There’s no such thing as a bad idea
Unless it’s yours.
In which case,
You should know better.
Move along now,
Nothing to see here.
Back to the admin.
Thanks.
General
The soft, warm fart of social acceptance
It’s lovely to hear the things we want to hear. We all love the platitudes that make us feel reassured and purposeful. The temptation is to surround ourselves with those that will reassure us and help confirm our undoubtedly righteous intentions. After all, nothing feels better than being right. Right?
But what if we aren’t?
And perhaps more importantly, what if we are neither right nor wrong, but could just be…..well, better?
Because growing and learning are about being willing to hear the voices that dissent and challenge. Success is built on the painful acceptance that we don’t always get things right. Confidence comes from the ability to face up to those who think differently and appreciate their views and opinion.
It’s easier to bathe in the relative comfort of the soft warm fart of social acceptance then to look in the cold hard mirror of critique and appraisal. And the world is full of the sycophants, the placaters and appeasers who will tell you and your organisation the very things you’ve just told them.
Having the confidence to embrace and engage with the voices that jar, the opinions that trouble and the thoughts that counter, is the sign of an organisation or person at peace with themselves.
Marginalisation, exclusion and avoidance are the sign of a closed ecosystem and a troubled mind. And whilst it won’t necessarily end in despair, it will always stop you being as good as you could possibly be and fulfilling your potential.
Seek the solace of platitudes, by all means, but you’ll always seek it at your peril.
You’re not as big as you think
HR likes a fad, like a fat boy likes the cake shop and similarly gorges and over indulges until all proportion and perspective is lost. Sadly I’ve witnessed a few of these over the years and my fear is the latest one is the much misunderstood and misused term “BIG data”.
I’m certainly not anti data, or anti analytics. And I’ve said before that an HR person who “doesn’t like numbers” is a bad HR person. I just think the idea of data being BIG in HR is a bit of a myth.
Why? Well, let’s start with the numbers:
59.3% of all UK employees are employed in SMEs, each employing less than 250 employees.
18.8% of the remaining 40.7% of those employees are employed in the Public Sector the majority of whom are in parts of the sector with no integrated HR or employee data management systems or holistic analytical capability.
Which leaves us with 21.9% of the UK’s employees very few of whom are employed in organisations of significant scale. So if they want to be playing with BIG data, they’d need to be capturing a shed load (and a half) of employee data sets.
Which, I can tell you, most of them aren’t.
So what happens? Instead of focussing on the real questions and issues, we make daft statements such as, “talent analytics and big data are must have capabilities in HR” when the fact is that most organisations don’t have anything vaguely approaching big data, in fact, they have relatively small data.
And then our press, our journals, our conference organisers and our professional bodies create the impression that everyone else is doing something, when the reality is that they’re not. Yes organisations may be doing data analysis, but that’s no different this year than it was last year or the year before.
My advice to you is to stop worrying about big data in HR. You don’t have it now and you probably never will. Instead focus on small data and BIG THINKING, taking the information that you have and being really curious and inquisitive about what you can learn from it.
The real magic happens when insight and intuition come together to create the perfect harmony of head and heart, of thinking and feeling, of gut and brain.
Not when you try to play keepy up with an imaginary trend.
Because at the end of the day, we are dealing with real people, not fads, and that’s where we make a difference.
The 9 box model explained
The nine box model exists in most companies. Some have twelve, some have sixteen. Because they’re greedy. You may not know it, but each year you’re being evaluated and put in to a box on a grid. And each box has a definition. Here’s what they say. And what they really mean:
What it’s called: Enigma
What they say: Individuals with high potential but low performers. They are either wrongly placed or could be working under the wrong supervisors who have not been able to tap their potential. They are totally wasted in an organisation. To help them perform, external intervention is required and open communication and feedback between employees and supervisors might be able to yield good results.
What they mean: We’ve screwed up. So it’s time to outsource the problem. Thankfully there are suckers out there to help us. Coaching anyone?
What it’s called: Dilemma
What they say: Individual with average potential but low performance levels. The reasons for this are many but to boost their performance, motivation, inspiration and encouragement, proper opportunities and communication can certainly yield the desired results.
What they mean: Can’t they get a new job? Have a mid-life crisis? Fall down a ditch? Get me the hit men. Or a training course.
What it’s called: Under Performer
What they say: Individuals with low potential coupled with low performance levels. Management provides them time to prove themselves but if they still continue to under perform and to not show scope of improvement, they may be asked to leave the organisation.
What they mean: Pond life. Call the undertakers.
What it’s called: Growth Employees
What they say: This category has people who show high potential but do not perform up to the mark. Upon motivating, providing challenges, opportunities, and words of encouragement, such employees deliver at a higher level, move forward and often turn into valuable assets for an organization
What they mean: Lazy bas***ds. Bring the bull whip. And the caffeine shots. For the eyeballs….
What it’s called: Core Employees
What they say: Just like dilemma category, these individuals have high potential levels and are average performers but can be very promising. They need to be constantly challenged and pushed into giving their best.
What they mean: Cannon fodder. Thank you.
What it’s called: Effective
What they say: Individuals with high performance levels but low potential. Such employees have reached their full career potential and need to be engaged and motivated to keep going.
What they mean: Dumb cannon fodder. We don’t even need to thank you.
What it’s called: Future Leaders
What they say: Best possible options for succession at senior positions. They score highest on performance and leadership skills. Such employees should be motivated, rewarded for their efforts, promoted and trusted with more roles and responsibilities.
What they mean: Suck-ups. Of the highest order. Avoid at all costs. Or put on an expensive management course to distract.
What it’s called: High-impact Performers
What they say: By grooming and motivating, such employees can become future leaders.
What they mean: Deploy mushroom management, these are the enemy my friends. Treat with contempt and caution in equal measure.
What it’s called: Trusted Professionals
What they say: People score much higher than the potential because of their capabilities and talent. Such employees should be rewarded and recognized and their capabilities should be used to mentor other upcoming talent in an organization.
What they mean: These guys run the business. At no cost let them know it. Keep them thinking that they’re on the way out and less valuable than you know they are.
Notes: Thanks to Wikipedia for the original definitions. The comments here are for fun only, we recognise and understand that the talent review process is actually a highly scientific and complex affair that warrants no humour whatsoever.
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