Can You Get Away From the Job and Relax? Finding the Key to That Puzzle

“So Dad, now you can relax since you have all this time off. I am taking my vacation the same time so we can both hang out.”

On my 12 hour flight from Saudi Arabia to New York last Friday, I thought of what am I going to do for close to four weeks off. In the Middle East, it is not viewed favorably if you are doing company work while away on vacation unless it is an absolute emergency.

I wrote a TLNT post that broke records in views and readership a while back about vacations: Americans vs. other expats. I know of so many people who have taken 30, 40 days of vacation and do not give it a second thought. But here I am in the solitude at 50,000 feet altitude wondering what I am going to do for the next month.

My wife is working; my son is also working, so my daughter said it is just the two of us to hang out. She met me at JFK and we went directly to the mall. When I suggested we go home first, she nixed that and said we are going to hang out.

Oh well; welcome home.

Breaking old habits

It seems that when we have been ingrained over the years in certain work habits, we have a tough time trying to break free. My plan was to take a few days to get settled at home, but my wife had other plans and I had the proverbial “honey do” list which took a couple of days and kept me busy.

Managing Your Career Before the Ambush Comes

I worked all those years, coming to work every day, doing a great job. Each year there was a raise and eventually more responsibility.

I went home at the end of the day and came back the following day. I repeated that cycle all those years until one day, I came in and was let go.

During all those years I had received numerous inquiries from outside headhunters, but at each call was kindly rebuffed because I loved what I was doing. My resume had never been updated in all those years, and I had not interviewed in 24 years.

Being negligent

As I listened to this call this week, I felt sad and angry at the same time.

Spotlight Friday: An Interview with Chief Human Resources and Administrative Officer Ron Thomas

Recent interview for the website: Something Different HR:  Marrying HR, Data and Occasionally Out of Place Personal Anecdote created by HR PRO Rory C. Trotter Jr. He is a HR leader with experience in Compensation, Talent Acquisition, and Employee Relations 

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1. Most job postings cite “X” years of relevant work experience and specific education criteria as requirements to be considered for the position. With this in mind, what prior work experiences and degrees/certifications/training helped prepare you for your current role?

First of all, I think when a company places those restriction on a job posting (years of experience, industry experience required), they are closing the door on such a huge segment of the market. My question is what X years of experience makes you relevant. If there is a requirement of 6 years to be considered for a posting, what happens if I have 4 solid years in the industry? I wrote a post recently that spells this out: “Industry Experience Required.”

Supporting Innovation? It Takes a Lot More Than Talking About Innovation

Imagine coming home every day from school and there in the kitchen were fresh-baked cookies or home-made pies.

Every day there was something different. My mother was a baker who believed that everything had to be made from “scratch,” using no boxed items of any kind.

The only boxed cookies allowed in the house were Nilla Wafers— and that was temporarily because they were destined for banana pudding.

My mother was on my mind this week because when I started working for Martha Stewart Living, she would jokingly tell me that she could out bake Martha on a bad day. As a matter of fact, she said all that advice that Martha gives is what she already knew and that she had been doing it for years.

I must admit that my mother knew every trick in the book about anything, from coffee stains to ink and chewing gum removal. And, she is my yardstick for all baked items to this day.

My reply to her comment about Martha Stewart was that yes, you probably could out bake and out remedy her, but you did not know how to take it to the next level. She had an idea, but that was it.

Her reply to me was to just roll her eyes.

Sure you had the idea

How Would Your Team Members Feel About Having Lunch With You?

“A lot of our job candidates are from out of town, and we’ll pick them up from the airport in a Zappos shuttle, give them a tour, and then they’ll spend the rest of the day interviewing,” Tony Hsieh says. “At the end of the day of interviews, the recruiter will circle back to the shuttle driver and ask how he or she was treated. It doesn't matter how well the day of interviews went; if our shuttle driver wasn't treated well, then we won’t hire that person.”  

"There’s never an excuse for being impolite or rude to somebody just because they drive a shuttle."

Can I get an “Amen?”

I read this quote from an interview on Business Insider and this set the framework for my day. As I drove into work that morning, I could not help but think of a former CEO who was the model for me for what leadership was about.

How a leader can set a tone for everyone

Sharon Patrick was the founding CEO of Martha Stewart Living. What made Sharon so remarkable was that she exemplified this type of behavior of Tony Hsieh at Zappos.

