Presenter: Denise Phillips, Ranir

January 26, 2012

(note new date)

Watermark Country Club
7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

More details to come.

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Warren Buffett defined a leader as "someone who can get things done through other people".  Not many would disagree.  So if that is true, should we then ask the question "what makes people follow the leader"?

Gallup conducted a formal study from 2005-2008 to obtain the average person's opinion about leadership.  10,000 followers were polled with a key question:  What leader has the most positive influence in your daily life?  Then a follow-up question was asked:  List three words that best describe what this person contributes to your life.

In tabulating the results, four basic needs followers want satisfied by their leaders emerged:

Trust

Compassion

Stability

Hope

Trust is closely linked to employee engagement.  Common sense would indicate that an employee with a great amount of trust in their leadership is far more likely to be fully engaged in productive activities that help the organization.  Trust also speeds productivity because people are less likely to protect their "turf" and more willing to collaborate.  Trust is about honesty and transparency.  People can spot deception. 

Compassion is a trait great leaders exhibit to their followers.  On employee opinion surveys a statement is posed "My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person."  Studies have shown that people who responded positively to this statement:

• Are significantly more likely to stay with their organization
• Have much more engaged customers
• Are substantially more productive
• Produce more profitability for the organization

Stability is the feeling by employees that the workplace is secure and there is some amount of confidence that the business will be around for the foreseeable future.  Employees who have high confidence in their company's financial future are nine times as likely to be engaged in their jobs when compared to those who have lower confidence about their organization's financial future.  And nothing creates stability as quickly as transparency.  Being open with employees about the financial health of the organization is crucial to creating and maintaining a feeling of stability.

Hope is present when employees feel enthusiastic about the future.  When hope is absent, people lose confidence, disengage, and often feel helpless.  Leaders who focus on reacting to the needs of the day instead of initiating for the future are failing to provide the hope employees look for in the place of employment.  Leaders must continually balance their efforts on problem solving/execution and planning a bigger future.  Leaders are looked to answer the question "where are we headed?"

Reference material:  Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie.

Are you thinking about PHR/SPHR certification?  Wondering how it will help you, and how to prepare for the examination?  We invite you to attend a FREE 60 minute webinar to learn what it's all about.  

Our "sister" association in Raleigh North Carolina is offering a highly interactive program that will explain the PHR/SPHR Certification Study Course offered as a webinar over several weeks that you can attend from the convenience of your office or home.  Experience a sample of course materials from David Siler, PHR, SPHR, GPHR, and find out if an HR certification is right for you.

Some of the many questions answered in this session will include:

• How are PHR/SPHR/GPHR certifications useful for HR professionals?
• What are the benefits of achieving your HR certification?
• What are the eligibility requirements to sit for the exams?
• Who is David Siler, PHR, SPHR, GPHR, and what makes him the best PHR/SPHR study course facilitator in N.C.?
• What tools can I use to help me pass the exam?
• How are the final PHR/SPHR/GPHR exams developed?
• How rigorous are the PHR/SPHR and GPHR certification exams?
• When and where are the exams for PHR/SPHR/GPHR given?
• How do I maintain my certification once I earn it?

David Siler is the Managing Partner of Distinctive HR, Inc. He has over 25 years of experience as a senior level HR practitioner and consults with a variety of organizations on HR issues, including several Fortune 500 companies. He is an award winning lecturer to business and HR professionals on many HR related topics. He has developed and taught prep classes for the HR certification exams (PHR, SPHR, and GPHR) since 1994. David is certified as a "Senior Professional in Human Resources" (SPHR) and a "Global Professional in Human Resources" (GPHR) by the Society of Human Resource Managers. He holds a Masters degree in Psychology.

PHR/SPHR/GPHR Certification Study Course: What's It All About?

FREE Webinar:

January 20, 2012 - 11:00 - 12:00 EST

To register:  Call 919-878-9222 and mention web search code: PS2HR

Many of you may remember the 2008 attack in Mumbai, India when terrorists stormed hotels and train stations, killing and injuring hundreds.  What does that have to do with HR?

