How would adding children at work up the stakes as an HR leader?
In this True Stories at Work episode you get to meet Jason, who, despite the law, doesn’t believe in Central Jersey! We discuss the ways that his bartending skills transfer to HR, how to de-escalate a peanut hostage situation, and the unique challenges he faced when employees, parents and kids are your customers.
HR leaders have difficult conversations, around an incredible range of topics “It would just be easier to say, we don’t want you around than to say, hey, I need you to wear a bra to work.”
Welcome to True Stories at Work, where we discuss the best things about working in Human Resources. The people, the stories, and the things that happen at work that we didn’t know even about… workplace confessions!
I’m a recovering HR executive, certified coach, and business school professor who knows that THE BEST stories happen at work, from heartbreaking to heartwarming, from hilarious to outrageous.
In a past role, I was a member of a magical HR executive committee, pulled together by a Group Purchasing Organization to represent a variety of members from each region of the country.… and I loved going to the meetings to connect with them, learn what they were doing, and hear their great stories! Today, you get to meet Michael, who was a member of that executive committee.
You will get to hear his journey into and out of HR. As an attorney, he shares “The importance of ripping off the Band-Aid and having difficult conversations, even when they are uncomfortable” and even when they don’t go as planned. “It’s actually hard to do the things when you’re in the moment and experiencing it as a human as well”
He shares a story that demonstrates the impact that subtle, non-verbal behaviors can have on feelings and perceptions “even if I’m not saying it, or even if it’s not intentional, simply the, the chair I pick is sending a message.”
The approach he took to teaching people how to treat his HR team, and how he reinforced “that HR is not just a punching bag”.
Micheal shares a great practice to keep your leadership team connected to the people in your company who are impacted by your decisions “It’s easy to start thinking about people as simply numbers or FTEs as opposed to remembering that real people are losing their jobs, and those are having real impacts on their life.”
At the end, you get to hear a workplace confession, something that happened at work that never made it through the doors of HR. This one is about me… a director sharing a story about me that he wanted to confess on my behalf, how generous!
Curious about how to improve your skills with difficult conversations?
In this True Stories at Work episode, you get to meet Tara, who started her career as a behavioral specialist and found the skills and knowledge transferred nicely into HR. She worked in many industries (financial, tech, and higher ed) and understands that “the work that we do in HR is ultimately about people. The industries are definitely different. The types of people that work in them are different. But, overall there’s a similar thread to humanity.”
We connect around the virtue of patience, except in disciplinary situations “We would go through a corrective action process and it would be first, final written warning, second final written warning, and third final written warning. And I would have managers say, what does the word “final“ mean if you’re going this far?”
Tara’s early career aspirations were to be an archeologist. However, uncovering a revealing photo of an employee was not a treasure she was seeking when he was terminated after his 3rd “final” warning. “It confirmed was they knew this was coming… but it will indelibly be in my mind.”
We discuss entitlement, and how it shows up in unusual ways across senior leadership “You know, sometimes people aren’t grateful and sometimes people don’t act so well… use their, their trash cans as toilets”.
Tara understands that demonstrating kindness is the most important aspect of her legacy, even in challenging employment situations. After a company closure, she reflects on feedback she received from an impacted employee “If that is the legacy of my career, if that I handled something where somebody came away from a very negative experience and felt that there was kindness in that experience, then you know, then I’ve accomplished everything I need to accomplish.”
We wrap up curious about why “HR people on TV tend to be represented as dull when we actually are amazing, have a lot of fun doing what we’re doing while ensuring that there’s heart in our work?” There are no answers to why our smart, talented peers are projected in media as Catbert (Dilbert’s evil director of human resources) and Cody (the buzzkill in The Office).
In the end, you’ll hear the final workplace confession from my BFF. This one is a childish prank, gone, terribly wrong. A puddle splashing that got her banned from the work site.
This episode is sponsored by Physics at Work:If you’re looking for ways to create momentum and boost performance to achieve your organization’s goals faster…. Physics at Work can help you to define and refine your people strategy. Just reach out to me at physicswork.com or connect on LinkedIn. Because the same laws of physics that drive our universe also drive your workforce.
Stories are what we remember and how we connect, so please share yours with me.
Have you ever wondered what makes a manager truly memorable? In this True Stories at Work episode we pick up with Bruce where we left off, talking about the impact COVID had on the employee complaints at work. This episode discusses the shift from employees complaining about each other to employees complaining about their managers. If you are just tuning into this podcast, please listen to episode 5, where this story begins…
Remember, Bruce studied HR, only worked in HR and oversaw the Employee Relations function of HR for a 15,000+ person company. He had a ringside seat to watch the best + the worst behaviors at work, including the behavior of leaders. “I think the sad reality, I don’t think there are a lot of very good leaders. And I don’t think it’s easy to be a good leader. And you have to want to be a good leader, but so many people have gotten into management who don’t even like to manage people, but that was the only way they can move up.”