Everyone knew her as Sharon, from the mailroom to the boardroom. If you wanted to find her early in the morning, she would be sitting in the mailroom with her feet up talking to the guys. She thought nothing of walking through the office and grabbing a chair next to your desk to ask what you were working on.

Her laugh was a Sharon laugh; it echoed throughout the building. That set the tone and that set the culture.

I always felt that when she left the company we went into a slow spiral, and from all indications, they are still struggling to come out of it.

The key to cultural alignment is that the tone starts from the top. There’s no need to sit in some conference room and hammer out some statement, post it all over, email it all over, and expect the organization to change.

It will not happen until the lowest rung on the org chart feels it. How do you think the van driver at Zappos feels? Do you think he or she is engaged? Having the “suits” reach down to ask their opinion and get them involved has to be a morale builder.

Executive “attitude” needs to go away

I was with one of our managers recently, and security asked for our ID. I gladly provided mine, and when the guard asked a question about my companion, he snatched his ID from the agent and tried to belittle him just for asking a question.

I was incredulous at this behavior, and I can guarantee that this will never happen again. There is nothing that causes my blood to boil as when some high-ranking individual treats someone below them in a lesser way because of their status.

This is especially rampant in all kinds of organizations. I have seen the so-called “big folks” step into an elevator and not make an utterance or a “good morning” to anyone. It was as if they owned the elevator and we were invading their space.  This smug attitude by some leaders is going to have to die a slow death if they want innovation, dynamics, and profitability in return.

This brings up the debate of IQ vs EQ. There was a time that test scores, technical skills, school ranking, etc, were at the top of the list in the interview dynamic. I call this the IQ Factor.

However, people began to realize that high intelligence in no way guaranteed a life of success.

Leaders that people want to work for

I believe that individuals with strong leadership potential in today’s work environment need to be emotionally intelligent or have high EQ. The new found dynamic is moving to the forefront in the hiring process.  The dynamics of the workplace has changed with the evolution of project based or teams working on projects. The technical skills are needed but the soft skills [EQ] are paramount.

Gone are the days that leaders resided in a cocoon and you had to have title superiority just to get in the vicinity. This type of leader is gradually fading away and companies and boards should realize that a new skill set is needed to deal with the demands of these turbulent times, because these times are the new normal.

If you want great results, you must have an excess of leaders that people want to work for. These are the type of leaders that people just enjoy being in the company off.  There is nothing I enjoy more than having a conversation with our company’s gardeners and laborers. At first they did not know how to respond to me, since it seemed that no one in authority had ever spoken to them. Now, we talk and they stop by to see if I need anything.

Will people be happy meeting with you?

I had one of them tell me the other day that it is a joy just to come into HR if they have an issue. On occasion, they have even walked me to my car while taking everything out of my arms, briefcase and all. This is all because I took a few minutes here and there to ask how they and their families were doing. They are not afraid anymore.

In your organization, people may still be afraid. The further you go down your org chart, the more that may be the case.

But remember: If you want an initiative to succeed, you must go to the people who it would affect the most and get them involved. Everyone that you engage will become a brand ambassador for your department or initiative.

I have worked for companies that, for various initiatives, gave people the opportunity to have lunch or dinner with the executives. You could almost see the squirming when it happened, because no one wanted to have to sit through a meal with someone who they had no connection or relationship with.

However, I go back to Sharon Patrick and think that employees who worked under her would have been lined up around the block for the opportunity to get together for a lunch or dinner.

Would your team members get excited about having dinner or lunch with you? If the answer is NO, then your EQ is suffering.

Your Business Strategy Needs A Talent Strategy

Last week I was a guest blogger over at CEO.com.  

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So what happens if I create strategy and ‘ignore’ the talent side since we have never paired the two together?”

As a senior faculty member for the Human Capital Institute, I was leading a two-day strategic workforce planning session in Aduja, Africa when that question was posed to me. I stopped in my tracks and tried to take my facilitator hat off while putting my consultant hat on.

I thought, “How could you not?” If the CEO and her team are developing their strategic plan, this process cannot be complete unless the talent implications are reviewed. I like to think of it as shining your strategy through the prism of talent. It is meaningless to conduct or create a strategic initiative if your talent configuration is not there. If your plans are to move your organization to the proverbial “next level,” your chance of being successful is hampered because the consideration of the organizational capabilities is not within the equation.

