The Challenges of HR Management in a Global Workplace

Mr. Ron, I want you to send me to some training.”

Sure, I said. Tell me about what you do and what are some of your duties in your department? After listening to him or a while, I finally asked: what type training do you think you need?

His reply floored me — “I do not know. Just send me to training.”

The exasperated look on my face told the story. Another of my colleagues was in my office and he said that is a normal reaction in this country. People look to be directed; they are not into self-direction.

What do you need and want

The culture here in Saudi Arabia (where I work) is an everyday learning experience. Things that we take for granted in the U.S. are not as straightforward here. My friend told me that as children, they are taught that parents know best and the parents will make the correct decision.

One Decision That Clearly Shows Just What Leadership Looks Like

It is “inconsistent with our purpose.”

And with that, the ball dropped. CVS President and CEO Larry J. Merlo used that phrase to make an announcement that rocked the health care and business community.

He said:

The significant action we’re taking today by removing tobacco products from our retail shelves further distinguishes us in how we are serving our patients, clients and health-care providers and better positions us for continued growth in the evolving health care marketplace.”

What does leadership look like?

The Seahawks Showed It Pays to Hire People With a Chip on Their Shoulder

“It gives you more of a college environment, because guys are having fun. It is pretty cool. But I did sense that guys were hungry. I would say that the majority of guys are hungry.”

The gentleman that made this statement, Cliff Avril, is a veteran NFL defensive end who had just joined the Seattle Seahawks, and he could tell he was in a different place. He’d just spent five seasons with the underachieving, overhyped Detroit Lions, a team filled with first-round picks [his words].

Seattle is a team made up of retreads and rejects who are motivated to prove everyone wrong. Aside from quarterback Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, and running back Marshawn Lynch, there’s a good chance you hadn’t heard of most of the other Seahawks before last week’s Super Bowl game.

What drives you?

Reporting Analytics and Why You Must Help Interpret It For Your Audience

“Every month, I send an analytics report to senior management. What is disheartening is that not once have they asked me what the numbers mean. They never show any interest.”

This past week I gave a presentation on workforce planning and analytics in Dubai at the Workforce Planning & Analytics Conference.

The quote was from one of the participants who was expressing her frustration on her deliverables. She was basically asking why is nobody was taking her work and role seriously.

I turned the question around and said, “Did you ask them that question?” The answer was basically NO.

A thing of beauty with no meaning

As she was talking, I was reminded of a friend of mine who would put all of his reports into Excel. He literally would spend hours crafting a spreadsheet –color coded, hidden columns, different fonts and background.

Progressive HR: It’s All About Policies That Truly Engage Today’s Workforce

“[Cough, cough] I can’t come in today, I am very sick,” she said.

I told her no problem; see you when you feel better. However, when she came in the next day, I pulled her aside to talk. Drop the cough, and the sick voice —  if you need to be out just let me know, we can always work it out.

That was the end of the fake calls and everybody lived happily ever after. This employee was not an early riser but I would always leave her at the office when I departed. She normally worked to 8 pm every night.

I thought of that call this week when one of my colleagues told me of a manager  who was upset because his employee called in sick and HR demanded a doctor’s note or the employee would be docked for the day. So, the employee is sick, but, the only way they can REALLY be considered sick is to go to the doctor?

Meanwhile, this employee and his team normally work 10 hour days. Over the past month perhaps, this employee has given more gratis hours than those eight paid hours of sick time.

Policies of the past

It Usually Pays Off to Help Employees Follow Their Dream

“I became an accountant because accountants are the career choice of my family. We are a family of accountants. But when I spent my first week for one of the Big 4 firms, I knew that I could not do this for my entire life.”

“I became a lawyer because my mother and father were both lawyers. I never gave it much thought, only that I knew I would become a lawyer. I enjoyed law school and it was only when I got my first real job as a lawyer that I knew that this was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I just could not fathom doing this for 30 plus years.”

Both of these conversations with friends over the years came back to me this week when I read an article in Arab News concerning Saudi Arabian youth and their career choice. The title of the article was Young Saudis pursue career dreams despite the odds.

There were two profiles in this article; one was a filmmaker and the other a chef. Both faced difficulty within their families because “their” career choices were for them to become an engineer and a medical doctor.

If you are asked give it, but if not, shut up

As parents, we all want the best for our kids, and in some ways, we do more harm than good getting involved in someone’s career choice. If our opinion is asked, we give it. If not, do everyone a favor and just shut up.

Giving Up Control: It’s Key to Unleashing Your Workforce’s Power

“And the walls came tumbling down.”

Last week I read the article about Zappos doing away with all job titles and replacing them with what is called Holacracy.

Developed by entrepreneur Brian Robertson, Holacracy is a system of governance that takes things like managers, job titles and bureaucratic red tape out of the equation, distributing leadership and power evenly across an organization.

Instead of a standard hierarchy, companies in a Holacracy are comprised of different “circles” and employees can have any range of roles and responsibilities within those circles.

Coming to an organization near you

There was also the article about the company that instituted a policy that no one is to be contacted while on vacation. The thinking behind this concepts makes sense. We have become tethered to technology that we feel that we have to have in order to be on 24/7.

The 2014 Agenda: Cracking the Culture Code and Embracing Change

I had no idea that they took my candidacy seriously since I did not have a background in TV or Film. However, I was told by the board president that they wanted talent and that it was hard to find.

That was music to my ears as the story was relayed to me at a New Year’s Eve party. My friend had gotten a job as the Senior Vice President at a major non-profit organization.  An attorney by training, a lecturer at an Ivy League school, and a philanthropist with no background in TV or film — yet he was the chosen one.

An opportunity for HR

The year 2014 will present organizations with unrelenting challenges. A few items that will (or should) drive the leadership agenda are culture and innovation with talent behind the wheel. This is a huge opportunity for HR.

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.