Aitch Are Gives You...
G'day all, and welcome to my second virtual cuppa extravaganza thingy!
It gave me great pleasure to welcome Rob Robson (@robertsrobson) to my sumptuously appointed, Covid-Secure virtual lounge, to share a pot of lapsang sounchong, which works wonders for hangovers. Apparently. Aitch: So, Rob, a warm welcome to my virtual lounge. I hope you enjoy the tea, and the marmite sandwiches hand-made by yours truly. First things first, how are you coping with Covid? What's frustrated you, and what's inspired you during the past few months? Rob: Generally well, I think. The first few weeks were very disorientating and I was anxious about business. However, I realised that I could get through a few months and that helped me put my mind towards re-evaluating my goals. Since then it hasn’t been plain sailing, I’ve had my fair share of anxious days, irritability and weird dreams but I’ve also had some good family time, followed some passions and enjoyed the work I’ve done. I am getting fat, though, and my liver probably isn’t too happy with me! Aitch: Yes, I don't think you are alone there. You mentioned your business - tell us a bit about 8Connect. What's behind the name, why did you create the business, and what is it all about? Rob: Just over two years ago I left my role as VP HR at Tata Technologies and I was, frankly, not ready to jump into another “relationship”. I’d been a consultant before and always toyed with setting myself up. I was referred to my first client, to help with the people strategy at a large retailer and decided to go for it. My focus is on helping businesses and their people adapt and thrive in our changing and challenging world. I draw upon my various experiences in HR, change, OD, sport psychology and operational leadership and the thing that connects all of these is Apter’s Reversal Theory, which is a framework that describes the dynamic relationship between 8 motivational states, emotions and behaviour. Aitch: That sounds interesting - tell us a bit more about Apter's work, and indeed the work you do, and its possible value to an organization? Rob: Apter’s Reversal Theory is a very broad, holistic framework that focuses on the role of motivation in personality and human experience. Motivations in Apter’s theory aren’t drives as such, or even needs, but states of mind based on operating values that become lenses through which we experience the world. As they change so do our emotions, which is why I also describe it as ‘emotivation’. No theory is without its limitations, but I find it to be very powerful and its value comes from a few key attributes. First, its ability to open up solutions to many different people ‘problems’, for example around performance, wellbeing, relationships, leadership, even culture. Second, it focuses on what’s changeable and dynamic, which makes it practical and relevant in the world we live in. Third, it’s an integrator. By that I mean it helps to join the dots between different issues - and levels i.e. individual and organisational - and enables a systemic, coherent perspective on them. The academic world is fundamentally competitive, so the ‘people’ landscape is cluttered with overlapping or competing concepts. Reversal Theory helps me tidy it up in my mind! Aitch: I'm all for a tidy mind. Just changing gears slightly, what lies behind your passion for sports? Rob: I was a national junior champion in swimming, but fell out of love with it by the time I went to University. I guess that process kindled my interest in psychology, and I went on to do a masters in sport psychology and become Chartered. In my mid-30s I got back into swimming, and I compete in masters competitions which is very interesting after training as a sport psychologist! I’m also developing a development programme for sports coaches, with a guy called Rob Griffiths (who is a Tri Coach) that came onto the Apter accreditation programme that I run. Aitch: So given this backdrop, what do you feel are the key lessons from the world of sport that the business world can learn from? Rob: I think both domains have many lessons that transfer. The lessons from sport are less from the performance arena and more from the training and preparation, because that’s where most of the ‘performance’ happens. In business there isn’t the equivalent of the Olympics. Sure, you’ll have a big presentation or deal, but not the major moments that there are in sport. It’s more about performing every day. I think the single biggest example is the obsession that elite sports people have about building the platform, or getting the process right in order to perform (which will in turn lead to results, or not). In business there’s a tendency to focus on results, which in the sports arena is disastrous. It’s not healthy for businesses either. Aitch: We are at a tipping point in the world of work, and much has been made of a "new normal" emerging from the ashes of Covid. What changes do you see happening? Rob: I think that’s still hard to predict. I think that many of the ideas that have been slowly gaining traction over the last decade, such as the importance of psychological flexibility, agility and change capability, have come into sharper focus. Wellbeing is clearly important to people right now, and what I’d like to see is more people engaging with the idea that the two are inextricably linked. Things like flexibility may or may not become the norm.. ..but we do know that we’re in a period of relative volatility that didn’t begin with the pandemic and won’t end when it ends. Aitch: Given your prior spells as a senior HR practitioner, what do you see as the key challenges facing the profession as we emerge from Covid. Rob: I think right now there are so many ‘operational’ issues that HR are having to deal with, bringing people back from furlough, unfortunately lots of redundancies, wellbeing challenges, getting the return to work / or not right (so many issues with people being at home but not properly set up).. ..that at some point they are going to have to lift their own heads and encourage their peers to do the same, to think about people strategy and long-term challenges. Aitch: We "met" on Twitter. How do you find it as a platform? Rob: It’s a bit of a love / hate thing. I’ve had long periods (as a user of 13 years) not being on it, sometimes I only really use it for business, but sometimes I really get sucked into the toxic side, the politics and the negativity. At the same time, even though I value Linkedin as a platform, I find twitter much better as a platform for striking up relationships. Aitch: How do you like to spend any spare time that you may have? Rob: Swimming, mostly, or water polo, or training in the gym for swimming! I enjoy being with my family, and our rescue dog of 6 months. Aitch: Well, as the sands of time finish their trickle through this rather attractive hourglass, it's time to bring this virtual cuppa to a close. It's been great to have you along, and to hear a bit about what you get up to. All the best.