Today, as business leaders are struggling to get their organizations back on track, the organizational leverage and its connection to the enterprise are becoming more important. The vast majority of companies develop a business strategy that typically covers strategic plans on market positioning, investment, growth and other major initiatives. This is normally a rigorous process; however it is rarely paired to the talent strategy of the organization.

Execution by its very nature begs for talented individuals being in the right spot to increase the propensity of success. You can lay out the best strategic direction covering all the key areas within your organization, but if you are not equipped, or the talent implications are not taken into consideration, your successes could be hampered.

Beware of Self-Appointed Experts — Who Anointed Them, Anyway?

“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King” —Erasmus of Rotterdam

I love quotes, but sometimes one comes across that you have not heard of and it is all too powerful. My interpretation is even someone without much talent or ability is considered special by those with no talent or ability at all.

I had a conversation a few weeks back from a young professional that I mentor. On her LinkedIn page, she listed herself as a “PR expert.” Two years into her career and she was already an expert. How did that happen?

Well it happens a lot. All over the Internet, I am amazed by all the experts, gurus and ninjas. It is great that we have so many experts in the land of the blind. My question is, where do we go to get certified as an expert?

So finally I asked her: who anointed you an expert? She could not accurately respond and she knew she had to remove it from her LinkedIn profile.

So,that made me the expert police. If that was my real job, I would be working 24/7 because the Internet is infested with experts in the land of the blind.

Self-branding: Be careful

Staying Focused, Why Every Career Interaction Is Critically Important

I have a “few projects” that I am working on to get back into corporate. When I responded by asking them to give me an overview, that was when the picture became unclear.

Then the stumbling started and in the end there was a mishmash of  ”give this one a call,” “follow-up this with a meeting,” ” reach out to …” This was not a strategic-driven approach.

When I opened the email, it was a short note [one large paragraph] and a resume. This was in response to someone reaching out to me for assistance to help make an introduction for my business trip to Nigeria this week.

To say I was underwhelmed is an understatement.

What would be your approach?

Finding Your Career Passion — It Takes Listening to Your Heart

“When you follow your passion, success will follow you.”

When I heard that statement, I looked up at the TV. Not really being a TV person, I normally leave it on for background noise.

As I gazed at the TV, I could not let that slogan go. The name of the company did not register but the phrase that they are using as their tag line did.

There has been a lot of chatter about finding your passion in life. As I talk to young people, it seems that everyone is on the hunt for something — whether it is a job or a career. Yes, people are looking and searching for that hidden treasure called passion.

I believe in this statement because as the saying goes, choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. I do not know who that quote is attributable to, but I do know that it is true.

Problem is, people are in search of it. They spend so much of their time thinking and trying to figure out what passion is.

You won’t find it by brainstorming

The Problem With Meetings? They Cost More Than They’re Really Worth

How much is it costing?

“We just spent over $5,000 for a half-hour meeting,” one of the senior executives said. The meeting was to decide the scheduled lunch hour, and this was the second meeting.

As I heard this, I could almost see an old-fashioned time clock at the conference room door that punched time in and time out. Taking that a step further, we could envision, at the end of the “month,” the exact cost for each one of these important meetings. It would be a sobering report if all of our meeting hours were calculated as such.

How much is it costing?

Just Say No To Meetings!............................

This is a repost of an article by Howard Mavity, Partner at Fisher & Phillips Law Firm.  He is the Workplace Safety/Catastrophic Management Chair.  This post was in reference to a recent post on the Cost and efficiency of meeting.

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I had not previously read posts by Ron Thomas, but based upon his recent TLNT post, “The Problems With Meetings?  They Cost More Than They’re Really Worth,” Mr. Thomas is that rarest of leaders . . .:  an individual with common sense and great judgment.  I relate to Thomas’ comment:

Meetings are the bane of corporate existence.  Whether it is a conference call or a physical meeting, these are part of our process of doing business, and for the most part they are not going away.

Just Say No!

Thomas goes on to conclude:

Five Things You Can Do to Prepare Your Company for a Catastrophic Crisis

This is a re-post from an in-depth interview on crisis management.  The white paper titled: How to prepare your organization for challenging times by Modern Survey.  Looking for more ideas on preparing your staff for a crisis?  To read the full report on Crisis Leadership click on the link.

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While business leaders don’t like to think about it, the list of crises that can hit a company is almost endless.

