Days I Love My Job

Some days just happen to start out making you feel really good about what you do! This morning, I had the pleasure of sending out this email:

"Good Morning Fools!

Our personal trainer is here today and there are appointments available to work with him. To sign up for a personal training appointment, please use the MASSAGE CALENDAR.

Today’s Massage Calendar is actually the “personal training calendar”. If you are signing up for massage today, please sign up on the door of the relaxation room.

And, don’t forget…there’s Yoga at 4:30 in April Fool’s!"

This email didn't even mention that we also have a "Barking with Fools" club Happy Hour with our dogs at The Hotel Monaco in Old Town, Alexandria this evening!

What a day!!

What Matters Most

Today one of The Motley Fool's writers, Tim Hanson, had an article published about "What [Warren] Buffett is Buying Next" where he cites a paper written by a student who had an opportunity to hear Warren Buffett speak. And, while Mr. Hanson's article was definitely interesting reading from an investment standpoint, I found the notes about this student's major takeways from listening to Mr. Buffett even more interesting. Statements like:

"Do what you love, not for the money, do it because it's in your heart."

"Being an inherent optimist is a key trait to success."

and, my favorite...

"Giving unconditional love is the best thing you can do. When you give it out you get it back 2x, you can’t get rid of it."

There are many more golden nuggets of wisdom listed as well. But, it made me smile that so much of what was written were "life lessons" versus simply investing advice. A common theme was surrounding yourself with people that you like to work with. This is one of the reasons that I decided to end my Consulting business and return to The Motley Fool full time; to be around people that I like to work with every day.

In terms of HR, I think that it's a great recruiting tool and maybe one that isn't utilized enough. Recently, I found out about Zappos' company blog which is a really fun read, and, I would imagine - a huge recruiting tool!

Does your company have a similar blog? Do you know of any other's like Zappos'?

Best Practices?

In most of the HR positions that I've held in the past, I felt forced to follow what some believed were "best practices," but I don't really think that some of those practices were best for the organization at all.

HR is one of those fields where it's hard to tell which practice is actually best for your organization. Companies vary dramatically based on their company culture, industry, geographical location, size, organizational structure and a host of other characteristics. So, basically, my thought is that a best practice for your organization is one that meets the following criteria:

• It shows respect for each individual
• It is legal
• It exemplifies the core values of your organization
• It differentiates you from your competitors - or at the very least, allows you to be competitive
• It makes business sense for your organization

But, everyone else is doing it!

Ironically, your biggest challenge to figuring out what the best practice for your organization is going to be will probably be your CEO. Why? Because CEO's usually like to read - a lot. They like to talk to their other CEO friends - a lot. And, they want to be just like the most powerful CEOs whom they respect. So, if one of these CEOs talks about something that their organization has done that has turned out for the best, then it must be the way to go! So, what is an HR person to do? After all, it's your CEO. You have to do what (s)he says, right? Well...maybe...

First, tell him or her that the idea is interesting and you'd like to think about it. Then, put on your thinking cap and apply the criteria above. If his idea makes sense, then start figuring out an action plan with a reasonable timeline to present back to him. If it doesn't make sense after applying this criteria, for example, it violates one of the company's core values or will not generate a return on investment from a business perspective, then start figuring out a plan of action with a reasonable timeline to present back to him. What? Wait a minute? Is that a typo?

No, it's not a typo. You just need to find a way to make something happen that reasonably represents the "spirit" of what he was attempting to achieve. Of course, you need to present your improvement to his idea as a version of his own, clearly show how the benefits will reflect positively on him, and succinctly lay out the action plan. Remember - he doesn't care about the details, only the results.

I once had a CEO who was so upset how the women in our Northern Virginia and D.C. offices were dressing in the summer, that she wanted to implement a policy mandating panty hose. For some reason, she thought that mandating panty hose would solve the problem of these women not dressing conservatively enough for our D.C. Metro government contracting business. I can assure you that panty hose was not the answer. These particular women needed a lot of guidance and even if wearing panty hose, would still be wearing tops that were cut too low, skirts that were too short and showing their undergarments. So, I created a powerpoint presentation about appropriate and inappropriate office attire and distributed it to everyone - male and female. Panty hose were not a necessity (thank goodness, it gets hot here in the summer) but the other requirements of professional office attire were not only spelled out, but pictures provided a clear look at what was appropriate and what was not. Although, this is not the answer for every organization when it comes to dress code - it worked for that company. It just took a little inspiration (provided by a Victoria's Secret catalog that I got in the mail) to come up with an idea that worked.

My current company has no dress code and I wouldn't even think of trying the same thing there. However, we're in a very different industry than the one mentioned above.