When I worked as the Human Resources Manager for a Home Depot store in southern California in the 90’s, “Our employees are the secret to our success” was one of our mottos. And it was true: teh thought was that anyone can build a warehouse and pass along the cost savings to the cutomer, but that a rich human element had better be there if you wanted to be successful.The fun, service-based culture envisioned by the founders was alive and well for employees and customers alike.

Then the company founders retired, were replaced by Bob Nardelli, and that motto (the philosophy, the salaries, the respect, the dedication, and the customer service) quickly faded away. I kept reassuring the worried loyal employees that Bernie & Arthur's Home Depot was still here; that the only change was in the measurement of all that great service and good will we engendered. I truly meant it. So when it became obvious that the heart was gone I, too, felt thrown under the bus. Of course Nardelli has left the Home Depot and now runs Chrysler.

Want a Job in SLO Government?

Are you following the saga of the stupid in SLO county government? Is it making you crazy and are you reordering your anti-depressant meds like I . . . I mean, like others I know? Have you wondered how you could get a job paying $200k where you could have an affair that destroys confidentiality and creates a huge conflict of interest and where you could also send very personal and explicit emails back and forth with your boss? Geez, when most of us steal our employer’s time we’re just shopping online.

Maybe we should start a pool? How many times am I going to say: “Oh my God – what were they thinking??” before this – pun alert – affair is over? I counted 14,382 such outbursts during the Bush Administration.

And I sure wish I was still broadcasting my radio show, “The Wonderful World of Work”. There is certainly enough material here for a dozen “Stupid Employee Tricks” and “Bad Boss of the Month” segments.

How Do you Cheat in an Interview?

If you are unemployed and need to brush up on your interview skills, there are zillions of resources on the web, at the SLO Women’s Business Center at Mission Community Services, and from the EDD. There is also a pretty cool book entitled: Surviving a Layoff, by Harry Dahlstrom that can be helpful. A local company provided copies of this book to each of the employees they had to lay off earlier this year.
I think that was a great move: one that may not have been appreciated at the time the pink slip arrived, but can be very useful once the shock wears off. It has chapters on how to tell your family you’ve been laid off, which bills you can set aside when money is tight, and the usual resume template and “how to win that interview” advice. I love the names used on the resume templates: Bea Hopeful and Will M. Press. Subliminal positive messages, I guess.
Another chapter includes fifty questions to expect during a job interview . . . and tips for answers. The EDD offers a similar sheet of questions; turn it over for suggested answers. Is this cheating or valid research for the task ahead? As an HR professional, I think of it as a warning to anyone conducting an interview: don’t expect creative answers to these questions, folks. Better try some others.
The book suggests you be prepared to answer: “How long do you plan to work here”? And they suggest this answer: “A long time. This is the job I’ve been hoping for”. Point #1: Any applicant worth hiring has already determined if the employer is looking for a summer employee or a long-timer. So this point is moot. Point #2: What else would you say to that question? “As long as you’ll have me”. “Until my parole officer retires”. Point #3: Does the interviewer think this is the only position you’ve applied for? I’m guessing you gave that same answer to the guy you interviewed with yesterday.
Another question you could anticipate in an interview: “How did you feel about being laid off”? My answer: “Lousy; like I was kicked in the stomach.” Suggested response: Don’t bad-mouth your old employers. Admit that you miss the job and the people. Say that you are grateful for the opportunities and the skills you learned there. My response to that response: “Are you a pod left behind by a body-snatcher?”
In order to avoid this whole dance, I have developed a series of interview questions over the last 30 years. Some are designed to stump the applicant, others to challenge him or her, some to reveal past performance, and still others to move them from “interview” mode into “interesting conversation”. Not that I would ever publish my list and desired responses. . . . well, maybe. Check in here again in a few weeks.

Betsey Nash, SPHR, has interviewed hundreds of applicants for jobs ranging from lot attendant to CEO. She is the current President of the Human Resources Association of the Central Coast and can be reached at betsey.nash@unitedwestaff.com.

WHAT’S YOUR COLOR?

Home Depot, 1997 -- It took me awhile but I finally figured out that when the store manager called me into her office, it wasn’t to give me direction: it was to allow her to think out loud, to process. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to add to the “conversation” only to realize she was in her own zone. I would rise from my chair every few minutes, thinking she had settled on a goal or strategy, only to find that she was still processing, and quietly sit back down. The first 10 pages of my notes could be tossed in the trash, but those last 2 were essential.