Ronald Thomas was vice president of HR/organizational development for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia when Martha Stewart was indicted on charges including securities fraud and obstruction of justice in 2003. 

“Bad behavior in the executive suite. Bad products. Horrible responses to situations. Corporate behavior gone wild. The list goes on and on,” Thomas says.

That list of possible catastrophes includes outside crises — such as a major weather event or a terrorist attack — and planned, expected crises, such as a leadership transition. And the question shouldn't be “what should we do if something happens?” Instead, company leaders should really be saying “Let’s make a plan for when something like this happens.”

Here are five things you can do to prepare your company for a catastrophic crisis.

A Critical Quality You Want in Your Employees? It’s Inquisitiveness

“I want to buy a flip phone; I do not want one of those new phones. I do not text because it gives you carpel tunnel syndrome. I can’t be bothered to use that GPS system [even though he gets lost every day]. I do not do online banking.”

One of the main competencies that any company today should look for in any new employee is inquisitiveness. If you are looking to build a stable of expat-eligible employees, do yourself a favor and move inquisitive to the top of the list.

As I talk to executives across the globe, I have zeroed in on that and, like a pit bull, I will not let it go.

The drive to figure things out

Always Be Looking? Good Advice, But Better to Have a Good Network

“How long were you in the job? Twenty-nine years was the reply.”

Things were good; he was at the top of his game. Headhunters were always calling with opportunities, and he would politely decline. He usually said something about “not being really interested,” and that “things are good here.”

And then, that day came along that we all have seen — he was “ambushed” and he was out. He took a package, as they say.

“We were brainstorming ways to expand my brand and she suggested that I connect with you.”

That statement was from a CLO at a major company looking to expand beyond the corporate role and create a brand around her. She was at the top within her organization and had unfettered access to senior leadership. However, she was eager to become known outside of the organizational cocoon.

Two calls from opposite ends of the spectrum

The Importance of Eliminating Bad Behavior That Damages Your Culture

“Ron, you know someone needs to talk to XXX because he does not know how to talk to people. He is so rude.”

The other gentleman in my office said, “you have to realize that he has worked here for seven years in HR under XXX.” That statement changed the conversation immediately.

Everyone knew that the person he mentioned was beyond difficult to work for. It was like he had a vendetta against anyone that walked through the door. So as the saying goes, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

We have all run into these type bosses in our career. If you have not, my father has a favorite saying for you — “Just keep on living.”

Learning from a bad boss

An Interview: Employee engagement built around helping employees take charge of their careers

I was honored to be interviewed by softgarden, the Germany based e-recruiting software company on employee engagement.  Below is the interview that went live today.

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This week we caught up with Industry Expert Ronald Thomas to see what he had to say on the topic of employee engagement. In his previous Senior role at Martha Stewart Living, Ron developed a program to help employees take charge of their careers and essentially develop their own engagement by choosing the right path. We got in touch to find out more.

SOFTGARDEN:
In your recent article on TLNT you discuss how businesses can help employees develop their own engagement, do you think this is a tactic that other, smaller businesses can adopt? Is there is a danger that it could potentially harm staff retention?

Cultural Translations: HR and Life Lessons After 6 Months in the Mideast

“The logic you have based your decisions on over your lifetime is not usable here.”

Everyone sitting around the office basically agreed. But then again, we were all expatriates. The conversation was centered on the processes and procedures that we had built our career on.

We were used to making snap decision and were also proud of the fact that we were decisive. We were used to digging for root cause and trying to fix things so that the problem would not happen again. We were used to analyzing process and determine where the bottlenecks were, and then fix them.

A great deal of the time, however, that does not translate across cultures.

Cultural translation does not always translate

A Game-Changing Conversation: Why You Really Need to Return That Call

“I heard from XXXX last week. Yes, I talked to him last week also, and he told me you did not return his call.”

Like a lot of you, I have friends who are still clawing back from the near economic collapse. During that era, I was in the publishing business which was (and still is) being decimated by the digital era.

Business disruptors have this effect on industry. A lot of people get thrown overboard as companies try to find the rudder to steady the ship.

And those people are our friends, families and co-workers. Some of us, on the other hand, were a bit more nimble and able to hang on, and like an acrobat, landed at the right spot at the right time. We could also have been among the ones that faltered, but we were able to brush ourselves off and get back on track.

Life is a two-way street

This post is dedicated to both. Last week was a tough one for me. One of my dear friends from my days at Martha Stewart died

“Industry Experience Required” Is a Mindset We Need to Get Out Of

“Industry experience required. Industry experience preferred.”