In a recent article in Harvard Business Review (December, 2011) the authors, Rohit Deshpande and Anjali Raina, detail the acts of heroism the Taj Group hotel staff conducted during that raid while sacrificing their own personal safety (and sometimes their own lives), and not being able to rescue their own family (in one case).  Employees made sure to evacuate hotel guests first as fires were moving in and only after they were sure all were out and safe did they evacuate the building.

Behind the story of the terror is the story of the employee's selflessness and HR's role in supporting that attitude.  The authors agree that customer centered culture involves unique recruitment, training, and a compensation system that encourages behavioral change. 

The Taj Group recruits from high schools and colleges in smaller cities because they believe that is where they find people with the more traditional Indian values (respect for elders and teachers, humility, consideration of others, discipline, and honesty).  They feel that the young people in the cities are becoming increasingly driven by money and may not be as loyal.

Recruiters look for three character traits when considering a candidate:  respect for elders; cheerfulness; and neediness (how badly does their family need the income from a job).  At the manager level the traits include integrity, the ability to work consistently and conscientiously, to put guests first, to always go beyond the call of duty and to be able to handle all types of pressure well.  The Taj Group knows that to be successful in this industry one must want, above all else, to make people happy and these traits have proven necessary in successful candidates. 

New employees are sent to training centers for 18 months where the company pays all living expenses and a small stipend (usually sent back to the family since all basic needs are met for the candidates by the company).  Because these employment opportunities are coveted, most will work hard and demonstrate good values because they want to stay and build a career with the Taj Group. 

Research shows that in any 24 hour stay there is an average of 40+ employee/guest interactions and employee must be trained to be sure that each one creates a good impression on the guest, meaning that the employee must have technical skills (know how to do their job); grooming, personality and hygiene skills; and customer handling skills.

Employees are trained to believe they serve the customer - not the company.  Trainees are assured they have the support of the company (even the CEO) if their decisions are made keeping the satisfaction of the guest first and foremost and that the employee did all they could to make the guest happy.  Employees are empowered to make decisions as agents of the customer.  The senior VP of HR for the company believes that this energizes employees and makes them feel in command.

The Taj Group has created their own program (STARS - Special Thanks And Recognition) which accumulates points and is based on customer delight.  Employees are able to accumulate points in three areas - compliments from guests, compliments from colleagues, and their own suggestions.  This program has won the Hermes Award in 2002 in the category of best human resources innovation in the global hospitality industry.

Let's all take the opportunity that this fresh new year offers to take a hard look at our own training programs with a new eye.  Are we training our employees the value of serving others - even if they are internal customers/guests?  How much more could we accomplish if we stopped to ask our employees "what have you learned this week/month/quarter?"  "How can we better serve the customer?"

Unsure how to start the conversation?  Call TEA's training staff and we can help. 

The National Labor Relations Board has issued some guidelines to help determine what employers can do to address unhappy employees that take their complaints on-line.  Unfortunately, many issues have not yet been clarified by the courts nor addressed through policy.  What we DO know includes the following:

• Workers can discuss each other's pay and working conditions on-line the same as they do face-to-face AS A GROUP ACTIVITY as such conversations (if one person publishes without receiving a response, is the activity protected?) is protected as being "concerted activity."

• Workers can call others names AS LONG AS the name does not involve any physical or verbal threat.

• Workers CANNOT gripe online without evidence or intent to encourage group improvement of working conditions.

• Employees MAY be disciplined for physically or verbally threatening another worker or manager online (or in person).

• Employers cannot maintain policies that restrict the ability of employees to discuss their wages, benefits or working conditions online.

• Employers cannot fire an employee for engaging in "protected concerted activity."

UNRESOLVED issues include:

• The NLRB has not identified the KINDS of names that, if used by an employee, could result in termination.  It seems that each situation is different dependent upon a variety of mitigating factors.

• Is an employee posting negative comments FROM A WORKPLACE COMPUTER protected?  Such a decision would depend upon your electronic media policy.  Strong policies that are consistently enforced allow employers to do much in this arena.

No definitive guidelines have been established that protect employees NOR that provides insights to employers.  Make sure you (and your supervisors) are aware of what they can (and cannot) do AND the repercussions of their actions.  Give us a call if you need more information about this evolving workplace issue.