Originally posted as contributing author on the TalentCulture Community Blog

"At Every Company our mission is to provide customers with the best experience possible. That means consistently delivering exceptional quality, customer service and value each and every day. We're proud to say it's our people that make this possible."

Sound familiar? Perhaps because it represents thousands of companies that claim people as their greatest asset. Yet the psyches of American workers have been bruised by the recession. Recent articles suggest that the "War for Talent" we've all been waiting for has changed. One such reference appeared in a recent piece from SHRM, as Max Caldwell, a leader at Towers Watson, stated that he thinks organizations are gearing up for the wrong war. "Instead of a war to attract top talent, organizations should be waging a war to hold on to critical talent."

As I imagined being in the shoes of this "critical talent" I found myself wanting nothing more than to craft a letter to the CEO. Here's how it went. What would you say? 

June 22, 2010 

 Dear CEO,

I can only imagine how difficult the past few years have been on you. You’ve made some tough decisions and all eyes are still on you to turn this ship around. While I don’t mean to add to your plate, I hope you’ll stop what you’re doing long enough to read about my experience and opinions as one of your highest performing employees. I speak on behalf of many and for what they’re worth, I’ve included some ideas that might help you.

When I decided to join Every Company in 2004 I was excited about the promise of autonomy, collaborative culture, open, communicative management style and career growth in return for my performance and dedication. Once onboard there were clearly gaps in the value proposition but as a team player I chose to focus on the work. I was happy. In fact, most people were except for the naysayers. They didn’t bother me though. Sure we had our issues but every company does. I continued to work hard, earned high scores on my reviews and overall felt pretty engaged.

Then the recession hit. It’s been three years since our department was struck with two layoffs. I feel lucky to have a job even with a 30% pay cut, extra work and long hours. But CEO, it’s taken its toll on me too. My family life is a mess. I’m under more stress then ever especially with the new health care benefits, managing our retirement and now my career path. That is if the company is stable enough to allow for one. Even so, I’d take stability over advancement. The problem is, I’m exhausted and for lack of a better term, fed up.

CEO, I have no clue where this company is headed, what our strategy is or if our mission is even relevant anymore. All I know is, “we need to be innovative and stay the course to get and keep happy customers.” With all due respect, how can we possibly innovate and keep doing things the same way? I am not alone either. Most don’t know our strategy and frankly many stopped caring a long time ago. They just do their job to go home and fire off their resumes to recruiters in waiting.

Some of my friends have already left and with so many others talking about jumping ship I assume it’s just a matter of time before they find jobs too. Since companies started hiring again a few recruiters have approached me. Yet after everything I’ve been through I still want to help. I still believe in this company. Many of us do. We just need you to respect us enough to take notice.

With this, I've done some research and as you probably know, many CEO’s face the same issues you do: retention, low morale, lower engagement, declining quality, service and productivity. All while smaller, more nimble competitors chip away at our business. That's when I began asking colleagues for their input on what could be done to improve Every Company’s culture.

On the following pages you’ll find a high level overview of the concerns I collected, the issues most often repeated by your employees, myself included. Following that is a list of ideas we put together for your consideration. On behalf of everyone that contributed and all employees, please hear us out. We want to help Every Company succeed. The irony is, all you had to do was ask.

Respectfully,

 
Every Company Employee Concerns

1. Lack of Trust: 90% of people feel leadership is invisible; managers hide and trust among peers is dwindling. Mostly due to leadership behavior and lack of alignment between what’s said and what’s actually done. The lack of understanding for what the future holds or genuine concern for employee well-being has left the majority feeling hidden agendas still exist.
2. Lack of Communication: Most everyone felt communication has worsened since the recession and no news breed’s rumors of bad news to come. People are scared and voicing concerns to anyone that will listen: other employees, friends online, family, virtually any social situation and in some cases, to our own customers.
3. Lack of Collaboration: Another area that was high in promise but low on delivery is has all but disappeared today. People are sick and tired of silos, departmental blame games and think the company would benefit from bridging departmental divides to streamline workflows.
4. Lack of Training: This category spanned several areas all the way back to onboarding. Most employees felt that with the technology available today, it should be easier to keep people informed on everything from their performance to new products and services, changes within our company, overall expectations and again, company strategy.
5. Lack of Recognition: Employees are under a lot of pressure to deliver and continue to perform at levels that will keep them employed. Without recognition, people voiced anger as they felt taken advantage of. No one really demanded bonuses except a few. What most people want is a genuine acknowledgement by you and their managers for all they do here.
   

Ideas for Positive Change

• Talk to Us. The world has changed and people need two-way conversation with you to regain trust and feel you genuinely care. Communicate. Be human. We are. 
  • Hold regular town hall meetings
  • Step out into the field and talk to people one-on-one
  • Start a blog to keep employees up-to-date and feeling connected
  • Create monthly podcasts or video updates on the Intranet
  • Asking for our feedback-regularly-and using it to generate more
  • Share customer feedback with us to create customer-centric teams

• Lead by Example. When employees see that your actions match your words, the level of trust and respect people have for you will begin to improve as will your ability to influence them. In turn, their behaviors will start to mirror your positive influence.

