Dirty work, clean energy

FACT: Sometimes in HR you have to do the dirty work.

Yes, I am being simplistic, or even facetious. What I really mean is handling difficult situations that involve change, disruption or even letting people go. Often, they haven’t been created by you, but that are down to you to manage anyway. That's how HR works- and I am glad of it. Sorting out things we had no part in means we can be independent and impartial.

The first time you have to manage how you let people go, there’s a fair bit of resentment- “Why me?” This soon passes when as you remember that you know, it’s kind of your job, and down to you because you will make sure it's fair. Then comes the annoyance: the inner voice protests- “It should never have got this far!”. When you realise that well it has, so there, and you'd better just focus and crack on, you move on to avoidance- “There’s got to be a better way!” Sadly, by the time you’ve used the word ‘redundancies’, every other way has been generally exhausted. It takes a while to accept that bit.

At this point, the best you can do is to do your best.

It’s key to actively manage change in all organisations if you’re to keep staff on side and maintain HR’s position of trust.

Once you’ve defined a need for cost savings that include redundancies, it’s essential that you stay visible, accessible and on top of matters to retain the belief in your abilities that you need from others. 

Stay credible by being visible.

  

Think, Feel, Know- and why Feel is essential

When it comes to handling a dilemma or making decisions, some do it based on logic, processing the data they’ve been given and drawing a onclusion after a time. Others make a call based on how they feel about things.

Usually, it’s a process; we work through thinking about the data we’ve got, processing the facts, before we consider how we feel about it. Only then can we truly move in to knowing what we need to do, or what we need to happen.

But people are people, and they react in ways we can’t prescribe or predict. Everybody has a preferred style. Some cut straight to the chase and make a decision very quickly from a knowing state – this is often informed by ‘gut feeling’ or experience. Others spend so long working through how they feel about something that you almost have to drag a decision from them with forceps.

It’s hard sometimes for somebody who actively likes people to cut the emotional connection they feel and be a cold, hard thinker. I am struggling with this right now, and am unafraid to admit it. I think it's how I prioritise the people in this situation rather than the cold, hard facts that serves me well and means that every redundancy I have ever handled has ended in a handshake and a smile. I even once got swept up in a bear hug by the employee and thanked for doing a good job.

Often, when considering redundancies, HR people park their emotions and switch into thinking. It’s easy for some, but when you know the people involved, it’s a bad move.

I’m not saying that expressing sympathy or care is a magic bullet; when it comes to shedding jobs, you can’t make it perfect, but you can make it as collaborative and fair as you can.

Try as you might you cannot take away the impact of redundancy, but you can limit it and reassure those affected that it’s been done in the fairest and most honest manner. Obviously, there will be an emotional response- I’ve seen tears, anger, and crushing disappointment... but this passes as you allow them to express it and show them you’re not running scared. You’re not about to leave the room (unless they get physically violent, which thankfully is rarer than hen’s teeth.) You are focussed on them, not the next meeting or your phone; you really are with them, and will be as long as it takes to get them through the initial shock and upset. Trust me, this counts for a lot.

It’s not just a process – it’s lives

While there’s a procedure for managing redundancies, effectively helping someone through such a serious life changing event depends on your approach. It’s no use being wishy-washy and making vague promises you can’t keep about alternatives or redeployment just to keep the heat off you. It’s also useless to leave empathy at the door. Nobody likes a cold fish.

Having been through both a well-run and pretty poorly managed redundancy process myself, I worked out how I’d have liked to have been treated and defined how they sit within the technical process.

So here are the rules I try to stick to when handling one of the more unpleasant parts of an HR practitioner’s duties.

Care – Don’t assume that everyone will say or feel the same way. Just be human about things; allow them the chance to express themselves.

Don’t talk around the subject - People can generally handle getting bad news. They cope. They like the idea that they’re respected enough to be trusted to handle it ok. What they don’t like is you being vague and feeling they are being kept in the dark. Show them why you need to make the change. Be honest. Demonstrate that there’s really no other option, and so that’s why you have to meet to discuss it.

Remember you’re dealing with grownups – Don’t babysit. Use proper words, not jargon or dumbed-down language. They are adults, and they won’t thank you for patronising them when all they want is a little dignity in dark times. 