That was the manager of the Simi Valley store. The Thousand Oaks store manager was just the opposite: by the time he conversed with the management team he had decided on the direction, strategy, and every detail of whatever project was next. Meetings with him were short. Very few notes.

Since Hippocrates first placed us into personality type quadrants in 450 BC, society has been talking about communication. Sales people speak and process information differently than bookkeepers and engineers, right? A supervisor should communicate in such a way that their employee can “hear” or “get” what they are saying. Or at least warn them about their style. It took me awhile to get up to speed on Simi and T.O.: a hint would have helped. Or a class in Hippocrates.

This goes for employees, too. You want to be “heard”; whether to impress your boss or to beg for a day off. So, are you “speaking his or her language?” If they are a detail person, don’t waste time drawing the “big picture”.

Are they fast-paced and quick-thinking, focusing on results? Then present your idea or concern without a lot of detail, focusing on the bottom line. Be brief and be gone. And you will be heard.

Supervisors: are you asking a relationship-driven employee -- the one who plans the pot lucks and takes 10 minutes to get to their desk in the morning because they have to greet and chat with everyone first -- to complete a project on their own? No collaboration? No way.

If I want my employees to do what I ask…..if I want my boss to understand my concerns…. It behooves me to first understand their style.

In the parlance of my favorite personality style analysis, Real COLORS ®,,the pot luck planner is a Blue – relationship driven, sensitive, collaborative. The best person to place on a project is a Green – process, research, answers questions with questions. For details and organization, pick a Gold. Their sock drawer is organized and they love to make lists. And if you are looking for a creative, “outside the box” type – get an Orange.

Most of our entrepreneurs are Orange. And so is our prison population. (I’ll pause here while you make a joke about all the entrepreneurs in prison.)

We’ll talk more about communication in another column, but you can start thinking about your style (and your boss’s) in the meantime.

Betsey Nash, SPHR, is a consultant in Human Resources with United Staffing Associates and a certified trainer in Real COLORS ®. She can be reached at betsey.nash@unitedwestaff.com

Hiring Again?

It is time to start preparing to hire, as the economy shows signs of life. I have several favorite interview questions, all based on 2 theories:
past behavior is an indicator of future behavior, and
past success is an indicator of what you like to do.

Got any interview questions -- asked or asked of -- that you think are especially good? I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Discrimination Ruling in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled Monday in favor of the white fire fighters who claimed their New Haven, Conn. Fire Department discriminated against them while trying to avoid a possible lawsuit from African-Americans.

When the promotion exams were given and the results tabulated, it was determined by the Department that the test resulted in a “disparate impact”, and should be tossed out. Disparate impact is the term for (often inadvertent) unfair results of some action: for instance if a business is laying off all their highest paid employees, that action may have a disparate impact on older workers.

Since so few people of color passed the test, it was felt that the test was somehow discriminatory, and left the Department vulnerable to a discrimination claim.

Low & behold, by tossing out the results, the Department set itself up for a claim, but filed by the white Firefighters who had passed the test. I can hear the department scream: “Damned if we do, damned if we don’t!”

In a 5-4 decision, the Justices decided that "Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions."

In the dissenting opinion, Justice Ginsburg said the court should have assessed "the starkly disparate results" of the exams against the backdrop of historical and ongoing inequality in the New Haven fire department. As of 2003, she said, only one of the city's 21 fire captains was African-American.

Until this decision, Ginsburg said, the civil rights law's prohibitions on intentional discrimination and disparate impact were complementary, both aimed at ending workplace discrimination.

"Today's decision sets these paired directives at odds," she said.

In a year when we expect to see legislation that looks out for the underdog and places workers rights ahead of those of the employer, it seems we can expect some interesting judicial decisions, too.

How to Fire Someone

There are many laws that govern acceptable reasons to fire an employee: even in California, where "at-will" employment means you don't need a cause. Laws aside, there is one rule you should live by when contemplating the termination of an employee. Ask yourself: WILL THEY BE SURPRISED?

My first one was -- and all I could think was "shame on me". I hadn't done my job. She really was honestly surprised. (Many will react as if they are. But they know.)

That's it: just make sure they are not surprised. They know what is expected; they said they could do it; they aren't doing it; they have all the tools they need to do it; they have been trained and warned of the consequences.

Surprise – I am doing what I said I would do if you didn’t meet the standards!

