eight drivers of employee engagement as purpose, trust, growth, fun, customer focus, recognition, resources, and rewards.

With an understanding of what employee engagement is and what drives it, the question of, “How do we achieve it?” remains. Assuming that an organization’s culture supports the aforementioned drivers and is selecting candidates who are willing to be engaged, I turned for suggestions to my findings from a human resources information systems course I recently attended and my colleagues on a HR forum I frequent.  

When this question was posed in the HRIS class, my first instinct was to look to the social media technology that makes many organizations and HR personnel cringe because of the ethical, security, and time theft issues surrounding this technology.  Why? Because we have a new generation of individuals entering the boardroom and the workforce that uses this technology to interact with the world around them, and they have wants and needs that must be met. 

To overcome objections regarding ethics, security, and time theft, I turned once again to Google and found several HRIS vendors that offer "social HRIS." The software has the same features as traditional HR systems, but also helps track employee goal achievement, recognizes employees, encourages and tracks career development, enables employees to communicate and collaborate, and provides the resources that employees need all in one place. Along this train of thought, one of my colleagues suggested free online collaboration tools which enable employees to communicate in real-time and post status updates.

A second method several colleagues suggested was holding a talent show. A talent show allows employees to meet and interact, it recognizes that employees have abilities that may not normally be used in the workplace, it recognizes that employees have lives outside of work, and it gives all employees a chance to participate; whether they are on the committee that organizes the event, a performer, or a member of the audience.

A third method is to use the organization’s performance appraisal process. One of my favorite call center employers used their weekly quality monitoring meetings to encourage employees to discuss their career objectives, set goals to achieve those objectives, receive feedback from supervisors, be recognized for goal achievement, give supervisors feedback about what they could do to help employees achieve goals, and supervisors would often call upon employees’ co-workers with expertise in certain areas to provide support to employees who were struggling with certain concepts. Sometimes a high-five from a supervisor or co-worker is more meaningful than a material reward.

The bottom line is this: While social networking on the company’s intranet, online collaboration tools, talent shows, or performance appraisal processes all contribute to employee engagement, these things alone do not support employee engagement. If an organization selects candidates who are unwilling to be engaged or if the organizational culture restricts any of these drivers, all of the talent shows and technology in the world will not help to improve employee engagement.  

Forbes. (2011, June). What is employee engagement. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/06/22/employee-engagement-what-and-why/ 

PeopleMetrics. (2011). Employee engagement trends report. http://www.peoplemetrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2011-Employee-Engagement-Trends-Report_PeopleMetrics.pdf 

Expanding the View

It's that time. The time to stop trying to be all things to all people and consultants. And as with the question posed to Nancy Pelosi today, it's time to start grooming burgeoning talent.

So it's with great joy that I'd like to introduce you to a new voice on The Consultant's Desk. Charity Rowell is a DeVry undergrad earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Her focus is on Human Resource Administration and her talents are many. Her perceptions are strong. She does excellent research and is well spoken. In addition to all of that, she goes the extra mile when formulating a response by collecting the information that is needed for a reliable and accurate response.

I've asked her to share with us the knowledge she gains from her studies so that we may move forward with new perspectives of what is currently being taught in terms of progressive principles, theories, and practices in Human Resources and consulting.

If a concept is not clear, please come here and ask Charity to explain it. Definitely enjoy the voice of future trends in professionalism, Human Resources, and consulting. Join her as she takes a seat at the Board conference table.

All in the Course of a Day

The editor of SmartPros put out a call to her readers two weeks before the anniversary of September 11, 2001. SmartPros asked its readers to share their thoughts on how they will spend the one year anniversary of 9/11, and we received some wonderful letters.

In a note that preceded the publication of the messages that arrived in response to the call, the editor said, "Sept. 11, 2002 -- Perhaps you will be as surprised as we were by the varied responses: an emotional tribute to a firefighter, a political commentary, a letter from a man who will be on active duty on this 9/11 anniversary, flashbacks to one year ago, and a dose of 'business as usual.'"

The shock of those events still haunted my psyche and influenced the words that I chose to submit in response to the call. Today I not only share those thoughts with you but also solicit your input about what you were doing on September 11, 2001 and how you will be remembering that day.

All in the Course of a Day

September 11, 2001 awakened as any other day for a solo practitioner/consultant. The crush of work and administrative issues that were left undone impatiently waited for attention, with their new siblings - the To Do list for the new day.