• Explain our Business Strategy in Straight Talk. We’re the people you hired to deliver on it. We share your objectives as long as we know what they are. The more transparent you can be with us, the better we can align our actions to reach them.

• Tear Down the Walls. Hundreds of CEO’s have opened up the lines of internal communications to implement platforms that increase idea sharing and collaboration across departments. Some examples include Best Buy, Zappos, SunGard and IBM . These leaders created amazing systems for open communication to spur collaboration employee engagement. While we know we have a long way to go, we could start by:
  • Developing an Internal Social Networking Site that allows people to post and discuss ideas, submit blog entries about what they’re working on to open up two-way dialogue throughout the company. This would also help strengthen relationships among peers where there were once barriers and distrust. It’s also an ideal platform for keeping people educated on everything from new products and services, changes within the business and compandy, resources to manage healthcare benefits, retirement tools even how to take control of our career paths.
  • Adding Social Tools like Yammer This is like Twiter for business and it would enable people to communicate quickly and effectively via short messages. Great for sharing information and again building relationships while rebuilding trust.
  • Having Access to Social Networks allows us to gain information and knowledge from industry experts, peers and our competitors for business use. At the same time extending our network and establishing new relationships. We can even use these tools for attracting new talent to the company when we return to hiring status.
  • Creating Cross-Functional Education would help individuals in other departments understand the workflow throughout the entire company. When people see the big picture, they have a clearer understanding where they fit in and how they can improve their piece of the operation.

• Recognize Us. If you want us to be creative, more engaged and continue to go above and beyond, show us the appreciation we deserve. The reward isn’t always about the money (though money wouldn’t hurt). Right now most people would appreciate a simple, genuine thank you.
  • Share Success Stories. When people are recognized for doing great work, others should know it. Let's share success stories to celebrate each win and in time people will learn to match their behaviors to those that earn the greatest recognition, reward or acknowledgement.

• EMPOWER US. We can talk all day about goals but until we have the autonomy we deserve to take action toward those goals, we’ll continue to go nowhere. Let us do the jobs you trusted us enough to hire us for. Allow us the freedom to create and express ourselves. The more empowered we are, the more ownership we have. When we feel like we own it, we’re going to do everything we can to make it great, keep customers happy and coming back for more.

OK folks, my first video blog! Inspired by HRevolution, taking action, continuing the conversation, stepping out of our comfort zones and Geoff Webb and Craig Fisher who make vlogging look so easy.

No, it's not perfect but I hope you enjoy hearing feedback from a personal point of view and in particular, from someone that is currently on the outside, looking in.

After attending HR Evolution over the weekend, I have to admit, my mind is still churning with ideas and thoughts about the potential impact and 'next steps'.

One thing's for sure, I truly enjoyed facilitating the session with Jessica Miller-Merrell and Craig Fisher discussing how HR can expand their knowledge beyond traditional associations. Stay tuned as I work to capture our notes and decifer thoughts around the entire event especially as someone that has been on the "outside looking in" throughout my career.

Is face time at risk?

New and ever-evolving technologies including beloved social networks allow people to connect with others in ways once never thought possible. However, many will argue that nothing will ever replace face-to-face communication as a means of building long-term trust, respect and engagement. It's how these conversations take place today compared to just a few years ago that is changing.

The cause of this evolution has just as much to do with the changing dynamics of the workforce as it does the onset of advanced technologies. Companies that have incorporated flexible work arrangements where employees contribute virtually, may struggle with the loss of the emotive and rational connection among teams affecting culture and engagement.

To solve for this, progressive organizations have adopted the use of video and web conferencing allowing virtual contributors to share in visuals and dialogue maintaining the impact of the in person experience. More are beginning to embrace internal and external use of social networking or other community building tactics to maintain and/or increase the level of connectivity and collaboration between employees and leaders. All beneficial uses of technology that can effectively lead to greater collaborate in new and exciting ways. Increasing participation and idea sharing even among those who once sat quietly in the back of the room afraid to raise their hand. They’ve also helped to decrease costs associated with travel and other expenses not to mention being a way for organizations to become more environmentally responsible.

In today’s world of endless choices, especially in the mobile industry, customer experience reigns supreme. Having a strong brand is vital to improving sales, increasing customer loyalty, even improving overall business performance.  To survive in a fiercely competitive landscape, companies must consistently create value by strengthening their brand in every area of their business. For U.S. Cellular, the nation’s sixth-largest wireless provider, this included improving the human experience – one of the most important elements of their brand.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Russ Nykaza, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at U.S. Cellular to learn more about their brand strategy. As he shared their story, what impressed me most, was his patience, candor and genuine conviction to create unity within the company while consistently improving the experiences people have with U.S. Cellular inside and out.

