What Day Is It?

Hallmark Holiday or not, if someone special in your office received flowers today and you had to ask what the occasion was, shame on you.

Formerly Secretaries Day, now more aptly known as Administrative Professionals Day, it’s a time to recognize those employees who make the office run on a daily basis. A hex to all involved, the unofficial holiday is enough to make stomachs churn and heads ache. From the supervisor who dreads trying to remember the date each year, to the administrative professional on the receiving end who would prefer their lowly totem pole stature wasn’t reaffirmed through this gesture (or lack thereof), it’s a mixed blessing when the last Wednesday in April rolls around. Some even choose to recognize Administrative Professionals Week, but if you find who that is, I’d be very curious to learn of their whereabouts.

Of course, any gesture performed with good will, and yes, on-time warrants applause on the part of the supervisor. But then, this day really isn’t about them.

Read a most amusing recount why Melonyce McAfee from MSN Slate swears off the holiday.

(And yes, I did receive flowers at the office this Administrative Professionals Day, as I do every year.)

Posted by Shelly Paul, Career Management Coordinator, The H.S. Group

Who Is the Weakest Link?

If you were given the chance to vote off the weakest link on your team who would you vote for?

The authors of a 2005 study entitled Games and Discrimination: Lessons From “The Weakest Link" felt that there were some clear similarities between the workplace and the game show. According to Kate Antonovics, one of the authors:

“It’s obviously difficult to mimic the exact structure of a competitive work environment, but our hope is that The Weakest Link captures the competitive pressures of the workplace,” she says. “The game is stressful, there is time pressure, performance is closely watched and the performance of those around you influences your success.”

The results of the study showed some interesting behavioral patterns. The study found that while contestants did not discriminate based on race, there was significant gender discrimination by women. Women were much more likely to vote against men than to vote against another woman.

The implications of the study on the workplace are unclear and the authors believe that more research is required in the area.

To read Sara E. Savage's article, Study: Women Discriminate Against Men, click here: Women Discriminate Against Men

What are your thoughts on the study and its results? Totally unrelated to the reality of the workplace? Mirrors reality? Who cares? It's women making up for their past treatment? Surprised? Not at all surprised?

We would love to have you weigh in with your thoughts on this subject. Please comment.

Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group

Fighting a Good Fight

We’ve all been in the situation. Deadlines are looming, your blood pressure is rising and a civil war is about to erupt at the office. Workplace disagreements are not at all uncommon, but it’s to your advantage to learn how to productively argue your case and when it is more beneficial to quietly concede.

“When you argue over every confrontation, you will be perceived as a troublemaker, but if you challenge only those issues that are truly important to you, your opinions and disagreement will bear more weight and people will listen.”

So where do you draw the line? How do you determine whether your case is worth arguing or if you should let it go? One of the hardest things we, as humans, have to face is admitting we are wrong. And even if we don’t believe we are wrong, it might still be more beneficial to the organization if we can accept the given fact that you win some, you lose some. However, the main goal here is to chose our battles wisely and put our efforts toward the ones that really matter. For instance, you might hold your ground when the issue involves personal integrity or the betterment of the organization, but be less stringent when the outcome, one way or another, is not as important to you.

Read the full article by Kate Lorenz at CareerBuilder.com to learn how to distinguish which fights are the good fights.

Posted by Shelly Paul, Career Management Coordinator, The H.S. Group

Technology as a Tool for Revenge?

Have you heard about the employee terminated by Apple because of his irreverent performance in a company talent show? Better yet, have you seen his video? The web video, produced for and sent to friends of the individual, has in the past month ricocheted around the web and has become one of the most popular selections on Google Video. The validity of the termination has become a widely discussed topic on numerous HR blogs. Are you and your company ready to have your human resource decisions dissected on the internet? Can you think of situations that might not hold up favorably under intense public scrutiny?

The past several years has seen tremendous growth in websites catering to disgruntled employees, ex-employees and dissatisfied customers. Often the postings are so emotionally charged that any logic behind the posting is lost. More often than not the result is a posting that can be read for amusement as opposed to being taken seriously. Sometimes, as appears to be the case in the above described scenario, the event and its description takes on a life of its own - with no planned malice toward the company. That being said, it is also true that widely distributed negative postings, regardless of whether or not they are justified or intended for mass publication, can take a toll on a company's image and credibility.

Technology has provided simple platforms for individuals to use in airing grievances and "dirty laundry". It doesn't take long for a simple e-mail, intended for a small audience, to become forwarded around the globe and the subject turned into the latest urban legend. Is it possible that companies whose greatest concern relative to disgruntled employees has historically been defending themselves in a court of law (even when the charges are unfounded) now face an even more costly and potentially damaging adversary in technology?

As an HR professional, can any of us honestly say that we are 100% comfortable with every company decision we have supported? Would every decision or action hold up favorably under public scrutiny? The ready availability of technology as a platform to communicate anything and everything, factual or not, balanced or not, means that companies may need to be even more cautious about dotting the i's and crossing the t's.