One dawning news story was different from the rest. Although the newscaster reported that a plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers, there was something just not right about the report. It was surprising that the newscaster didn’t catch it. The site of the accident is extremely visible. The likelihood of not seeing the tower was like not seeing an elephant on a plain in Kansas.

In the time it took to register that thought the next one demanded an answer. Was that a passenger plane or a private one? If a passenger plane, this was as horrible an event as The Challenger.

Within the next 90 minutes, the toll of crashes and lost lives mounted as both towers crumbled and came crashing down on all humanity beneath and within them and as the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania added to the destruction toll. All those souls who went about doing their usual routine on a Tuesday morning. The carping about wages, hours, the difficult co-worker or supervisor. Attending to the mindless opening rituals of the day and fully expecting the workplace to be a safe environment, these people experienced an earthquake jolt in their sense of what and where is safe. Little did any of us anywhere appreciate the far-reaching ripple effects of the attacks on the World Trade Towers, the Pentagon, and the aborted attack on the White House.

But as a solo practitioner, there were appointments and projects that had real deadlines and penalties for missing them. So life was still business as usual - press on to meet the commitments and deliver.

As the day wore on, little resembled normal. Public transportation is my sole means of commuting. On September 11, transports seemed to take even longer than usual. At the first juncture, I finally gave up waiting for the bus and walked the uphill mile to deliver one document. The intention was to then speed my way to the downtown library to use the resources necessary for the project – the only place where those resources were available. I was stopped. The manager at the site informed me that bus service to downtown was terminated for the next several days and all of downtown was closed.

I was forced to slow down that day and take an even closer look at the humanity that passed around and about me, to listen more carefully to the stories these people told. Some were completely oblivious to the events and continued in their microbial worlds. Others sublimated. A hush hung over the city as people numbly waited, waited for some piece of reality that said none of these horrors had actually occurred.

For me, life and business could not stop and ponder any longer than taking lunch and walking back to my SOHO. Clients and businesses were still depending on my performance. Bills still needed to be paid, deadlines still needed to be met through alternative means.

As the ensuing weeks wore on, many considered whether there would be other attacks and projected the locations of the next likely sites. I stood on bus stops and waited in lobbies and wondered if I and my fellow waiting companions would become the next attack statistics. Victims merely because we happened to be standing where the shrapnel or debris fell to snuff out our lives as well.

Racial tensions took four ratchets up on the scale of intensity. A new class of people became targets. Hate and incendiary speech proliferated discussion boards and meetings, born of the shock that needed mitigation. My determination to create acceptance of diversity and others as individuals intensified.

In the end, everything has become part of the new reality. The United States tasted the bitter gunpowder of warfare in her own bosom and gained a new understanding of why some countries hate. Some ponder how there can be acceptance of living in a state of wondering from minute to minute, hour to hour, whether their home or workplace, school or shopping center will be the site of a missile that turns it into a shambled heap of debris and death. In the long run, we learned that it is impossible to live in that type of fear. United States citizens took a step into appreciating what that type of life is like. We were given an opportunity to identify with the issues of other countries gripped in the vice of warfare not only on their homeland but in their everyday lives. The reality is not comfortable. A means of surviving and overcoming the fear needs to be in place. Life has to keep going.

So, on September 11, 2002, there will be no planned observation of the day, no recollection. I’m still a solo practitioner and consultant. I still have deadlines and commitments that grow like bacilli in a Petri dish. September 11, 2002 will be a matter of getting as much done as possible in a day. It will be all things that are now normal in the course of a day.

- Yvonne La Rose

Additional Content of Interest:

• Workplace Safety Measures
  
• Talent Genius
  
• Leadership in Dangerous Situations: A Handbook for the Armed Forces, Emergency Services and First Responders
  

Diversity Inroads at the 2012 Olympics

It seems the USA Dream Team has super powers beyond the basketball court. As I listened to Bryant, Durant, and James being interviewed after helping the Team win a Gold Medal for their country, I heard them verbalizing what I was thinking, what I was saying to myself, what I have advocated for so long. They spoke of having respect for their competitors. They proclaimed the importance of focus on doing well in the sport and putting forth their best effort to win - for their country. They expressed the supremacy of being a professional in your field. And they demonstrated the veracity of their expressions with the gestures of appreciation extended to their competitors and their coaches.

