by Janine Nicole Dennis | Oct 24, 2012 | Life
Recognition is defined as “an action of recognizing” or “special notice or attention”. The piece of the definition that speaks to “special notice” is where I’m going with this. When something is special it isn’t the same ol’same. It is uniquely different and out of the ordinary. When you tell a child that you have a “special” surprise for them for behaving well –there is an underlying perception by that child that they are about to receive something better than anything they have ever received. That underlying perception is what makes the recognition of their good behavior gratifying. Conversely, if that same child comes to know that the “special” surprise is synonymous with the same reward every time they behave well-the reward then becomes trite and meaningless. There is no sense of anticipation or excitement -it is simply ordinary.
The point here is recognition as we know it in HR is something small, something grand and sometimes a little of both. It is a means of letting our employees know that we value their contributions. Recognition with the best of intentions is sometimes overdone. There are things that we expect of our employees on a routine basis and that should never go unnoticed. However, constant awards, long drawn out speeches of praise and all other incentives overdone make routine seem extraordinary. That is to say, routine duties become extraordinary by way of the recognition. The routine and mundane every day responsibilities haven’t changed, but because a reward is attached to it somehow screams “I am awesome”. Let’s be real there are some things that we just expect from employees and that is the common denominator. The extraordinary work is where our employees take that common denominator and exponentially produce great outcomes. The areas where our employees do the routine stuff coupled with the “above and beyond” work are where real recognition has a place. Too often I have seen leaders praise for every project, every task, every breath, and even for an employee getting up in the morning and coming to work on time as they should. Don’t get me wrong-notice it. Recognize it from time to time, but for God’s sake focus your recognition efforts on the extraordinary not the ordinary.
Recognition becomes banal, meaningless, and a hoax when you constantly laud and praise employees for basics. It leaves a lot to be desired. There is no excitement in the “special” aspect of recognition; employees just come to expect something. This in turn will keep ordinary workers ordinary and extraordinary workers bored and thinking you run around spreading recognition haphazardly.
I implore leaders to think about what you reward and punish and the frequency with which you do them both. As with anything in life, balance is an exercise of discretion. Discretion will let your employees know that you are serious about recognition and their efforts.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Oct 2, 2012 | Life
I had to jump on this immediately. During the debates tonight, the master brand manager behind @KitchenAidUSA responded to President Obama’s story about his grandmother with this tweet:
I’m sorry but what kind of idiot are you that this tweet seemed reasonable? Not only is it insensitive and disrespectful, but it completely undermines your brand Kitchen Aid. I’m no marketing guru, but I do know that you never want self-inflicted nuisance variables like this undermining your brand and/or the confidence customers have in your brand.
What’s even better is a nicely packaged pr statement follows this jewel in an effort to do some damage control. Unfortunately, 140 characters does not give you nearly enough space to adequately apologize. In addition, what happened here? Did the person that sent the tweet in the first place effectively send out the pr apology or was that another representative chiming in on the same account? Confusing and ridiculous all at once would describe this debacle.
Nothing much in the way of HR coming from me on this-except, a firm warning and/or termination for this egregious error is probably likely. Oh and sensitivity,social media, and common sense training are probably in order as well. If I was the employee that had this lapse in judgment- I would be praying that tomorrow takes its time getting here.
In all fairness to the genius tweeter this is in no way different from people that don’t think before they speak. For those that have this affliction- a word of advice- think, pause for a few moments and think again before you tweet.
Stay tuned to the conclusion of this debacle.
P.S. Kitchen Aid I still love my professional mixer and make masterful pastries because of it. Love your brand, but do get the social media stuff together.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Sep 26, 2012 | Life
There is a new frontier and it is the applicant tracking system. For those of you that have been following the world of applicant tracking systems lately you know that there’s been some merging and acquiring. Life as the applicant system vendors knew it has changed. One by one companies like Taleo and SuccessFactors are being gobbled up and regurgitated as newly packaged entities. Freedom from the big “b” that is the bottomline is no more. They are now a part of something bigger and customers, critics, and onlookers alike are all wondering one thing- will their value propositions live on?
They all have put out nicely crafted PR statements saying that this new push to combine technology powers is a plus and the combination of the two companies will allow them to bring even more value to the customer-yadda…yadda…yadda. While it may be true that these vendors will continue on valiantly; they cannot fault those that remain a bit cynical about the whole ordeal. Of primary interest is the partnership. Who were the two companies before they merged and how will the flaws of each impact the customer experience going forward? The answer is none of us knows and customers are sitting ducks for the moment. In time there will be reports of gains or losses (however that pans out) but for now it is unchartered territory for all involved.
There’s no doubt that big dollars thrown around lead to a perception that it’s all about the bottomline, market share and making money. The challenge that ATS vendors have ahead of them is proving us all wrong and keeping up the same value propositions if not improving those offerings now that they are bigger and allegedly better.
While it is a happy time for all of these companies (Kenexa being the latest to be gobbled up), it is a time of vulnerability for everyone involved. ATS vendors need to be more vigilant than ever in reassuring their customers that these M&A’s are good for the product. In addition, they must be diligent in making sure that they are meeting and exceeding the service levels they provided prior to the acquisition. Any service or value infraction could cost them customers.
