We will paint the strategic picture but every company will need to decide whether to pursue as a company-wide strategy or as a tactical piecemeal process. In every case, how it is implemented within your unique company, industry, culture, value-system, structure, and political environment will differ. That is why we are teaming with advisors, consultants, coaches, and best of breed partners who can apply the solution within your unique situation.

So, what is the solution?

Step One: Decide strategically, at the CEO level, whether having the right structure with the right roles, the right people in the right seats, helping those people add personal and team value, and developing the right culture of innovation and value add with organizational alignment is worth his or her personal attention. If not, consider tactical piecemeal steps for tactical improvements co-sponsored by a line decision maker and HR.

Step Two: Analyze and Evaluate the existing organization for weaknesses and HR Paradox gaps.

Step Three: Diagnose and Prescribe what actions, tools, and resources would be recommended for strategic and tactical improvements. The C-Level team should decide whether to self-treat with existing resources or to engage professional assistance.

Step Four: Implement the treatment plan utilizing the recommended resources and tools. This will take time, will impact people (especially blood-suckers and selfers), and will take an investment of money and management resources. However, the ROI impact will be obvious:

Studies have shown that:

1. Actively engaged employees make up less than 1/3 of the workforce. Source: Gabriel Institute
2. 60% of failures are due to people problems. Source: VC Industry / Gabriel Institute
3. Nearly 80% of job turnover is due to hiring mistakes. Source: Harvard University
4. The cost of a bad hire can range from 1.4 to 10 times (or more) of the annual salary. Source: Right Path Resources

This list does not include the additional costs of internal conflicts, lack of alignment, and a host of other HR Paradox symptoms.

What impact do these examples have on your business? 

What impact could reducing the HR Paradox have on your business? 

We believe that there are several types of employees. These differences are discrimination neutral and quite simple. Either they want to work and contribute to company success or they want to be paid without working or they are want to work but are so self-focused that company teams and other employees are adversely impacted. I call those who want to work and contribute to company success as “Value Workers.”

Those who want to be paid without really working, I call “Loafers” or “Blood-Suckers” (they suck the life blood out of companies). Those who are self-focused may appear to be highly successful but result in sub-optimizing long term results. I call this group the “Selfers.” They create a highly inefficient company that is usually inward focused, slow moving, and often bureaucratic.

Which group would you want in your company? Value Workers, Bloodsuckers, or Selfers?

Yet in most companies, all three profiles exist. What is that costing your company? How is that impacting client sales, client satisfaction, product quality, company branding / image, profit, response times, employee turnover, employee development, and company teamwork? How is it impacting your company alignment and leverage?

Yet somehow HR is expected to have a magic wand to “fix the problem.” Top management is busy focused on growing the business and assumes that just hiring a HR team will transform the organization, or just spending more money internally will fix the problem, or outsourcing HR will fix the problem. Unfortunately, even the best HR team in the world cannot “fix the problem.” That is part of the HR Paradox.

Just as finance does not create the money it helps to manage. Just as technology does not create the business requirements it seeks to automate. Just as procurement does not specify the products or services it seeks to purchase. HR is only one out of four components to “fixing the problem.”

Unfortunately, unless HR has the right team in place there is no one else in the company whose job it is to coordinate the solution. Executive management does not have time. Managers do the best they can but are time pressed and do not have the tools or training. Even if the rare manager “fixes her department,” that does not fix the entire company. The individual employee has the least personal impact, responsibility, authority, skills, time, or ability to help. Even Value Workers are impacted when Bloodsuckers and Selfers exist throughout the company.

So strategically, how can a company resolve the HR Paradox?

Next week we will discuss the HR Paradox Solution.

In some cases the product is HR, Finance, IT, Consulting or other product/solution. However, even in those companies there is usually a distinction between what they productize for clients from what they run internally.

Of course you can outsource some product development (e.g. license from others), outsource portions of marketing, and even tactical sales but the strategic decisions of what products/services to develop, how to market, and how to sell is usually the primary focus of top management.

Support functions that are integral to the product or go-to-market process usually become part of the strategic trusted advisor team. Examples would be IT and Finance. However, HR is usually not integral in product development, marketing, or sales daily discussions and often becomes an afterthought.

We believe it is up to senior management to understand how HR could become a competitive differentiator and contribute to company profit. The challenge is that most HR organizations do not know how to cross that bridge and communicate the value that world-class HR organizations provide to the C-Level executive team. This gap is one of the reasons why we created Integrated Success™. We have strategic processes to help management include strategic HR solutions that add company value while providing a tactical umbrella to align HR support with the business and company direction.

Our model allows us to help top executives, support strategic HR executives, help HR learn how to become more strategic, and provide tactical processes and resources that add value to the company. 

