Author: Sheri Mazurek

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Are your leaders good trainers?

I am not a regular fan of reality television; however, I do really enjoy watching the show where the contestants are fighting to lose weight. You all know the show, right? Well, I love seeing how the contestants are able to lose weight and reduce risks to their health. I also really like that the show provides healthy tips on eating during the sometimes drawn out two hour episodes. But my favorite part of the show may just be the trainers. They are tough, but you really get the sense that they care about helping the contestants achieve their weight loss goals. They push the contestants, they call them out on their bull**** and excuses, and they don’t give up on them.

During the season, the contestants regularly participate in challenges. Sometimes the winners get prizes such as immunity from being sent home for the week and sometimes the losing team or individual suffers disadvantages in the game. In last night’s episode the losing team of one of those challenges was taken away from the campus on which the contestants stay to a house by themselves. They were given a budget and had to decide how to allocate their funds for the week. Their menu of choices included time with their trainer for a cost, spa treatments, gym memberships, food, dinners out and phone calls (a luxury not normally allowed). The team of two chose to have the spa treatments and dinner out, but did not choose any time with their trainer. The reason, they felt that they had learned enough and were ready to make it on their own.

So how do you think they did? Well the team lost the weekly “weigh-in.” As the team who lost the least amount of weight at the end of the week, one of team members had to go home. Their decision to not have a single day with their trainer cost the team greatly.

Another thing happened during last night’s episode that was significant to me. One of the contestants on the other team had recently had to switch trainers. His original trainer focused his training on boxing, something he enjoyed very much. Having workouts that he enjoyed had helped him achieve great success during the first several weeks in competition. The new trainer’s style was a little different and he was a little unhappy. You know what he did, he let the trainer know how he felt and she let him box. She didn’t take it easy on him, but she let him get there in the way that he enjoyed most.

How often do we make the same mistake as the losing team in our work life? More importantly, are the managers and leaders in your organization, good trainers? Are they pushing their teams to succeed? Are they listening to them as individuals to know what they need? Are they building an environment where your employees feel comfortable approaching them and letting them know what they need? If the answer is no, what are doing about it? What can you do right now to take the first step in that direction? No more excuses.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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Benefit from Discussions or Place Blame?

A businessman going through the benefits in a grant proposal

There is a current LinkedIn discussion going on around the following question, “In one sentence, what’s the number one barrier to transferring learning back to the job?” The answers to this discussion, as with many on LinkedIn and other boards, have differing viewpoints. A common theme with this particular discussion tends to blame the lack of transfer on mangers, supervisors, and after training support. This seems like a reasonable view from this LinkedIn group whose primary audience is comprised of training professionals. And while this was the most common theme, there are still others in the discussion who blame the lack of transfer on poor training. So what we end up with in this discussion is everyone maintaining their position of blame on something beyond control.
What would happen if this discussion were taken a step forward and the debate on blame shifted to a discussion using the following, “Provide one example of how you have improved learning transfer in a current or previous role? What was the role and what did you do?”
Realistically, this question would still solicit some blame in answers; however, instead of 168 comments on blame, it might solicit more useful tips on how to improve transfer. Personally, I would find a discussion like that much more helpful.
How often do your discussions inside your organizations rest on blame and not solutions? Don’t get me wrong, taking time to determine the root cause of issue is important. But more important is what you do after you determine the cause.
What are you doing today to solve your internal issues? What are you doing today to prevent training transfer? What can you do to improve it?

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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Is that illegal?

A-woman-sexually-harassed

In a previous post, I discussed some common misconceptions with illegal workplace behavior. With all the misconceptions that some behavior is illegal and with all the sexual harassment training that is provided, it should be easy to figure out that the following behavior is illegal:

  • Exposing your genitals to female employees and forcing one to touch your private parts.
  • Requiring women to participate in a “kissing” or “smooching” club to receive the sales leads and accounts necessary to earn commissions
  • Firing women who reject managers’ sexual advances and complain about them

In a recent EEOC case against a Memphis company with a verdict of $1.5 million, a jury found that two male managers had subjected female employees to severe sexual harassment. Two of the three women involved in the case where then fired after making complaints.

Where was HR in this case? Or more importantly, if this was going on in your organization would you know? What would you do?

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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Are you ready to lead?

Group of business team standing behind their team leader

Throughout my career, I have spent a great deal of time speaking with employees and potential employees about their career goals and paths. Almost always when I interview a candidate, they tell me that they are looking for a job that has growth potential and that they see themselves in a leadership position. It sounds so similar from every candidate that I am sure that this response has been programmed into them like a type of brainwashing. It makes me smile inside for a split second while I listen to the response. Obviously as a recruiter, I don’t accept that as a final answer.

When I am meeting with employees, there seems to be a similar response and not just from the top performers. I get the response from the majority of the folks and despite the fact that they have no idea how to lead or even what it might entail, often they seem to want to be promoted. It’s like other natural progressions in life. I wonder how many of the married or divorced folks out there followed the dating, engaged, and married progression because it is an expected norm in our society. (And we can’t forget to add the live together phase in that progression.) And then at some point into the path, they realize that marriage is hard and it takes work and compromise and some degree of emotional intelligence and communication skills to work. And everyone can seem to identify with a bad spouse as equally as they can identify with a bad manager. Even if you can’t articulate it, you know it when you see it.

