*Today I’m thinking about people who are leading in HR and Mike Grindell came to mind.  Mike is the EVP and Chief Administrative Officer at 22squared and serves on the board of SHRM Atlanta (Board Chair 2011-2012)  and will be hosting the SHRM national conference this summer.  I’d like to share a guest post he did for me a couple years ago.   Be sure to read to the end so you can connect with Mike on Twitter.

Lately I have been thinking about what makes organizations and people successful – my own company, girls soccer teams, boards, communities, etc.  As some one who spent a number of years in Human Resources, and is helping shape the direction of SHRM-Atlanta – I wonder what role HR leaders play in today’s new environment:

I believe it ultimately comes down to a straight forward equation:

Better HR leaders and efforts create great leaders, great leaders create better companies, great companies create great communities in which to live and work.

So, how does HR get there?

A few suggestions/questions:

Be a student and expert in your business/area of expertise

• allocate time to read about your organization, its category, how money/success is made, competitors – do you truly have time blocked on your calendar?

Be a killer business person

• Know the P&L better than the CFO, track the equities markets, track competitors, visit operations of your organization and those of competitors – does your time allocation reflect being a killer business person?

Engage in the development of the HR discipline

• SHRM (national and local), HRLF, conferences, follow experts – are you regularly involved with your discipline?

Coach, mentor, develop

• There are mentoring organizations everywhere – they are always looking for mentors – are you a member, do you allocate time every month to offer advice, counsel, provide real feedback, a supportive comment?

Many HR leaders manage the largest budget items in any organizations P&L – what are you doing to drive different results with those budgets?

• Salaries, benefits, training dollars, and other budgets often represent the largest set of investment/expense dollars for any organization – are you bringing innovation and new ways to invest and drive results?

Accept that the rules have changed forever

• HR is not about programs and processes anymore (yes, there will be recruiting, compensation, benefits, talent management, etc.) – it is about driving sustainable business results that matter – you must be able to answer the question „we are doing xxxx in order to drive yyyy results“
• and, I am convinced the decades long practices of driving engagement through compensation, rewards, talent practices have changed – it is simply not a given or assumed anymore that salary increases, affordable benefits, great training and other efforts are part of the employment deal – do you have a point of view and a business agenda you are advancing at your organization in the context of today’s new realities?

Are you nourishing your own soul, spirit, health?

• I truly believe each of us must flourish as an individual before we can help an organization be healthy
• Are you making time for health, for learning, for love, for culture, for laughter?  Are you a more fulfilled person today than last year?  Are having the life you planned?

Offer your point of view and thoughts – its an interesting and challenging world we find ourselves operating in every day.  The HR discipline must develop its own great leaders so we can drive the results required.

So, what do you think?  Let us know in the comments.

Thanks to Mike for this thoughtful post.  Mike is a senior change, strategy, and operations executive focused on driving business results through organizational capabilities and by building processes and operations that matter. Serving in a variety of executive and management roles, Mike has a history of leading change management and process improvement initiatives that drive sustainable business results.  As EVP, Chief Administrative Officer at 22squared, he leads Finance, IT, Human Resources, Office Services, Campaign Management, Real Estate, Media Buying and is helping shape the agencies Digital strategy.

Previously he lead his own change and leadership consultancy, and was a 16 year executive of The Coca-Cola Company holding a variety of executive roles focused on building organizational capabilities and driving talent management initiatives. Prior to Coca-Cola, Mike held positions of increasing responsibility with Citigroup and Federated Department Stores, respectively.

and Quality Care for Children.

You can find Mike at:

Twitter @mgrindell

www.22squared.com

I recently heard about “succession readiness” vs. “succession planning.”  It’s an interesting twist on words to change it to a more active way of approaching your change management strategy around talent.  Instead of just planning, you are focusing on actually throwing employees into situations that make them ready for the next level.

As an almost life-long Saturday Night Live fan, I’ve seen many comedians come and go.   I was watching SNL tonight recently and as the opening credits rolled, it struck me that they open by listing all the “regulars”, then they follow that with their “featured” performers.  These featured performers are the up and coming cast members on the show.  I love that SNL actively demonstrates their succession readiness by showing us who the next generation of SNL stars will be.

Now, some will not make it because they won’t resonate with the public or they have other behind-the-scenes issues, but for the most part, we can get a little glimpse each week of the new generation of comedians and see how they are developing.  Do you remember when Will Ferrell first took the screen?  Probably not.  How about Jan Hooks, Martin Short, Chris Katan, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, Tina Fey?  Nope.  What you do remember is that they ended up being really successful on the show and they made it funny. We also know that they joined on as young featured performers who eventually came to be key players in the success of the show.

Here are some key takeaways from the SNL Succession Readiness model:

• Actively feature your up-and-coming talent
• Give them opportunities to shine in front of your clients
• Give them opportunities to fail and learn from it “live”

The best part about how SNL handles succession is the way that they prepare us, their customers, to accept the change. They manage us all along the way and when the time comes for a big name comedian to leave, they have already made us love the person that moves from “featured” player to “regular”.  Brilliant!

I had a little “incident” at home.  I tried to open a jar and couldn’t do it.  Actually, it’s happened a few times recently and each time, my eight year old son comes to my rescue.  I hate to admit that getting older can mean that I lose certain abilities such as strength or dexterity.  I was also reluctant to have someone help me, let alone someone so much younger who was then able to do the task with ease. Then I realized, it’s the way the world works.  The techniques that he was using were different than my approach and ultimately, his way worked better for me.

As we age, there are many things that the younger generations can do that we cannot.  I’ve experienced it on the other end of the spectrum too, where someone more senior to me may be resistant to my help or expertise.  It’s human nature to want to do things for ourselves, in the way that we are used to doing them.  However, by doing this and not capitalizing on the skills of others, we are only limiting ourselves.

