Tag Archives: business strategy

Fear, Itself

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Originally posted May 2013

Being an entrepreneur involves taking risks. Setting up a business, launching a new product, or making essential changes come as second nature to many of those who lead organisations (including those which are “not for profit”, which doesn’t make them any less enterprising).

So why is it that when it comes to people issues, so many dynamic and energetic business people suddenly become very cautious and risk averse? Is it because

  • Even the most task-centred of us doesn’t like confrontation and bad feeling?
  • Or because people can answer back and challenge us?

Maybe it’s because

  • We believe what politicians and tabloid newspapers tell us about how complex and restrictive employment laws are?
  • We fall for the scare tactics used by certain companies selling their employment insurance products?

Or perhaps it’s a result of

  • Bad experiences of HR people or departments who seem process bound and too eager to say “no” (I suspect, without any evidence, that this might be the origin of the infamous Beecroft report)
  • A single bad experience (maybe a very problematic employee or a badly handled tribunal) that colours our view of all employment issues

Rather like the fear of crime far outweighing the actual likelihood of a criminal event, so people will still fear HR issues no matter how many times they are told the UK has one of the most flexible labour markets in the world. And fear – as this excellent blog points out – can be paralysing.

I don’t have an answer – I’m just interested to know why it happens. And I also wonder why we don’t treat our fears like Buffy the Vampire Slayer when we realise how insignificant they actually are

Who are the “Firewall” Employees in your business?

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Originally published May 2012

Many small businesses today have disaster recovery plans – a contingency if their server went down or their business premises were flooded. But one area that they rarely plan for is how they would deal with the loss of a key employee.

Consider these examples.

You’re running a regulated business which requires a nominated individual with particular qualifications to hold the licence to operate (there are many small businesses that this applies to – transport, childcare, waste management etc).  That individual – who will usually be a senior person in your organisation – has a heart attack and is off for several months. Your entire business is threatened because your key member of staff is unavailable. What do you do?

Even if your business isn’t regulated, losing a key person can be disastrous. If you employ someone with specialist skills and knowledge and they resign at short notice – worse if they go to work for a competitor – then it could well be goodbye to that major contract.

And even the loss of an administrator could cause significant problems if your business relies on their knowledge of your systems and procedures. The fact that they know a call from Ms X is important and Mr Y is less so, or that it is essential to be at a particular trade conference, would be lost if they suddenly went out of the picture.

So next time you’re analysing what you would do if your buildings were burnt down, identify as well who your “firewall employees” are and consider how you would manage if they disappeared.

How Poor Recruitment Can Wreck Your Business

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Originally published April 2012

Poor, shoddy customer service is something which most people aren’t prepared to accept these days.  We’re more likely to complain than in the past if we don’t receive prompt responses, if a company fails to deliver what it promised or if they try to fob us off. And in these days of social media, a moan about a particular company (such as Waitrose or H&M) doesn’t just go to a few friends but can be around the country or globe in minutes. Years of careful marketing and “brand management” can go out of the window in hours or days with a tweet from an irate customer.

Yet when it comes to recruitment, how many HR people consider the organisation’s image when planning the process? But how many times have you come away from a job interview thinking “what an awful organisation – I wouldn’t work there for double the salary”?

There’s really no excuse for not giving candidates a positive impression of your organisation, and you should always be striving to ensure that your recruitment processes match the public image your organisation has. As US recruitment guru Crystal Miller points out, candidates only expect two things:

  • Acknowledgement- simply that you’ve applied and we acknowledge that. Thank you.
  • Closure- simply that you are or are not qualified for the position, that you are or are not getting the job, there are or are not other opportunities with us, and we acknowledge all these things in a consistent and timely manner. Thank you.

But a good recruitment process offers them more: an insight into working for you, your organisation’s culture and values. Just as much as you deciding who you want to recruit, the candidates will be deciding whether they want to work with you – you are  forming a relationship.

And finally – don’t forget the rejected candidates. Depending on their skills, they may well end up working for a client, supplier or major customer. A bad impression of your company based on their recruitment experience may well cost you in the future.

Passion is No Ordinary Word

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Originally posted January 2011

Everyone has their own most disliked management phrase. Mine is probably the use of the word passion in the world of work. I don’t know whether it arose from an over-active marketing executive or is part of a general trend to use words conveying strong emotions in a way where their meaning becomes debased. But when I see a sentence in a recent blog like “we need more love, courage and passion in our workplaces” I cringe (and not only at the potential sexual harassment cases coming my way).

Setting aside its sexual and religious meanings, the most common definitions of passion are “a powerful or compelling emotion” and “a strong or extravagant desire”.  Are either of these really the sort of behaviours we expect to see, let alone encourage, in the workplace? And do we want HR people to be “passionate” about our work, as I’ve read recently?

Let me give you an example using a different strong emotion. I’ve just redrafted a time off in lieu policy for a client, under which a small group of staff would be disadvantaged. In consultation, one affected member of staff told the Chief Executive that when she read the new policy she was “angry”. As a friend of mine commented “I get angry about children starving in Africa. I might get a bit annoyed if I didn’t like the way my company had changed one of its policies.”

So let’s be clear. I enjoy working in HR, I often find it fun or stimulating, and I can sometimes become very enthusiastic about aspects of it. But passionate about HR – no!