HR Tony

Keep Your Head Up

It's everywhere in the news...5,000 layoffs from Sprint, 7,000 from Home Depot, 20,000 from Caterpillar...

The news of course is going to focus on the negatives: "10% of employees will lose jobs, etc. etc..." which is bound to freak people out. 

What about the other 90% of people; what did they do differently that allowed them to keep their job?  If you’re constantly worrying that you might be in the next round of layoffs, then you are constantly working at a lower capacity.  Now is not the time to stick your head in the ground and hope you go unnoticed to avoid layoffs.  

The best thing you can do is to keep your head up, constantly work above yours and your bosses' expectations and shine.  Not only will this more then likely help you keep your job, but it is going to be self rewarding and enrichening.

There are also several things you can do after hours to help keep you motivated in the workplace.  Going for a run, doing a Yoga exercise, eating healthier, drinking more water, laughing with family & friends are all great things to do.  These actions keep you grounded while making you feel better about yourself.  When you feel good, you’re bound to do good.

Circuit City to Close It's Doors

After struggling to stay afloat over the last few years, Circuit City announced that it will close it's remaining 567 stores; adding about 34,000 to the fast growing list of unemployed in these uncertain economic times.

In 2007, Circuit City decided to lay off (replace) 3,400 workers.  The decision was made to lay off top earning employees and replace them with lower earning ones.  It's pretty easy to see the logic here: lower paying usually equals less experienced.  Those of us in HR know that less experience means higher turnover, higher recruiting costs, higher training costs, and the list goes on.

When this decision was made, I wonder where was HR.  Were they simply trumped by the decisions a CFO made?  In a case like this, HR should have given facts and figures on the overall outcome of the decision over time, rather then simply looking at the cost savings of an employee's salary.

May this serve as an eye opener to us in Human Resources.  Yes, it's important that HR decisions have the company's bottom line in mind; however, it’s equally important for HR to stand up for the moral and needs of employees.

Personal Goals

Happy New Year!

 

After a relaxing holiday season, today most people return back to work.  Are you returning to work with the same motivation and mindset as in 2008, or do you have something different in mind?

 

As we roll into the season of New Year’s resolutions, we should focus on what our professional goals are, both short term and long term, and develop a strategy to accomplish these.  Try following these steps as you prepare your goals:

1. Define your own personal statement: a one-liner that describes who you want to become.
2. List any long term, 3 – 5 year goals.
3. Break down these goals by year.
4. Take your 2009 year goal, and break it down further, perhaps by quarter.

Your quarterly goals should be something that is attainable and will contribute to your overall success.  These should be challenging, but not extremely overwhelming and can include:

• Take a class or complete a certification.
• Read a book about a new trend in your field.
• Create new methods to improve your workflow.

Accomplishing these short term goals will prove to be a huge motivation builder by proving to yourself that once you set your mind to something, you can accomplish it.  It’s been known that when many successful CEOs plan their 5 – 10 year business goals, they also plan for short term personal goals such as completing their first triathlon or marathon. 

 

It’s easy to lose focus and motivation while trying to accomplish something over 5 years, so having short term success will keep you focused and eager to accomplish more.

 

My goals for the year are to spend more time with the family, get back into shape, read at least a few more HR books and continue to build my blog.  What about you?  What are your goals for the year and do you have a plan to accomplish them?