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Sweet Home Where?

December 6th, 2011 . Posted in Alabama, HR, Moving | 4 Comments »

So… I’m moving back to Alabama. Seriously. Yes, seriously. Oh Birmingham, I just can’t quit you. Despite your heat and bugs, you keep calling me back to you. Maybe it’s because your heat and bugs are not nearly as traumatic as Florida’s. Or maybe it’s that you reside in the Central time zone. I mean, staying up till midnight to watch The Daily Show and the Colbert Report? Painful. And sleepiness inducing.

I don’t know how long my torrid love affair with you will last this time, but for now the passion we share will sustain us… somehow. Err, yeah. Enough of that silliness.

Sigh. Let me just tell you that if I can get through this move with out burning all my belongings and avoiding a panic attack I will consider it a success. This will be my 3rd cross country move in 1 1/2 years so believe me when I say I will not be moving again for at least several years. I am moving in January so I only have a little more time to get into trouble. And I would be moving right when I consider the weather to be at it’s best too.

But I’ve been able to do a lot of great things while here, got to hang with a lot of great people, and got to see a lot of the state. Not all of it mind you, Florida is huge, so I guess that means I’ll just have to come back for visits.

However, one thing I won’t miss is this:

Yes, that is a Gator and yes, I was about five seconds away from yelling at the tour boat driver if he got us any closer. Freaked. Me. Out. But I still got a picture.

It’s been real Florida, let’s make the most of my remaining time here.

How do you think you are doing?

December 1st, 2011 . Posted in Engagement, HR, Performance Reviews | 3 Comments »


Now, it’s Performance Review time again at most companies, mine included, so I was thinking about doing a post about it. Cause I’m trying to be topical, or something. I don’t know, I’ve been kind of a slacker on the blog lately, sorry about that folks.

But then I saw this awesome post over on TNLT by Derek Irvine, and I was all like “Crap, what can I add to that? It even has that really cool infographic at the end.” There are so many bloggers out there smarter than me, but I’m glad you guys stick with me anyway. It’s because I’m cute, right? Please say it’s because I’m cute.

Anyway, one thing that jumped out at me was the statistic that 4 out of 5 people were dissatisfied with their performance review. It is unlikely that all those people are getting bad reviews so even people who get positive reviews are unhappy. If you manage employees, this should concern you. After all, you may be thinking that your employees are going to be happy getting a good review from you when in fact, you might actually cause them to become unhappy and disengaged. When it comes to performance reviews it’s all in the execution, not the final score.

From my experience, both in counseling managers and employees about performance reviews and being on the receiving end of them myself, here’s what happens:
There are managers who provide timely feedback throughout the year, clearly communicate expectations, solicit feedback from their employees, and then take all that information into account when creating a year end review reflective of each individual contributor. They are doing it right.

vs.

Everyone else. You are doing it wrong. Stop it.

The biggest complaints I get about performance reviews usually revolve around it being impersonal, not an accurate reflection of their day to day efforts/big accomplishments throughout the year, they feel blindsided by the criticism/first time they were told it was an issue, they are being held accountable for things outside their control, or that it feels petty, harassing, and unfair.

If any of these thoughts go through your employees mind then you did something wrong. Sure, some employees will never be happy with their review. But if done the right way, performance reviews should encourage, reward, and counsel as needed. They should be a resource to both employees and managers, not a chore that needs to be done once a year never to be thought of again.

Anything less than that and the review stops being a reflection of the employee, and more a reflection of a dysfunctional company.

Who knows how long the yearly performance review will last, but for now, do yourself, your employees, and your company a favor and do it right.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22nd, 2011 . Posted in Funny, HR, Thanksgiving | Comments Off

For all my US readers, have a great long weekend, eat lots of yummy food, relax, try not to get hurt during the black Friday sales, and I hope your holidays don’t get as awkward as the one below.

Try not to watch this during dinner though or you might have a #turkeyspew.

Then again if it means Paul Rudd will show up I don’t think I’d mind the awkwardness. Not at all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sick Days

November 17th, 2011 . Posted in Employee Assistance Programs, HR, Sick days | 1 Comment »

This past week I have been fighting a cold. It’s been over a year since I last got sick so I’ve been trying to milk the experience for all it’s worth. “I’m sorry I didn’t return your email right away, I was in the bathroom trying not to cough up a lung” or something like that. Honestly though, I’m too busy alternating between chugging orange juice, going through package after package of tissues, and slathering on the antibacterial gel.

It’s that time of year again and in the close confines of an office environment, it only takes one sick person and soon the whole office is ill. Now, fortunately or unfortunately, the worst of my cold happened while I was already out of the office on vacation (lucky me!) but there is always one or two people who refuse to stay home, even when they know they should.

So here is my list of the top 5 ways you know you should have called out sick:
1. Your co-workers start complaining about tripping over your IV that the doctor insisted you at least take with you when you checked yourself out of the hospital against their wishes.
2. Your co-workers all called out sick in order to avoid catching what you have.
3. You find the prospect of standing up and walking over to the copier 15 feet away too daunting because you might pass out from the effort.
4. The cashier at the coffee shop gives you the drink on the house to avoid taking the money from your hands.
5. Your manager follows you around the office with paper towels and Lysol so they can wipe down everything you touch.

All joking aside though, coming into the office when you are too sick to work is a serious concern. I know some people do it because they truly don’t think they can be gone for even one day. I assure you that isn’t true. Except in rare cases, NO ONES job is so critical or important that you can’t miss a day or two to recover from an illness. Things can wait and others can step up to help out.

However, I know some people come in for more personal reasons. They can’t afford to miss time from work either because they are afraid they will lose their job or otherwise they won’t get paid. And if they even miss one day of pay they won’t be able to pay their bills. Often this means they can’t afford to go see a doctor or pay for medicine anyway.

And that isn’t right. As HR professionals and managers, I know we can’t and shouldn’t try to solve all our employees problems, but there are things that we can do to help. Employee Assistance programs, Paid Time off Donation programs, Special sick leave amnesty during the flu season, company-wide flu shots, and I could go on and on. Get creative, and get resourceful.

Your people can’t do their best when ill, and that means your company can’t either. So pass the tissues and Dayquil and let’s get back to work!

Can you go home again?

November 9th, 2011 . Posted in HR | 1 Comment »

They say you can never go home again and I believe that there is a lot of truth in that. Once you leave home and start exploring the world around you, the experience when you come back is never the same again. Things change, friends change, and most importantly you change as well.

That’s the way things are supposed to be. If everything stayed the same, including yourself, then something is wrong.

I’ve heard a lot of talk about “boomerrang employees” this year. You know, former employees of a company who come back after leaving to work elsewhere. It’s increasingly common and a lot of companies are looking for ways to maintain good relationships with leaving employees exactly for that reason.

There is a lot of value in telling leaving top talent “we are sad to see you go and would love to have you back someday.” Smart employees know the value in leaving with all bridges intact and structurally sound.

Now, as I type this I am sitting at the gate, waiting for my plane to arrive as I’m about to head out on the long trip back to Minnesota. I’m excited to see everyone and I’m looking forward to celebrating my sister’s 33rd birthday (11/11/11, you gotta celebrate that). And I realize three things: One, I do a lot of blogging at airports. Two, I need a keyboard for my iPad, this is awkward. And three, I want things to be different.

Come on Minnesota, surprise me. I’m looking forward to it.

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