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Time to move my thoughts back to good ol' Covid-19.
I know first-hand that the impact of Covid-19 has had a dramatic impact at a personal as well as an organisational level Every job lost as the economy continues to struggle is not just a statistic. It is a personal tragedy that has ripple effects beyond the person directly impacted to their immediate family, to friends, to the broader community. The following ramblings of mine clearly relate to a predominantly office-based business that lends itself more readily to remote working than businesses in other walks of life. However, we've built out a work/life flex manifesto that I thought I would share with you. Why? Because we have had to make a swift transition from working from an office, to remote working, under lockdown conditions. Because in doing this, there has been an increased blurring of the world of work and our life at home. Because we need to recognize that we are entering a different working world, where we have increased choice over when we work, and where from. So what are the practical things that an employer can do? First, paint a picture, and provide reassurance, over what the working future may look like.
Second, be flexible over working time.
Third, manage your meetings!
Finally, and most importantly, look after your health and wellbeing.
Hoping this is of use. The forecast is looking good for the weekend, so here's wishing you all a peaceful and relaxing time. It's been a momentous few weeks. All the recent social unrest has collided with Covid-19, toxic political climates and economic turmoil.
The focus of this blog is the events following the murder of George Floyd. So, what's it all about? And what should HR do about it? The initial reactions of some in the HR community here in the UK to the events following the murder of George Floyd was "well...it's a US problem". Because the political climate in the US is so toxic, isn't it? And the national obsession with guns creates an underlying tension between any police/public interaction, doesn't it? And the 18,000+ police departments in the US are more like heavily-armed militias, aren't they? So it's not quite the same as in the UK, is it? Well, yes, that may well be the case. But it does miss the bigger picture. Allow me to expand... My employer is a US-HQ'd technology company, and my role is to lead HR across the non-US territories across EMEA and APAC. What's happened in our company? First of all, our CEO was quick to publish a passionate blog around the importance of equality, inclusion, justice and support for the BLM movement. My reaction to this was one of surprise that he had done this, tempered by pride that he was prepared to give a damn and "put it out there". The fact that he is not white (indeed, he is a first-generation immigrant into the US) meant he was speaking from the heart and there was no question of this being a PR stunt. Second, there have been a LOT of conversations, initially amongst our US colleagues, but increasingly across our non-US offices too. Some of these have been emotional, with a lot of soul-searching, which in turn has prompted reflections at a company and individual level of "what can we do about this". Third, our company's black network arranged an all-hands webinar last week and during this call they talked about the concept of "allyship". They encouraged all of us to: 1. Educate ourselves about the background to BLM. It's been developing over generations. 2. Recognize that there is a problem. 3. Talk about it. Discuss it with our black or mixed race colleagues and friends. Learn. Question. Listen. Empathize. 4. Be prepared to be uncomfortable. It's not an every-day, easy, conversation to have. Our thinking will be challenged. Our comparative privilege may be brought to the fore. 5. Don't worry if we don't have the answers. There aren't any ready answers. 6. That said, recognize that we can make a difference. Don't just be quietly uncomfortable with any racism that you witness. Call it out. What can we, as experienced HR practitioners, learn? I am sure most of us have always viewed ourselves as socially aware, in our roles most of us will have played some part in advancing the cause of diversity and inclusion for the various employers we have worked for. The bigger picture piece is to move from just being "socially aware", with a strong sense of right and wrong, to actually underpinning this with knowledge, passion and action-orientation. We need to educate ourselves on the reasons for disparities within various sections of society. We need to listen and learn from people who suffer injustices on a daily