If the company goal is to design the right structure with the right roles, hire the right people and put them in the right seats, help those people develop personal and team value, set up a culture of innovation and value add, and align with the current direction of the C-Level team while still fulfilling the daily tactical duties of HR, then we believe our Integrated Success™ model can help.

There are often gaps between the CEO strategic focus and many HR teams who are tactically focused. For example:

• Many HR functions (and other support functions) do not have strategic minded people on their team. I define strategic as understanding the business, understanding executive needs and wants, and knowing how to create the vision, strategy, innovation, implementation plans and communication skills necessary to talk to and advise decision makers at the C-Level (CEO, COO, CFO, CTO…).
• HR can be seen as too employee focused, similar to a union or government bureaucracy mentality. Few support functions, including HR, realize that they are, at best, a trusted advisor to decision makers. They are to represent the company’s interests, which includes alignment of individual and team success toward creating value for company success. This misunderstanding often results in senior management assuming that HR may secretly be a union representative whose answer to employee turnover and productivity is spending more money on more programs.
• HR has so many laws and regulations to follow that the risk is to become a watchdog who says, “you can’t do that” instead of a trusted business advisor who says, “I understand what you want to do but to follow what I believe is the law/regulation means _____ in order to get what you want without legal exposure. We may also need to seek a legal opinion to be sure.”
• Many senior decision makers intuitively know that some HR theory is merely theory and not helpful to their unique business. By not learning the business of the company and what the executives need and want, HR’s value to the company is often perceived as tactical and subject to being outsourced.
• It is not uncommon to hear a CEO define HR success as keeping them out of jail, eliminating lawsuits, and taking care of the daily (tactical) work. The result is that most HR teams are not included at the decision making table.

So what happens? Management often assumes that they will handle the strategic and the management of employees while holding HR accountable for turnover rates, hiring right, motivating the workforce, keeping salaries and costs down, training without budgets, and a host of expectations that are often not realistic. Not only is HR undervalued but also the executive management team misses out on what could be a secret weapon for greater company profit and competitive advantage.

So, where is the gap? The gap is that while management may devalue, rightly or wrongly, their HR team it is the C-Level management team itself that is to blame. The solution starts at the top.

Next week we will discuss the other side of the paradox – why C-Level management is missing a tremendous opportunity. Later, in following blogs, we will suggest steps that C-Level management and HR can take to eliminate the HR Paradox for their company.

In this Christmas season, there is spiritual hope for those who seek it. Personally, my greatest hope is in Jesus Christ, in His Promises, and in His Future Return. This is the foundation of hope that I build upon.

However, there is also a secular way of dealing with hopelessness. In my opinion, there is always hope but it is difficult for those under pressure to see it, to see opportunities, and to grab those opportunities.

Some have suggested that the reason for hopelessness is the insistence that they want what they want, how they want it, and they want it NOW! If they can’t get it, then they lose hope. If that is true, then many in America are losing hope; but they don’t have to lose hope. They just have to be willing to see the world through a different lens. Old paradigms must be replaced by new paradigms. What used to be true is not necessarily the world we live in today. The world is changing and we must change with it or lose out.

So how does one usually make those changes, redefine what is their hope, and move from defeat to victory?

I call the process “SEE”. It stands for Significant Emotional Event.

When we grow up, we learn ways of thinking that impact our perception of reality, our dreams, and whether we see the world as full of empty promises or incredible opportunities. You may be thinking about the motivation principles of positive thinking but that is not what I am referring to. Positive thinking can change an attitude but it cannot change a fact. However, changing your attitude, identifying opportunities, and going after those opportunities can change your circumstances.

Here is an example. I have heard that the Chinese writing that means “Chaos” can also mean “Opportunity.” Many successful businesses today were started during the Great Depression. Most successful entrepreneurs failed and even went bankrupt several times on the way to making fortunes. You may see Chaos. However, there is Opportunity all around you if you are willing to change your view of the world.

That is where “SEE” comes in. I used to use it when I ran a global organization to help people become successful when they were on the edge of being fired. It is a process to grab someone’s attention, shake them up, and force them to make a decision to either change (in the way that spelled success in our company) or leave for an opportunity in another company (that meant they would be fired or leave voluntarily).

If you are in transition, you are undergoing a significant emotional event. If you are in a job that you hate, you are undergoing a significant emotional event. Whatever or whoever caused it does not matter. What matters is how you respond to it.

For example, one person who read Jobpreneurship™ 101 took notes and is implementing every step. He sees the opportunity of how to compete in the marketplace and should do well. Another person read my book and told a supplier of mine that there were so many good ideas that he did not know where to start – so he didn’t do anything. You want to give that person a swift kick in the you know what! The book is a road map. You start with one step. Do it. Go to the next step. Do it. Then go to the next step… Our upcoming Jobpreneurship™ 201 is a Career Success and Mentoring Guide which combines the road map to teaming with a mentor to leverage your success opportunity.

