Happiness is….
Earlier I commented on a post about happiness remarking that I had realized that, “I really wasn’t happy and furthermore that the searching for more was about fulfillment not selfish indulgence.”
Joan Ginsberg replied, “HRD- Is a search for fulfillment not selfish indulgence? I ask that because I have been questing for what I call fulfillment for a while now – professionally and personally – with limited success. And now I occasionally ask myself if I was in a better position before my journey began.”
And in one of those strange moments of synchronicity, I looked at my screen and at the post I was writing entitled “A Journey”.
The journey I was referring to was slightly different – it was a train journey. In fact it wasn’t a train journey, but it should have been. Only someone went and jumped under the train. So it was just a train, without the journey. And I had to travel another route and think about where I was going and what I needed to do to get there, rather than follow my normal routine.
My reflection was how very much like life this was. We go through our routines, do what we have to do, say what we have to say, think what we need to think. Only when something extraordinary occurs do we stop and think about where we are going, where we actually want to go and what we need to do to get there.
I’m not a huge fan of The Alchemist in the “ happy clappy, it changed my life” category, but the question made me think about the book and the central tenet, “when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true”. Sure there might be a little bit of an Evangelic tilt to this and I’m not going to go anywhere near that – think barge and pole.
I believe if you want something enough, if you dream it enough, if you believe in it wholeheartedly then I believe you can make fairly much anything happen.
“Wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure”
It’s just a matter of working out where you heart is.
The 10 things HR should do
1) Take a percentage of any pay increases they are asked to approve and which they do not agree with (I’m thinking a 10% cut)
2) Punish employees for asking stupid questions. (My son has a phrase “nipple cripple”. Now I would advocate that for all genders, but you know…..fun as it might be…..)
3) Give lines. (“I must not avoid having difficult conversations, I must not avoid having difficult conversations, I must not….)
4) Challenge payroll to a game of conkers when matters of dispute arise (no stampsies and winner takes all).
5) Play Russian Roulette with a P45 once a month (“You thought it was your pay slip? We don’t want to give you that, we want to give you this!”)
6) Train arseholes employees on how to look for a job elsewhere rather than hanging around and moaning like a bunch of pre pubescent teens (“This is called a JobCentre”).
7) Fine suppliers that start any pitch with “We have developed a unique and innovative approach…..” (Fixed fee of £500?)
‘8) Make anyone from Accounts where a badge saying “Bean counting dickhead” (Because…..well…ok that one is just for fun).
9) Kissck the arse of the CEO on a regular basis (If we don’t who the hell will?)
10) Start spurious rumours about anyone that has annoyed/irritated/asked for help and see how far you can get them to spread within 24hours. (HR team building at its best….)
A rush of blood to the head
It’s not often I’m in awe of the legal system, (in fact the last occasion involved vodka, a cow and an inflatable banana – but we won’t go there). On this occasion, however, I happily doff my cap in their general direction.
The worker at the centre of this, Susan Moffat, took her boss, Jason Robinson, to an Employment Tribunal seeking £1,750 for unpaid wages and bonuses after being dismissed from his company.
Robinson bowls up to the Employment Tribunal, presenting documents in his favour, including a Contract of Employment and a letter of warning.
But there is a glitch in his plan. The documents aren’t true. They’re fraudulent. He simply made them up.
Ms. Moffat rightly states they are fake and Robinson – perhaps sensing his number is up – then fails to turn up to any future hearings. The tribunal find in her favour.
They awarded her £29,500. Nearly 17 times more than she was seeking.
And last week Robinson was jailed for four months for perverting the course of justice.
Now that’s what I call genius.
Down here, I am. Find a ladder, I must…..
What do you get if you put a room full of HR Directors from across the world together? A debate on recruitment…….Well to be honest it’s not a World Cup year, all our economies are up shit creek and given the varying nations in the room “who started the war” probably wasn’t the best topic of conversation.
So with some of my erstwhile colleagues we started talking about the role of HR in recruitment. And to be honest I was out there on my own. Being British this is of course nothing new to me as when it comes to international relations we have a singular ability to do the “Johnny no mates” routine better than most.
The collective view in the room was that HR had a fundamental role to play in actively recruiting staff into the business. This was based on the assertion that we acted as a foil to the manager and brought to the party “special skills” in identifying talent and future potential. This was also compounded by the fact that they felt candidates liked to meet with HR as they got to see the face of the company.