When I see these type of requirements listed in a job ad, they cause my eyes to glaze over.

I have had friends call and ask, “do you think I should apply if it says this?” My response is that clicking submit only takes a few seconds.

But maybe, there is a SMART recruiter out there who will ignore that ridiculous screening requirement and will instead look for talented people from other industries.

A sign that you just don’t get the “talent thing”

Brand Blindness: When Companies Don’t Engage Customers or Employees

“I do not want to post it now because I will have over a thousand resumes before the end of the day. I normally post them as I leave for the day and deal with it tomorrow.”

That was a statement one of our recruiters told me after coming out of a meeting during my tenure at Martha Stewart Living. I thought of that this week when I read the story about Yahoo now getting more than 12,000 resumes a week.

That is such an important metric about branding. I had someone contact me after I left Martha Stewart and wanted to pay me as a consultant to help her get an interview. She felt that if she got in the door, she would be able to sell herself.

I politely declined. She was so enthralled with the brand that I had to spend some time walking her back from the throes of brand blindness.

Brand perception and working within a brand are two different things. Potential candidates, however, buy a slice of the brand and assume that working someplace that is a “brand” will equate to their perception of the brand. Since my career was based in New York City, and I had a strong Rolodex, [pre-LinkedIn], I was always being approached by people who wanted intros to HR folks so they could get that interview with their favorite brand.

Clamoring to get in the door

Having the Passion to Keep Holding On to Your Dream

Would you hold on to a dream for 40 years?

“Hungry for that life message of never, ever give up… and I didn’t.”

Those words came through so eloquently from Diana Nyad.

East Coast evening news broadcasts come on here in Saudi Arabia the following morning. So when I heard this quote, I was having my coffee and scanning email.I immediately stopped and looked up.

Then I heard those most famous words that framed my day and made me refocus. “Never, ever give up!” When I got to work, I printed those words out in 72 point type. When I got home, I placed them strategically throughout the house I live in. Those words rekindled my thought process and put me in another frame of mind.

Harden our resolve — or soften our determination

Build Your Own Talent and Reap the Benefits

This article appeared in People and Management Magazine September-October issue.  I will become a monthly columnist writing articles centered around Organizations, People & Talent.

Succession planning is always unfairly coupled with the executive suite. When we think of the word, we right away envision a pool being groomed for the C-Level. Succession planning must be permeated throughout the organisation. From the marketing manager to EVP/CMO, every new hire must be looked at through the lens of replacement


What do Proctor & Gamble, JC Penny, Best Buys and Xerox have in common? They all have had recycled CEO’s. The wunderking that was at the throne was replaced by the prior wunderking! Now tell me what is wrong with that picture. Where is or was the strategy succession? So if the plan did not work, why and more importantly what are you going to do about it?

However, there have been instances of success when this model has been used so it is not always a total disaster. The most famous examples include Steve Jobs at Apple and Howard Schultz at Starbucks who came back riding to the rescue, cape & all and saved their company from the grips of decline.

How could this be? Succession planning as an organisational tool has been around for decades. How could these major companies not have a talent marketplace in place? Why would they go back to the tried and true especially in this era of innovation?

Burnout on the Job: You Own It and Only You Can Fix It

“I am done!” Background: A few years out of college, into their second job, dislikes job and abusive work environment.

“I am just going through the motions.” Background: Baby Boomer, laid off but just bounced back, hates to get up every morning. Wants to get out but can’t.

“I am so over this job.” Background: Gen X, 10-12 years out of college. Multiple promotions. Very successful for her age with lots of responsibility, but wants to do something else. Does not know what “something else” is.

This is just a sampling of the emails and texts that I have received from friends over the past few weeks. They are all at different stages of their career, but what I am noticing is that there are very few people that I know who are at “career nirvana.”

Is there anyone out there who really loves what they are doing?

Stages of burnout

Want to Get Ahead? Here’s Why You Always Need a “Pitch” Ready to Go

You always have to keep something on the tip of your tongue.”

My college roommate was the type of person that always had a comeback to whatever was said. He was quick on his feet in verbally responding.

He could develop a narrative around any issue. When asked how he could be so quick, this quote above was always his response.

We have all participated in (or have heard about) the elevator pitch and how important it is. The premise is that if you were on an elevator with an “important person,” what would your brief, 30-second pitch be? If you are an entrepreneur or a job seeker, how would you pitch this person?

