by Janine Nicole Dennis | Mar 12, 2014 | Business, Featured, Life, Talent Management, Women in Business
Images courtesy of Wikimedia
Our modern day Rosie the Riveter, Sheryl Sandberg is at it again with a new campaign called “Ban Bossy”. It is a campaign that was launched on Monday as a collaborative effort between Girl Scouts USA and LeanIn.org to empower young girls to be leaders without the fear of being labeled “bossy”. She has some celebrities and/or notable women and men helping her to propel the reach of the campaign like Mrs. Carter herself Beyoncé and Condoleezza Rice among others.
As a woman who has two young girls, I appreciate the sentiment behind the campaign, but it ends there. “Bossy” is the least of what women are called in the workplace for being strong-willed, knowledgeable in their craft and determined. Unfortunately, the reality of being a woman and a leader of color in the workplace also has its own distinct challenges. As a mother, leader and professional, I strive constantly to show my daughters that you have to be a no-nonsense kind of gal to get anywhere in business.
A woman’s success in business requires persistence, self-confidence, advocacy and the knowledge that you deserve better- when all you would rather do is retreat in fear of rubbing the very people you are trying to impress the wrong way.
I have reservations about the efficiency of banning a word in hopes that it will get more girls to realize their worth and fight the good fight when they eventually become professionals in the workplace. From a psychological perspective, words hurt and they are powerful. Therefore, this is an admirable attempt to change the conversation and urge others to use more endearing words. The problem is banning bossy isn’t going to change the blatant and ongoing deficits in pay that women experience in stark contrast to their male counterparts. It will not change the apparent lack of representation of women leaders in organizations across the US. “Ban Bossy” falls short of impacting the very thing that this is all about; which is for organizations to regard women as viable, thinking, worthy, tenacious, dynamic professionals that deserve the same respect, pay, and recognition that males similarly situated have been afforded.
Sometimes leaning in isn’t enough…
I have “leaned-in” and advocated for higher pay. Guess what, I got an “I hear you and I appreciate you” but we can’t do anything for you. I have taken a strong position on issues in organizations where I have worked and watched as my managers sat across from me with smug smirks and nothing else to lend to the conversation. I have also been the best qualified person in the room to handle a job and watched on as a less qualified man took over the reins (under my tutelage) without any accolades being thrown my way. Furthermore, I have had women in leadership try to derail my career or diminish the value of my talents out of fear that I was conspiring to take their jobs.
How does banning a word prepare my daughters or any other young women for those disappointments?
Our challenge in prepping our young women for leadership is not dependent on what they may be called but on the unfortunate reality they will face in trying to achieve, learn and become leaders. We owe them the reality of the struggle and the blueprint to navigate it so the journey doesn’t “sting” as much- nevermind being called “bossy”.
Where’s the cavalry of all of these successful women that have “leaned-in”? Are they on the frontlines making sure that situations like what I have experienced don’t happen to women in organizations anywhere? Until I hear data and evidence around how this campaign is changing perceptions and subsequent actions in Corporate America- I will reserve my right to teach my girls about the reality of leadership for women via my School of Hard Knocks– the truth.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Feb 28, 2014 | Business, Human Resources, Talent Management, Vlogs, Women in Business
Good Morning #HR Aristocrats!
This has taken me longer than I am proud of, but I am happy to debut my first official “Ask Czarina” show here.
Competing projects and pregnancy malaise kept it at bay and then the technology deities were working against me. Excuses, excuses!
Alas, here is the first episode discussing the articles here for weeks February 10th-18th. I promise there will be more and I hope you enjoy it.
To send questions or topics for future shows contact me at thearistocracyofhr@gmail.com
Happy Friday and have a great weekend!
Ciao!
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Feb 14, 2014 | Career, Career Sponsorship, Development
* Today’s post is from a guest blogger, Johanna Harris. *Johanna Harris has been a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor and in-house labor counsel for two multinational corporations. She is currently the CEO of Hire Fire and Retire LLC. Her new book is “USE PROTECTION: An Employee’s Guide to Advancement in the Workplace,” available as iBook, Kindle, and Amazon Paperback. For more information, go to http://hirefireandretire.com. Enjoy!