basis. We need to redefine HR's role in all of this. How? First, we need to make sure that the workplace is a safe environment that supports our employees who are engaging with this, to the extent that they are comfortable with. From the more vocal, activist-oriented employees, to those who may have strong thoughts about this but are nervous about bringing politics to the workplace, or blurring the personal with the professional. Second, we need to understand the current situation. It's important to establish our baseline by understanding the composition of our workforce, and benchmark with other companies and D&I organisations to get a feel for where we would like to end up. Third, the destination... HR is in a unique position to drive equality in the workplace. "Diversity is reality, inclusion is a choice" has in my view been a great aspirational statement but one that many businesses pay lip-service to. It's time to move the inclusion needle from "choice" to "reality". So we should ask these questions of our employers: - Does the culture genuinely value authenticity, and enable people to feel comfortable being their true selves? - Are all contributions valued, and voices listened to and respected? - Is diversity and inclusion baked into our value proposition, and reflect how things are genuinely done? - Does our company's website and social media presence use diverse imagery and talk to equality? - What programs are in place to attract candidates from diverse backgrounds? - Do we hold third-party recruitment suppliers to account, in terms of accessing diverse candidates? - What new channels have we started to use in recent months to access different candidate pools? - Do we use de-biasing tools to ensure job descriptions, whilst conveying a genuine feel for the role and the company, are neutral? - Do our hiring processes support the genuine assessment and selection of diverse candidates? - How many employees from diverse backgrounds are on our executive team? The various leadership teams within our company? In key individual contributor roles? - Do we have role-models within the business who mentor and guide others? - What targeted development activities do we provide? - Is there transparent criteria for promotions? What proportion of promotions were diverse? - What steps do we have in place to drive diversity into talent reviews? - And succession plans? - Have we looked at any potential pay disparities? What pay are your black employees, female employees, etc. on relative to those white employees doing the same or substantially similar roles? What action will be taken if there is a gap? - What proportion of people leaving the company are from under-represented groups? Why do they leave? What can we do about that? I could go on, I hope you get the picture - there's plenty of questions we could all be asking which will provide us with the data to act, to do the right thing. Finally, make sure we are tuned in to the community that our companies serve, whilst not losing sight of the bigger picture. I work for a global company, and the picture differs significantly from country to country. Taking India as an example, BLM does not resonate at all there, as there is no black community to speak of. LGBTI is gaining momentum now that the Supreme Court recently legalized same-sex relations, but is still 20 years behind Europe and the US. But the bigger picture is that there are plenty of other sections of Indian society who suffer injustice on a daily basis and my challenge to our employees was to be an ally to those who haven't had the same level of privilege that they have had. So if I had to pull my rambling thoughts together, I would want to leave you with this message: 1. Champion "allyship" within our businesses, and the broader HR community. 2. Engage with the black community. Educate yourself. Learn. Question. Listen. Empathize. And then do something to make a difference. 3. Apply this mindset to other sections of society which have also suffered from systematic prejudice over the years. Why? It's the right thing to do. And if that's not enough for you, I haven't even touched on the proven business benefits that those businesses that genuinely embrace equality realise... That should get your leadership team's attention! That's a topic for another blog, but here's some bed-time reading to get you on your way... https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/business-case-for-diversity-in-the-workplace/ https://www.bitc.org.uk/fact-sheet/the-business-case-for-diversity/ That's all for now. Be good, and see you soon. Hoping you, your friends, and your families are all coping well under the circumstances.
