My HR Practice

I just put an interesting article in my Blog " I Think, I Like "  in which Lou Adler posits that experience is overrated .  He says, "e xperience and skills are overrated. A continuous track record of exceptional performance in a variety of increasing complex situations isn’t." This article got me thinking about a prevalent practice in corporations - assessing employee potential .  It also made me acknowledge that in defining potential, companies have made this way, way harder then it needs to be.  Look at this definition, from the Harvard Business Review: " High potentials always deliver strong results, master new types of expertise, and recognize that behavior counts. But it’s their intangible X factors that truly distinguish them from the pack.  The Four X Factors of High Potentials : 1. Drive to excel 2. Catalytic learning capability 3. Enterprising spirit 4. Dynamic sensors " Catalytic learning capability?...

I've got another Blog running that I call " I Think, I Like "  In it I put content that includes books I'm reading, things about which I'm thinking or interesting stories I've read and enjoyed.  Today, I added a great piece from Fortune on the story of a candy company called Mars .  If you've heard of M&M's or Snickers, you've heard of Mars. What I love is how Mars tells the story of the Seven "C's" of Employee Engagement . Customer Capability (I'll count two "C's"' here) Mars boasts employees who love not only the products they make but also the office culture and the company's long-standing principles. Every Mars employee gets a glossy 27-page booklet explaining the principles in action, signed with the names of 13 family members. The principles, righteously explains the booklet, "set us apart from others, requiring that we think and act differently towards our associates, our brands and ...

When I wrote "The Seven C's of Employee Engagement," I included Career among the "C's" . Here's the reference: C areer  is so important to engagement and, in my experience, the number one reason why employees are not engaged.  If employees are to sustain their engagement, they must be working in service of something bigger and more meaningful than the next merit increase or promotion.  They must have a career goal in mind, and they must context their accomplishment and professional development against that goal.  When this exists, so does discretionary effort. When it doesn't, my experience teaches that "above and beyond" effort is not sustained.   I promised to write more about this later.  So, here it is.  Let me share a personal story.  I launched into my first job with IBM with a strong foundation:  MBA Human Resources; meaningful professional experience with State University of New York, Computer Sciences Corporation, Inte...