A Mentor is not a Sponsor
It is now widely acknowledged that a woman cannot succeed in the workplace without a mentor. Some companies, in fact, have set up formal mentoring programs for their employees, both male and female. There’s little doubt that women need mentors. Mentors can provide invaluable insights into the unwritten rules of a company. They can provide feedback, career guidance and support. They can be trusted advisors. But if you’re an ambitious woman and you want to get ahead, your mentor will not get you promoted to a senior position. For that, you need a sponsor.
A sponsor is very different from a mentor. A mentor plays an important but passive role in your career. He wishes you well. But if you fail, your failure rarely impacts his career. He may benefit from serving as your mentor, but his future is not on the line. By contrast, a sponsor stakes his reputation on you. He goes out on a limb to advocate for your advancement. Your success is his success. Your failure is his failure.
A Sponsor Works at Multiple Levels
A sponsor works on multiple levels at different times. He makes sure that you receive the work assignments that are essential for entering the senior ranks. He uses his own status and connections to convince others of your stellar credentials and abilities. He removes barriers that stand in the way of your advancement. If there are naysayers who doubt your skills or your readiness to assume a senior role, he neutralizes their concerns. He makes sure that you network with the right people, and that you are visible to the key decision makers. He is your advocate and your champion.
Cultivating a Sponsor
It is not easy to attract a sponsor. You have to do a lot of groundwork first. You need to develop a stellar reputation as a hard worker, a reliable team player and a creative problem solver. You need to be excellent at your job. Once you’re comfortable that you’ve mastered these basic prerequisites of corporate success, you’ll need to look around and identify someone who could be your sponsor. Then you’ll need to cultivate him, and this will require time and effort. Your sponsor will need to know you and your work. He will need to feel comfortable with you. Otherwise, he will not take the risk that being a sponsor inevitably entails.
Two Barriers
Women face two barriers to cultivating sponsors that men usually do not need to confront. The first is that most sponsors are older men, while those most in need of sponsors are younger women. The mere fact of sponsorship can engender gossip, badmouthing and misconceptions about motives. To avoid such misconceptions, a woman has to work hard to be beyond reproach and, what’s more, appear beyond reproach. Discussions with your sponsor should be conducted in public places during work hours. All signs of familiarity or intimacy should be avoided.
The second barrier that many ambitious women face is internal. They have been raised to think that merit alone is enough to succeed, and that there is something unseemly about another person helping you to advance your career. They might think that cultivating a sponsor is taking unfair advantage of him, or that having the advantage of a sponsor means you’re not playing on a level field. These ideas are counterproductive. They are myths. It is a rare person, male or female, who advances to a senior job in the corporate world without having an advocate. There is nothing illegal or improper about having someone with power go to bat for you.
A Two-Way Street
A sponsor may have altruistic motives, but rarely does he advocate for a junior employee solely out of the goodness of his heart. Championing the career of someone else is extra work, and it’s risky. But a successful sponsorship can reward the sponsor as well. The sponsor develops a reputation as a manager who can spot and develop talent. He becomes known as someone who has made a contribution to the company beyond his narrow business interest. Once the sponsored employee successfully advances, she becomes an ally and a continuing source of intelligence about company matters outside the sponsor’s immediate business unit. She owes her sponsor her best efforts not only to advance her own career, but also to make her own meaningful contribution to the company. She owes him a demonstration that his judgment was correct and his faith in her abilities was not misplaced. Sponsorship is a two-way street.
Down the Road
The two-way street isn’t just one block long. Once a woman becomes a powerful senior executive, she will reach out and take the risk of sponsoring another junior woman. And if she chooses wisely, the two-way street becomes a highway.
Interested in writing a guest post for The Aristocracy of HR? Contact me here.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Feb 12, 2014 | Business, Entrepreneur, Featured, HR Innovation, Human Resources, Life, Talent Management
Image from Flickr
One of the things we HR practitioners get dinged on consistently is our ability to be flexible. Yes, there are compliance pieces and yet other things that we must oversee and manage in HR, but is there no flexibility in how we roll out our programs, initiatives and policies?
Being in business has taught me that one of the most important things we need to be able to do is “pivot”. The definition of “pivot” as a verb is “to turn on or around from a central point”. In HR, we are the central point in the organization. It is the place from which all operational and transactional aspects of the business’s workforce emanate.