Talk talk - Encourage them to ask questions. Get them to seek out information rather than letting them make assumptions. Let them voice what they need to- but be careful not to grant permission for them blame you for the bigger problems that led you here.

Lift the lid, release the pressure – they have to release what they are feeling, and better that they do it in a quiet room with you than back in the crowded workplace or even online. They’ll work through this negative state and with the right support they will soon come to realise that they have a responsibility to move on from it and take positive action.




It’s ok to feel anxious – Anxiety over a situation motivates and helps us focus on an answer to the problem. By looking at the risk, we naturally find a way to manage it. It’s self-preservation, and it can be a marvellous thing. 

To thine own self be true - Being genuine doesn’t take any more time or effort than being disingenuous or hard-faced. In amongst your efforts to keep the impact on them in mind, bringing a little empathy helps them remember that you’re human too. They may know you well. They will wonder why they are faced with someone they’ve grown to trust and like is being so cold towards them. They may misread this and allow it to create paranoia or a sense of victimisation or unfairness. In their hearts, they know that nobody likes these conversations, but by being yourself, keeping things fair, listening to them and being supportive, you can help retain the humanity that makes such a huge difference in these situations. 

Let them see the light- recognising that they’ve done great work before helps them remember that there’s reason to feel great about themselves, and positive about the future. Don’t be afraid to thank them for doing a great job to date- it helps them realise that they have skills and abilities that are attractive to other employers, and that perhaps change could be an opportunity for them after all. 

Keep your promises – first up, don’t make any you don’t know for certain you’ll be able to keep. But if you tell them you’ll get a letter summarising a meeting in the post to them, tell them when it’ll be sent- and do it. 

Keep talking - Don’t allow things to stagnate through inaction. Don’t let days and days pass with no contact. Check in regularly and make sure they are doing ok. Be available. Be accessible. Don’t be ‘too busy’- it may not be all you have to think about, but it’s sure as heck all they can think about. Make sure they understand what’s happening and what’s next. Offer as much support as is practicable. Don’t overcommit yourself, particularly if you are the sole HR professional in a team and you are consulting with 20 people on this. Seek outside help for them too- outplacement support is a specific skill and not all HR practitioners are au fait with the best way to help those affected. A small investment in a day’s support for your people can make all the difference to their employment prospects in future- and how they speak about your company after they leave.

I make no promises that sticking to the above makes you resistant to the emotional effects running a redundancy process can have, or that it’ll guard against all eventualities, but it keeps everyone's energy as 'clean' as it can be, and usually delivers the best result - so I reckon it’s a pretty decent set of rules to keep in mind.

As toolkits for dirty jobs go, it’s a pretty effective one to have at your disposal.

Risk... and how a Tiger can help

It's a fact that business has to manage risk, be risk averse, take calculated risks, reduce risk, negate risk- try as you might, risk is everywhere,and can't be ignored.

We've been working with three companies recently who have all recognised risks in their business, and called us in to help handle it.

After 2 years of working hard to prevent downsizing, Company 1 are feeling the effects of the economic downturn and need to reduce the size of one team by 2 members. We've been engaged to manage a redundancy process, ensuring fairness, accuracy, compliance with the law and open communication in order to counter the risk of identifying the wrong candidates, leaving the Company open to loss of skills, accusations of unfairness or even a subsequent complaint or legal action. It's a hard thing to do in any business; we are mindful at all times that this process directly affects lives. The fact is that by the time the word 'Redundancy' is out there, some pretty tough choices have already been taken. You may not always be able to retain staff but you must work to make it as fair as possible, and offer as much support to all affected as is realistic.

Company 2 has just hired 3 new staff and needs employment contracts to ensure that things get off to the right start. Happy to help, we said. We listened to the details, and in just a short time and for a very reasonable rate, we have delivered contracts that meet the business' and employees' needs.

Company 3 has some 160 staff, over 120 of whom work on large construction sites. There's been a growing awareness about the suty of care they hold for the health of their people. They have recognised that there is too high a risk of work-related illness and injury leading to days off and longterm sickness absence, costing the business time and money, and making employees unhappy. Obviously, there's also a risk that bad practice or ignoring issues could lead to grievances being raised or even legal action, so there's a need to protect both empoyees and the business.