That was what the Olympics was about in Great Britain. It was the exemplification of the standards we need to use to guide us in the execution of our daily lives as we work - and live. Using the focus that the Dream Team members exhort will deliver the best that can be achieved. It will also deliver the best price to be had.

However, it became clear on a daily basis that these Olympic games were groundbreaking for more than the World records that were broken and reset. This was an Olympics that was also a celebration of diversity. Starting with age and while not the oldest in the history of Olympic games, Japan's Hoketsu at age 71 was the oldest Olympic competitor (equestrian) this year. Likewise, the 39 year old Iovtchev of Bulgaria was the oldest male gymnast this year. He noted that had he not entered the competition, a great many in his country would have wound up unemployed. His presence helped to continue the Bulgarian gymnastics federation.

It was rumored that there was a woman over 50 who competed in gymnastics but I can find no record of such an entrant. Perhaps the rumor was about 86-year-old Johanna Quus but she was not an Olympics entrant. She performed at the Cottbus, Germany World competition. However, the women's beach volleyball team included three women, Jen Kessy, Misty May-Treanor, and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who are aged 35, 35, and 34, respectively.

Speaking of women, are you aware that women were not allowed to compete in the original Games? They sort of wrangled their way in. It took a few centuries for them to actually gain access to the field and legitimately vie in the competitions. They made it by the Nineteenth Century. These 2012 Games were the first in which women were represented in all national Olympic committee entries. This was the first time for Qatar, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia to have women in the games. Muslim women also made inroads. They pushed the barriers out of their way and succeeded in making striking accomplishments on the fields of competition and behind the scenes in planning and deveopment. This year the religious holiday of Ramadan fell directly in the midst of competition. Woroud Sawalha faced challenges of attire in addition to those of their sport and restrictions on where they could train. They made astounding victories in their own rights.

Then there were those who entered the Games and did not look like any of their competitors. Oscar Pistorius was the first athlete who is a double amputee to compete in and win the Men's qualifying 400M. Although a teammate took a fall during the Men's 4x400 qualifying heat that appeared to disqualify South Africa for that event, South Africa (his team) lodged a protest and was allowed to compete for a medal in that race. The men's team took no medals in either of his events.

Pistorius probably faced challenges as grueling as those endured by fellow countrywoman Semenya. The sweetness of victory was not kept from her. Semenya came from last in the Women's 800M to cross the finish line as a Silver Medalist.

Lest I be accused of overlooking youth, women's USA gymnast Gabby Douglas at age 16 was the first Black woman to win Gold in the the Women's Gymnastics and also helped her team to win the All Around Gold.

There's so much to say about these 2012 Olympic Games. However, it's time to take a breather. But many of the situations that arose is these Games brought back memories of bygone Games and competitors. Those will come in a little while.

Sponsored Link: The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2012 Edition

Management Consultants According to the Book

Although we've looked at the duties of a Consultant and considered when to use one, there was nothing that pointed our attention to the official Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) in order to get the official word on what a consultant does. So let's resolve the mystery. Let's turn to the OOH and get more information.

It helps to know where to find it. It's a publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Once you've reached the OOH page, you'll discover there are a lot of ways to explore occupational titles and classifications. You career coaches probably already know about the Handbook and use it to discuss career options with your clients. And during these horrid economic times (complete with lack of jobs in particular titles) you recruiters undoubtedly use it to help your clients discover alternatives to what used to be the right fit for their personnel.

Technology is changing many things. Demand for certain types of work as well as certain types of skills are just two examples.

But we have something specific in mind, a Consultant, so let's examine how to find that classification. We can go to the alphabetical index and select "C" in order to search for our term. Unfortunately, it only lists "Consultants, financial" and tells us to see "Personal Financial Advisors." That's not quite what we had in mind. We want information about a Management Consultant. Sometimes the best thing to do when the answer is too difficult to find is to use that trusty site search box. The Government's works very well; it provides us with quite a few titles that fit our query. The four that are closest are

• Management Analysts
  
• Operations Research Analysts
  
• Human Resources Managers
  
• Administrative Services Managers
  

Each of these titles is slightly different from the others and can sometimes simultaneously serve two or three of the roles defined by the OOH. Fortunately, there's also the last classification, Administrative Services Managers, that can be considered an outside specialist who performs more executive management services on a contract basis an could in many instances be a long-term relationship rather than provide ad hoc support.

