The Official Blog of Benifys HR Solutions

People change, fact of life. And organizations change too, much like a evolving mass of ideas in a constant state of flux. Trouble brews when the lines connecting the goals of an individual to that of an organization diverge and go out of alignment, add to that the job hopping typically associated with Gen-Y folks and an entire generation of baby boomers heading towards retirement – and you have a whole lot of leaving coming around (pun intended). But, as any seasoned HR Pro will agree, not all people have an equal capacity to maintain their maturity when it comes to letting go. Whereas the more wise will leave gracefully, an awful lot will act like a child with an ego hurt; the first question hence comes to mind – “how difficult is it going to be to ask this person to leave and see them through the exit process”. Another factor, and perhaps one that is more important to the employer is “how much will the business be affected negatively if this person leaves?” Let’s equate these factors against each other as a measure to assess an employee’s work style based on the way they behave while parting ways.

Peaceful Impacter – These individuals are usually very understated, and most likely introverts. But that does not mean their work has to be understated too; because of the highly efficient methods they deploy at work (by coming up with creative solutions) and their adaptable nature… it becomes very is hard to find faults with their work. In fact, it’s your turn to be alarmed if this person leaves or is contemplating leaving your organization, because they will do so in a very matter-of-fact manner once they make their mind up.

1. Needs their space.
2. Will work uninstructed in ideal conditions.
3. More likely to come up with breakthrough ideas.
4. Might seem arrogant and indifferent on the surface.
5. They strive to find meaning in their work.

Arrogant Influencer – It is said that in organizational life, one can either have freedom from others or influence over them. Never both things at the same time. Individuals in this quadrant choose to exert influence on others as opposed to enjoying freedom from them, they control people and get work done through them (and that’s the impact they bring). Being arrogant, like micromanagement, is often not a choice, it’s a conditioned thought pattern. Needless to say, the tolerance for such employees differs based on the organizational climate.

1. They need people to listen to them.
2. Will seem inseparable from the organization.
3. Can be, and mostly will be pushy.
4. Yields authority, of that, there is no doubt.
5. More likely to delegate, direct or supervise work.

Drama Queen – They have quaint and frail self-image, like they are living in some kind of a dreamland, of which they are the respective prince or princess. They should have probably taken dramatics as a career since they obviously have a flair for it. Anything work related is not really their forte, they are full of acts (pun intended) as long as you don’t expect them to work or ask them to quit. If and when you do either one of those things – you are in for a live workshop of high emotion drama. Don’t argue much with them – they have an undue sense of entitlement, others just have to live with it.

1. Cannot work 9 to 6 faithfully even if life depended on it.
2. Might be paranoid and have delusions that they are being discussed and scrutinized.
3. Will expect people to take care of their needs without saying them.
4. Needs a thorough reality check, either through introspection or intervention.
5. More likely to spill coffee in a conference and create a scene, or just create a scene with anything.

Useless Bystander – The ones seated bang at the middle of the conference table, and will switch to whichever side of the table as dictated by the status quo. The main motive that fuels their actions is to keep things running the way they are, for better or worse. Why they behave the way they do can have so many endless explanations that it deserves a post of it’s own. They will leave the organization as easily as they came in, the the difference to the overall scheme will not be noticeable. Why does this work? Because at least there is no unrequired theatrics and in their defense – they provide a balancing effect.

1. More likely to not do anything of great significance.
2. Might prove useful in diffusing situations where serious conflict arises.
3. Will stick to sides, whichever side seems better in a given situation.
4. Can have a really long and healthy career despite incompetence because they never fix what’s not broken.
5. Needs to be a little more opinionated – to fight like they are right and listen like they are wrong.

Anyone who follows Web 2.0 with any level of interest in all probability already knows what Yammer is, if you are not one of them, here is a guide to what you need to know, why you need to know it and how to implement it for your organization.

What is Yammer?

Yammer is a micro-blogging platform made specifically for organizational use, consider it a ‘version’  of twitter that is used for work (not that it is affiliated with twitter in any way). By way of posting short status updates, one can be constantly aware about what his colleagues are up to, it is also a great tool for encouraging a team support system wherein the team can not only be updated about any problem that their co-worker is facing but also discuss it in real-time and provide a solution.

Why do I need Yammer?

Did people ask why they need email, while they were using snail mail? Quite an interesting thought that! There are other tools which can and are being used to the same effect, but none that matches the popularity and features of Yammer, you need Yammer because:

• It brings a real-time element to the conversations.
• It is more collaborative than other modes of communication because of threaded commenting system.
• You can attach files just like email.
• You will gradually build a searchable database of all conversations that occur: A knowledge bank.
• Yammer provides free applications to use the platform with Blackberry, iPhone, SMS and even IMs.

While a total replacement of email might not seem like a legitimate option, Yammer does indeed have its share of benefits over it.