They called us in to run a survey to assess the overall health of the business and identify any emerging patterns of ill-health or injury. We've now analysed the findings and made ten strong recommendations for ways to improve the situation and reduce the risks. We have worked to deliver great quality information and ideas that will inform their policies and safe systems of work- and the best part is that we've trained their staff to run the programme fully in-house in future, meaning they now possess a whole new set of skills and will save money on using an external provider for the surveys and analysis.

We've helped all three businesses to negate, reduce and manage risk, and added a little more into the mix too with our unique approach. We've had some great feedback from all and look forward to continuing these working relationships into the coming years.

We call that a good month!

So if the risk factor is something you want to address in your business, give us a call. We'll always be happy to help.

The Rare Find

We're all about talent- identifying it, developing it, and making it work for your business. Fulfilled people are happy workers, after all. Talent spotting isn't easy. You may obviously see a spark in someone, but what if another is hiding their light under a filing cabinet? How do you coax it out into the open and make it valuable?  People promote their abilities differently- and sometimes they don't at all. Most managers say they just feel something in their gut that tells them whether they can entrust someone with a promotion, project or particularly tricky task. That's not identifying talent- that's winging it and hoping your instinct pays off. A lot of very gifted people go undeveloped in businesses around the World just because managers believe "they know a good one when they see it." They often don't. Missing one great asset to a company is one too many. People stagnate without a challenge, or the chance to put their natural gifts into practice. Sometimes, they leave for pastures new. In turn, businesses lose out, and incur costs hiring replacement staff or even engaging consultants. (No, that's not how we work, as we explain here.) Identifying talent is a huge challenge for businesses today. The podcast below is a talk given by author George Anders, a founding member of Bloomberg View's board of editors. For twenty years he was a top feature writer for The Wall Street Journal as part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize. How do we recognise greatness? The world-wide hunt for talent has never been more ambitious, more systematic -- and more frustrating. It's time to redefine how we think about talent, and to come to terms with three major blind spots in the ways that most organisations hunt for superstars. Better approaches are within reach, as shown by the successful, maverick methods of the world's best talent spotters. This event marks the publication of George Anders new book The Rare Find: Spotting Exceptional Talent Before Everyone Else.

http://richmedia.lse.ac.uk/publicLecturesAndEvents/20111102_1830_theRareFind.mp3

The Lean Startup: an LSE podcast

The London School of Economics share some fascinating and enlightening podcasts of talks and events they host, featuring speakers from the worlds of economics, politics, business and social work. They cover a variety of topics and I thought the below to be an exceptional example of how starting a business doesn't mean huge outlay and fancy trappings. As the 37Signals team say- "Do it right, then make it better." (I highly recommend their book ReWork.)

Most new businesses fail. But most of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach to business that's being adopted around the world. It is changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. The Lean Startup is about learning what your customers really want. It's about testing your vision continuously, adapting and adjusting before it's too late. Now is the time to think Lean. This event marks the publication of Eric Ries new book The Lean Startup. Eric Ries is an entrepreneur and author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup and the popular entrepreneurship blog Startup Lessons Learned.He co-founded and served as CTO of IMVU, his third startup. In 2007, BusinessWeek named him one of the Best Young Entrepreneurs of Tech. In 2009, he was honored with a TechFellow award in the category of Engineering Leadership. He serves on the advisory board of a number of technology startups, and has consulted to new and established companies as well as venture capital firms. He is currently serving as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School and a Fellow for IDEO, the design consulting firm. His Lean Startup methodology has been written about in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, the Huffington Post, and many blogs.

http://richmedia.lse.ac.uk/publicLecturesAndEvents/20120112_1830_theLeanStartup.mp3

Creativity, Bravery- and Desert Island Discs

Jimmy Mulville is a former comedian and actor, starring in Alan Bleasdale's seminal G.B.H. and Jake's Progress. As a founder of Hat Trick Productions, he's now a man responsible for making the nation laugh more than most.

Hat Trick have brought to our screens both the the irreverence of Have I Got News For You and the drama of Case Sensitive alongside ratings hits Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Outnumbered and Father Ted.

Jimmy recently appeared on Desert Island Discs to select his 'favourite things' to be cast away with. We loved it. You can listen here. 