The Human Resources Manager principally focuses their efforts on the matters connected with personnel issues. The Management Analyst could also be called the solutions person as they look at more of the internal issues that impact the company's overall financial status. Many times these issues derive from the same source. So it's important to carefully consider what needs to be addressed so that you can identify and retain the right type of specialist and carve out the terms of engagement that most accurately fit your needs.

There's more useful information in the OOH that will help guide you to more satisfying engagements. It's a good idea to explore it even in a limited way so that you have a good starting point for remedying your needs or counseling your clients.

Sponsored Link: The Rules of Management, Expanded Edition: A Definitive Code for Managerial Success (Richard Templar's Rules)

Facing the Facts

It's been more than 20 years since the revelatory incident happened. It drastically changed my opinion about me and the way I perceive things.

As I approached a store entrance, an attractive young man who appeared to be in his early to mid 20s pulled into a handicapped parking space. He was driving a new sports model car. By virtue of the fact that he killed the engine and readied himself to exit the vehicle, it was apparent he planned to remain in the spot and was not using it to gain access to another space.

I stopped as I passed him to share some information. "Excuse me. This is a handicapped parking space. You may want to park somewhere else," I advised.

"But I am handicapped," he replied.

It was an indelible experience. In that instant, it was obvious to both of us that I had a major prejudice that needed to be overcome; it was an attitude about those with handicaps that needed to be altered in a major way.

Other Views

Since then, I've encountered others who have not yet had that type of revelatory life experience and speak of the handicapped or disabled in condescending terms and judgmentally dismiss them as not capable of filling some type of vacancy because of their "handicap."

It was interesting to listen to the executive recruiter who met a manager who is a Thalydamide survivor. "He only has one hand," the recruiter exclaimed, "But he can do all the things I can with his one arm. He can drive a car. He can type faster than I do ..." and he went on to describe the "adaptations" the manager has developed in order to do all of the tasks that others do with two limbs.

Considering this recruiter's amazement with the novelty that one with a "disability" can actually be hired for a management position and successfully function on the same level with their peers, the next question was who had recruited and hired this manager. After all, the manager was working for the recruiter's client. This recruiter, it appeared, would have passed on the manager; he would have considered the man as not qualified. However, the manager has all of the qualities one could want in an essential member of your corporate executive team.

The Right Question

Having assistive devices is not a red-flag situation that your candidate is not qualified for the position. It's only an observable signal that the person has a different way of doing the things that many other candidates manage. The interviewing question that should be put to all candidates is not, "Does your handicap require any special accommodations?" Nor should the first thought be the additional costs of having the person on your team because of major modifications to the workplace in order to have them there. Instead, the appropriate question for all candidates who are under serious consideration is, "Do you need any accommodations in order to fulfill the requirements of the position?"

What Isn't Seen

What's interesting is there are many invisible "disabilities" that are never addressed nor accommodated. The only reason a person with a prosthetic eye, for example, is never "accommodated" is because it isn't immediately obvious. If it never comes up in the interview and if the candidate has reached a means of dealing with doing the same work as their peers with a minor, unobtrusive adjustment, no one is the wiser unless the medical records search discloses the matter.

Other conditions that are not obvious yet may be legally termed a disability are emphysema, pregnancy, anemia or heart murmur. They are "invisible" conditions (in the case of pregnancy, short-term invisible) but are not carte blanche total disqualifications of an otherwise qualified candidate. These conditions may require some accommodation provided by the company or, in greater likelihood, an adjustment of some sort by the person with the condition so that they are able to do the same work in the same amount of time (or less time with better results) as their peers.

Changed Perceptions

That was more than 20 years ago. My perception of what having a disability means and how people who are classified as such appear has drastically changed. My idea of entitlement for a person with a disability has also drastically changed.

The pivotal lesson here is to take stock of what you believe a person with a disability means and to what they are entitled. If you believe they are just as entitled to a marketable wage, advancement, and access, if you believe they are just as capable of producing cost-saving and quantifiable positive results for your company, you deserve the opportunity to have them on your team or present them to your client.

Yvonne LaRose was recently selected to serve on the Los Angeles Metro Accessibility Advisory Committee. She was a Disabilities Accommodation Provider in the Bay Area of California from 1993 to 1997. From 1993 to 1996, she was a news reader for Broadcast Services for the Blind (BSB). The service is a private band radio station based in the Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind that reaches 13,000 listeners in 13 counties). From the BSB studio, she produced and hosted her very popular bi-weekly radio newscast, "Legally Speaking" that aired from 1994 to 1996.