California HR Conference Update

By Stephanie Hammerwold

There is only one more day left in the 2018 California HR Conference. The conference has been a whirlwind of HR information, and I met quite a few HR professionals, vendors and speakers committed to creating workplaces that are growing and adapting to our changing world.

One of the biggest themes of this year's conference has been a focus on building workplace culture. This year the California HR Conference offered something new in the form of TED-style talks from CHROs. Paul Wolfe from Indeed, Laurie Shakur from Nielsen Portfolio Division and Mindi Cox from O.C. Tanner all shared ways in which they have invested in building a culture that supports their employees.

"When someone is called into a leadership position, their job becomes people," Cox said. She then explained that her company sees the greatest value in taking care of employees. That is ultimately what leads employees to build a successful product and strong relationships with customers.

Shakur talked about putting the human back in human resources. She emphasized why walking around, asking employees questions and also taking the time to listen to what they have to say is essential to improving culture. Shakur had realized that she was failing to do this, and it was not until she changed her approach to HR that things began to change within the workplace culture.

Earlier in the day, Garry Ridge, the President and CEO of WD-40 spoke about how his company has successfully built a workplace culture that is driven by a need to take care of its people. Ridge reminded the audience that, "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work."  If we strive to create a workplace where this can happen, then success will follow. It is a matter of creating an environment where employees are empowered to do the work that needs to be done to achieve company goals. I will have more on workplace culture as well as what Ridge talked about in a post later this week.

Several sessions also covered culture from a compliance standpoint. With the rise of the #MeToo movement, workplace harassment is finally getting the attention it needs. At a Monday session on how to prevent a harassment claim from toppling your organization, Helene Wasserman stressed that it is important that training covers civility in the workplace. This includes upper management that fosters a respectful workplace. She also said that training should include information on bystander intervention so that employees know the importance of speaking up if they witness something.

The highlight for the final day of the conference is the closing keynote by astronaut Scott Kelly. Be sure to follow me on Twitter for live updates of Kelly's talk.

Watch this blog and Workology for more posts on conference content later this week.

Transforming How People Work #CAHR15

By Stephanie Hammerwold

The California HR Conference wrapped up yesterday with a final keynote address by Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of People Operations at Google. Bock recently published Work Rules!, which contains his advice for transforming the workplace. His presentation drew from his experience at Google as well as examples from other companies where valuing and listening to employees are keys to success.

Google is a company known for innovation in technology. Their search engine is powerful enough that it turned the company’s name into a verb, and they have introduced things like Google Glass and the self-driving car. There seems to be regular buzz around what invention Google will bring forward next. But even though Bock works at a tech giant, his advice was surprisingly simple: treat your people right. 

It is easy to get caught up in new HR tech and thinking of ways it will streamline and improve processes. While those things can help us perform our jobs, they are not at the core of creating an environment that drives creativity and innovation.

Bock emphasized the importance of trusting your employees. He said, “Let people in your organization try stuff. Trust them to solve problems.” Too often managers do not put that level of trust in their employees. Whether it is a retail store where employees must get approval for any customer request outside of normal procedures or a manager who won’t let employees try new ideas, many companies fail to trust in their employees. 

At one company I worked at, the owner warned everyone at a management meeting, “Assume all employees are stealing from us.” This was his philosophy for figuring out how to reduce theft in the company’s warehouse. Unfortunately this attitude spread to most of his interactions with employees. As such, the company had a culture of paranoia. This is not the type of culture that encourages creativity and innovation.

Bock also said that companies should be frugal and generous. He explained the ways that Google has been able to increase their benefits at little to no cost to them. For example, the company has a mobile haircutting service that comes on campus. Employees can pay $20 to have a haircut. The benefit is that it makes getting a hair cut convenient, and such a benefit is no cost to Google. They also provide services such as on-site dry cleaning as a way to help employees save time in their busy schedules.

As for being generous, Bock said, “There are moments in life where you get crushed by life or moments where something amazing happens.” These are the times a company needs to be ready to address. This may come in the form of generous death benefits for family members of an employee who dies while working at the company or extended leave options for new parents. Caring for employees during those big moments in their life is a key part of valuing their work.

Bock added that the smallest things can have the biggest impact, and he encouraged managers to nudge their employees when they feel it is necessary to facilitate communication or action. This could be as simple as sending an email to both a manager and a new hire to remind them to meet to go over expectations. Even the gentlest reminder can have positive ripples.

In conclusion, Bock stated, “We’re positioned to transform how people work.” What is most interesting about Bock’s philosophy is that it can be implemented at any company. It does not require fancy technology or the vast resources of a company like Google. It boils down to putting trust in our employees, and as Bock said, “To always make an exception in favor of the employee.”

