I'm An Employee First

I am sure many of you know how passionate I am about talent management solutions that center on people, not administration. As we all know, people are the foundation of business performance and success. I'm not only acutely focused on reflecting this in technology, but as I live each day as an employee of my company.  Unfortunately, many organizations don't think about talent they way I do and quite frankly, that's a shame.

Organizations of all sizes and industries are suffering from the same challenges right now: Retirees taking skills and intellectual capital with them, untimely departures of critical individuals and employees leaving for "better opportunities" with your competition.  With all these workforce changes, companies have to plan and begin managing their people in the same strategic manner in which they run their business.  Without this, you have disengaged people and a high probability a slowdown of the business will occur when these individuals begin leaving. 

This is exactly the reason why organizations have to think about talent in a broader sense.  It's not good enough or acceptable any longer to think about only key leadership. We have to focus on every employee, down to the lowest paid.  It's time to Put People First.

When I think about my own role and career I'm an employee first.  We all are regardless of our "title".   And at the risk of sounding selfish, I too have career aspirations. I am lucky in that my manager works with me to ensure I'm engaged, challenged and growing professionally.  He's helping me prepare for my next career move.  

Here's where the importance of organization-wide, person-centric talent management comes in to play.  In order for me to progress into my next role, I have to ensure I'm building a team that can take the reigns from me when the time comes. Seems simple, right? Ah, things are not always as they seem. 
 

As a leader, I'm responsible for a team of incredibly talented individuals who have vast knowledge on the talent space.  None of them have a "Chief" or "VP" in their title, but without their dedication, knowledge and support, our business would suffer.  It's imperative to me and our success to have a team who is engaged and wants to do their best every day.  In order to ensure that happens, I need to make sure they are taking an active role in defining their own future and that I'm providing the development opportunities to get them where they want to be.
 

Now don't forget, I'm not in HR. But HR needs to supports me. They need to be deliberate in engaging with me from a support standpoint.   Ultimately, it's up to me, as a business leader and manager, to identify, engage, and develop my people.  The best way to do that is talk to them, listen to them and remember you were in their shoes one day.

So bottom line, put yourself in the employee role for a minute.  Think about what you want and need to be successful and go provide that to your people. 

Open Your Eyes....I Am Standing Right Here

I am always amazed at how incredibly smart business leaders can be until it comes time for them to develop their team.  These are individuals who are running multi-million dollar businesses successfully yet when asked to engage with their employees they lose all ability to think strategically and objectively.

Case in point.  On one of my more recent client visits I had the opportunity to eat at one of my favorite restaurants. For those of you who know me well, I can be quite chatty at times.  Needless to say, my server also had the same great quality about her.  In a very short period of time I knew how long she had worked at this establishment, what her career aspirations were and most importantly, she wasn't going to fulfill them where she was currently.

You see, while this organization did a fantastic job on the food and customer service aspects of their business, they did a disservice to their employees.  They don't provide their people with the ability to articulate and communicate their long-term career desires.  Just a few months prior to my visit, "Becky" had learned of an opportunity that was exactly what she was looking for in her next role.  Unfortunately, she learned about it after someone had already been selected.  When she asked her supervisor about why she hadn't been told about the opportunity, his response was typical, "I didn't realize you were interested in that type of position."  You know why he didn't realize it, he never took time to find out anything about "Becky". 

People, you have to begin engaging in conversations with your employees.  Learn what's important to them.  Understand what their career aspirations are and come up with a plan to help achieve them.  One of the number one reasons individuals leave organizations is because of poor leadership from their manager.  With the challenges organizations are having finding, attracting and retaining talent, it's time to open your eyes and see what's in front of you.  Don't be stupid and let the great ones get away. 

While I realize there are two sides to every story and not all managers suck, this has definitely impacted the way I look at this organization.  As for "Becky", she confided in me that she was actively engaging with a competing restaurant for a position very similar to the one she lost out on here.  Someone else had their eyes wide open, saw a talented individual and went after her.  Hopefully she is immersed in her new role and one step further in her career path. 

Now, open your eyes and ears and engage with your people before it's too late.

Resume? What's That?

Note:  Recruiters need not contact me.  I am happy where I am and I DON'T have an up to date resume.

I have never had the privilege of holding a position as a recruiter.  I do view myself as a casual recruiter because I believe it's everyone's responsibility to seek out talent for their organization.  But, I have never been paid a salary to act as a recruiter for my company or on behalf of another organization.  I state that upfront because I am about to go off on a tangent and I want to be transparent about my lack of experience in recruiting.

Earlier this week I received a call from a recruiter who was inquiring about my interest in a potential opportunity she had available.  Apparently I had been referred to her by a past colleague of mine who provided her with few details about my experience.  She was very nice, explained the opportunity and asked questions about my past, what I enjoy, my role, etc.  As she is asking these questions I realize she hasn't done any research before this call.  Anyone who knows me well knows I am an open book.  I have been known to share too much with folks at times. 

So as we are wrapping up the Q&A she asks if I can forward on a resume.  Really?  Are you kidding me?  I haven't had an up to date resume in at least three or four years.  For one, anything and everything you need to know about me is on LinkedIn, Google+ or Facebook.  Two, I am quite happy where I am now and am not actively looking for different opportunities.  And three, you called me, interrupted my day and you want me to spend time creating a resume when you could quickly find out anything about me online. I think NOT! 

This is another fine example of HR administration at its finest.  Not once did this recruiter think about what I wanted or how she should get what she needed from.  She followed the standard recruiting procedures for that company.  What she also did, unbeknownst to her, was set the brand of the organization without saying anything about what it was like to work there.  I now have perceptions about this company before I know anything about it.  I assume they are not adopters of social media in any form, which I am.  I also assume they are more focused on HR driven policies and procedures than focusing on the identification and selection of talent, which I am not. 

So out of this one call I learned a few important lessons.  1.  Don't assume all recruiters and/or organizations use social media for recruitment.  2.  Recruiters shouldn't assume everyone has a resume that's up to date.  3.  What you say and don't say can say a lot about your employment brand.  4.  I am really glad I am not a recruiter.

My Coming Out Blog

Welcome to my coming out party.  For years I  have been an avid follower of many HR blogs but have never had the courage to create my own.  What’s funny about that is I am never at a loss for words, I speak my mind very openly and I love to challenge the status quo.  Those all sound like great characteristics of successful bloggers to me.  Maybe my hesitance came from thinking that I don’t have anything important to say.  Well no offense to some of the bloggers out there now, but I have read some posts in the past that didn’t speak to me at all and yet they continue to have a following.

So today is my day.  It’s my time to take a risk, put myself out there and say what I believe.  You may agree with me, you may not.  Quite frankly, I am not here to say what everyone wants to hear.  I am here to challenge the way we think about things, the way we do things.  Mainly around the management of talent and most importantly people.
Now you are probably wondering who is this chic and what’s her story?  As I said before, I am never at a loss of words so let me tell you a bit about me.  By day I spend my time thinking about how people connect, collaborate and get work done in organizations.  This type of thinking allows me to effectively create, develop and deploy the vision and strategy for Ultimate Software’s Talent Management solutions.  As the Director of Global Talent Management I get to think about the people aspect of organizations every day.

Just like most women, I wear many hats and pants for that matter throughout the day.  I am a wife to my dear husband Shane, a mom to the three most beautiful and talented girls (Kaitlin, Kaeli and Kendyl), a daughter, sister, friend, counselor……I think you get the picture.  As you can see, I am not really any different than the rest of you.  I just hope I can bring you along for a great ride and that you learn something along the way.  Til next time……