..., most of the time.

Comfort. Some things in life are more comfortable than others. It can be a bit disconcerting to receive a phone call from a client who expected more from your relationship or be summoned to your superior’s office to hear the dreaded words, “I don’t like anything you have suggested.” Or how about that time when you submitted your resignation and your supervisor looked at you as if to say, “How can you leave me on this sinking ship?”  Been there, regrettably, done that.  We all have to face uncomfortable situations in our work lives.

Human Resource Professionals and Recruiters tend to meet those moments more often than other professionals. The Sign-Off: telling a candidate they aren’t getting invited to the show. The Collection: having to call a client, former or otherwise, to ask for the final installment for a placement you made two, three, or four months ago. The Lost Friend: when a hiring manager comes to you with a confidential recruitment that will replace a friend of yours within the company, and you have to keep it confidential. The HR Function: having to address hirings, firings, lay-offs, complaints, sexual harassment issues, evaluation time, changes in policy, promotions, non-promotions, and demotions.

Understand that Life in HR is not always easy. As a matter of fact, it often is not. And finding your comfort level, as an HR Professional, Corporate Recruiter or Third-Party Recruiter can be a challenge. Some of us are cut out to make cold calls, some of us are not. Some are cut out to stand in an Exhibitor’s Booth all day, some are not. Some of us are cut out to attend conferences and sit in session upon session for two days straight, some are not. Some of us are cut out to tweet about anything and everything, some are not. Some of us are cut out to bring the right placement to the table, in a timely manner – some are not.

The zone to be in is the one that feels right, the one that runs smoothly and efficiently. However, should that zone become too stagnant or too easy, we risk the opportunity for development and growth, for learning new skills, or challenging our own understandings of the job, any job. Finding the right combination of further excelling at what we are already good and getting better at what is necessary but uncomfortable is a formidable task. Formidable, but not impossible.

Cats are good at running away from discomfort. They dart through halls or along fences and under cars, in an effort to dodge everything and anything that isn’t for their own benefit. Dogs will endure an incredible amount of discomfort to simply to please their owners, to get a pat on the head or a treat. Somewhere in between lies another animal, the HR Professional or Recruiter. Knowing that sometimes discomfort comes with the gig, but also a great deal of satisfaction is part of their makeup.

 Gloria Steinem said, “The only thing I can’t stand is discomfort.”

Somehow, I think avoidance and complacency trump discomfort.

Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four, happily engaged to Tom, residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a daily contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.  

Late last week I read an interesting comment on a fellow HR Blogger, Charlie Judy’s blog.  The comment was this: “HR simply stands for Headcount Reduction.”  The post titled “Deadbeat Employees” and the comment thread that has evolved as of late is quite interesting but that’s not the point of this blog post today.  In short, the commenter is absolutely mistaken.  HR really has no decision making weight in headcount reduction.

Headcount decisions, layoffs, corporate resizing, and downsizing are things that in most cases middle management human resources really has no involvement in.  These budgetary decisions are made in a board room full of executives like your CEO, COO, CFO, and hopefully your CHRO.  That HR generalist or partner who briefs you on benefit changes for the upcoming year, investigates employee complaints, and pushes paperwork has nothing to do with the decision to layoff you, the employee.

Human Resources Roles

Companies with more than 20,000 employees – and depending on their number of locations – have many layers to their HR organization.  This means that your human resources representative at your office likely reports to someone else working in human resources who reports to another HR Senior Director who reports to the Regional HR who reports to the Chief Human Resource Officer who reports to the CEO.  Your office HR rep  is pretty low on the corporate food chain, but that doesn’t make their job any less important.  Their focus is you, the employee and the managers in the facilities they serve and represent their company in the best possible way.

Oftentimes in field HR roles, we are alerted to the fact before the general employee population that a reduction, RIF, or company change is happening.  Sometimes we are tasked to run reports or gather data that helps in making the final reduction decision.  Because when a reduction is being considered, organizational leaders look at things like employee performance, date of hire, or an employee’s age or protected class.

Sometimes Working in Human Resources Means Bringing Bad News

Yes, we are often times the one who delivers the message.  Similar to the corporate PR rep to the press, we must serve as the point of contact for the employee who is being transitioned out of the organization.  We represent the company and want to paint them in the best possible light.  We make sure the exiting employee receive COBRA and benefit information, answer questions, help with career transition services, and make sure you understand the company’s severance package.

Oftentimes, we in HR do this full well knowing that a day may come when we are on the receiving end as the company works to reorganize, re-evaluate, and cut the corporate fat.  So HR doesn’t stand for headcount reduction.  Quality HR, that is. Human resource professionals are tasked during a reduction in force with helping exiting employees make the transition smoothly and with dignity while ensuring that their company is removed from as much legal liability as humanly possible.

Headcount Reduction & Human Resources

No, HR doesn’t stand for headcount reduction.  It stands for human resources and a good HR professional balances both their responsibility to the employee while also the organization.  So quit your bitching and get an understanding of what your actual HR representative actually does before making assumptions and jumping to conclusions. 

