Guest Article: Absolutely Positive! by Jay Kuhns, SPHR

I write a lot about leaders striving to be better (including me!) Often those messages are embedded in real life examples of leadership failures (including me again!).

But here's the thing...so much of what happens around us...to us...and for us...is because of...

...us!

All In My Mind
I am often 'accused' of having such a positive outlook that I don't have a real grasp of reality. I LOVE THAT! So what it is that has made the Jay-Filter so effective despite problems, stress, mistakes, pressure, even bigger mistakes, and failure?

Every corporate setting I've been exposed to (large or small) comes with a dose of the aforementioned challenges. Dwelling on those problems, for some, is a competency they have perfected after years of practice.

I don't love that.

However, finding the opportunity in every problem that blows up in our face...seeing the potential...interpreting the chaos as a challenge to be world-class...is something that has made an enormous difference in my life, both personally and professionally.

Stop It
Have you practiced your negativity skill a bit too long? Is complaining about everything that is wrong with the world your comfort zone?

Why?

Does it make you feel better?
Does it improve the operations of your organization?
Does your team create amazing results because of the negative environment?

Um, no, no and no.

How About You
Life is full of negative things...that isn't going to change. What can change however is what you do about them. 

Get fired up!

Laugh off the madness, and charge ahead (even if you don't know what to do next)!

...and most of all...find the good each day! It's all around you!

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Article source:Jay Kuhns, SPHR - Absolutely Positive!»

Check out more of Jay Kuhns' work at No Excuses HR

Guest Article: 3 Communication Tips to Help You Be a Better Leader by Jennifer Miller

Do you have a colleague that irritates you with his “ahs,” “ums” or protracted silences? Leaders are taught that strong orators remove superfluous words and awkward silences from their presentations, so it makes sense that you might take a dim view of these speech patterns. But even though Sam from Accounting might drive you to distraction with his verbal tics, these words (or lack thereof) actually serve a purpose in conversation. Here’s how to crack the code on this uniquely human communication pattern so you can better connect with your colleagues.

Verbal fillers as traffic signals

Linguistics professor N.J. Enfield, at the University of Sydney in Australia has studied the role that words such as “ah” and “um” play in conversation. It turns out that these words act as “traffic signals” in human communication, signaling to others in the conversation when to chime in and when to hold up. (Although animals communicate with one another, they don’t consider how their communication methods affect other animals, which makes this “traffic directing” uniquely human.) In this Atlantic article, Enfield describes these words as cues that tell the listener, “I’m still forming my thought . . . give me another moment.”  The leadership take away? When talking with someone, learn to view these verbal fillers as a request for a few more seconds of airtime for the speaker, rather than losing patience or seeing the person as less credible.

Is your conversation a competition?

Leaders may also perceive the space created by verbal fillers as an opportunity to form one’s response. This frames conversation as a competition, where listening carefully is the means for finding flaws in logic or formulating a rebuttal, say leadership consultants Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman.  “That might make you an excellent debater, but it doesn’t make you a good listener,” write Zenger and Folkman in this Harvard Business Review article. “Good listeners may challenge assumptions and disagree, but the person being listened to feels the listener is trying to help, not wanting to win an argument.”  To boost your leadership listening skills, think of your conversations with people in a cooperative, “give and take” light, allowing for your team members to, “gain energy and height [with the flow of conversation], just like someone jumping on a trampoline” offer Zenger and Folkman.

Using silence to build connection

The phrase “silence is golden” rings true for leaders trying to encourage meaningful conversation. But, as linguist Enfield points out, leaders face an uphill battle because in one-to-one conversation, “a full second is about the limit of our tolerance for silence.” So do use silence—to build a connection with others—but do so with the proper intent. Leadership coach and author Peter Bregman writes, “If you treat this silence thing as a game, or as a way to manipulate the views of others, it will backfire. Inevitably you will be discovered, and your betrayal will be felt more deeply. If people are lured into connection, only to feel manipulated, they may never trust you again.” Leadership tip: discern the reason for the silence. If it’s because the speaker needs more time to formulate a thought, but you’re tempted to jump in to “help” them with their words, silently count to 10 in your head before replying.

Far from being annoying habits to be squashed, some verbal habits actually serve a purpose. Astute leaders will pay attention to the communication cues they’re being offered and respond accordingly. Doing so will garner you a reputation for communication excellence.

This post originally appeared as a SmartBrief Original and is published with permission.

Article source:Jennifer Miller - 3 Communication Tips to Help You Be a Better Leader»

Guest Article: 4 Ways to Get Employees to Use More Vacation Time by Ben

Did you know that you can now hear the HR Happy Hour show on your Alexa? Simply enable the HR Happy Hour skill and you can hear flash briefings a few times a week. These 3-5 minute episodes cover all kinds of topics that will help you keep your HR skills sharp and stay on top of the latest news. I am recording shows every week or so in addition to the other hosts, and I also am still running We’re Only Human for full episodes.

