The Carrot

Calling out Human Resource Management

By now, even if you’re remotely related to human resource management – like say your third cousin from Croatia is in the business – you’ve probably read, been shoved into or have flat-out tried to ignore Keith Hammond’s scathing cover piece in the August issue of Fast Company, “Why We Hate HR.”

Hammond’s point is that great organizations and the great people in them need confident, creative, strategic human resource departments, “joined to business strategy at the hip.”

But Hammond hasn’t come across many of those. Rather, he describes most HR departments and the people in them as “a dark bureaucratic force,” performers of “stupid HR tricks“ and “a low-risk parking spot” for “exiles from the corporate mainstream.”

Our experience of human resource departments and the passion of the people in them has been a little different.

Championed by highly creative, empathetic and business-minded HR leaders and their teams, The FISH! Philosophy has recently delivered these kinds of bottom-line results in the workplace:

• INCREASED EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: Satisfaction working within the team increased from 25% to 75% at Missouri Baptist Hospital
• INCREASED CUSTOMER LOYALTY: Six-month 30% increase in Customer Satisfaction taking the dealership from worst to the top 10% in its region at Rochester Ford Toyota
• REDUCED EMPLOYEE TURNOVER: 35% overall decline in employee attrition at Verizon

In the article, Jay Jamrog, executive director of the Human Resource Institute, says that HR is stuck.

I think it’s more than that. I think most organizations are stuck: leaders, managers, HR and employees. All are yearning for more meaningful conversations about profit and passion at work.

When we see organizations improve their cultures and company morale with the help of FISH! and reach new levels of productivity, innovation, respect and effective teamwork, it’s always a result of all stakeholders stepping up and pulling together. Sure HR can lead that initiative, but everyone needs to get some skin in the game. Everyone needs to be accountable for their personal growth and the development of the organization.

We know it intuitively: Employee Engagement = Increased Profitability. In the same article, Anthony J. Rucci, executive vice president at Cardinal Health Inc., says "I don't know if our HR processes are having an impact, but I know absolutely that employee-engagement scores have an impact on our business," accounting for between 1% and 10% of earnings.

Truth is, great organizations are about great people and their individual contributions to the cause. So whatever our role or level, instead of blaming others, maybe we should take a good look in the mirror tomorrow morning and go from there.

tags: management business human resources

User-friendly Democracy

Remember getting just a little friendlier customer service last time you were in renewing your auto-license tabs?

Well, maybe, maybe not. But with the help of The FISH! Philosophy, government agencies throughout the country are trying to notch up their relationships with the public and among their own co-workers. Even the CIA's gotten into the act, "Though we're not authorized to reveal who's using FISH! and how they're doing it," jokes Sharon, a FISH! Sales Guide specializing in government agencies.

Recruiting good people for government jobs is also a challenge. Sure the bennies are great, but the pay's usually not on par with the private sector so a great working environment, effective teamwork and real opportunities for personal growth and development become crucial.

Enter FISH!

"Routine, regimen, policies and procedures put people to sleep," said FISH! keynote speaker Carr Hagerman as he presented the philosophy to a crowd of over 1,000 state legislators at NCSL in Seattle yesterday. "FISH! on the other hand, inspires conversations about passion and play at work that open up new possibilities."

Seems to be catching on. FISH! is now in some government agency throughout all 50 states, including offices of the Supreme Court, FBI, IRS, USPS, Federal Reserve and all branches of the military.

As one government official receiving a website award put it, "It's time to make democracy user-friendly."

Something to test next time you're audited by the IRS!

Tags: CRM Human Resource Government

Heyday of Play

In the spirit of mid-summer sun & fun, self-reflection and rejuvenation while soaking up some personal time away from work, I wanted to share this paragraph written by Dr. Seuss for The New York Times in 1952 about our heyday of play ... just might be an attitude to bring back to work along with all those other souvenirs!

"When you were a kid named Willy or Mary the one thing you did better than anything was laugh. The one thing you got more fun out of than anything else was laughing. Why, I don't know. Maybe it has to do with our juices. And when somebody knew how to stir those juices for you, you really rolled on the floor. Remember? Your sides almost really did split. Remember? You almost went crazy with the pain of having fun. You were a terrible blitz to your family. So what? Your juices were juicing. Your lava was seething. Your humor was spritzing. You were really living."

Tags: Motivation