Bruce knows that being a good leader isn’t easy and offers some insight for reducing complaints about leaders, improving the leadership hiring success and ways to become a memorable leader (in a good way).
Bruce reminds us that when leadership is done well, it is truly magical and the memory of that leader can last a lifetime “Um, that was literally 20, maybe like 22 years ago, and I remember being in the larger meeting room. And, and the impact that those messages had. “
Want to be a better leader? Here are some links to get started:
Spoiler alert, at the end we have yet another incident of love gone wrong at work, and by love I mean a relationship that started out as an affair but was really sexual harassment all along. “it was his admin who turned him in, who we later found out he had been having an affair with. And, the relationship fell apart… and then all of a sudden she wanted to get revenge on this individual.”
At the end, you will get to hear a workplace confession, something that didn’t make it through the doors of HR. Another one from my life-long friend Zoe, where she pulls a Robinhood move with some shiny new office chairs.
Feedback is a gift. Episode #6, the final episode of my first season, so please take one minute to go to www.physicsatwork.com/podcast and vote for your favorite episode… The winning episode will be invited back to share more great stories!
These are the first 6 podcasts I have ever created, so please share your feedback + suggestions for future episodes.
Haiku
Great managers are
hard to find… and even more
difficult to leave.
What Kind of Person Do You Want Working at Your Company: Bruce Part 1
Today you get to meet Bruce who directed employee relations for a credit card company with over 15,000 employees. Employee relations is where cultures are made. You will hear how Bruce kept the human in human resources and the very high price he paid. “I spent 36 years in HR, which is, you know, people can’t see, but I don’t have any hair.”
Bruce had so many great stories to share that I broke his interview into 2 episodes.
On this episode, he highlights the invisible things that create cultures like telling the truth, and listening to each other. You’ll learn Bruce’s biggest pet peeve “Let’s just start with the word meetings”, and how he would improve meetings to build a better workplace.
Bruce shares stories about the impact of COVID on his company culture and how it quickly shifted things from face-to-face (interpersonal) to online via social media. You’ll learn how his company made daily decisions to protect their company culture by clearly defining the kind of people they wanted to be working at their company. “Yes, we had a social media policy, but we often didn’t have issues of people posting things that were very questionable and where we had to decide whether or not it was appropriate or not violated policy actions should be taken.”
At the end, you will get to hear a workplace confession, something that didn’t make it through the doors of HR. Once again, this is my best friend at her worst. While I give her coworkers credit for retaliating, it is pretty disgusting, so decide if you really want to know what she fed her colleagues at the potluck…
Tune into the 2nd part of Bruce’s interview where he shares stories on how to truly become a memorable leader “That was literally 20, maybe like 22 years, I remember it was like yesterday. I remember being in the larger meeting room. And the impact that those, those messages had.”
Curious about creating a better culture or improve meetings, check out the resources below:
Today you get to meet Kelly, who emphasizes the importance of kindness in Human Resources and the fragility of company culture. Her stories demonstrate how Human Resources can be the crisis hotline for leaders. The first call they place when they don’t know how to handle a challenging situation. We discuss the everyday decisions that leaders make that shape culture, and how much communication (and words) matter at work. You’ll hear stories of Phantom Crappers where poop rolls down hill and into HR, a passive aggressive behavior which could be improved with better leadership.
At the end, you get to hear a workplace confession, this one offers a compelling reason not to eat the candy from your coworkers candy dish.
Curious how to increase kindness in your workplace? Here are some links to get started:
Have you ever wondered how having bed bugs could cost you your job and what Mr. Rogers can teach you about leadership? Could you benefit from a new approach to setting clear expectations and high levels of accountability?
Tune into this episode of True Stories at Work to meet Amy, an experienced HR leader with who will answer these questions and share great (and not-so-great) leadership stories!
Have you ever wondered how mediating claims at the Department of Human Rights could feel like being on the Jerry Springer Show? In this True Stories at Work episode you get to meet Veronica, who worked in the military and the department of Human Rights before moving into corporate Human Resources. She is an attorney turned HR professional, and we reflect on some of the challenges of dealing with racism, the professional disaster when an executives has sex with a subordinate, and the surprises you can uncover during a thorough investigation.
Topics discussed on the episode:
Mediation at the Department of Human Rights. Strengthen your mediation skills by getting trained at Center for Conflict Resolution