In a recent episode of the HR Happy Hour Alexa show, I talked about unlimited paid leave plans (episode embedded below; subscribers click through to listen to the 4-minute discussion).

Then last week I spoke with a firm that mentioned the accrued vacation leave liability on their books (millions of dollars!) If you work in HR, you are trying to give your workforce the best benefits you can afford, and that includes paid leave. We want to give them something that shows them we appreciate their efforts, but what happens when employees don’t use that leave? That’s right–it starts to build up a huge liability on the books.

Additionally, it can impact your firm in other ways as well. Taking vacation time has been associated with reduced stress, improved mental/physical health, and more.

Ready for a strategic moment? Sit down with your CFO to talk about how you can reduce that aggregated vacation leave balance (and the associated liability on the balance sheet). Below are four ideas for how to approach it from the HR side. 

• Offer leave in small increments

I still run across companies that only allow workers to take their leave in hourly increments, and sometimes that’s more than people want to use at one time. If your policy allows them to use that time in smaller increments of 1/4 or 1/2 an hour, then they could take off little bits at a time.

I might not take off an hour early every Friday during the summer because that would eat up my leave faster than I can accrue it, but I might take off 30 minutes early every Friday during the summer months because that still leaves me with a little padding in case I need that leave for something else. Or I could use 30 minutes extra at lunch time during the summer one day a week to eat with my kids. Tons of uses and opportunities for those smaller increments, if they’re available.

• Have designated “no meeting” days

Want someone to take off? Set up a day each week where no meetings occur. When I’m trying to take a day off, one of the biggest challenges is finding a day with no meetings to interrupt my plans. There’s almost always a meeting, even a short one, that prevents me from getting away for a full day.

However, if Fridays or Mondays were designated as “no meeting” days, workers could use those days to catch up on person things that meetings don’t allow, from doctor’s appointments to grocery trips to simple time with family. It can be any day, but if you pick a Monday or Friday that opens up the option for more three-day weekends, which everyone loves!

• Make sure leave isn’t perceived negatively

As I mentioned in the episode above, one of the core issues with leave, whether it’s unlimited leave plans or the more ordinary version that most of us have to deal with, is that coworkers sometimes make snide comments about the person taking off. “Where’s Mary? She’s taking the day off? Well, that must be nice…”

Whenever I hear that from someone I reply, “Hey bozo. She’s taking advantage of a company benefit. Drop it.” (Okay, I actually reply in a nicer way, but that might be the version I hear in my head.)

The point is this: your firm offers paid leave as a benefit to not only ATTRACT great talent, but to RETAIN great talent. And how can you retain them if they can never take time off without feeling like they’re giving up their credibility or losing out with their boss or team?

• Make sure managers know how much leave their people have

Quick, do you know the vacation balance for your team members? More importantly, do your managers know? For most of us, we could run a pretty simple/quick report from our HR or payroll system to show the accrued leave balances for each worker, then work with managers to encourage those people to take off.

It’s important to remember this isn’t just about reducing burnout, it could be about reducing the bottleneck an employee represents. For example, Motley Fool uses a random drawing monthly to send an employee on a two-week paid vacation, preventing them from having ANY contact with the team for that period to see if they are able to succeed without their participation.

Get managers on your team to help with this, and together you can not only reduce that pesky liability but also help your people to be happier and healthier!

What other ideas do you have? How can we encourage workers to take more leave, managers to prioritize leave for their teams, etc.?

Article source:Ben - 4 Ways to Get Employees to Use More Vacation Time»

Check out more of Ben Uebanks' work at Upstart HR

Guest Article: #SHRM18: Lessons from The Biggest HR Event in History by Ben

This year’s SHRM Annual Conference is a milestone. The team is estimating about 20,000 HR professionals, vendors, and miscellaneous other attendees have converged on Chicago for this year’s event. Attendees are here from around the world–I’ve already met delightful individuals from both Italy and India.

One of the interesting things I sometimes hear from people in my industry is that SHRM isn’t the conference where the “decision makers” are. I’d argue with that. See, everyone’s a decision maker, even if you’re not one today. I have been there as an HR practitioner in the trenches and understand the journey from “I’m trying to keep my head above water” to “I’m running this thing and calling the shots.” It’s sometimes a shorter path than you might expect!

The takeaway for me as a person that analyzes and researches the industry is that there is more need than ever for a focus on the SMB space. Small employers are big, as I pointed out in my recent podcast episode on running an HR department of one.

What’s my big takeaway?

First of all, there’s a renewed focus on the HR department of one. These small HR teams are doing mighty work to advance the culture and partner with the business to create value for employees. For example, this fall I’m going to be working with our local HR group to host an HR department of one panel for a workshop because of the need for this content. SHRM is also trying to make sure it meets this audience with content and education. I don’t know the numbers but I would guess it’s a significant portion of the membership base for SHRM as a national organization.