Well, it's going to prove more difficult to re-open offices in the wake of Covid-19 than it was to close them down in the first place, during the lead-up to the pandemic! I just thought I would share with you the approach that we are taking. Our "north stars" We are being guided by the following: - The world of work has changed. What does this mean for us? What will the future hold? How will working life change? - Ensuring that that the welfare of our people inform the approaches we take, and the decisions we make. - The balance between re-opening offices in a planned, progressive way against the reality that many people may not be ready to return to office life. We have decided we are not going to rush in to any re-opening, and have already communicated that employees will have a choice to remain working remotely indefinitely. Having a clear process We have a global Covid-19 Task Team which has had responsibility for monitoring the Covid-19-related data in each country we have employees in, ensuring business continuity, undertaking scenario planning, internal comms and employee engagement, customer engagement, and office management. The "process flow" for re-opening an office is as follows: - A local leader makes a request to re-open the office. - Their HR business partner and relevant exec committee boss supports the request. - The Covid-19 Task Team review the request, and either approve or reject it. Considerations In reviewing the request, the Covid-19 Task Team will take the following in to consideration. - What does the data say? We have said that we need to see a sustained (at least 30 days) decline in the local infection rates, active cases being managed in hospital, and death rates. - Do the local restrictions allow for it? As lockdowns start to ease, one of the areas that remain in place for a while longer is around office life and so the rule of thumb seems to be "if you can continue to work remotely, please do". - Can an office be re-opened in a manner that protects the health and welfare of our people? We have offices around the world. Large, small, leased, serviced, etc. Each one is unique. A one-size-fits-all approach will not work, each office needs a dedicated plan. A progressive re-opening Where the Covid-19 Task Team approves a request to re-open a particular office, we will be doing this on an incremental, phased basis. Here's the plan: - Phase One: 25% of capacity, Tuesday to Thursday. - Phase Two: 50% of capacity, Monday to Thursday. - Phase Three: 75% of capacity, Monday to Friday. - Phase Four: 100% of capacity, Monday to Friday. Things to note: - 30 days for each phase. - For Phase One and Two, people have to request to come to the office a week in advance, so we can ensure we configure the office with the welfare of people in mind, particularly with regard to social distancing. - For Phase One and Two, we will be maintaining our ban on business travel, external visitors to the office, and also on our people attending offsite meetings. At Phase Three, these can be approved by the local leader where the reason for the meeting is deemed to be essential. - Our usual provision of food and drinks will be scaled back. Pre-packaged food, bottled/canned drink and recyclable plates, cutlery etc. for Phase One and Two. Before we re-open an office We are going to: - Test employee sentiment around who is ready to return. We need to accept that the remote working genie is out of the bottle, which when combined with a fear of infection, a reticence to use public transport, and tolerance levels to the measures that will be in place in a re-opened office (PPE, social distancing, etc) will result in employees having more say over when they work, and where from. - Deep-clean the office. - Work with the landlord / serviced office provider to understand what adaptations they are making in reception areas, lobbies and other shared communal spaces to ensure the welfare of people. - Understand any local legal provisions e.g. testing temperatures, signing health forms, wearing facemasks, etc. - Ensure that we have sufficient supplies of PPE, particularly hand sanitiser, wipes, facemasks, etc. - Put in place return-to-work re-onboarding, appropriate signage, guides, etc. to ensure all employees are aware of how to operate in the changed environment. - Configure the workspace to ensure social distancing can be safely maintained. Depending on the office, this may include closing meeting rooms. - Put in place the weekly sign-up and daily sign-in process. Once an office has been re-opened We are going to: - Maintain appropriate controls (week-in-advance approval, daily sign-in) whilst there are capacity restrictions in place. - Have nightly deep-cleaning. - Ensure enhanced and more regular cleaning during office hours. - Require the wearing of facemasks when an employee is not on their own at their allocated workstation. - Ensure everyone is aware of the need to maintain social distancing. - Encourage employees to sign up to any official in-country contact tracing app that may be launched. - Make sure that we keep tabs on how employees feel that the situation is being handled. What's working. What could be done better. - Stay close to the Covid-19 situation. Particularly with regard to local "second waves", and the contingency plans for the possible re-closure of an office in the event of employees being exposed to, or exhibiting symptoms of, Covid-19. Do we have all the answers? Of course not :) We will need to adapt and evolve with the environment around us. Things that may change as time progresses may include: - Employee sentiment with regard to their choices around working from an office v. working remotely. - Our philosophy around what an office is there for. Do we need as much space? Could we be more creative around how we use the space we have? Is there an opportunity to reduce our office footprint? - What constitutes "essential" when it comes to making decisions around business travel, external visitors to the office, attending offsite meetings, etc. - The safety measures we put in place. - Steps we take as an employer when an approved vaccine comes to market. That's enough Covid for now. Hope these ramblings are of some use. A few months ago I would have been delighted to see the end of the interminable headlines about Brexit. The fact that it has taken a pandemic to do that, an event that has changed the political, social and economic fabric of the country, has taken the gloss off that somewhat. Anyhow, stay safe, and be good. Hello friends!