Employees Rights to Religion at Work

I understand that the law provides employees the opportunity for religious accommodation meaning employers should provide employee time off to worship, attend their church, and observe their religious holidays.  I have had my share of run-ins with management staff as I explained that employees can take time off to attend church and worship. To exclude any employees from practicing their religious freedom would be a form of religious discrimination.

These rights are part The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and applies to freedom from religious discrimination, accommodation, and hostile work environment matters in both public and private workplaces.

Examples of Religious Discrimination in the Workplace

In many cases, religion at work causes more problems than not in the workplace.  Practicing religion at the office or even sharing beliefs can touch on nerves, hurt feelings, and ignite high level of anger as well as passion.  Religion at work provides a veritable HR smorgasbord of workplace scenarios:

• Employee Bible Study.   As an HR Director, I arrived to the office early.  It was a Wednesday morning and was surprised to see so many employee cars in the office parking lot.  As I walked the office and facility floor, most offices were empty, so where we all the employees?  Upon further investigation I found a large group of employees in a meeting room facilitating a weekly morning employee Bible study.  I literally stopped in my tracks.  This is a problem because according to the act mention above, I need to create a workplace free from religious discrimination meaning if one religion has a Bible or religious study, all may be offered the same opportunity.

• When Employee Religious Beliefs Offend Other Employees. Picture an employee sharing their very public view and religious stance on abortion complete with a picture of a dead baby held in a woman’s arms as a screen saver on their work computer.  While he has right to his opinion and the freedom to practice his religion as he see’s fit, his office was in an open area and caused a slew of complaints from offended employees.

• When Religious Head Coverings Conflict with Dress code.  Having a great deal of experience working in a retail and customer facing setting, dress code is very important.  Muslim head coverings and other religious self-expression items like cross earrings and jewelry are allowed for employees to wear at work. To create employee rules that forbid religiously established forms of dress would be to invite a religious discrimination lawsuit. For example,  Muslim woman at a Disney-owned restaurant filed a discrimination complaint  in 2010 saying that she had repeatedly been sent home without pay for refusing to remove her head scarf at work.

Does Religion Belong at Work?

The holidays, preferably those of the more of the Christian variety, seem to be prime time for igniting conflict surrounding religion at work. Sometimes that’s okay; just observe the recent  Rhode Island “holiday tree” controversy that grabbed the headlines  Of course, most the holiday season isn’t really about religion; it’s about vacation, family, and commercialism driving that capitalist machine where we live today.  So excuse me, if this HR hippie chick is a little jaded and not too enthusiastic about religion, specifically God at work.

I understand the power and importance of belief, community, and religion.  I happen to live smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt here in Oklahoma.  Generally speaking, I don’t mind hearing about people’s thoughts and conversations surrounding their religion and beliefs.  I find the topic fascinating and happen to be a student of religion; constantly fascinated and reading about religion among different people and cultures.

Religion like politics is a workplace topic that is guaranteed to generate an HR shit storm which is why I’ve had enough.  God has no place in the workplace. Do you agree?

Photo Credit 

I’m in Vegas this week, but not for the reasons you might think.  My husband, Greg is here on business, and it also happens to be my daughter, Ryleigh’s third birthday.  We didn’t feel like it was fair for us to be apart on such an important day for Ryleigh so I made the trip with Greg, Ryleigh, and my mother in law in tow.  I’ve yet to pull a single solitary slot machine or throw some dice.  You see, gambling is really not my thing.  In the last 12 months, I’ve been to Vegas 6 times, and gambling seems to have lost its luster.  Vegas happens to be the conference capital of the world and is my second home as of late.  In fact, I’ve written about Vegas and a few of the conferences I’ve attended here and here.

LION KING OFFERS REAL INSIGHTS INTO YOUR WORKPLACE

What I do love about Vegas are the shows, and last night we watched The Lion King for the first time.  It was truly magical and of course tears were shed by me within the first 1o minutes.  I also can’t shut off my blogger brain of mine to save my life (it’s nearly 2 Am as I write this), and I began to make the correlation between the Lion King and lessons learned when it comes to working, leadership, and human capital management at your workplace.

• The Importance of Succession Planning. Mufasa’s Pride learned the hard way as Simba was not ready to take his rightful place as CEO.  Thirty-five percent of companies have a CEO succession plan in place.  That means that 65% do not.  It’s safe to think that if an organization doesn’t have a succession plan in place for their CEO, they’re not likely to have one for other key positions within their organization.  Failing to plan for that eventuality when your leader is no longer there to guide your organization can quickly send your organization’s team, your stock price, and company earnings into a free fall.  Companies like Apple planned ahead  with their CEO human capital management strategy before they happened.  Maybe you should too.

• Politics Especially of the Office Variety are Never Easy.  While some might think that office politics is about building business relationships, it can inhibit organization and department productivity.  Scar spent so might time scheming and politicking, he lost sight of his grand plan.  It’s hard to choose sides as an individual and sometimes risky to align yourself within different subcultures or players (like Scar) of an organization.  A boss of mine, Bill  just had a knack for navigating the organizational political waters.  Some called is slacking while others called it a fine art.  Personally, I knew he was hanging on by his finger nails politicking his way to retirement.  Choose your alliances and relationships wisely or you just might end up like the hyenas getting thrown under the bus when your leader lands in the hot seat.