Additionally, I expect to see more and more vendors focusing on the small and mid-size businesses. The expo hall at SHRM this year is full of more than 700 vendors, a wide variety both familiar and unfamiliar. Insurance, consulting, and HR technology providers span the room. However, more unique offerings that cover everything from flower delivery for bereavement leave to podcasting as an enterprise learning strategy are also present. So many vendors in the HR technology space focus on large employers, but there’s an incredible opportunity to support and serve smaller employers as well.

Bottom line: this is a massive event. I’m honored to be a part of the official team covering the goings on at the conference this year. If you’ve never been, it’s an amazing experience and I’d encourage you to attend in the future!

Article source:Ben - #SHRM18: Lessons from The Biggest HR Event in History»

Check out more of Ben Uebanks' work at Upstart HR

Guest Article: Announcing New Training Courses! by Ben

This week is a big one for me. I’m hanging out at #SHRM18 in Chicago (say hi if you’re in town!), but I am also really excited to share some new training I’ve been pulling together.

Because I’m buying a learning technology/system to deliver the new HR certification materials my team is working on creating this summer in advance of the HRCI changes, I thought to myself, “Why not use this to deliver content people can use for recertification credits as well?”

If you’ve ever gotten down to the wire in getting your certification credits together, or even if you’re in an area where local content is just so-so, you might have felt that panic at being able to get your credits in on time. I’m with you. I just recertified my SPHR earlier this year and HRCI kicked out some of my credits with no warning or explanation in a random “audit.” Sigh. Thankfully I had more than enough to make up for that, but it’s a great reminder for me that not everyone gathers as many credits as I do through my traveling, speaking, and conference attendance.

So… I’m launching the first course today. It’s free. It’s one hour of HRCI/SHRM credit. It’s based on two podcast interviews I did with recruiting leaders at H&R Block and AlliedUniversal. I would love for you to try it out and give me some feedback!

Click here to check out our free course on strategic recruiting.

The goal is to create additional free and paid courses in video and audio format to help you not just get your credits, but to become a better HR practitioner and leader! Thanks, as always, for your support.

Article source:Ben - Announcing New Training Courses!»

Check out more of Ben Uebanks' work at Upstart HR

Guest Article: Can Artificial Intelligence Solve the Pay Gap Problem? by Ben

Note: if this concept interests you then you definitely need to click here and sign up to get a heads up when my new book is coming out later this year. In the book I tell dozens of similar stories along with leveraging research and examples of AI technology to support HR, recruiting, and talent. It’s written in my usual, down-to-earth style and will introduce you to a wide variety of use cases, vendors in the HR tech space that are doing interesting work with AI, algorithms, machine learning, and more. Learn more: http://AIHRBook.com

Pay parity is all about ensuring that women and men earn the same pay for the same work, yet the gender pay gap is still alive and well. Sources vary but one estimate put it at 11% back in 2016 (source). For every dollar a man earns, a woman earns 89 cents. But can an artificially intelligent system that makes decisions without bias or regard for someone’s gender solve this problem? For example, if you could design a system that schedules work shifts and pay rates based on a blind algorithm that does not factor gender into the decision, you would logically expect to find that men and women earn the same in such a system, correct?

But what if I told you this isn’t the case?

There’s an employer that exists in markets around the globe with this kind of system in place. In a recent analysis by economists from Stanford and the University of Chicago, the researchers found that in spite of this highly automated, gender-blind algorithm that sets pay rates and assigns work in real time, men still out-earn women. This employer, if you’re curious, is Uber.

In an analysis released earlier this year, several economists looked at the transactions that occurred in the system to understand if there was a pay gap. Transparently, one of the economists fully admitted that he expected to see little to no gap in pay because of the structure of the system. Again, we all logically expect this. Yet the conclusions of the analysis are equally logical, if a little confounding, for those of us that had hoped to find a mechanism for eliminating the gender pay gap.

How the Gap Occurs

Three factors feed into the pay gap:

1. Experience accounts for about 33% of the gap. Men have longer tenures on the Uber platform, on average. Drivers with more trips earn more than drivers with fewer trips.
2. Driving speed accounts for about 50% of the difference. This happens outside of Uber drivers in the broader driving population as well, but the rest of us don’t have our pay directly affected by our speed.
3. Variations in work times and routes make up the remaining 17%. Men take on shifts during higher surge times and locations, leading to higher hourly earnings.

What important to note is that pay assignments are equal. Men and women that drive the same route at the same time earn the same pay. In that respect the algorithm really is leveling the playing field. However, in terms of hourly wages, men are earning slightly more because they have more experience, faster driving speeds, and more lucrative routes/pickups.

My conclusion? Unequal results doesn’t mean unequal treatment at the outset. In this case I’d say the algorithm worked as advertised, and that good ol’ human unpredictability explains the rest.

 

 

Article source:Ben - Can Artificial Intelligence Solve the Pay Gap Problem?»

Check out more of Ben Uebanks' work at Upstart HR