Comments on: Octomom’s Got Nothing On HR

By: » The March Leadership Development Carnival

» The March Leadership Development Carnival — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:47:19 +0000

[…] Stelzner presents Octomom’s Got Nothing On HR posted at Inflexion Point. In times of recession, companies must do more with less. Providing […]

By: mark.stelzner

mark.stelzner — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:58:43 +0000

Thanks for the comments all and so sorry for the slow follow up…

@Kerry - But I wonder if the least resilient employees are actually the ones being laid off? Thoughts?

@Donna - So do you think that consumer driven health plans, HSAs and/or lump-sum payments to employees are the way to go? In other words, should HR get out of the “business” of benefits and go completely cafeteria style?

@Michelle - In your experience, is this a generational issue or fairly systemic throughout the organization?

@Alan - Yes, fear will do crazy things to even the best managed organizations. But how do you see this changing in your firm? Is it simply out of survival, or do you see any proactive/preemptive movement to get employees “off the bottle”?

@SSP - Are you saying that what should be a natural occurrence has become forced and contrived? Would love to hear more of your thoughts.

Thanks again everyone! Great comments.

By: HRM Today - Blog Archive » Octomom’s Got Nothing On HR

HRM Today - Blog Archive » Octomom’s Got Nothing On HR — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:01:01 +0000

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By: SSP

SSP — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:39:27 +0000

This was a great observation but not a shock. Schools are conditioning students to require this “engagement” and to always think “what am I getting out of this?” The final insult is the news stories that tell parents to interact with their children. It’s no wonder that it’s had to find good employees when a paycheck isn’t enough to show up everyday. Short on time. Sorry it’s choppy.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:20:48 +0000

Donna is absolutely correct. Our company is in the same situation and our culture has been one that is very sensitive towards our mostly Hispanic demographic. I manage the benefits program as well and have seen some strategies work and others fail as far as the communications effort. But what I do see is a need to get our employees “off the bottle” and “out of diapers” insofar as their benefits are concerned.

The same goes with how corporate employees are treated. We are reviewing people stringently, looking at every fault and trying to find ways to justify getting rid of people who are not star performers (no one company has 100% of star performers). It causes employees to be on edge and keeps their creativity and initiative incapacitated due to their constant worry of being disciplined for doing the wrong thing or being on the chopping block.

We hear the speeches given by management to encourage workers (who still have their jobs) to keep up the good work, but this is mostly a ploy. Everyone is on edge and anyone who walks around with too much positive energy is questioned as to why they are so comfortable. None of this encourages workers to in a sense “grow up” and act independent and mature.

What ever happened to the workplace settings where employees had the ability to handle issues to the end resolution and were given the chance to be accountable and contribute towards the attainment of department goals. I understand that the economic situation has pulled back a good deal of that, but my feeling is that in these hard times, you can probably get employees to take on more accountability and maturity if you handle them correctly and don’t let them revert back to being treated like children.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:10:53 +0000

This is becoming apparent in my organization. As a manager, I have some professional level employees that want to be “spoon fed” rather than take initiative. Over the years, I have been involved in consuting organizations that thought people were important, but also taught that I was responsible for my own career. Managers and leaders could help, but ultimately it was my responsiblitiy to suceed or fail.

Wish there was more of that these days. If emloyees could see how empowering it is to step up, take initative and take control of your own work, they would never go back!

By: Donna

Donna — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:21:53 +0000

It appears that many companies speak out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to employee engagement vs employee responsibility and accountability. So many attempt to develop programs (benefits, payroll, etc…) where employees need to go on-line to access their information, enroll for benefits and request time off, however then they conduct an employee engagement survey, which (in the long run) demonstrates how much we are actually hand holding (or I call breast feeding) our employees. You cannot have it both ways to the degree that they desire!! Especially in industries where you are constantly challenged with non-English speaking employees. It’s a push and pull for HR Teams and we’re not sure which way to push and pull sometimes. I say we empower employees to be responsible not only for their jobs but for their benefits, etc…. and we’ll be stronger for it!! You can still be employee friendly and helpful without being the Mom to hundreds.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:51:41 +0000

I think one silver lining of the poor economy is that there will be less money for fluff, and fewer HR people to hold the hands of remaining employees. That’s good for the employees and for HR.

Layoffs are also a great opportunity to shed our least resilient employees. Those needy types only become more high-maintenance during tough times, and most organizations need employees to be focused on organizational survival, not sniveling.