So how do you know whether it is right for you to follow this progression? Are you a good fit for the leadership ladder or are you better suited in a different role. See below for a few signs that you are not ready:

  • You often say things that hurt people’s feelings.
  • You would rather just do things yourself for fear that others will mess it up or not follow through.
  • You are afraid to tell people the truth for fear of conflict.
  • You want the job because it pays more or provides you with power over others.
  • You don’t want to share your rationale behind decisions you make.
  • You take over the job’s of others because they are too incompetent or too slow.
  • You have no patience with new employees.
  • You assume everyone is motivated in the same way you are.
  • If someone disagrees with you, you automatically think they are stupid.
  • You have a difficult time controlling your emotions at work and often say things you regret later.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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Is that even legal?

racial-discrimation-in-a-workplace-

“Hey, I got an HR question for you.” This is a statement I hear often. In most cases it usually involves a scenario description followed by, “Is that legal?” In my experience, most of the scenarios I hear come from bad workplace conduct, behavior or policy and are not illegal. A recent blog post by Donna Bellman breaks down the top ten employment laws that you think exist that don’t. The post is straightforward and to the point. Follow the link for the entire list, but here are a few from my frequently asked questions:

Wrongful termination

If you live in Arizona or Montana, your employer can only fire you for just cause. Otherwise, they can fire you for any reason or no reason at all. They don’t have to have a good reason. They don’t even have to give a reason.

Hostile environment/harassment

Hostile work environment is not illegal. Harassment is not illegal. Bullying is not illegal. Hostile work environment or harassment due to race, age, sex, religion, national origin, disability, color, taking Family and Medical Leave, whistleblowing, or some other legally-protected status is illegal.

Discrimination

Discriminating against you for being you is never illegal. Favoritism, nepotism, being a jerk, are not illegal. Discrimination based on age, race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, color and genetic information are illegal.

And despite the fact that many aren’t illegal, I am often surprised by how HR has responded to the scenarios I hear which range the gamut from full “blowing off’ to complete overreaction. If you an HR professional you need to know the difference. And if it is just bad workplace behavior take a stand against it even if it isn’t illegal.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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Six Ways to Get Counted in HR

A-HR-staff-looking-at-the-camera-in-an-office

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count and everything that counts can not necessarily be counted. Albert Einstein

With all the business change that has occurred over the past few years, there is no question that the HR Department would need to keep up. It is likely that in nearly every organization there has been an emphasis on analysis of what is working and not working in all areas of the business. The trouble for HR is that sometimes, it’s hard to measure in true financial and business terms especially when the HR programs are working and things are going well in the organization. It seems that when the HR programs are working, someone else can always take the credit. But when HR is bad, it seems that it is easier for the organization to tie their failures to financial measures.
So what can HR pros do about it? Here’s a list to get you started:

1. Remove the HR Silos and ensure your talent departments (recruiting, compensation, learning and development, etc.) are working together.
2. Integrate the HR strategy to the business strategy.
3. Run your HR business as a business.
4. Know and understand the metrics. If the finance guys have them, know them and understand them. If they don’t, build a relationship (should be a strength in HR) and get them developed. If you don’t know how, find a few partners to help out.
5. Be prepared to adjust your strategy at any time necessary. This is business; it changes. Know how changes in budget and other business changes will affect the HR Strategy in financial terms. If you can’t do this, you don’t have a voice at the table even if you have a seat.
6. Enjoy the ride. Celebrate the good, fix the bad and know the difference.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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Performance Review Rushed?

HR-staffs-conducting-a-performance-review-on-employees

The topic of employee engagement seems to be one that is quite popular in recent years especially with all the changes that have occurred in the landscape of the workplace. It has been sited that a culture of high engagement is necessary to help overcome the fear of the fleeting workforce with the improvement of the economy and the increase in hiring in some organizations. In the January issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine, Tom Roth discusses five key elements to creating a culture of engagement. One of those elements is creating a culture of inclusion. In explanation of this, Roth makes a statement that employees don’t necessarily hate change, but actually hate having change imposed upon them. Think about that for a moment.
In a previous post, I discussed the need to include employee control in your performance management strategy. Roth is right; employees hate having things imposed upon them. They hate that their supervisors have complete control in the performance management process as well. So, what can you do?
Often times, the issue comes down to miscommunication and mixed messages. You have given supervisors a great deal of responsibility for the performance of their work teams. You blame them when a member of their team fails to meet performance expectations. So it seems perfectly logical that they would assume the position of power and control in a performance management discussion. Additionally, you required that they get all those forms completed on time and if your company completes reviews for everyone at the same time, then you are basically asking them to add an entirely new job for themselves in the few weeks prior to the deadline. The result is a rushed review form and most likely an even more rushed review conversation. And since this may be the only document you require of them on performance for an entire year, this may just be the only performance discussion this employee gets at all.
If you want to give employees more control in their performance management process, then your managers and supervisor can’t hold the conversation for the performance review once a year or only when there is a problem. The conversation needs to be two way throughout the year. In fact, I say find a way to abolish the performance review all together. Focus your supervisors on all the time two-way feedback and you may be surprised with the result. Doing what you’ve always done get what you always get. Do you need to change it?