Success is one day at a time, one step at a time, and looking for ways to succeed. If you follow these principles, you will eventually be successful.

If you feel hopeless, I encourage you to take that Significant Emotion Event turn it into opportunity. To paraphrase a famous Latin quote, “Seize the day”…by starting today!

Have a great Christmas and New Year!

Here are some typical reasons:

1. Your specialty / trade has moved overseas.
2. Your town is a one company town and that company closed down
3. Your profession, such as real estate, has fallen on hard times
4. Competition for your job from those younger and lower cost left you the one on the street
5. Your age or prior salary cost is too high for companies to want you.
6. New regulations or legislation is killing your industry
7. Company management wants to remove layers of management; which means you

We could go on all day. Here are some examples for college graduates:

1. Industry wants specialists, not liberal arts degrees
2. No one is hiring in your field
3. Your GPA and accomplishments are average. Companies are looking for outstanding

You get the idea. The markets may drive you to consider a career change.

Here are some other reasons that may entice you to want to make the change:

1. You are burnt out where you are
2. You are never home and need to spend more time with the family
3. Your passion lies elsewhere.
4. You are no longer challenged. You feel like you are just putting in time without going anywhere.
5. You’ve had it with politics and cultures that you can no longer tolerate.

Regardless of the reason, there are times when you need to consider a career change.

The point is that career changes are far more common than most of us realize. In fact, we are told that the next generation will have up to six different careers! Just ask an average college student how many times they changed majors.

So, where do you start?

First, your industry may merely be in a down cycle. You feel that it will return to an up cycle if you can just wait it out. That may not be necessary. Consider flipping your career or branching out in a related area within the same industry.

Here are three real estate agent examples.

1. You decide to tighten your belt and continue as an agent. You will work harder, longer, and with a lower expected return. That is an option.
2. You decide to work with banks and investors who need to flip distressed inventory. New skills may be required to put together the financial portfolio, or to coordinate crews to fix issues, or to coordinate auction and selling events.
3. You decide to shift to the property management side of the house. You no longer sell but you still work with tenants and ensure that the tenant rate is high.

These changes are slight changes. You can easily modify these examples for your situation. For example, a union cement worker may be able to provide high quality concrete repairs or projects for high-end home owners. You can remain in the union and still be able to take on union work when it is available. Later, you can choose to go full time in your own business or return to union work when the economy recovers.

For most of us, if you like the field you have chosen, thinking creatively in these areas may be your best alternative for the least impact to your family – and make you even more competitive when the economy recovers. After all, how many others will have had such a broad range of experience in the same field but from different perspectives?

You can make friends. You can play the political game. You are a subject matter expert. You are a whiz kid. You are a world leader. You walk on water… Nice. You should make it to the top list of final candidates.  But you have not answered the next key question.

You can do many things; but what will you do for me?

What I want is almost never on the job description.

What I want is usually never volunteered to you.

Before you can answer “what will you do for me?” you need to find out what the decision maker and his or her team wants. Yes, I said team. Most hiring or promotional decisions today are with a number of players, each having their own ideas, agendas, and “wants.” This means doing your homework and learning to ask skilled questions.

Second, you need to decide if you want to give them what they want. Sometimes what they want is not what you should or want to give. You do have choices.

Third, you need to start thinking in the shoes of the management team. The company may want more revenue, more profit, more prestige, more public notice. But the hiring and promoting manager is more likely to want to get themselves promoted, get a larger bonus, or get personal recognition.

Can you give them what they want?

Fourth, you need to start practicing how you will communicate how you can help them get what they want. You need to use sixth grade English to ensure they understand what you are saying. You need to keep the comments short, with a maximum of a one minute answer and preferably only a 10-15 second answer.

When you are networking with others, internally or externally, you can start learning what the management team wants. Ask questions. Ask advice. When others are doing the talking a lot will be shared; including what they are really looking to find. In other words, “what they want.”

Now, with some homework, you should have the best answer of any candidates of the question, “What Will You Do For Me?”

Moneynews.com published last year an article entitled, “Economists: Unemployment Won’t Drop to Normal Until 2018.” “American households have lost $14 trillion of their net worth in the recession” said Albert Niemi, dean of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. The resulting shock is causing a slow down in consumer spending, which is typically 70% of the economy. When you get burnt, you don’t want to get burnt a second time.

2018 is so far out, who really knows what our economy will be like in the future? Unless our government debt and long-term obligations are reduced, the picture could become even worse. The European bailout begun yesterday by the FED is raising the risk for further global financial pressure.