Russ is a leader that clearly understands branding is a journey and is not without its challenges. He demonstrates however, that with a well-defined strategy, an emphasis on relationship building, two-way communication and consistency between actions and words, success can be achieved.

These are the just three messages that embody the culture at Intuit^®.

 You could say they are the subtitles of their story – one told by employees, captured by Human Resources and consistently shared internally and externally to hire, retain and engage the very people who push their business forward. It’s a story (perhaps even a lesson) about the importance of culture, innovation, empowerment and bringing your whole self to work every day. 

Melissa Rutledge, the Employer Brand Manager on Intuit’s Right Talent Team helped re-write that story. 

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Melissa and can tell you she is one of the most positive, energetic and passionate brand managers I’ve ever met. Wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that she can be herself at work? Hmmm. Anyway, as two self-professed brand geeks we had a blast talking about their branding projects. When we last spoke we decided it was time to tell their story, why they rebranded during the recession and how it became so much more than a just brand campaign.

So I interviewed Melissa to help do just that. This is a recap of their journey. If you'd like full details of our conversation, I encourage you to download the PDF of the transcript (bottom of post) as Melissa shares details about the work they're doing in social media and much, much more!

HR we'd like to introduce you to Marketing. Marketing, meet HR.

 Photo Credit and Caption by Ep_jhu, Flickr and Crestock.com

As two of most valuable functions driving ROI for your company, we thought it was about time your paths crossed because we believe the time has come for you to explore the commonalities between your departments. We are certain that once you break down some barriers, you'll begin to see that both HR and marketing, in a collaborative effort, can drive business success. With all you have in common, your ability to work together may just hold the key to the future of your business.

Waiting in line for my Friday night latte, I overheard a guy jokingly say to his friend, "Look out. You know what they say about curiosity and the cat!".  Without knowing the full context of the conversation, I certainly have no clue as to the why he gave the warning though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. Then it hit me that we have been passing this saying down for generations as a subconscious reminder that we should avoid certain risks or meet our demise.  Then I thought, wow, all because a cat climbed too high into a chimney, fell and eventually died from its injuries. Seriously, when I got home, I looked it up to be sure. It must have been a slow news day on March 4, 1916 because that's when The Washington Post published the story-and it stuck.

Maybe the reason it took is because as humans, we're hardwired to be curious. Yet we've also got defense systems we count on to raise red flags & pull us back to safety if we're too close to uncertainty.  Like a yin-yang in our DNA. On one side we're driven to explore and keep learning and on the other, anxieties and fear of the unknown hold us back.

The reason I bring this up is because we've been doing a lot of listening to both mainstream and of course, the Twitter stream around the topic of why companies must Create Cultures of Innovation. There have been countless blog posts, news stories and CEO's jumping up to the soapbox on this one. Obviously we couldn't be happier about the buzz yet, we believe organizations need to keep in mind that they're asking employees to unleash their creativity right smack dab in the middle of the most uncertain, anxiety driven economies of all time.

Companies throughout the U.S. continue to lay off. Employees are still taking pay cuts and are now more overworked and underpaid than ever. Even while the economy shows slight signs of improvement, employers aren't exactly hiring at the rates required to refill positions that in some cases have just been wiped out.

Recently I visited an office that spoke volumes to me. It wasn't the conversations with the individuals I had the opportunity to talk to, nor was it the result of some of my traditional  observations of the physical surroundings like the aesthetics of the lobby, artifacts used to represent identity, or how the space was arranged to name a few. It was the silence.

This silence left an impact on me and a perception in my mind.  In that moment, it was all I could think about. In fact, it was deafening and actually made me feel uncomfortable, even unwelcome. The silence had unfortunately distracted me from the beauty of the entryway and suddenly it felt cold and dehumanized. Thankfully that changed when I was met by the company representative with a smiling face and welcoming expression warmly inviting me into the atmosphere.

As we toured the facility, the silence permeated. I couldn't help but wonder how visiting clients and prospective clients felt about the lack of auditory signals. Not to mention how it cascaded throughout the facility and potentially affected the daily work lives of the employees. Was this an absolute intention of leadership to create a perception that part of the culture was that people are head down, getting work done and rarely look up to interact? There was no music playing with the exception of those listening on headphones. People having conversations were having them quietly - almost secretively. Of course, I was not expecting a lot of disruptive noise, but I guess I was expecting to hear some form of uplifting music, the sound of collaboration in action where ideas are shared and flow organically through verbal exchanges. I didn't get a sense that any of that was taking place. What I did learn after asking about the quiet surroundings is that, in this particular environment, physical noise had the potential to distract individuals and competed with thought processes. Concentration is critical and therefore physical noise is minimized. That made sense and explained why those that needed noise to be motivated, wore headphones that pumped their daily dose of musical inspiration.