Dear Human Resources & Recruiting Professionals,
Let me suggest some things you can do to fix your internal corporate brand.
- Demonstrate flawless execution.
- Be right the first time.
- If you cannot execute flawlessly, or you can’t be right with your actions/assessments, be honest about it.
There’s nothing worse than promising something that cannot be delivered. No one likes a man or a woman who is constantly wrong with the facts. If you commit to a project or a task, do it. If you can’t do it, don’t weasel your way out of it.
Even in my current life as a writer and a speaker, I wish that more people in recruiting and HR would say NO rather than YES. I really want someone to say that they can’t deliver on a deadline because the request is impossible. I wish HR professionals would man up and admit to mistakes.
Man up, people. Do it.
Love,
Laurie
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Couldn’t agree more, the number of times I tell my teams it is about delivery. People don’t care about theorizing or strategy, your latest proposal on talent management menas nothing to most. But deliver on what you promise and they will love you forever.
Man up….is that not discrimnatory? I think we should start a working group to discuss that and come back with terms of reference and resource requirements……..
Dude, sometimes you confuse me. I always thought it was better to talk a big game and not really do anything. Isn’t that how you let people know your important? I mean we all love when meet people and they tell us how awesome they are, it saves us the effort of using silly things like “facts” or “results” to verify it.
In all honesty, something that separates a pro from an amateur, is that a pro knows their limitations and plans accordingly. They do their job well and make it look effortless and easy. This appearance of effortless execution (be we know it’s not effortless!), makes amateurs believe they can do it also, and thus the shenanigans sadly follow.
Break a leg tonight!
Mistakes happen. However they need to be quickly & correctly fixed. You cannot do that if you cannot admit the mistake in the first place.
Also business moves too fast with limited information and resources. What was right at the moment may not be perfectly right further down the road. Again acknowledge and adjust.
Finally do not point fingers when a fix or an adjustment occurs.
It took me some time, early in my career, to learn the power of saying no and admitting that I cannot deliever on a request. I was a one person HR department and stretched to my limit. When I finally got mad one day and told the CEO that his request was just dumb and it wasnt going to happen, he laughed and congratulated me on finding my backbone. I rolled my eyes and walked away but dude that admission felt good. The realization and admission to not being superwoman has made me better at what I do.
I started my career as a “yes” girl and it took many years to realize the importance of saying “no” when I can’t deliver. I was raised believing that you never question authority, so it went against my grain to say “no” to anyone in authority. But the reality is that saying “no”, especially for woman can be empowering and appropriate. The worst thing anyone in business can do is not deliver, you lose credibility and faith.
I always liked Australia’s Chopper Reid’s perceptive – HTFU!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EY7lYRneHc
I agree with all except “be right the first time”…no one is perfect…
I would say strive to be right the first time, and if your not – be honest and flexible in addressing or adjusting…
M
This is the best comment you’ve written all year.
In my experience, if you “manned up” and told suits realistic deadlines in the creative field (graphic design, animation, film) or Government contracts??? You wouldn’t win nary a bid—- It’s laughable how almost every project goes overtime and overbudget—
I’ve never like this “Man Up” phrase— sounds like something a smelly steer wrestler would make up— btw— what would “Woman Up” be, huh???
My motto is get the basics right the first time. My other favorite is “Just put your big girl panties on”.
Thanks, I needed to hear this.
Under promise, over perform – that’s what I always say.
Or what Ginger said
I (modestly) concur. I have been involved in an organization where much was over-promised and under-delivered. Not in recruiting, mind you. But, still, it is a baaaaad feeling. My business is providing an excellent customer experience. Sure, we deal in commodities, but it is the service that brings ‘em back. When the organization promises more than I can deliver, I am the one left holding the bag. I am the one who has to deal with the complaint. So, I would say, know your limitations. If not sure if you can deliver the right experience, check it out, involve shareholders before advancing.
Yo!
But I so want to say yes. No. I should say no more often.
I know a lot about deadlines. I set decent deadlines for my contributors, because I can, yaha, but… I always say, if you can’t make it, tell me and I will extend it.
Does that make me soft? Are people continually late for me? No, actually, it doesn’t. But I very rarely get left in the lurch not knowing when something is going to come in, because my contributors are not too scared to pick up the phone or drop me an email to say “Things are not going well…”.
Shit happens, huh? So do contingency plans, back ups and last minute changes of plan. It’s fun.
“Man up” – holy restrictictive gender expectations! *side eye*
No IS a valid answer. It’s an answer that many people think they don’t have the power to say. Either that, or they’re worried about not being perceived as a “nice” person at work.
I’m not necessarily a “no” person, but I am someone who tends to analyze projects in terms of what might happen vs marketing or management’s Utopian ideals of the magic we can pull out of our @ss in 30 days or less. I’ve created magic in less than a month, but it was mostly because on day two of the project, we got my team and the other teams together, and my manager and I was very specific about what potholes we might hit and the help/coordination I needed.
Of course, not everyone works where honestly and transparency is a part of the culture. That’s the unknown in the equation.
One word from 15 years of high-level corporate communications: Amen.
I just walked in the door but these are all great comments. Read them all & will address them tomorrow. Exhausted. xoxoxo/laurie
Okay, I’m back.
@Simone Thank you. You’re hired as my communications guru.
@Patrick I just liked the poster. But you get the point, right? Let’s be honest and set expectations. (You do get the point — and I get yours. I just like saying BALLS and NUTS and MAN UP because grrrrr it makes me feel tough.
)
@Charlie You work with creative types, right? Deadlines mean nothing.
@HP All in moderation, even your comment!
@Sean I like to not promise anything. Don’t back me in a corner, man.
@Ginger Basics are the best.
@mattymat Shush, I really really really just liked the posters I was finding online for the phrase.
@Steve Whoa, thanks.
@Mark I’m okay with people missing deadlines. Let’s just talk about it honestly.
@Bruno K I L L I N G M E
@adowling I don’t believe for one minute you never had a backbone.
@latinahr exactly!
@salaescomp Wait, I’m still really good at pointing fingers. Residual HR training within me that never goes away?
@Puf I love you because you are a pro — and yet you’re kind and patient with amateurs.
@HRD Life is discriminatory.
Laurie,
I just found your blog and I’m loving it. I think many HR folks want to be liked by the business more than they want to have impact on it. So they let the business do all the needs analysis and decide on the solution and then they run off and try to get it done. When HR pros get to the place where they bring value to the conversation early, instead of just carrying out the tasks assigned by the business, then they add real value and stop trying to accomplish impossible tasks assigned by someone else.
Just some thoughts.
Randy