I hope you, your family and your friends are all well under the circumstances. I know many of you have been touched by varying degrees, directly or indirectly, by Covid-19 and my best wishes go out to you all. Things do seem unrelenting at the moment, and the world continues to change with alarming speed. But at least it's still turning. And some of the changes may well be a force for good in the longer term (part of that "new normal" that people have been commenting on). In the world of work, much of the talk has is starting to shift from "things we need to do to cope with Covid-19" to "how will we emerge from Covid-19". After weeks of monitoring stats relating to infections, active cases and deaths as part of our decision-making at work, this shift does make for a more positive mindset even if it may be early days. So attention here at my company has started to focus on the conditions to work through before we will contemplate re-opening any of our global offices. Many thanks to all of you who responded to my tweet to provide your own thoughts on this subject, it informed the information I proposed to our Covid-19 Task Team. I promised to share the information once I had pulled it together, so (with advanced apologies for the long read) here it is... ---ooo--- Context The purpose of this document is to outline the considerations behind any recommendation to re-open any of our global offices as and when the impact of Covid-19 in any particular country eases. As each country has adopted its own approach to handling Covid-19, it is anticipated that the reopening of our offices will be determined on a case-by-case, country-by-country basis, or even state-by-state in some countries (e.g., Australia, the US). High level considerations These include:
Governance The Covid-19 Task Team will remain operational throughout and beyond the time at which all our offices have been reopened. The remit of the Task Team at this stage will move to:
Cultural considerations It is widely expected that there will be a “new normal” in the world of work after Covid-19 so we should anticipate shifts with regard to:
Compliance We can only consider re-opening an office when there is no mandated lockdown in place in that particular location. Local leadership recommendation Assuming the authorities have lifted restrictions, it is up to the local leader to make a recommendation to the Covid-19 Task Team to re-open the office. Phased return To address the potential impact that Covid-19 may have had on employees with regard to commuting to work via public transport, being back in an office environment, concerns regarding any potential secondary wave of infections, etc., any return to work to an office should be voluntary rather than mandatory, and built up progressively for an initial period of time (suggest a review after a month). Initial restrictions on numbers of employees in a re-opened office Certain countries or locations may have mandatory guidelines in place which may initially restrict how many employees can return to a re-opened office. For example, the Beijing authorities have mandated that a maximum of 50% of the normal capacity can be in the office at any one time. Even where there are no such guidelines, we should consider adopting such a policy. Roles that have more of a requirement to be performed from an office Following on from the above, consideration should be given to those roles that have more of a requirement to be performed from an office, as opposed to those which still can be performed remotely, as this will help inform decisions around prioritizing, phasing any return to work, etc. Maintaining remote working Consider circumstances under which requests to continue working from home can be considered. Examples could include:
Flexible hours There should be flexibility with regard to the working hours employees will initially spend in a re-opened office. For example, employees who commute by public transport should be able to flex the start and end to their time at the office for a period of time in order to avoid peak congestion on public transport. Such arrangements should initially be reviewed on a bi-monthly basis. Health and safety considerations Certain countries or locations may have mandatory guidelines in place aimed at ensuring the wellbeing of employees returning to a re-opened office, and minimizing the risk of a secondary wave of infections. Regardless of the existence of such guidelines, we need to:
Commuting The company needs to anticipate that some employees may be wary about commuting, particularly where they would ordinarily use public transport. Considerations include:
Business-related travel The company needs to take a position on what business-related travel will be approved going forward, if any. Considerations include:
Onsite meetings with external participants At what point would it be viewed as acceptable to have visitors at our offices? Considerations include:
Offsite meetings The company needs a consistent view on attendance at offsite meetings. Considerations include:
Engagement Particularly in the early days following the reopening of an office, it is important to track how employees feel about the return to work experience.