Is it Possible That There’s an Upside to Stress? #CAHR15

By Stephanie Hammerwold

This morning I drove up to Anaheim for day two of the California HR Conference. Things got off to a good start on the first day with Robert Safian’s keynote address on generation flux. Along with his talk, there were a number of excellent sessions on everything from California’s new paid sick leave law to retaining top talent. Today’s keynote speaker was Kelly McGonigal, a lecturer at Stanford University and author of The Upside of Stress and The Willpower Instinct.

I was a bit skeptical of McGonigal’s topic. Having worked in HR, I am no stranger to stress and how it can affect employees in the workplace, so the idea of there being an upside to stress? Well, I had my doubts. But McGonigal changed my mind just a few minutes into her talk. She said, “Stress is a signal that people are pursuing things and relationships that have meaning.” This resonated with me because it got me thinking about sources of stress in my life and just how many of those things have meaning and value for me.

She went on to ask the audience how they would feel if they gave up everything that caused them stress. This could mean giving up your family, your job, your friends, your body and almost everything that makes you who you are. You would essentially be left with nothing. She explained that dealing with stress is not about getting rid of it; it is changing the way we think about stress. McGonigal said, “Stress is not just a toxic mindset that needs to be avoided.” How we think about stress and respond to it plays a huge part in determining how it will affect us.

McGonigal showed examples of the signs and literature we typically see in the workplace. The message tends to be that we need to get rid of stress because stress is a bad thing. She pointed out that it is not a helpful message to say stress is toxic because stress will always be present in the workplace. Of course, as I mentioned in a recent post on Blogging4Jobs, there are times when the workplace is toxic and stress is a sign of that. Those are the times there is a downside to stress. But there are plenty of times that there is an upside, and we can support our employees by helping them to shift their mindset about stress.

There is something powerful about seeing that we have the ability to shift our mindset about stress. In a way, it gives us control over it and we can then harness that energy to drive us forward. For me, I think what can make stress challenging is that it makes me feel like I do not have control over a situation. Using McGonigal’s approach helps me to see that stress is not necessarily something that stands in the way of sanity.

I would like to leave you with McGonigal’s four tips on how to embrace stress:

1. Notice and accept stress as a part of being alive and being human.
2. Connect to the meaning that stress signals. What (goals, values, roles, relationships, communities) do I care about?
3. Channel the energy of stress. What can I do? How can this moment be a catalyst?
4. Find the courage to grow from stress. What is the opportunity, lesson or possibility?

The California HR Conference wraps up with keynote speaker Laszlo Bock, SVP of People Operations at Google. Come back tomorrow for thoughts on his speech and some final thoughts on the conference. You can also follow me on Twitter as @HRHammer for live updates from the last day of the conference.

HR in the Era of Flux #CAHR15

By Stephanie Hammerwold

The California HR Conference is in full swing in Anaheim this week. Over 2,000 HR practitioners, providers and presenters are in attendance at this annual event organized by the Professionals In Human Resources Association (PIHRA). Here are some highlights from my first day at the conference.

The conference kicked off with keynote speaker Robert Safian, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. Safian discussed what he calls generation flux, which is a way to describe both the era of rapid change we currently live in and the kind of people that best thrive in this climate. Safian explained, “We live in a mobile, social, global world where the old rules of business no longer apply.”

Safian said that the average amount of time an American stays in their job is only 4 1/2 years. We are changing jobs at a pace that is no longer focused on building a career at one company. The idea of a single career is a myth. He pointed to the success of those who move from job to job without building a career in one field. In the age of flux, he pointed out, the essential skill is the ability to add new skills.

Safian was careful to point out that generation flux does not refer to any one age group. It is an ability to adapt to a world in chaos—a world that is rapidly changing. As I wrote about in my recent post on generation X, much of what we talk about in terms of traits specific to generations may instead be attributed to various phases of life in general. Safian’s understanding of generation flux resonates with this idea that a multigenerational understanding of how we work, change and adapt is perhaps more accurate than the twenty-year generations we often use. The characteristics that we assign to groups like boomers, generation X and millennials may not accurately describe how we all adapt to what is happening in the world now. I think it is a bit misleading to say that millennials have the advantage in this game. Just look around to see who is glued to their phones in public. Peruse social media sites for an idea of the range of people using, taking on and changing the way we communicate and do business—it’s not just a bunch of twentysomethings.

As HR professionals, it is important that we understand how living in the era of flux changes the way we work and manage people. This includes everything from providing adequate training on new technology to adapting to the different ways we communicate and do business. Just think of the workplace in the late 1990s—none of us were thinking of bring-your-own-device policies and we did not have to worry about the ways employees may represent us in the online world. Yet those things are a part of how we manage employees in the era of flux.

Tuesday’s keynote speaker is Kelly McGonigal, lecturer at Stanford University and author of The Upside of Stress and The Willpower Instinct. Check back for thoughts on McGonigal’s presentation and more on the California HR Conference. I will also be live tweeting from the conference, so be sure to follow @HRHammer on Twitter.