Being ready to pitch anywhere

The Opposite of Engagement: When People Decide to Fire Their Company

I need to speak to you when you get in this morning, preferably before the meeting with XXXX.”

“OK, no problem. Is everything OK? I sure hope it is not what I think...”

That email exchange took place about 10 pm one night last week. The young woman who sent it had finally received a job offer and was letting her manager know that she wanted to meet so that she could finally say “you’re fired.” — not to her manager, but to the organization.

I read with dismay the other day about the AOL executive that fired someone while he was conducting a company-wide conference call. The headline should have read “Bully acts out again and fires someone on the spot.”

Happy to let them go

Q & A WITH RON THOMAS, A CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCE & ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

I am very pleased to have recently had the privilege of interviewing Ron Thomas, a Chief Human Resource & Administrative Officer currently based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  We asked him to share his insight and recommendations for human resource practitioners.

TUESDAY STRONG'S BLOG

FOR THE LIFE OF YOUR CAREER, NOT JUST THE JOB YOU'RE IN

Ron Thomas

Q:  Would you speak to your experience as a professional and describe how you stay current with the market and your professional development?

A:  In my climb to reach my HR goal, I figured out long ago that it was about staying current in the field.  You can’t just hunker down in your job and not self-develop.  By this I mean that you should read everything you can about your chosen field.  What are the key points that every department is struggling with?  What are the thought leaders discussing online?  Are you reading the top HR websites?

Develop a strategy for all the key transformation topics.  I tried to develop a strategy for every issue that HR and the organization was facing.  I figured that if I was ever confronted with these issues I would have already thought it through and would have a position not only on paper but to discuss as well.  This was a lot of work that kept me busy but it is like an athlete, you must always be in top shape that if the opportunity presented itself, you could hit the ground running.

See You in a Month: Why Americans Need to Get Serious About Vacations

“See you in a month!”

I was told that by one of our executives as he stopped by HR to complete paperwork for his impending 30-day vacation. My thought was: what would it be like to take an entire month at one time for vacation?

I told him jokingly that I would not know what to do with myself if I had a WHOLE month off. He admonished me and told me that vacation is for rest and relaxation.

Another culture difference

The Key to a Successful Merger? You Gotta Get Better, Not Just Bigger

“By the power invested in me, I hearby pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

At my 5 am workout last week, I noticed on Bloomberg TV that mergers and acquisitions were in the air. Omnicom and Publicis had agreed to merge. The announcement was made in Paris where Publicis is headquartered.

The transaction, presented as a merger of equals, would bring the necessary scale and investment firepower to cope with rapid changes wrought by technology on the advertising business. What that means for the uninitiated is that we just got bigger — and bigger is better.

Does bigger equal success?

Engagement? You Need to Help Employees Develop It on Their Own

“Imagine all the people living for today” is one of the lyrics in what I think is one of the greatest songs ever written — Imagine by John Lennon.

I found myself humming this song the other day on my drive to work, which kind of put me in synch with my HR friend Steve Browne, who uses his music list to get pumped up for the day ahead.

Later that morning, I noticed another article in my in box on employee engagement. It was basically written from the same perspective: the organization owns it. But what happened next was a call I received from a friend in the States; yes, she called me here in Saudi Arabia [seven hours ahead].

I listened to her usual patter on the travails of what her company is doing and how they did this and that. She and her friends are so fed up. The company never listens. They could care less about their employees.

It went on and on.

You own it

Who You Gonna Call? Your HR Physician Can Diagnose You..

Imagine going to your general practitioner, and after a few questions, you get a prescription.

HR Team

During this process, she pulls out a list of best practices to treat your symptoms and writes your prescription. You walk out after a 5-10 minute interview and you’re prescribed with this miracle cure to heal what ails you.

However, if you go to a specialist who deals with your ailment, you will be put through a battery of tests to get to the root cause. After the results come back, this specialist will evaluate your results thoroughly and begin the process of coming up with a solution.

Last week, I got a note from an HR friend who told me that they were asked to gauge employee engagement in their firm. She went to HR and HR sent her a survey with a list of questions.

When I say the questions were”sent,” they were sent back to her via email. The problem was that the list of questions did not touch on what she wanted. Her group was looking for help with the manager-employee dynamic and not the organization-employee dynamic.

We are the specialist