Implementing Yammer

Setting up Yammer is a very straightforward process, although it might take a little co-ordination to get it up and running. We will provide you with all the links that you might need in order to setup yammer for your organization at the end of this article. But before that, let us tell you how it works – once a person signs-up at Yammer with the domain name of their organization (e.g. Allen@abc.co.uk), they are sent a confirmation link to confirm the sign-up, after which they can invite other people from their organization from within Yammer.

Every employee gets a profile on Yammer where they setup a profile picture, expertise, role and background. An organization chart is built after the relationship between the employees is entered in the database.

In our team we have a blackberry that runs Yammer by the application provided by them, and the others are a combination of a very nifty Firefox plug-in and Yammer desktop client. Irrespective of where the Yam (that’s what an update is called) originated, everyone is pinged in real-time through their respective services and then they can respond to the message or just follow the flow of conversation.

Resources

Yammer Website

Firefox Plug-in for Yammer

Love him or hate him, he is arguably one of the most popular fictional characters of recent times; fans swear by his ‘awesomeness’ and go hysterical about the ‘legendary’ tricks he pulls off on the show (no wonder – Neil Patrick Harris is a magician by profession!). Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother is a character with an extremely sharp wit coupled with shades of sarcasm thrown in for good measure. Alright, let’s not get too carried away now, for those who have seen the show know what we are talking about!

So you might wonder why a Human Resource organization would post a video from a popular TV show and talk about it, well the video in question is called “Barney Stinson’s Video Resume”.  And if nothing else – it is an extremely good example of personal brand management, the video has over 55,000 views on YouTube, and some other similar videos from the same show have over 600,000 views! This is digital marketing at its best…

And if that wasn’t all, there are takeaways, here’s what Barney has to say about success:

• First thing that you need to know about success is that is doesn’t just come to you.
• Most people associate success with money and power, but really it’s a state of mind.
• When it comes to success, the only limit is that there are no limits.

Now, who wouldn’t hire a candidate like that?

1. Trustworthy – If you cannot make someone trust you, you can be sure that when the time comes, they will make their own path instead of following the one that you laid. As a manager, you just cannot afford that; trust building is necessary not just for managing people, but also while dealing with suppliers, clients and even your own superiors. Trust makes the business world go round.
2. Punctual – What is the best way to show someone that you value their time? The only effective way is to start valuing your own, being five minutes late in a job interview can cost a candidate a potentially good job, in the business context – a five minute delay could be interpreted into any number of things – a loss of opportunity, lack of credibility, lack of commitment, a lopsided attitude. If you’re punctual, you send out a clear message that you are on top of things and not overwhelmed by them.
3. Detail oriented – It is good if you can see the ‘big picture’, but if you don’t have the details, it is just that, a really big picture of nothing in particular, pictures cannot run a business but you can. You might be a Manager who thinks that it is just impossible to be focused on details when you have so many things to manage – but ask yourself in all honesty, is it because you are proud of meeting deadlines and are always in a rush to just get work done and pass it on somehow? People in some industries have to work for years at the worker level before being made a supervisor or manager… why? Because when they are promoted, they know exactly what they are talking about.
4. Awesome – The importance of having a positive self image is often overlooked, auto suggestions have been scientifically proven to work.  If you feel good about yourself, it will show in the way you carry yourself and also the way you communicate with others… so go ahead – be awesome, work awesomely and expect awesome results!

In the fast paced urban life of today, people are expected to play many different roles depending on the situation, time or place they find themselves in. For example if you are an aggressive go-getter, you would not think of showing the ‘my way or the highway’ side of yours in a PTA meet at your child’s school, or would you? The truth is that there are some traits in our personality that are invariably constant, our responses remain the same even though the context might have changed… these could be learned responses or inherent personality traits. Hence the old adage “you can tell how a man is by looking at the way he treats the waiter at a restaurant”.


Without getting into any rights, wrong or judgments, let’s think of the most common places people find themselves in a social environment and then try to extrapolate their behavior in these places into how they are most likely to be in the office environment.


The “I-Own-The-World” kinds

These are the worst kinds to encounter in a cinema hall. They come in with rowdy kids, come in late and stand in front of you waiting to be seated, will crack dirty, loud jokes, oblivious to others, will have their mobiles on full volume, and will make and receive calls during the most gripping scene that the poor director was able to put together. They will utter the best dialogues before the actors who are paid for the job are able to, making the storyline lose all impact for their neighbours. They will probably try to put their feet up on the seat in front, take offence if you ask them to tone down, and might get down to abuses, or worst still fist-fights.

Reminds you of someone at work? Probably, yes. These are the colleagues who will be the noisiest of the lot, disturbing others, talking at full volume in an open seat environment, will shout for the pantry boy the loudest, and scold him if he is a tad late at the top of their voices, keep their mobile phones on during meetings and training sessions, will probably not acknowledge you when you’re sitting in front of them, always occupied with their laptops or their mobile phones. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.