Making it special… Should we:
Useful guides and resources WHO criteria for lifting COVID-19 restrictions: https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/who-criteria-lifting-covid-19-restrictions CA Governor’s criteria for re-opening economy: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-s-coronavirus-reopening-Gov-Gavin-15200205.php Summary of feedback from the GC network: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18yVA32UkKdc-2J1dBl-0QDvThitbVmBV/edit# Crowd-sourced HR/GC guidelines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ShYhIqNiD1duCs_4OZoJ-j_r-RxbVCCcVblwoD6SpU/edit Considerations from HR team at one of the GC’s companies: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ptCE7E4CQQj0-onkdiau7MHCIj-nUIkl/edit Working RTO checklist that another company’s crisis team put together to make RTO decisions (note that this doesn’t reflect any decisions yet – just the topics being discussed for decision): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ennAsKk6LyQMTvkb7MbrkWUwAmdEp4bt/edit#gid=2111760412 Helpful guides from prominent law firms:
Stanford Law COVID-19 repository: http://covidmemo.law.stanford.edu/ CSHRP coronavirus HR comms and resources guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12tT0_5zGELxs7M-iCwf9enUJ0-Ibe0K8tkBSbbWhYFM/preview?fbclid=IwAR0n5HEzaKQtpA-cBD3JVDkjZDi5irqoybSTAYOA1e0MKO8uHYIvurplc0U Framework many US companies (including IBM) and governments are adopting for a path forward around coronavirus (from Scott Gottlieb, physician and former US FDA commissioner): https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/national-coronavirus-response-a-road-map-to-reopening/ Article from the AEI: https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/national-coronavirus-response-a-road-map-to-reopening/ Remember swine flu? I worked in a large office in Slough when the outbreak hit the UK and day-by-day you could literally see it progressing from one function to another. When it decimated the Marketing team, which was next to the HR team, I knew my number was up… Sure enough, I contracted swine flu and as a result was unable to attend Fulham’s famous 3-0 win over Man Utd.
In all seriousness, the main lesson learnt was one of proactively having a plan in place to guarantee business continuity, along with the health and well-being of our people. So, with Coronavirus (or Covid19, to give it it’s official name) showing every sign of continuing to spread both within China and beyond, what should employers be thinking of doing? In a nutshell, by all means hope for the best, but make sure you plan for the worst. I work in “that London”, and with our crowded transport infrastructure it would only take one super-spreader to infect 10 others on the crowded Central Line in to Bank, who in turn will infect people they come in to contact with, and all of a sudden something that seemed like an overseas problem will very quickly become our problem too. So, as a responsible, proactive employer, what are the sorts of things we should be doing. Here’s a list of things, in no particular order, to get the ball rolling. I’ve already put some of these in place where I work. - Set up a small team who are empowered to have oversight of what is going on, steps being taken, decisions that may need to be made, communications, etc. As the situation is fluid, they should be meeting regularly and be prepared to change things at the drop of a hat. - Communicate. Regularly. In the absence of any coherent company position, employees will make their own reality. Silence isn’t golden in this instance. - Restrict travel to those areas that are at the centre of the outbreak. We have banned travel to mainland China and Hong Kong. If you are doing this, make sure you are fully transparent with your customers, and bring them along with you. Also make sure you are regularly checking the UK’s FCO or US’s State Department travel advisories. Also have a clear line-of-sight as to who makes the final decision, in the event travel is deemed to be business-critical. For example, our CFO is our gate-keeper. - Provide guidance to employees on the symptoms to look out for, and to self-quarantine and seek medical advice in the event that they or any of their immediate family members do start getting any of these. - Caution needs to be taken with regard to screening employees or requiring them to attend medical appointments. Particularly in global businesses, where local laws differ. Common sense should apply, think through the balance you need to manage between your obligation to provide a safe working environment on the one hand, and any obligations around data privacy and confidentiality on the other. Also be careful about the discrimination angle, for example, don’t single out employees based solely on the fact that they are Chinese!! - Quarantine employees who have been in infected areas. Most companies are geared up to home-working, so asking employees who have just passed through or returned from a particular hot-spot to work from home for 14 days shouldn’t be too much of a hardship. Make sure people view this as acceptable, given some will perhaps be worried it may be perceived as a lack of commitment, shirking off, etc. Also have an eye to employees who may take advantage of the situation…! - Most companies have business continuity plans in place nowadays. Is yours up-to-date? Would you be able to continue as a business if you had to close an office, factory, shop, depot, or…? Also apply this thinking through to your supply chain and partner ecosystem, particularly if you have single points of failure in there. - Dust off those succession plans. What happens if your head of sales gets infected? Have contingency plans to ensure continuity. - Ensure the emergency contact details for your employees are up-to-date, particularly for key employees. - Issue anti-bacterial hand gel to employees, and have large bottles in communal areas, kitchens, rest rooms, etc. - Make sure your cleaners are doing a thorough job! For offices in infected areas, instruct them to do regular deep-cleans. For example, we have shut our Beijing office until further notice and done a deep-clean. - Enforcing a clean-desk policy to reduce any infection risk and aid cleaning. - May seem trivial, this, but perhaps think about refraining from what would ordinarily be culturally acceptable hugs, handshakes, kisses, etc. depending on the country. - Who would have thought that something as huge and significant as the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona would get cancelled? Bring this back to your own company, and consider postponing any significant company events and conferences, particularly in affected areas or where people from affected areas may be traveling to attend. Hope the above makes sense. Clearly it depends on the nature, size and culture of your business as to what may be appropriate or proportionate. It may all come to nothing, but why take the risk? As my sister-in-law regularly says, normally over a glass of white, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Hello, and welcome to my first blog of 2020!
