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When she was the director of organizational development at a family-run auto parts manufacturer employing 3,000 workers, Amy Schuman had an odd experience.

“I remember when the 10-year-old son of the owner came to lunch at the cafeteria one day. Suddenly, you got the sense that he could be your boss,” she said in an interview with SHRM Online.

As disconcerting as it might be to run into your future supervisor while he’s still a child, HR professionals can help ease the leadership transition from one generation to the next by making…

There was an unscientific experiment conducted in the 1950’s by Candid Camera to determine the impact of group behavior on individuals. The experiment took place in an elevator in what appears to be an office building.  Without knowing they were being filmed, each subject walked into an elevator with complete strangers.

The first subject faces towards the closing door but he notices everyone else in the elevator is facing the opposite direction towards the rear. You could tell he was uncomfortable and confused. Without asking a question and within seconds, he turned 90 degrees and faced…

It is 9 am.  The secretary reports to her desk.  Waiting for her is a sealed card.   The secretary opens the envelope and it is a Valentine's card from her manager.  Having undergone sensitivity training, the manager signs it "fondly" as opposed to "lovingly."   The employee is creeped out and goes to HR.  HR talks with the manager based on a script we had prepared together.   HR asks the manager if he knows why the card is inappropriate.  He responds "no."   HR asks the manager to whom else he gave a…

When I was a teenager my parents told me to be careful about the character of my circle of friends.  Positive friends make good friends and will likely improve your quality of life and decision-making.  Negative friends, on the other hand, will have the opposite effect. Before you know it, toxic friends will craftily lead you to make poor decisions, ultimately directing you to a bad place in life.   You are eventually the product of your environment. That’s why I highly recommend you surround yourself with good, smart and honorable people.   When I was…

I could talk about their brands, their global clout, their sales growth or their stock market value. Not today. The mystical factor that distinguishes Procter & Gamble from everyone else is people. From 1837 to the present, P&G people have been the company’s sustainable success factor. To many in the consumer packaged goods industry, this isn’t an epiphany. But what is it that makes the people at P&G stand out from the rest?       1. The character of P&G can be summed up in one word – Exploration. Throughout its…

Numerous employment, labor and employee benefit laws regulate the American workplace.  Human resource professionals conduct business daily within this framework. But what if HR professionals helped shape these very laws and regulations?     Given HR’s unique knowledge and experience of implementing these laws within their organizations, wouldn’t their influence make for better HR public policy?  The answer is unequivocally YES, which is why the role of an HR Advocate is so important.   But what does being an HR ADVOCATE entail?  Consider these key elements of the job:   Activism – Engaging…

Manifestos ignite people into action. The best manifestos are so emotionally charged that their catalytic influence can endure for centuries. The Ten Commandments and the Declaration of Independence are good examples. As recently as fifty years ago, an emotional speech delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial established a clear and compelling purpose for American Civil Rights. Today, MLK's I Have a Dream is arguably the most inspiring manifesto of the 20th Century.    Though manifestos are best known for political movements, the ideals and intent of such potent texts can also move people to excel on…

OnPoint Consulting’s global study on virtual collaboration found that top performing virtual teams reported higher levels of trust than teams that were less successful, which means that trust is an essential ingredient for virtual team success. 

Despite the importance of trust to virtual collaboration it can take much longer to build trust when working from a distance because team members rarely see one another and, quite often, have never met in person.

While we typically rely on…

Several months ago, one of my favorite bloggers -- Charlie Judy, author of HR Fishbowl -- wrote a post titled "Trust? Screw that."  It's a powerful read and one I suggest you take a look at.

In the post, Charlie talks about trust and its place in the work environment.  I totally agree with him that trust in the workplace

Let’s imagine for a minute: You’re the new CEO of an established company. Its performance has been average, customer loyalty is falling and your best employees are leaving every week. The previous CEO subscribed to a command and control management style allowing for little flexibility and no room for mistakes. The employees lived under an ever-present fear of doing something wrong.

As the new CEO, how do you transform the culture of this organization? How do you turn a fearful environment into a company considered a great place to work? Here’s…