Interviewed in this month's HR Magazine (published by SHRM, the national HR organization), GE's former CEO Jack Welch has praised human resources professionals. OK, so he knew his audience. He said we HR pros should be ashamed (my word) if we don't have a seat at the table, as a true partner in the strategic planning and execution of the business. Natually, I agree. And it is exepcially important right now, for two main reasons: employee hiring and separations.

How is your business handling lay-offs? Please tell me it is not about seniority. It should be all about productivity, what tasks you can merge into another position, and whatever needs to happen to keep the business alive. Using seniority as a criteria can get you into trouble because you may inadvertently terminate only employee over age 40 -- ageism. Charges to the EEOC of ageism are rapidly rising this year.

Productivity is a valid criteria for sure. But did the employee you can live without get a good performance evaluation in the last year? Here is a serious pitfall. Does the employee have proof you think they are a valuable employee or is there documentation about the employee's need to improve?

Right now isd the time to be planning for the economy's upswing and how/who you will be hiring. How many will you need, what will be the indicator, and in which departments? How long will it take you to find them. Just as a baseball team always has a bench, you should always have some resumes of promising candidates on hand.

So, HR professionals: grab a place at the table and let everyone know you are looking out for the best interests of the business by putting effective processes in place at both ends of the employment life-cycle.

Communication is Key

One of our culture’s most popular clichés is “timing is everything”. Just ask a realtor as they wait in the unemployment line. Well, we business and HR professionals tend to believe that timing is very important – but COMMUNICATION IS EVERYTHING.

Employees spend over 75% of their time in an interpersonal situation: with clients, customers, co-workers, the boss, the public; verbally, written, email -- it is all about the communication. And speaking of email, does the irony strike anyone else that all this blogging, “twittering,” and “linking” is called social networking? The new definition of social apparently does not include personal interaction. At least not face-to-face. By now, your employees may be spending 80% of that interpersonal 75%, networking socially.

If, as studies show, employees don’t quit the company they work for so much as they “quit” their immediate supervisor, then every supervisor had better be an expert communicator.

Why is this an issue now that an employer can have his or her pick from a multitude of eager applicants? Because you still want the best people you can find. Once you get them in the door you had better communicate well or they’ll keep looking.

If an employee is not doing what’s expected of him or her, it is likely for one or more of the following reasons. Notice how many are communication-based:
• They don’t know why they should do it
• They don’t know how to do it
• They don’t know what they are supposed to do
• They think your way will not work
• They think their way is better
• They think something else is more important
• They think they are doing it
• They are punished for doing it
• They are rewarded for not doing it.
• It is beyond their personal limits
• No one could do it

So it is clear that a good supervisor communicates expectations and rationale and is consistent when working with their employees. It involves a lot more than being good at giving orders, however. Eisenhower once defined “leadership” as (I paraphrase) the ability to get others to do what you want because they want to. He was good at giving orders, but it took something more to make him a good leader.

We all know how important listening is. It is probably the most important – and hardest part – of communicating. You can take classes in “Active Listening” but what I am talking about goes beyond merely understanding the message – it is understanding the messenger. Is your manager a detail person or do they leave the details to you and provide you with the broad picture? Is your employee the kind that likes a lot of direction or very little? These different types of personalities, thinkers and producers, are all communicating that information to you, and they hear better when you match their style.

Feedback is also huge. One of a manager’s most important skills is to give specific, individualized feedback to their employees. But listen to these 2 different approaches and tell me which is the more effective:

“Well, congratulations! You’re on time for a change!” Or

“Thanks for making it in on time today. I knew you could do it.”

Sounds obvious, but the first one is used all too often. Not sure if any personality style would respond to that back-handed complement, either.

In order to attract and retain the best employees businesses must hire supervisors who can set expectations, listen, coach, and communicate them to each “style” of employee. You don’t want your employees quitting because your supervisors don’t understand that communication is everything.

My Company's Values

I have a framed drawing of Gandhi in my office, with his quote: "Each of us must be the change we wish to see in the world." It serves to remind me that business owners (and others in management) and employees can create a mutually-rewarding experience and that it is my job to assist them in doing exactly that.

So this is a quick reminder to let your business' values lead your decision-making in all things. And be sure they are posted in your breakroom so that the employees know they are their guidelines, as well.

We HR types stress the importance of using the Employee Handbook as our guide for decision-making, and that is very true. But don't forget the value of your values, too.

Your thoughts are welcome.