My view? Well it’s not the above. I do believe that HR has a role in recruitment, but I believe it is to skill and train managers so that they can recruit successfully. There is an attraction piece where I think HR can add value, there is a process piece which I think it makes sense to centralise and there is an offer and “on boarding” piece which I think HR can support. Other than that, I struggle to see how we add value. To suggest that we have some Jedi like capability, “the force is strong in this one”, is just nonsense. There may be a number of leadership roles that would benefit from a broader input than just the functional line manager. But in general are we really adding any value?
Or are we instead doing this because,
1) We don’t trust managers and want to police their activity?
2) We aren’t skilled enough in other areas and therefore don’t have enough to do?
3) We like to believe that we have some seventh sense that raises us above mere mortals?
“I’m all about that people”. Jeez don’t you just hate that? Even worse, “I’m a people person”. Ohh really? I’m more of a sheep person myself……….
What actually does it mean to be a people person? What differentiates them from someone who is not a people person? I imagine Hitler was probably a pretty good people person. He certainly managed to galvanise and influence, he managed to motivate and inspire. As for Osama Bin Laden…..how many followers does he have?
A true people person…… My experience is that anyone who describes themselves as a people person is normally the subject of sustained ribbing from behind the photocopiers. It’s the business equivalent of saying you have a good voice. If you have a good voice you don’t need to say it. If you’re saying it you are probably proving you are tone-deaf. People with good voices (and I’m guessing here having been told once that I had a voice that “turned heads” – and not in a good way) are always trying to improve and are more critical of the talents than anyone else.
“People person” is one of those generic statements that means so little but tells you so much about the person using it. Do we all have the same definition? Do we all mean the same thing? What essential skills would you say make a “people person”?
Hi and welcome
Pull up a seat, rest and warm your feet by the fire.
What do you think of my new home?
Rejection
When I started out into the world of work it was just at the tail end of a recession. Jobs were tough to come by……very tough to come by. And the same old stories were being played out. In order to get the job you needed experience, but in order to get experience you needed………
I applied for hundreds of jobs…..HUNDREDS. Hours and hours spent completing application forms, tailoring my CV, taking visits to the post office. And each day I watched and waited as the post man came with a handful of letters, most of them rejections but on the odd occasion this would be interspersed with a letter telling me that they were no longer recruiting for the role at all!
Believe me, rejection is not something that you get used to. Rejection is not a pleasant feeling or experience. I kept all the letters. I still have the somewhere. I kind of figure that if these companies didn’t want to take a chance on me back then why the hell should I give them the use of my skills and services now?
To this day, I always take care when I am telling a candidate they haven’t been successful. I think about how it feels to receive that letter or that call. To be told that you are not wanted. You are not good enough. You do not have sufficient value. I ask you all to do the same.
Because rejection…..it sucks.
Show me the money
It’s an HR nightmare……………..
Imagine if the top 100 people within your organisation had their salaries and business expenses published. Then, imagine if they were published online.
If you work for the venerable BBC, the nightmare has just become a reality. You can now go online and see the salaries and detailed business expenses here.
I’ve had a dig around my colleagues in HR and believe me they better be HR ninjas for the amount some of them are on. I’m talking gold plated performance management systems and diamond encrusted talent management programmes……
But to be fair, they probably have their work cut out getting anyone to do anything just at the moment, other than surf the net and bitch about how much their bosses are earning.
And remember……they are doing it all out of public money!
Tipping point
We all know the HR thing, you know the one…….the “we’re not taking seriously” thing. The “nobody loves us” thing. And before you click away, I’m not going down THAT path! As posted chez Laurie this week, I only have a finite time on the planet and I’ve wasted enough time on that debate already!
Instead I want to ask you about confidence. And more importantly when confidence becomes arrogance.
I am good at my job. This is a fact. I know this because of the feedback I get and because of the progress I make. One of the things that makes me good is confidence.
When I arrive at an organisation, walk into a room, meet with someone for the first time, I need to show them that I know my stuff, I know that I am good and I know that I can add value. I’ve learnt from working with several CEOs that if you are timid you are done for. If you hesitate, contradict, stumble, mumble, fumble…..you are not going to get their time, their attention or their backing.
But….and this is a big but (no sniggering at the back please)…..I often get called arrogant. And not once or twice, but on a reoccurring basis throughout my life.
Now I don’t think I’m arrogant. In fact in many, many circumstances and in a large part of my life I am critically lacking in confidence and self-belief. But clearly there is something in the way that I hold myself or behave that makes people think that I am arrogant.
So my question is, is there a difference between self confidence and arrogance and if so what is it? And in some professions, do you need to have greater levels of self confidence/arrogance to survive?
It’s a cartoon….that’s all
I am agog, I am aghast….no Marius is not in love at last. But the lunatics HAVE finally taken over the asylum……..
My Hell is Other People 