While I find the video of the former Apple employee somewhat entertaining, I recognize that it depicts one side of the situation and therefore won't offer an opinion on the validity of the termination. Instead, I will simply use Apple's experience as a reminder to all of us that Big Brother, or more importantly, the public, may be watching.

To read Christopher Cornell's article regarding the termination and the video, as posted on workindex.com, click here: Internet Complicates HR Decisions . One caution, if you select the link to view the video, some may find some of the language offensive.


Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group

It's Cool to be an HR Manager

According to CNN and salary.com, HR Manager is currently the 4th best job available in the United States with an average of 32,300 openings annually and projected growth of 23% over the next 10 years. The job gets grades of A and B in areas such as Stress, Creativity, Ease of Entry and Flexibility.

The downside? Fighting the sterotype image of the HR Manager of old who focused on benefit administration, the employee newsletter, the company picnic and the Christmas party.
The expectations going forward are that the HR role is a strategic function focused on creating/enhancing the corporate culture, talent management and bottom-line impact on the business.

This sounds exciting for the future of HR. We would love to hear your thoughts on the topic. If you are an HR Manager, do you feel like you are in the 4th best job in America? Have you and/or your company transitioned to thinking about HR differently than in the past? Are you ready to do something beyond planning picnics, holiday parties and appreciation dinners?

To read the full article on cnn.com click here: Best Jobs In America

Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group

The Most Successful Team of our Time - The Beatles?

The Beatles? The most successful team of our time? Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Andrew Sobel, as quoted in a posting on shrm.org feels that "Every business can learn from their story." Steve Bates' article includes numerous examples of why The Beatles may be the ultimate team. They range from the fact that Ringo's drum kit was elevated on the stage during the Ed Sullivan performance which made him a more visible part of the team than drummers in other bands to the fact that each of The Beatles was a brand-within-a-brand to their collaboration on songs and playing techniques.

The article also includes Sobel's list of "Beatles Prinicples" which he believes every business team could use:

• Invest in and build face time between team members long before they are required to appear together.

• Help team members become brands-within-a-brand by giving them a song—an idea or proposal—that will help them to shine.

• Evolve your “songs” and bring the same level of ideas, perspectives, excitement and enthusiasm to your hundredth meeting with a client that you brought to the first.

• Put exceedingly diverse professionals on the same team; mix specialists with generalists; and foster friendly competition to produce the best ideas.

The Beatles have certainly been one of the most visible musical icons for multiple generations. Perhaps we need to look beyond Strawberry Fields and take a few lessons from the Fab Four. They obviously did a lot of things right since they continue to be popular with successive generations. There are not a lot of products, brands or companies who retain such popularity long after they have been "retired". Maybe Sobel is on to Something . . .

So before today becomes Yesterday, put a little Beatles music on in the background to set the stage and click here to read and learn from Steve Bates' article on shrm.org: Magical History Tour: The Beatles as the Ultimate Team


Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group

Money vs. Manpower

From The Business News

When it comes to supporting a charitable cause, American adults are more inclined to reach for their wallets than to roll up their sleeves, according to national survey by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. This represents a reversal from a year earlier when a plurality of Americans said they found it easier to give their time than their money to charitable causes. Half of all American adults (50 percent) said they found it easier to give their money than their time to a charitable cause, a jump of 13 percentage points from a year earlier. Conversely, about one in three Americans (32 percent) reported they believed it easier to volunteer their time, a decrease of 10 percentage points from the year before. Fourteen percent of respondents said they thought both forms of giving were equally easy. Despite this attitude reversal on committing time to charitable causes, 57 percent of Americans still reported they volunteered in an activity sponsored by a third party, while 43 percent had not volunteered in a structured activity.

What efforts is your organization making to give back to your community and get involved? In the corporate world, is it easier to give of your time or money? Feel free to share your ideas here.

Posted by Shelly Paul, Career Management Coordinator, The H.S. Group

For The Ladies . . .

By the time we reach adulthood most of us have accepted the fact that life isn't fair. For women in the workplace there are days when life seems even less fair than it is for our male counterparts. When was the last time you heard a male colleague stressing over a bad hair day on the day of a key client presentation? Or express concern about a hem that is coming down? Is it just me or does it seem that women just plain have more details to worry about?

How many times has a woman's career been derailed or potentially derailed because of the details of her appearance? Because she appeared "frumpy" or not "put together"? Yes this can and does happen to male professionals as well but it doesn't seem quite as prevalent.

Unfair or not, the details regarding our appearance do matter - both to our self-esteem (and therefore possibly to our performance) and to others with whom we work. And even though the details matter, sometimes "stuff" happens at the most inopportune times and we find ourselves suddenly coping with what feels like a workplace disaster. For some tips on how to handle some of the most common and nerve wracking mishaps, click here to read Kate Lorenz's article as posted on careerbuilder.com and CNN.com: Bad Hair Days and Other Work Disasters


Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group