When you are asked to step slightly out of your comfort zone which is standing right at that central point- do you?
1) Tell your business partners an emphatic “no”.
or
2) Hear your business partners out and find ways to stand at your central point while pivoting to allow them some flexibility in how they accomplish what you need them to.
Pivoting in business is no longer a best practice-it is the way we need to support our partners in doing business. Owners of businesses have to pivot all of the time whether it is regarding the direction of the business or who they market a product to. Doing things the same way with a sentiment of rigidity, control and authority is no longer the way we need to support the business. Just as business is changing so should the discipline of HR and how we do things.
The key to success is to have a basis by which you operate but not to impede progress for the sake of rules or compliance. Instead of saying “no” try listening, discussing and providing a new path for your partners to achieve their expected outcomes.
Consider these scenarios…
Has an employee asked you for some flextime to deal with personal obligations lately? Ask yourself this, are they a good employee and will this adversely impact the run of the business? If your answer is “no”, pivot and offer your employee some flexibility.
Does one of your hiring managers want to try a new platform for recruiting a specific professional that may cost more than what you usually pay for advertising? Pivot. Ask questions, find out more and offer he or she some alternatives if the option they have suggested isn’t budget-friendly.
I’m not just looking at you HR, this also applies to those running businesses that haven’t figured out the importance of pivoting. For all of your business savvy and vision, sometimes the reality of business or market conditions is very different. We are all part of an economy where the needs of the customer and the demand for products and services are rapidly changing.
Would you rather to hold on to a vision that no longer translates to a profitable business or might it make sense to pivot and explore new ways of serving your customers?
These are the types of considerations that businesses and those that support business owners need to be mulling over in 2014 and beyond. Pivoting is a business imperative not a new year’s resolution.
Here’s how you can work your way to pivoting today:
1) Start listening to customers, business partners, associates more.
2) Take every concern or suggestion you receive seriously and think about ways you can make each situation easier for your partners without forsaking you position.
3) Discuss possible alternatives with your customers/partners and allow for their input on how you reach the desired outcome.
4) Enjoy the fruits of having more collaborative relationships, because you were able to consider solutions and viewpoints other than your own agenda.
How will you pivot this year and how can I help you?
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Jan 25, 2014 | Conference sessions, Conferences, Employment Branding, Featured, Quality of Hire, Snippets, Speaking engagements, Talent Acquisition
Image Courtesy of fuwad.files
Some of you may know that I am off to San Francisco tomorrow to speak at HR.Com’s Talent Acquisition Excellence Forum in San Francisco. This is my first mainstream conference speaking engagement. I am feeling a mix of excitement, nervousness (all good) and anticipation at the moment.
I am very lucky to be co-presenting with my friend and colleague Lexie Forman-Ortiz, Community Manager for SmartRecruiters.
Our session: “Employment Branding For Attracting Quality Hires” is something both Lexie and I are very passionate about. All too often, employers work in a constant reactive state of trying to hire a “warm” body to fill a need. When you have a bonafide need to add headcount to your already existing staff; it is not something you take lightly. Employers have to stop expecting quality overnight and via quick-fixes. Attracting the right candidates to your organization requires a well thought-out recruitment strategy and an understanding between management, hiring managers and recruiters that they will all be dedicated to the process of properly attracting, evaluating and selecting the right individuals for the job.
How will they find these people?
We make the case that employment branding is the answer. Lexie and I are not going to leave employment branding out there as a glorified buzzword of the moment, but we will make it practical and relevant for attendees emphasizing the emerging need for employers to hire for retention.
Whether or not you are physically present to hear Lexie and I speak please follow our hashtag on Twitter #BrandQuality and also check out the conference hashtag #HRcomtalentforum to keep abreast of the other great sessions there.
For off-topic fun and to follow my adventures while in transit to and in San Francisco, follow my #Czarinatravels hashtag on Instagram. I will take you along with me to all the great eats, sights and everything in between.
Also check out my partners-in-crime: Tiffany Kuehl, Celinda Appleby, Jocelyn Aucoin and Mary Wright on Twitter. The first two ladies are also speaking at HR.com and Jocelyn and Mary are coming along for moral support. All great people to follow.
Wishing you a great weekend ahead!
