Tag: HR

Letting Go

Saturday morning. “Keira, you need to do your homework”. “Awww, not now, I’m watching a new episode of Wizards of Waverley Place”. We could have nagged Keira to do the work, and we didn’t. And she (and I) forgot…

Monday night. An hour after going to bed we’ve begun to relax into a quiet evening then the next thing, Keira is back downstairs dissolving in tears. She has remembered that the homework has not been done and is terrified at the thought of her name going on the board tomorrow (for someone who enjoys trying hard and keeping on the right side of the school tracks this is a biiiig deal). And from where I’m sitting, the Wizards of Waverley Place ain’t gonna be much help now. I knew that damn time freeze spell was duff.

I asked Keira to have a seat so we could chat about the problem. And as we talked – it turned out she could see the problem wasn’t so big after all. Keira reckoned:

  • She could probably get an extra day to complete her homework
  • There is a good chance that teacher can be persuaded not to write Keira’s name on the board
  • Next time the wizards may just have to wait a while.

And so to bed. Calmer now, and a lesson thought through and realised by Keira.

As a parent it is difficult not to intervene, to steer and direct the course. And I’m learning to let go, sometimes.

As an HR and communications consultant and practitioner I often see people in the workplace being nagged about stuff, and being subjected to the humiliation of “I told you so”. Maybe we should try and stop “telling you so”. The chances are we already know so, and though we may not show it in the same way Keira did, we’re feeling bad enough already without further reminder. It’s not exactly a motivating way to deal with a problem is it? The next time you see someone fluff their lines, miss a deadline, or drop a clanger, why not offer them a seat and just talk it through. They might just appreciate the chance to talk.

I’m worried

I’m involved in a really interesting project that combines HR, engagement and communication for a customer. We’re all learning loads from it, we’re loving it and together we’re helping to make work better. And I’m worried.

Increasingly people are saying to me things like “if anyone can fix this, you can” or “you can sort this, you’ve got clout around here”. I leave here soon, and an over reliance on me could mean that the good work everyone has sponsored and been involved with goes to waste if people wrongly associate my departure with the end of this stuff. If the customer believes that staff engagement and employee communication are worthwhile I think it’s important that they act to formalise and resource this position quickly, and ideally before I go so that I might share my knowledge and findings with whoever wants to pick up the baton.

Perhaps the most difficult thing to sustain will be the sense of independence the board has lent me and the sense of ignorance I’ve brought with me. I’ve used these, and my natural curiosity to ask “dumb questions”, the kind of questions people forget to ask, or even worse, assume someone else is dealing with.

Becoming reliant on people like me sucks. I love putting myself out of one piece of work and on to the next one and I hate the dependency model many consultancy firms (particularly the larger ones in my experience), peddle. What do you think? How can companies benefit from the ignorance and independence of consultants and not become reliant on them? Or am I worrying about nothing?

What’s the point?

So you’re too busy eh? Let me rephrase that. So you’re too productive eh? You’ve hit the limit of what you can achieve and you need some help. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

You think carefully about what you can afford and balance that with what you need. You go and find the right person or people and in time, you have it. Your team. You can be confident of their abilities, you chose them. So why do you insist on checking everything they do? Every. Little. Thing. Let’s think about some of the feelings that behaviour produces inside the head of your colleague, sorry I mean victim:

  • Lack of trust
  • Undermined
  • Disengaged
  • What’s the point?

One of the simplest things great managers do is to get the right people around them and then critically, get out of the way and let them get on with it. Show your colleagues you trust them, support them, and engage them. Give them a purpose – show them what the point is. Get out of the way, please.