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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HR Skills Needed Now

HR-staff-sitting-in-her-office-and-looking-at-the-camera

“This research clearly shows that the days of bloated HR organizations focused on administrative tasks are over,” said Josh Bersin, chief executive officer and president, Bersin & Associates. “Lean, technology-enabled, well-trained HR teams are able to take advantage of modern talent practices and partner with business leaders to drive impact.”

The above quote by Bersin is in response to a two year global study released by Bersin & Associates that examined HR effectiveness in organizations. The study further found that the effectiveness of HR has a significant impact on the performance of the organization. The old model of the HR as administrator is not effective and according to the study, HR departments are not prepared for the new role. This new role requires that HR is skilled in areas such as technology, social media, sourcing top talent, identifying and developing leaders, compensation, and driving performance through effective coaching and feedback.

If you are in the role of HR and still see your job as administrative and compliance driven, this study should scare you. Companies will not be able to afford to have these missing skill sets in the future. The role is too critical and failure will not be an option.

Do you think this why we are currently seeing a trend that those in top HR roles in companies come from different business units? If you are in HR and you don’t get the business, learn it or step aside. And while it was stated in the press release of the study that these are the future skills of HR, I say they are the here and the now.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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The Most Important Word in Performance Management

A-counsellor-in-session-with-a-group-of-people

The most important word in your performance management strategy may be one that typically does not come to mind. Let’s consider a couple of the ways in which we encourage, teach and train our leaders to improve the performance of their teams.

Coaching and/or Counseling

The words coaching and counseling in work performance have been used by different companies in many different ways. Some companies claim to have a true coaching culture where managers are trained to coach employees for performance. Other cultures or organizations may train managers to counsel employees when there is a performance improvement need. More often than not, I find that companies use the word coach when they are actually training managers to counsel or discipline. So these words are actually used interchangeably in many organizations and by many managers. However, there is a difference. Coaching requires that the one being coached is open and has a goal with a timeframe in mind. Discipline and counseling is usually something that is controlled by the company and the receiver may be resistant or may disagree that a performance problem exists.

Training and Development

So, someone in your organization has conducted a needs analysis and has decided that some or all of the employees in the organization need to be trained in a particular area. The topic doesn’t really matter in this case. So the company gets started on the program design. This can happen with an internal training or HR department or may be outsourced to a training company. That really doesn’t matter either. Regardless of who designs and facilitates it, the company has chosen the topic and has created the learning and program objectives. Employees are scheduled to attend because someone other than them feels that they need the training. Right from the beginning the employee has not control. And the scenario gets worse from there when they get to the training and the “trainer” spends the entire time lecturing or doing most of the talking. (Check out the training and development blog on this sight for more on this)

The common thread

Have you figured it out yet? Do you see it? If not, go back and read it until you see it. You are looking for the word CONTROL. That’s right! The most important word in performance management is control. Who has it? You know what happens when employees have no control in their performance management process? They find other ways to take control and usually not in the ways you want! (Another fellow blogger has a great story about how an employee took positive control after a bad performance review-By the way, this is not the normal reaction)

In future posts, I will discuss ways to give control to the employee in this process. What have you done that has worked?

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.

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Sometimes HR Sucks-That’s Why We Love It!

If you are an HR professional, you have most likely had a few tough conversations with employees. Early in my career, my supervisor would always call on the days when I had to have a particularly difficult conversation with an employee. He would always start the conversation with “tough day.” I knew that this was his way of asking me how it went. Now the “tough day” designation did not occur with every conversation that one might put in the difficult column. Personally, I don’t find matter of fact discussions about performance or the company’s decision to terminate difficult. Usually by the time one of those conversations takes place, every effort has been made to help the employee succeed and the conversation is simply an expression of a consequence that has been previously communicated.

The “tough day” conversations for me are the ones that happen because we are in business and while it can be argued that HR folks are in the business of people, we are still in business. This means that sometimes changes in the landscape of the business or the industry or just a natural disaster can totally change the business requiring swift actions and tough decisions. I recently had a “tough day.” I had to have one of those conversations with someone whose life will likely be altered due to no fault of their own. A necessary business decision was made and even though it was the absolute right decision, I still hated having to bear the news. Quite honestly, it’s the part of the job that sucks.

But on that day, I didn’t have much time to dwell on how much it sucks. Immediately after the conversation (which required three or four different hats), I put on my recruiter hat and got busy selling. That was directly followed up by more hat changing as I put on the coaching hat, the benefits hat, the payroll hat, the unemployment hat, the legal hat, and then ended the day with the training and development hat. In was in that last few hours of the day, that I remembered what it is about HR that I love. It’s the hundred conversations I had that day. And while they ran the gamut in subject matter and emotion, they were business, people business. In the people business, you can’t avoid “tough days.”

Next time you have a “tough day”, remember that it is part of the business and your role is to handle it with respect, honesty and candor.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.