StrengthsFinder, Me and SHRM

I don't do conferences. This is not a belief, a position, or a rallying cry. It just is what it is. I attended a SHRM Annual Conference a few years back and enjoyed it but when I look at my days to decide how to spend my time, conferences (huge HR conferences) don't make it to the top of my list.

Checking out StrenghtsFinder 2.0, I discover I have a relator theme and, in simple terms, that means I am pulled toward people I already know. I can buy that. I am more of a one-on-one kind of a girl, groups of 11,000 make me antsy, and I simply don't like people telling me how to do what I already know how to do. Reconcile that with 10 years in the military - ha!

I don't have time for slick.

So, when I said I don't do conferences, that was only partially correct. There are conferences I do hope to attend like HR Technology Conference, BlogHer '11 and anything to do with women and leadership to learn more about these areas. It's not the same for HR. I know HR and don't want to spend my time listening to speakers who repackage what I know (albeit in an engaging, poised, and entertaining way) and redeliver that back me. It's not about the speakers, it's about me and where I find value. 

I like to think, I am fascinated by ideas (courtesy of themes of intellection and ideation) and have visions of grandeur. StrengthsFinder 2.0 describes the two as "exercising the 'muscles' of your brain and stretching them in multiple directions" and making connections, or discovering "a new perspective on familiar challenges," respectively. This is exhilarating to me. Not exhilarating like the first Airborne jump out of a perfectly good aircraft . . . but you get my drift.

I have all the time in the world to noodle.

Give me a cup of coffee, comfy couch, and group of colleagues with a question to ponder like whether or not HR can be trusted, the intersection of personal and HR credibility, or why HR pros can't successfully carry a "conference high" back into their organizations to impact change and I am hooked.

Hook, line and sinker.

Are Your Managers Right For Employee Relations?

"The number one reason for conflict is the need to be right."

The first time I heard this, I was an ROTC instructor by day and a graduate student by night. When I wasn't teaching leadership or hanging out by the Schuylkill River, I was grabbing nuggets of wisdom from my graduate courses. 

I think of this nugget often with managers and employee relations.

The Beginning of the End

Managers who approach employee relations with a need to be right are all wrong. They approach employee relations as a zero sum game. They  can't talk without spitting, consider without pacing, or see the forest for the trees. They gloat when a decision is in their favor and talk about quality of hire. They analyze employee  attendance, work quality and engagement. They don't ever look to themselves for answers.

Reality Check

Good people do bad things and employees do not perform. It's a manager's job to address employee conduct and performance issues and there are workplace consequences for both. The consequences may range from a performance discussion with the manager to the loss of employment or something in between.

Good managers address conduct and performance issues with an eye towards  changing employee behavior, not simply to prove a point. Good managers take feedback. A manager who won't take feedback or consider all options, maybe, just maybe, shouldn't be in that role.

Doing it Right

Employee relations done right means keeping the organizational eye on what matters most. What matters most is staffing an organization with people who perform and managers who treat people equitably and respectfully. 

Employee relations done right means being responsive to employee issues, being prepared to support a case, and being open to consider all options. Employee relations done right positively impacts employee attendance, work quality, engagement, and organizational effectiveness.

There's a difference between needing to be right and doing the right things and while the final action taken may be the same, the road to get there is paved very differently.

Which road are your managers on?

Photo credit iStockphoto