Benefits of allowing others to teach you

• Learning new skills to aid in your job or personal life
• Exposure to new technologies to improve inefficiencies you experience
• Allowing yourself to be inspired by the “spark” or passion that another person can share when they teach you something

It’s well known in the business world that if you find a mentor who is more senior to you, they can share their experience with you.  This leads to improved skills and knowledge and ultimately to higher level positions or pay increases as you develop.  Lesser appreciated is the reverse, when a younger, less experienced individual shares their knowledge with you, it can also lead to increased skills, revenue or higher level positions.

My point today is open yourself up.  Regardless of age, having teachers and mentors of all ages will help you become a more well-rounded leader.  Do you have people in your life who mentor you?  Does their age or experience level impact your development?  Share about them in the comments.  I’d love to hear some great mentor stories!

Yesterday I had quite a scare.  I went to a local restaurant for lunch with a friend.  We were having a wonderful time and had just received the check when suddenly there was a loud explosion and the whole building shook.  My first thought was that a bomb had gone off, but in mere seconds I realized that everyone in the restaurant was alive and well.  I turned my head to the left and just two tables away from me, at the front wall of the restaurant, a car had smashed into the building.

Several of us jumped up and ran to the front wall.  I could see a woman fall out of the car to the ground.  I knew I had to get involved and help, so I quickly asked if there were any nurses or doctors in the restaurant as I began looking for towels to put under the victim’s head.  We all ran outside as one customer called 911 and three of us cared for the victim who was in and out of consciousness.  We were able to determine she had family to call, so another customer did that.  We all held her hands and told her we were with her as we waited for the ambulance.  It was cold and we did not have a blanket but we tried to keep her sheltered and as warm as possible.  She was taken away and I may never know if she made it, but I’m hoping and praying she did.

She was by herself and had she not been able to tell us, in a brief moment of consciousness, how to reach her son, we would not have known who to contact.  I thought of myself in that situation and realized that unless someone tried to go through my phone and guess who to call, I would be alone.

I wrote last year about being prepared for emergencies in the home and in the workplace.  I now add to that list that it is critical to be prepared for an emergency in your car.  

• Place emergency contact information in your glove box in case you are in an accident and cannot communicate with rescuers.
• Have a blanket and gloves in the trunk
• Carry a first aid kit

*Now, from the archives of January 2011…

Stillness, and the house is quiet.  Faintly in the distance, the sirens begin to wail.  The volume increases as the wind is picking up.  My heart rate picks up a little bit too as I glance out the window and see the trees beginning to sway.  Without scaring the children, I quickly call them to me.  I tell them to put on their shoes and winter coats and grab their favorite “baby”.  I gather the house phone, my cell, and a flashlight and we all head to the basement.  We sit through the hail, the thunder, and driving rain.  Then, as quickly as it began, it’s over.

A few minutes later is when I first hear about the tornado that touched down on the other side of the city, approximately 30 miles from my house.  Not far from my childhood home.   The tornado hit areas with the precision of a scalpel. One house would be blown away while the house next to it was virtually untouched.  The city of St. Louis was hit by eleven tornadoes New Year’s eve, one of which was the F3 twister I’ve just described.  It makes the danger of the storm real and justifies my emergency preparedness plan for my family.

Preparation In the Workplace is Just As Important

I know organizations have fire drills, tornado drills, and other emergency preparedness drills.  Often I see employees going through the motions in a daze, not taking it seriously or sometimes, refusing to participate.  The danger is very real though and sometimes you have to pull out all the emergency preparedness stops.

• Practice fire drills and other workplace safety drills as if it is a real emergency
• Keep a few bottles of water in your office or work area
• Bring a small flashlight and extra batteries to your workspace
• Invest in a small first aid kit for your work area
• Be familiar with the fastest way to evacuate
• Make note of colleagues who may need help evacuating should an emergency occur

These are just a few tips to get you started.  It really can save your life.

I read an interesting article about music, “Music as medicine: Docs use tunes as treatment“, and I began thinking about what impact, if any, that music has on our work performance.  The article shares research that hospitals are compiling on how music affects patient recovery time following surgery.  They have found that certain types of music speed recovery time for patients.

According to the article, “Sound waves travel through the air into the ears and buzz the eardrums and bones in the middle ears. To decode the vibration, your brain transforms that mechanical energy into electrical energy, sending the signal to its cerebral cortex — a hub for thought, perception and memory. Within that control tower, the auditory cortex forwards the message on to brain centers that direct emotion, arousal, anxiety, pleasure and creativity. And there’s another stop upstairs: that electrical cue hits the hypothalamus which controls heart rate and respiration, plus your stomach and skin nerves, explaining why a melody may give you butterflies or goose bumps. Of course, all this communication happens far faster than a single drum beat.”

I’m wondering how this applies to our lives at work.  There are work environments that incorporate music and some that don’t.  Some have harsh, loud music (often found in retail stores like Hollister and Abercrombie) and others play soft Muzak (doctor’s offices, dentists, etc.)  Office work environments may allow employees to play music softly at their desk or in their office.

Effects On Daily Performance

The fact that certain types of music can stimulate areas of our brain that affect perception and memory is fascinating.  There are so many companies that struggle with ways to improve employee performance, yet not once in my career have I ever thought about how incorporating music into the work environment may positively impact employee performance.

Think of the possibilities.  If you have a design company where creativity is valued, playing music to stimulate that attribute could be very beneficial.  Perhaps in a professional services firm you would want to play music to relieve anxiety and send positive messages that improve memory and attention to detail.  The opportunity seems endless.

How many of you play music at work?  What kind and how do you think it affects your performance?

*reworked from the dusty archive…