Between now and the 2012 elections most businesses will take a wait and see attitude before risking major company expansion. However, companies will still be hiring and promoting those who they perceive as adding the most value.

Now for the more good news!

If you are seeing hundreds or thousands of people looking for the same jobs that you are, you can get depressed. The good news is that your competition is also getting depressed. Most depressed people will quit showing up and quit trying to get a job. If you choose to keep looking, you are ahead of the pack.

If you are employed, now is the time to double your efforts to network within your company, to add more value in your work, and to be sure that you are visible to decision makers. The goal is to first survive and then thrive. We have written a new guide that will be released next year on how to create career success through a combination of your personal development and through asking a key manager to help mentor you with you making it easy for them to help you.

So how do you get started?

First, get on the new train before it leaves the tracks. The world has changed. Grieve over being caught in today’s mess. Realize that you cannot control the economy. You can control your response. Don’t be a victim. Choose to learn how to be competitive in the new economy. Do what it takes to be successful.

Second, quit listening to old world thinking. What used to work is not working. So, find out what is working and do it. Listen to leaders who understand the roadmap to success in today’s world economy. Follow them.

Commit to a change of thinking from being entitled, being taken care of, being helped, being rewarded for just being alive. Instead, take ownership for your future. Help others. Deliver value to others who then will reward you because you earned it.

Third, start learning. Learn what your passion is. Learn what you really want to do. Learn how to communicate with others what you want to do. Learn how to brand yourself. Learn how to effectively network in the area you want to work. Keep learning as a lifestyle.

If you do these things, you can be successful regardless of the economy or who is in Washington DC.

Unemployment may still be high in ten years; but not for you.

Since we believe these new paradigms can help leaders, organizations, and individuals win together and achieve personal and company success, our primary interest is in getting the information and tools into as many hands as possible.

Therefore, our primary go-to-market model is to provide resources to resellers, provide resources and training to consultants and coaches, and to create partnerships with solution providers. Once trained, we believe these teams can apply our programs within the context of their client’s industry expertise, company culture, and individual wants.

We are committed to the training, certification, and success of our channel partners.

Since we also have many friends and connections, our secondary go-to-market model is to reactively assist personal relationships directly. In these cases, where we have gaps in client-required skills, we will be teaming with our Best-of-Breed channel partners to provide our clients with tailored solutions.

We also recognize that we are a best practice company committed to cutting through the massive amounts of “theories and fads” to ensure clients have clear roadmaps and foundations. Once these foundations are set, industry and cultural specific assistance through internal and external consultants and coaches can build unique solutions to fit the end-user client needs and wants.

We believe that our success and our channel partner’s success are dependent upon our client’s success. In a sense, we are creating a virtual business stool: our clients, our partners, and ourselves helping companies with their Integrated Success™.

To get the word out, we are leaving no stone unturned. But we do need your help. Please let your friends, coaches, consultants, and others know who we are and what we are doing.

Please check out our website and let us know how we can help you or your friends.

Thank you.

Jim

If any of those stool legs are broken, wobbly, or not strong, the risk of the stool falling over is high. Have you ever tried to sit on a one or two-legged stool? Any strong breeze or movement shift can cause the stool to shift or fall over. In today’s turbulent markets, there is more than a strong breeze blowing.

Most solutions attempt to focus on one of the three legs. For example, you may have a management consultant helping with leadership, a communications consultant helping with the communications gap externally and internally, a HR consultant helping one area of the organization, and a career or executive coach helping individuals.

Integrated Success™ recognizes that strong companies (stools) must integrate each of these three legs with an integrated approach. In other words, Company Teams Aligned with Leadership Direction and Empowered by Motivated Individuals are the Key to Organizational and Individual Success.

From the executive perspective, it means organizations aligned with leadership direction with the right employees on the bus, in the right seats, going in the right direction, and producing the right results.

From the organizational perspective, it means learning the business and leadership direction, designing which seats belong on each team, filling each seat with the right individual, fostering teamwork, and creating the value needed to support the company direction.

From the individual perspective, it means finding the right bus, being in the right seat, supporting their team, and producing value to both the team and the company.

At a high level, Integrated Success™ is a combination of common sense, best practices, new tools, resources, and knowledge applied to helping companies, organizations, and individuals all become more successful and competitive in a rapidly changing world. The model applies strategic consulting with tactical processes and tools for every level of the organization.

At the next level, it is a gap and best practice process. We look for gaps in typical companies, try to understand the root causes of those gaps, and then apply the best practice, and best of breed tools.  Then we offer solutions to companies, consultants, coaches, and anyone who wishes to learn and apply the model internally or with clients.

How strong is your company’s three-legged stool?