ATS and/or Talent Management platforms were given life to streamline HR processes and make the lives of those in the hiring function easier. The reality of a changing landscape of technology facilitated by mergers and acquisitions is daunting. Before M&A’s became a commonplace, these systems were imperfect and in some cases viewed as a burden rather than a valued added tool. There’s no better time than now to bring out the heavy artillery and show us techies that all of this change is laying the groundwork for an exciting future in HR Technology and not just a mad rush to gain market share in the Saas space. After all some will argue that it all comes down to the almighty “cloud”. The allure of the technology is certainly due in part to a fascination with the almighty “cloud” but it’s also the strut of the ATS that is all the buzz. The ATS space is something to watch. It is becoming increasingly profitable and those that had no interest in this business a decade ago have a renewed outlook on the entire industry.
Whether it is ATS, CRM, or virtual learning, there are a lot of things to be excited about in the HR Technology space. The future of HR tech is exciting but yet ominous. It is on the cutting edge, but still with inherent flaws. We can only be optimistic and broad minded in our thinking and assume that what’s to come is a hell of a lot better than where we have been.
In parting, I say to the ATS vendors and HR Technology companies may the force be with you as you explore life, liberty and the pursuit Saas. Here’s to the Futurism of HR Technology!
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Sep 23, 2012 | Life
Yesterday I attended an event in New York City given by Triberr. The event was #TribeUpNYC (take a look at the hashtag or my timeline for that day to check out some of the tweets from the event). This event was flippin awesome. I mean really awesome. First off, this was the first event I have attended as a blogger so I don’t have anything to compare this to. However, I am usually happy at any event that is intimate and you can chat it up with real, like-minded, and smart individuals like yourself. Let me tell you that in this department this event did not disappoint at all. Everyone I met was warm, inviting and refreshingly blunt about what it takes to be successful as a blogger.
The event was from 1pm-6pm. They split the day in two. The first half was comprised of mini presentations all focused on four important aspects of blogging: your influence, your brand, blog marketing and how to get paid doing it. We talked SEO, HEO and even FEO. I’m sure you all know the first, but what is HEO and FEO you ask. Well HEO is “Human Engine Optimization” as described by Dino Dogan that gave the Mythbusters presentation. HEO essentially is understanding the motivations of humans cultivating relationships via social media and then bringing it home through real life interaction. As bloggers, we have to constantly reinforce the human aspect of what we do.
FEO is my own little acronym and it stands for “follower engagement optimization”. This idea came to me as I listened to Robert Moore from Internet Media Labsdiscuss the importance of engaging with your followers and creating brand advocates.
We talked the mechanics and intelligence behind Triberr and got the scoop straight from the CEO and one half of the brains behind Triberr, Dan Cristo. After that it was time for some about three hours of networking and it was a blast.
This was just free time spent over wine, beer and tapas discussing the focus of our individual blogs.Sharing best practices, coordinating business partnerships, and making the social to IRL connection were just some of the highlights of the day.
In conclusion, I learned, I connected, I promoted my brand, and I made some new friends and potential business partners in the interim. Triberr is dedicated to facilitating the progression of blogging as an industry thereby creating legitimate jobs and wealth via doing what we all love and that is writing. According to Dan Cristo, Triberr’s main goal is to “treat bloggers like celebrities.” To that I say kudos to him and his team, because I definitely felt like a celebrity at this event.
I already left a note for my tribe about the event. If you aren’t already on Triberr and you’re a blogger I suggest you check it out. The website is www.triberr.com. Many thanks to Dino Dogan, Dan Cristo, and Internet Media Labs for a great event. See you all next year! ; )
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Aug 29, 2012 | Life
For those of you that have not been exposed to the concept of rework- it is the act of having to reinvent, redo, redesign something that was done inefficiently to begin with and now someone has to step in and pick up the pieces. The most important aspect of rework is that most times the task and/or project had every possibility of being done correctly in the first place, but because of egos, poor listening, no listening, and complete and utter disregard for making effective decisions said task was done poorly.
As some may have witnessed in an afternoon tweet from me yesterday- I loathe rework and more importantly inefficiency. I could be wrong but I would like to think inefficiency is a choice not a matter of circumstance. I believe people actually make a conscious decision to be inefficient. Why would someone make a conscious decision to be inefficient in their day to day work? They do it because it is comforting. You ever meet someone that knows a process is ineffective and has been for years but will champion that process until the cows come home because that is the way it has always been done. Never mind that a whole lot of nothing gets done in the process.
The problem with this is when circumstance rears its ugly head and suddenly you have to spring into the 21st century like everyone else you know not how to plan work to a positive outcome. Instead, there are meetings and more meetings and one bad process after another. All of this only to find out in the end that what you needed to accomplish was not accomplished and as such it becomes rework.
Common sense is a human’s best friend, It keeps you grounded, it is the foundation that intelligent, logical thinking is built upon. When you have grounded, intelligent, logical thinkers at the table there is bound to be more positive outcomes and less rework. In a day and age, where budgets are tight, resources are scarce, and the workforce is shrinking how can you justify inefficient processes, policies and people?
I don’t think any business can afford the frustration, wasted man hours and resources that is synonymous with rework. I’m not at all insinuating that all must be an immaculate perfection in the workplace. However, I do think that sometimes people figure it’s best to do business as usual and create rework because rework ensures job security. What a terrible precedent to set? In time, a person’s quest to lazy job security will be halted because the inefficiency will affect the business and you may be out of a job after all.
Working smart is being informed, planning the work not letting the work run you and doing things that will result in the best outcome for the business and customer.
Measure twice and cut once. Rework is the devil. Drive a stake in it the next time you see it.