The Mr. Pushy

This person is part of your group – angry, loud and impatient and he does not always know why. He will tell you which movie to see, in what seating area, when to laugh, how much to laugh; and God save you if you let out a chuckle instead of a laugh. He may also feel the uncontrollable urge to recommend what you should eat and so on and so forth, only you both know that these are not really ‘recommendations’.

You can pretty much imagine how this person would be in the office, he’s lurking around somewhere near you to find the next person he can control, now get to work before he catches you reading this, or this is the last thing you’ll do in this office! Conversely, they could also be repressed and undermined in the office by others and then they need to find an outlet, and guess what? That outlet is you, next to them in the cinema hall.


The Lost Soul

You know this type when you see him, outside the movie hall he will have a hard time deciding which movie to go for because he’s not really ‘looking’ at the options when he is looking at them… in short – he’s lost. You know why he’s here? He was pulled by someone else who was very interested in watching a movie – this poor guy has no interest in the silver screen, and he is too laid back to say so. You might catch him sleeping or playing games on his mobile inside – unless, of course, the person who pulled him in was his wife – then he dare not. To pretend to be interested in something that you are not is not an art that sits well on most people, but here you are.

In the office, this person will be reluctant to attend stuff that makes up the corporate niceties but can’t stay away – he’s always pulled in by more “corporate” colleagues. You’ll see him sitting in the corner during birthday celebrations and farewells. He will talk when spoken to, and that too in monosyllables. He’s most likely the happiest in front of his computer or immersed in files. He is otherwise a dedicated worked, but finds himself out of depth when he’s out of his comfort zone, his work.

A variant of this is the guy who is totally engrossed in the movie – a lost soul of a different kind. For him, nothing else matters but the make-believe world of the glamour town. He will sniff for clues after a Sherlock Holmes movie, and have a swagger in his walk after an angry-young-man-will-take-on-the-entire-world flick. Watch out for him, he’s looking to pick a fight and he actually thinks he can take on the entire set of fellow movie-goers at that point of time.

At the office, he has the tendency to lapse into a world of his own – he might show up for a meeting he has to present at and then realize that he does not have the presentation with him, or worse he forgot to make one. He might walk into the office loo and then forget why he came there. He might also think that he can battle the “villain” boss in moments of extreme schizophrenia. Hey, give the guy a break, he’s usually harmless.


The Rule Breaker

These are people who come in late and get the tickets by breaking the queue citing “it’s a sort of an emergency” as a reason, then they insist that the seating assistant point the torch at your face, and when they finally sit next to poor you, you first do not realize that they’re intoxicated… you’ve just seen a rule breaker in action. Sometimes they come in groups, like school kids who come in after bunking their classes, change their clothes and try to act mature – only that they’re really not and you can spot them from a mile away by the ruckus they create.

At the workplace, more often than not these people think that they are somehow special, and that the standard rules of conduct and professionalism don’t apply to them – that is it okay to keep colleagues waiting at a team meeting; that is it just fine if you leave an hour earlier without notifying anyone. Rationalization does not help, you will ultimately just have to put the fear of God into them, or if that is not possible than at least the fear of job.


The Mr. Happy to be here

Not everything has to be about negative stereotypes all the time, if you’re lucky enough you will see this person and you will see him having a good time enjoying himself and making others enjoying along with him. They probably have found the holy grail of work life balance and they’re not afraid to show that they have arrived. At the movie hall they’ll be happy to get you food if you’re hungry, and be considerate enough to ask if you’re having a good time and possibly even drop you home after the movie… now don’t take unfair advantage of them!

Needless to say these are the kind of people dream work teams are made up of, they have the capability to turn around a gloomy atmosphere into a lively one and one that is conducive to co-operative work. For a company is only as good as the people it attracts and manages to retain.

Being a committed HRO firm, we try as and when we get time, to keep an eye on the pulse of what’s new and what people are thinking in the online sphere of human resources. Here are some of the articles that caught our eye during the past few weeks; not to say the others were in any way less fascinating… the fact is that it’s a sea out there, and it’s overflowing with knowledge, information and perspectives. We can only get you glimpses of what people are thinking, it’s you who has to take the plunge; hope you enjoy the update!

Kris Dunn of Fistful of Talent talks about how office e-mail wars never benefited anyone.

Jason Alba of JibberJobber lists out the things you should consider if your job search sucks

Louise Fletcher of Career Hub tells us how messing up, facing rejection and nervousness can help you, and if it doesn’t, then what to do about it.

Chris Watkins of Ask The Manager responds to a reader about a strange dilemma; what would you do if you were given no work and then asked why you aren’t working?!

This we like! Steve Roesler of All Things Workplace clears the fuss about leadership talent crisis with one line that really strikes home – “if you just read, you will never lead”

Alright, this might not be directly related to HR per se, but check out this video of self-help author Brian Tracy (now the chairman of Brian Tracy International), where he gives a fresh perspective on the concept of goals; he considers goal to be only unsolved problems that need a solution. You can view his Blog here.