I am pleased to say that over the holiday period I was able to complete the construction of my virtual lounge, made of the finest materials and furnishings, by way of having some comfortable digs to spend with new-found friends on Twitter. First to sample the new surroundings was Steve Browne, @sbrownehr, who quickly made himself at home, put his feet up, joined me with a good old fashioned cup of "builders tea", and got to talking about his thoughts and perspectives on HR. Aitch: So, Steve, welcome to my virtual lounge, it's great to have you along. First things first, what actually got you in to the world of HR? Steve: While I was attending college, I was failing in the field I originally had been pursuing – Chemistry. I went into the sciences because I was good at them, and it was supposed to pay the most when you graduated. However, I was spending far more time with the people around me than the numbers and various experiments. One break while I was a home, my mom talked to me about failing and encouraged me to find a field where I could be working directly with people. I changed my major from Chemistry to Interpersonal Communications. One class I took was Interviewing, and at the end of the class my fellow classmates voted on who was the best interviewer and interviewee. They voted that I should interview myself. That was the sign I needed so I sought to find a role in recruiting. I found one and have been in HR ever since over the past 34 years!! Aitch: Amazing how many stories you hear of people starting off in one field only to find that their strengths lie elsewhere... And so 34 years in, what keeps you in HR? Steve: The same thing that my mom saw in me. People. I am wired and driven to be around people. In fact, I’m rarely alone which may not be the most balanced approach to life. People fascinate me. It doesn’t matter if they’re amazing or challenging. I learn from every encounter that I have with every person. Fortunately, I’ve also been in roles where companies allowed me to have a “people first” approach. I believe that companies today, and in the years to come, need to be people-centric in order to remain relevant. I just have to be on the leading edge of that movement!! Aitch: Yes, "people first" is absolutely key. Do you feel that the wider profession embraces this? For example, at the beginning of each year it is traditional for thought-leaders to review trends. What do you think the future world of work looks like? What should we be keeping an eye out for as we enter 2020? Steve: The standard answers most give is the inevitable onslaught of AI mixed with the reality of a labor shortage. Those are important trends, but I believe it’s more basic than that. I believe the main trend to work on is “retention and development of our people.” You can substitute the word “talent” for people if you really practice in a way that values the talent of your employees and it’s more than an HR catchphrase. As mentioned earlier, companies must be consistently focused on people. I use the phrase “people matter” at the company where I work. This has to be encompassed by behavior and not words. Development is key in giving retention a chance to occur. Development, like the work experience, needs to be personalized because that is how people experience live in general. HR will succeed by practicing individually versus collectively. It works. Aitch: Love the "People Matter" mantra - I use People Matter[s] on the home page of my blog. Totally agree with your philosophy. Since I joined Twitter last July it is clear that with nearly 44,000 followers, not to mention you regularly appearing in the top HR influencer lists that occasionally appear, and also the HR Net that you curate, and all the broader speaking and writing you do in the broader HR community, you are clearly passionate about this field. But how do you manage to juggle your day-job with such an active on-line presence? Steve: I don’t know if I have a great answer for this. I mentioned earlier that I’m an over the top people person. It’s not a schtick. It’s who I am all the time. So, I don’t see social media as a time suck or something that gets in the way. I also don’t believe that it should be something where I cast some false persona in order to be seen. I see social media as a communication platform where I can connect with and talk to people. Honestly, I wish everyone would see it that way. If they did, you’d have more interactions and conversations instead of self-focused diatribes. I also think people need to know they’re valued. I don’t want to sound presumptuous or arrogant in that people have to be connected to me. However, I want to be at least one person who notices others and lets them know that who they are is important to me, and hopefully to others. It’s a bit Utopian and naïve if you ask others, but I’m good with it. I like being a contrarian by being positive. That’s a long answer to say that connecting on line is worth my time. Therefore, I make time to insert tweets and posts in the midst of my day. It’s just in my DNA and my fabric. I don’t view being on-line as something “separate” from my day. Aitch: Well, if