HR Lessons and Trickle Down Leadership in The Devil Wears Prada

Editor’s Note: With the Academy Awards taking place Sunday, TLNT asked  some thought leaders to write about their favorite movie with a management or HR theme. We’ll feature these up to the Oscar ceremony on Feb. 27.

By Ron Thomas

“Don’t be ridiculous, everyone wants this,” Editor-in-Chief Miranda coolly stated as she rode through the beautiful streets of Paris in her chauffeur driven S Class Mercedes. The CEO stated in the elevator that “a million girls would kill for that job.”

This was the brand as they saw it in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada.” This was the brand that Andy (played by Anne Hathaway) saw and most definitely the brand that the gatekeepers in HR kept in mind when they decided who could come to interview.

This movie has HR footprints all over it, from branding, recruiting, employee engagement, management dysfunction, succession planning, leadership, mentorship. All the ills of the organization are woven through the narrative of a movie about a young college graduate getting her first job. She’s all wild eyed and eager  – until she is thrown into this sink or swim playground.

A Lesson at Time Inc: How Long Do We Keep Those Out of Touch With the Culture?

It was like a surgeon strategically wielding a scalpel taking out the organ that the body rejected.

“I concluded that his leadership style and approach did not mesh with Time Inc. and Time Warner,” Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes stated in a memo. And with that, it was over and done with.

The Chairman and CEO of Time Inc, Jack Griffin was fired on Thursday evening by Bewkes. Six months was all it took and the decision was made.

As I worked out on Friday morning, this announcement flashed across the TV screens. My reaction? Wow.

How many times as HR professionals have we seen that happen? Yes, we have seen it at lower levels but not at the top of the mountain. That does not happen very often. There have been times that you have seen employees that you would have cheered for the opportunity to wield the scalpel to, as was done over at Time.

Building a Brand: What Would Your HR Department “Elevator” Pitch Be?

If you had to create a commercial for your HR department, what would it say? In creating brochures or other collateral material, what would be the value that you would bullet point?

I thought of this during the recent Super Bowl. There was just so much chatter about the ads. The marketing/advertising departments at these companies that advertised put in long hours getting their message out. To the advertising industry, the Super Bowl stage is the apex of the year.

This stage has become what I would call the American Idol of the industry.

Create your HR Brand

If your HR department had to create an ad about the value of your brand and the importance of your function, what key points would you use to craft a relevant story?

Personal Branding: It’s All About Creating Great Footprints in Our Life

This winter has created a terrible snow situation here in the New York City metro area. There is snow everywhere.

I looked outside this morning and could see footprints of various animals walking through the snow. Their footprints were all visible showing the directions that they were headed.

As many of you who follow my blog know, my daughter recently started her first post-college job. In resigning from the two part-time jobs that she was working, she did her exit interview. She was so excited that both companies said that they would rehire her. They told her that anytime she wanted to come back part-time, they would accommodate her.

My response was “you created a great brand during your stay and you made the connection.”

It is all in the brand whether it is the organization or you personally.

I told my daughter a story about how I was invited to lunch a few months back by a very good friend Mark Winkler, AVP Circulation at Martha Stewart Living. We decided that, rather than meeting at the restaurant, I would come up to his office.

This was the first time that I had been there since I left in 2008. I was a little hesitant at first since I had been gone so long. I knew the company had gone through a lot of changes and there were a lot of new faces.
But there were still lots of people that I was looking forward to seeing. I had kept up with them by e-mail, Facebook and all the social media tools.

Creating footprints

A New Way to Engage: Are You Ready for an Organizational Pit Stop?

While sitting through a presentation by the Medici Group last Friday, one of the slides caught my eye.
Franz Johanssen, an international management consultant whose workshop helps companies innovate through the “intersection of ideas, concepts and culture,” gave a stunning presentation.

As we often do, sitting though presentations, there are times that our mind just wanders. We sometimes have so many other thoughts pushing through our space that we are there and at the same time we are not there.

The slide was the photo of a pit stop. I must confess that I am not a fan of car racing by any stretch of the imagination, but this slide really got me to thinking.

Organized mayhem 

Talking to Gen Y: Don’t Let Them Walk Blindly Into the Workplace Minefield

Last Friday, as I walked the streets of New York, my phone rang.

On the other end was my Gen Y daughter. The sound of her voice shone brightly through the phone. Just hearing her voice, I knew it was good news.

“Dad,” she said,” I just got the job.” In a moment of haze and disconnect, I said, “what job?” Then, I realized that the company that she been interviewing for the past week had made a decision.

After all the “practice auditions” that we staged, researching companies, reviewing interview questions, talking about the industry, it had finally paid off. We left no stone unturned. We collaborated throughout this process.

2011- The Year that Human Capital Management Resets

During my morning workout over the holidays, my iPod did not come on.  As usual with IPods, when this happens you must reset. This is done by holding down 2 buttons simultaneously. Then you wait 8 seconds and bravo you are ready to get it on.

During the 8 second wait, I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if life and or business for that matter were like that.  Get in a jam, hit reset.  Strategy does not work, hit reset.  Want to start over, hit reset.

Major change ahead for the organization.

Changing the Brand: We Can’t Let HR Become the Fredo of the Organization

I could not believe that they said that!

Every morning I do a preview of articles, deciding which ones to print and read on my commute into the city, or, save for more in-depth analysis either that night or the weekend. Sometimes however as we glance headlines, we see things that stops us in our tracks.

That happened to me at the beginning of the week when I came across an article titled “HR or Marketing: Who is better equipped to manage employee engagement?”

Many of you who have read my posts know that one of my all time favorite movies is the “The Godfather.” As I fumed over this article my thought was that HR is gradually becoming the “Fredo” of the organization. Fredo Corleone was one of the sons of Don Vito Corleone, “The Godfather,” and he never got the respect from his father or brothers that he so desperately wanted.

I ask again, is HR the Fredo of the organization?

Just Shut Up and Listen to What Younger Workers Have to Say!!

“Daddy, sometimes I want you to just listen and not try and solve everything.”

That statement was from my daughter in her junior year of college. Now she is a college graduate with not one, but two, undergrad degrees. That is a quote that I have never forgotten. I think of it every time I am talking to someone or in a meeting.

I thought of that statement the day after the snowstorm paralyzed the New York City metro area last month. After the shoveling, the two of us settled down in our TV room and had a glass of wine together. We talked into the night, just me and my “little girl.” I listened.

We've all been there


Our conversation that night covered a range of topics, but this is not unusual because we always have these long father/daughter conversation — the same type of conversations that I used to have with my son, who is Gen X.