As he talked we realised that there was a bigger story to be told than just his selections for easy island listening; there were some lessons we can all take from his experiences.

  

·    CREATIVE

     Jimmy set up Hat Trick Productions with Rory McGrath and Denise O'Donoghue in 1986 to get their own shows made but quickly realised that a forward-thinking and truly open company was also a perfect creative outlet for others. It was their then-unique and quick-fire attitude to making TV comedy that saw them build a reputation for originality and a queue of the best TV creatives beating a path to their door.

·    BRAVE

     Becoming an actor was a boyhood dream- Jimmy's commitment and focus to this ensured he strove to get seen and heard by key players in the media. His decision to move into production in response to his own personal need to get things done shows that sometimes, waiting for others to make it happen isn't going to work. You just have to be brave and do it for yourself.

·    LET YOURSELF BE INFLUENCED  

     As a child, Jimmy was encouraged in Latin and Greek by a teacher; his appreciation for this support informs his adult decisions, and he has in turn nurtured a supportive and creative environment in his business.

·        SEIZE THOSE CHANCES

·    He acknowledges that he had an enormous bit of luck when he was in a play purely because they needed a Liverpool accent – this led to his joining Footlights and enjoying great success and ready access to creative media minds. Getting this opportunity has made him take a gamble on people he's not known too well based on whether they meet his need, he meets theirs- and whether his instinct says 'Go for it'.

·        YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT GETS YOU THROUGH

     Jimmy sadly took to using drink and drugs in sorrow over his father's death. It was when he recognised this as a coping mechanism and acknowledged his own destructive behaviour that he was able to grieve properly and eventually use his experience to coach others. The investment he made in rehab taught him that overcoming adversity isn't just about being able to pay for it- it's the behavioural changes that are needed that make you really dig deep.

     FIND ALIGNMENT

·        His business partner in Hat Trick was also his wife, and when his marriage ended they realised quickly that there had to be compromise; agreements had to be made as so many other careers depended upon their leadership and focus.

·       ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE

     Jimmy admits he is melancholic by nature and goes out of his way to put laughter in his life to balance it out. This understanding of his weakness shows his determination to counteract negativity and introduce positive action for greater success.  

     Read more about Hat Trick Productions

  

Space to create

Yesterday I met with a fascinating character, Jon Bartlett, the power behind Project Libero, a fresh and grounded approach to coaching. Over lunch we chatted about the potential for Libero and Treacletiger, and the roads that brought us to our current positions.

Jon clearly has a talent for identifying individuals' 'drivers', the motivating factors behind our behaviours and the decisions we make. It's not just the extensive training he's undertaken, but his own experiences and instincts that inform his creative and effective approach to coaching. It was wonderful to meet a coach so committed to his clients' wellbeing. 


Jon and I have chatted via Twitter for a while now and it's always interesting to meet someone for that otherwordly place; will there be stilted silences or a fight to promote one's own interests at the cost of good discussion and shared experience? Fortunately for me, Jon was even more personable and delightful in reality, so I felt that the meeting was over all too soon.

The conversation turned to NASA (what? It happens) and Jon revealed to me that he has stood on the floor of Mission Control, revelling in the history and human endeavour represented by the place. He's clearly inspired by man's quest for adventure and knowledge, and sees clearly how that same spirit can be instilled in a business using simple and effective techniques.

Jon is cycling London in support of Mind, a magnificent charity that's doing great things to challenge the stigma of mental health issues, and the difficulties faced by those suffering. With 1 in 4 people set to experience depression in their lives, and workplace stress fast becoming the leading cause- and cost- of absenteeism, supporting Mind's Time To Change campaign is essential for business.

You can sponsor Jon here.

The Treacletiger project is bringing some truly inspired and inspiring people into our network; we're very excited about this, and where it will take us.

Going live

So what's 'going live' all about, apart from being a fondly-remembered Saturday morning show of yesteryear?

Today, Treacletiger goes live online. This is both impossibly exciting, and the culmination of approximately three years' work. So we hope you like what you see.

We've kept it simple- our belief in getting the basics right and then developing, growing and learning as we go- and making things better. We'd love your feedback and thoughts on what you'd like to see on there.

We've been 'open for business' for a little while now, but our online home cements the deal. We are here to stay, and here for your business.