you do manage to get any spare time, how do you like to spend it? Steve: First and foremost is time with my amazing wife, Debbie. She is my rock and supports all of my crazy involvement with speaking, writing and connecting with the global HR community. We go see movies regularly in the theater and we also go to the local theater to take in musicals and plays. I also see things a bit differently. I don’t have “spare time”. I just have time. In fact, even though I’m very involved in a multitude of ways and places, I actually have more time to do what I’d like. Rarely do I feel that I’m so pressed to not have time. It is more how I choose to use time. I don’t get overwhelmed by it. I join in and see where things go. I know this is a bit unnerving for others, but I’m sure they have their methods of using time. I read a ton, listen to music on a constant basis and make sure to check in with my friends and family around the planet. I guess I should build in some “down time”, but I don’t know if that will ever happen because once I relax, my attention is drawn to something new which makes life exciting most of the time. Aitch: Interesting distinction between not having "spare time", but just having "time". Speaking of which, we have sadly ran out of time, but thanks for being the first guest in my virtual lounge, I hope the decor was to your liking, and that you enjoyed the brew. Huge thanks also for taking time out of your schedule to sharing a little bit about who you are, and what makes you tick. Keep up the amazing work that you do in our HR community! To celebrate my 30th year in HR, I recently took a step back (don't worry, I wasn't near the edge of a cliff) and reflected on what has happened over that time in the Wonderful World of Work.
At a general level, when I started out, it was dictated and typed-up inter-office memorandums rather than emails, hierarchical decision-making rather than cross-functional collaboration and alignment, local outlook rather than global horizons, and 2 or 3 decisions a day rather than 10 decisions an hour. What about at an HR level? As I have steadily climbed the greasy pole to the rarified height that I enjoy today, I have had the benefit of working for a private and public sector organisations, companies large and small, listed and unlisted businesses, French, US and UK-owned enterprises, national and international companies, and so on. Variety is the spice of life, after all. And yet, despite all this diversity, I would contend that there are a set of people management principles that stand the test of time regardless of the sort of business you work for. I have listed these below, and over the coming weeks and months will expand on each. So, here are my Top 10 Golden rules of Aitch Are: - Don't f--k with people's pay! - Culture. It takes years to build and nurture, and minutes to destroy. - Goodbye performance management, hello any-time conversations. - The only three HR tools you will ever need: ears, mouth, brain. - Make engagement easy. What's working, what's not? - Put people at the centre of any new initiative. - There's no such thing as bad change, just poorly executed change. - If there’s a scrap to be had, do it in person rather than over email. - Keep things as simple as possible. You are surrounded by people who have a knack of making things more complicated than they need to be. - Talk the language of the business. - GSD. Otherwise known as "credibility comes through delivery". - Continually build your expertise through lifelong learning and networking. - Be appropriately opinionated. - "It's a business decision, nothing personal". Pull the other one... - Even good CEOs need a strong coach. OK, so that's more than 10, but maths was never my strong-point... Blog number 1 of...erm...I don't really know.
What's my pitch? Experienced senior HR professional, worked for multinationals large and small, and have really seen it all... In amongst the dense Forest of Mediocrity, I have seen the occasional ray of sunshine. All the companies I have worked for have had a policy on getting prior clearance before you can post anything, so to free myself from those particular shackles, I am going underground. Shh... Don't tell anyone... Why "People Matter[s]"? Because they do. And because I will be sharing thoughts around all aspects of people management. HR is about getting, growing and keeping great people. It really is that simple, and yet most companies make a complete pigs-ear of the people piece. New systems, projects, policies, and initiatives tend to be justified and communicated on the basis of savings, efficiencies, process improvements, productivity, compliance, etc. and the very last consideration tends to be the first thing that should be asked in these situations - i.e. "how will it improve the working lives of our employees". So my mission is to simplify the world of work by debunking the enormous industry that has sprung up around HR. Watch this space... Best to you all. Aitch |
AuthorSenior HR executive who has seen it all. On a mission to simplify the world of work. Archives
May 2020
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