Filed under: Executive, General, Legal, Professional, Recent Graduates, Uncategorized | Tags: crisis management HR, Ft. Hood, Katrina, workplace violence
The tragedy at Ft. Hood yesterday reminded me of a situation a psychologist friend worked on – it was a shooting in an office building in San Francisco and it was the first time I’d heard the term ‘workplace violence.’
How do we handle such situations?
There is care and compassion for those who have been injured, for their families, friends, neighbors and for our communities – because when this kind of violence occurs, it happens to all of us.
At some point, it will be time to think about a crisis HR plan for your organization.
A crisis plan, or critical incident management plan, is important so that the HR team is aware of the issue and works actively to prevent workplace violence. It’s also critical to have a plan for response – so that everyone in an organization knows what to do if the worst happens.
There is a huge difference between the Enron or Madoff economic crises, a natural catastrophe such as Hurricane Katrina and the mass shootings at Ft. Hood. Articles on crisis management and HR often focus on proactive planning and preventative preparation. The best HR crisis managment encourages the team to ‘think about the unthinkable’ and build alternatives based on worst-case scenarios.
We can do several things about workplace violence, even though it presents a unique set of challenges. A USDA handbook stipulates five ways to prevent workplace violence:
1. Pre-employment screening
2. Security
3. Alternative Dispute Resolution
4. A Threat Assessment Team
5. Employee Assistance Programs
Additional resources are listed at the end of this post.
Perhaps most important in prevention is keeping in touch and maintaining relationships with people.
Know when a group is under more than the usual amount of stress. Be aware of potential reactions to a merger, performance reviews or the closing of a business location. Initiate ad hoc discussions and ask how things are going – then listen carefully.
Establish training for supervisors and managers. Add it to their annual review. Make it measurable.
Don’t let employees ‘go solo.’ Try to find ways to connect people to their work community.
RESOURCES
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Videos and transcript on workplace violence
OSHA - Workplace Violence Awareness and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Occupational Violence
University of Iowa - Report on Workplace Violence
U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Dealing With Workplace Violence
Filed under: General, Uncategorized | Tags: Financial Times, Madoff, trust, verify
An article in the Financial Times caught my eye, not just because it was about Bernard Madoff. Turns out he was waiting to be caught – and several times thought his goose was cooked.
The auditors had a preconceived notion as to where a problem would be found. Because their concept blinded them, they didn’t take the simple steps needed to uncover the huge losses that now make up the largest-ever Ponzi scheme.
You can read the entire piece here.
Verification is not optional – it has to be part of an ongoing methodology. It is impersonal and never eliminated because you ‘trust’ an employee. A friend in banking did that and found her most trusted employee walked out of the branch in handcuffs by the FBI after years of careful embezzling from two elderly brothers.
Verification doesn’t mean we don’t trust. It means we trust the process, not the person.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Regardless of what’s happening during your job search, keep in mind that the only person who can really stop you is yourself.
Are you rolling your eyes? Stick with me here…
Of course the various people interviewing you during the process have input. And when you speak with the supervisor, you know their vote will be huge. Even the receptionist and security people may weigh in on you – no kidding. I’ve known clients who’ve told me the wrong word to the admin got them torpedoed. But then, you knew that.
So how can I say it’s up to you?
Because what someone else does has no bearing whatever on how you conduct yourself.
It’s impossible to know what will happen in advance, so you’ll always do the preparation. You’ll treat everyone you meet with respect. You’ll be attentive and understand that filling a job is much harder now, and the stakes are higher for people involved in making the decision.
Be real and present your best self. HR people and managers can spot a fake a mile away. Think of HR as the first line of protection for a company. They’re paid to keep the organization productive. What they’re really hoping for with each interview is finding that rarest of candidates – a person who has integrity, social skills, technical chops and dedicated work ethic.
Give it to everyone you meet by being consistent, considerate and demonstrating yourself and your skill with every encounter.
In Manhattan, Boomers got up and out in frigid weather to wait on line for a job fair. Most were told to go to the web site to apply.
Job seekers, this is really the point: don’t spend more than 20% of your time online to get a job. Prep your materials, get them out, but above all – go talk with real people.
People help people get jobs. Let me repeat that six times:
People help people get jobs. People help people get jobs. People help people get jobs. People help people get jobs.
People help people get jobs. People help people get jobs.
Got it? I’m serious – talk with a live person today.
View the NYT video here.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Here’s a chaser for those who liked the Manhattan Bike Messengers video and couldn’t get enough.
If you thought New York was tough, try SF here.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Monster continues its quest to take over the job search world.
Monster’s figured it out – people who get a layoff would like a smile as they’re pulling together resume information, searching for a job or making the move to an entirely new career.
In the NYT today, here are three new features Monster has added to its site:
“One presents profiles of jobs, called Career Snapshots. Enter “fire ranger,” and users can review duties (direct crews during forest fires, ensure fire-regulation compliance at campsites); the rate of job growth in the industry from 2006 to 2012 (12.1 percent) and the number of similar jobs posted on Monster (more than 1,000).
The second is called Career Benchmarking. Users enter information about their career, education, salary and benefits and see how they compare with others in their field.
The third is called Career Mapping. Users enter a starting job and an ending job, and Monster plots how other people who have made that transition have done it. To go from nanny to spy, for instance, one suggested path is nanny, to youth behavioral counselor, to probation officer, to police officer, to intelligence analyst/security specialist, to intelligence analyst/imagery.”
Read it all here.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Gatekeepers are expected to keep people away from an executive with hiring authority. How do you get them on your side?
Get an executive referral. If you get a referral from someone higher up in an organization, the individual you want to speak with will usually take your call. In some settings, they’ll be required to take it. The social situation requires the exec receiving the referral to take it. After all, she’s sent her friends to the person now being asked to speak to you. One hand washes the others.
Ask for what you want. Many people are hesitant to make a cold call to get in contact with a hiring authority. You’re trying to do something for that person. You want to solve problems for them. That merits a 5-minute listen. Give it a shot and keep in mind that it’s business – social rules regarding unreturned calls don’t apply. If you don’t get a response, call again. Don’t abandon your attempts until you’ve called daily for seven days. Be pleasant and tenacious.
Quote your referral. This works well when your name doesn’t ring any bells. If your source is Steve Jobs, the statement is something like this: “Steve Jobs and I were speaking at Guy’s tech brunch last weekend and Steve asked that I get in touch with Susan Jones.” The gatekeeper may not even know the referral source, but you’ll automatically be treated more seriously. If you’ve got the person’s title at hand, add it. Gatekeepers who hear ‘CEO’ during a conversation listen more intently.
Make sure you’re unfailingly polite to gatekeepers. The last thing you need is an admin making an offhand comment to their boss such as, “That Jack Amalya – he’s called every day since Monday and he’s consistently rude and demeaning.” Instead, make their day by demonstrating respect and empathy.