• Working with Family Members is a Recipe for Drama.  While I’ve never worked with a family member in a workplace, nepotism has its place in some business environments.  I had a very short voluntary tenure  working at a family owned business when I first moved to Oklahoma City.  The owner’s brother was a regional sales manger with a dirty mouth, a drug problem, and a habit of sexually harassing anything remotely female within a 200 foot radius.  It’s not just working with a family member that is a problem but working with employees who work with family members can be equally taxing.  I just didn’t have the stomach to work for an organization where the good old boy’s network involved drug abuse, a blatant disregard for things like I-9′s and other not so fun HR-related things.  Consolidating the 401(k) monthly is not something I like to think of as a good time even if it happens to be over cocktails.

A New Revolution

A world that finds distress necessary seems to be emerging. I don’t really understand it, but it seems to be true even as we recognize the need to ease distress, solve an issue, change a course, innovation and provoking thoughts or actions occur. Provocation has, on more than one occasion, driven home the need to rethink or transform. It is a continual itch that needs to be scratched, a bottomless hole that needs to be filled, and an oft-asked question begging to be answered.

More than a mild irritation that is easily soothed by calming words or Neosporin, revolution comes along when what is currently in place is no longer working or relevant. Thomas Jefferson said, “Every generation needs a new revolution.”  So, what revolution have we, this current generation of business?

The perpetual swell of technology and the speed with which we communicate have initiated a whole new way to master human resources, to create partnerships and create continuing biz opportunities. When I first entered the corporate world, the fax machine was invaluable and snail mail was the preferred way of sharing important information. Email quickly took over and increased the tempo to our favorite song.

IM, Social Networks, Twitter, Gamification, and Location Tech continue to evolve the face of sourcing, marketing, presenting, negotiating, and selecting. Thank goodness. Think of how different our lives might be without the likes of LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google. Especially in the wake of recent economic changes. Evolution, actual revolution was imminent, continues to be imminent.  It will not slow down – it may even increase. Are you ready?

Relationship-building will become even more imperative as we enter the next evolution.

Anyone can tweet – where is their face?
Anyone can join a social network and add a hundred new contacts in a day – where is the handshake?
Anyone can find the perfect match for the perfect job online – where is the voice and personal engagement?

Don’t be anyone.

Be the someone whose voice is recognized.
Be the someone whose client knows you look good in red or that you like deep dish pizza.
Be the someone who knows the value of engagement.

Be someone.

Every generation needs a new revolution…

Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.  

The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization

Several years ago, I sat in front of the CEO of a small company that called itself a start-up for start-ups. I was new to this type of organization, a technology-based company, trying to get off the ground with little funding and big ideas. I had worked for the whole of my career, up until that point, in the dental and health care fields, so technology was a new and welcome twist.  Fred, the CEO, held a book in his hand, The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, a book about learning organizations and systems’ thinking approach to business, and asked, “Have you read this book?” I looked blankly at the unfamiliar text in his hand and painfully thought, “Oewh… this job is not for me.” I then shook my head and answered truthfully, “Nope.” He said, “You will.”

That was a first step toward my further understanding of business – in general, start-ups, and, really, expanding my horizons beyond cold calling, sales, and recruitment.  I joined this young technology company as the Manager of Recruitment and Retention and I became educated rather quickly that my days of retained and calculated search and taking my sweet time to find the right fit were long over. I also learned an incredibly valuable lesson that has become embedded in my psyche and stays with me still today. I learned to be flexible and recognize that what always worked before may not work any longer. And that’s ok.  Better yet, you can teach an old dog a few new tricks.

I learned the art of executive recruitment from an old-school recruiter who demanded that 60 to 100 cold calls a day were the only way to get a job done and get the word out about a new position, and you had to suffer and suffer hard to garner a slate of only mildly acceptable and rarely perfect candidates. I wanted there to be a better and easier way. I wanted to just be able to go to the database we had built over the last several years and filter, filter, filter… but every new search brought a non-annotated 60-page Access search record dropped on my desk. Equipped with several thousand names and numbers, a pencil and pen, a telephone, came the order to, “Smile and dial.”

The different media available today has changed the face of recruitment.  Human Resources is no longer the organizational function in the basement. Recruiting is no longer the “wicked step child” of HR.  Social media has re-shaped how we interact with the people we do know, why wouldn’t it alter the way we interact with those we don’t?  Recently, the French company Atos eliminated internal email altogether and opted for Facebook messaging as the forum-of-choice for their internal communications.

There really is no such thing as a social media expert.  And I think we are still in the infancy stage of fully grasping its capability and impact. It’s been a crazy ride but I plan on holding on.  If I sat across from that same CEO today, I could say, “Yes, I have read that book.” But then I’d send a tweet stating, “But the system is bigger than ever before.”

Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.