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Supporting HR Part 7: Leadership Backing

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When I Googled “What support does HR need”, Google’s search suggestions were all about what people want and need from HR professionals, rather than what the HR professionals need. I asked HR professionals about the challenges they face and the support they need. To review, here is what I found (in order of importance):

  1. Leadership backing
  2. Emotional & psychological support
  3. Respect for the value HR adds
  4. Strategic focus
  5. Resourcing
  6. Soft skills development
  7. Aligned expectations

This post is the last  of my seven-part series exploring each of these in turn from 7 (Aligned expectations) through to 1 (Leadership backing). Part 7 of the series is all about leadership backing.

“HR executives need to master the art of getting people to buy-in to their ideas and initiatives” Simon Dowling

If as a HR Professional you want to  improve engagement, increase talent attraction, or lift capability in your organisation you will need the backing and buy-in of your organisation’s senior leaders. According to Ellie McBride, General Manager of People & Purpose at Ricoh Australia,  “The ability to build trust and influence is critical to be able to win support and earn the investment required to deliver much of what we do in the HR space.” 

With the backing of leaders in your organisation and respected for the value you add to an organisation, you are more likely to be included in and expected to contribute to discussions around strategy (rather than being seen as an ‘order taker’). Similarly, with leadership backing you as an HR Professional are more likely to have access to the resources you need to get things done (such as time, financial, headcount). Leadership backing is also likely to influence the respect others in the organisation have for you and your role as a HR Professional.

I’ve already talked about how HR Professionals might go about getting  respect for the valuethey add to the business and aligning expectations. The tips included in these previous articles are also going to help you access backing from leaders in your organisations. The key things you need to do are:

  1.  Take a customer focused approach
  2. Tailor your messages with the WIFM 
  3. Identify a champion

1.   Take a customer focused approach

Taking a customer focused approach is about asking questions, lots of questions (about what your leaders want and their motivations) and not assuming that you know what your leaders want and need. And don’t forget that asking questions is of no use unless you listen and learn. What can happen when we go in to a conversation with a desire to impress, is that we often  forget to listen. For the best chance at gaining leadership backing, make time to sit with your leaders  and develop a better understanding of their world – without feeling the immediate need to offer solutions and advice.

2.   Tailor your messages with the WIFM

Asking questions and listening will now allow you to tailor your communication to consider your leader’s’ WIFM (what’s in it for Me).

Here’s a perfect example from group HR director at SEEK Meahan Callaghan: “the most common mistake is failing to put the potential benefits of an initiative – and the problem it solves – in truly commercial terms. Yes the HR executive may be trying to lift employee engagement or leadership capability but an executive team is looking for return on investment in financial terms before they can 100 per cent support something.”

3.   Identify a champion – someone influential in the organisation that’ gets it”.

Identifying a champion/s in your organisation means taking the time to build strong alliances with leaders in your organisation,  who are most likely to be  instrumental to building confidence and buy-in across the organisation. Be strategic in who you first approach with y our ideas and initiatives. If you can get your champion on board they will be likely smooth the way for your initiatives to take hold and be supported by others in your organisation.

As you might have noticed from the above, your ability to successfully gain the backing of your leaders and to “sell” an idea does not mean PUSHING your ideas. Instead, your success will come from listening and being responsive to the needs and concerns of your leaders.  You can achieve leadership backing with three key steps:

1.   Take a customer focused approach

2.   tailor your messages with the WIFM

3.   Identify a champion

If you haven’t started working on obtaining backing from your leaders, then you can’t realistically expect them to say yes to your proposals, even if your ideas and initiatives are ones that will take the organisation from mediocre to extraordinary.

This series has covered a lot of ground and I hope you found the strategies and tips useful in supporting you in the crucial role you play as an HR Professional. 

Why am I doing this?

As a Workplace Psychologist I want to support HR in the workplace because I believe that this is where real change happens – where the people are. And none of us can do it alone.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through coaching or groupwork, check out my website www.shiftconsulting.com.au or feel free to get in touch via email, phone or reach out to me on LinkedIn.

If you are interested in receiving my follow-up newsletters, click here to get on my mailing list for your HR Support Insights newsletters. Also, if you find you have similar support needs highlighted in this article, I am also offering a 20 minute quasi-coaching session on how you might get the support you need. Obligation free.

small shift – Big Change

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Hate (Social) Networking? 3 Steps to Overcome “Networking Anxiety”

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We are told that to be successful in our careers, as leaders and entrepreneurs, we need to get out there and network.

“Networking is the single most powerful marketing tactic to accelerate and sustain success for any individual or organization!”– Adam Small

You are motivated to build your career, to grow as a leader, to build your business. You have no doubt that networking can expose you to new ideas, expand your influence, and alert you to opportunities you may not otherwise have known existed. But you don’t seem to get past the discomfort of introducing yourself to people you don’t know and feeling awkward at events touted as ‘great networking opportunities’.

So you avoid attending networking events. Or if you do attend, you don’t move past the food table, avoiding all eye contact. You sit furthest away from the speaker, get busy with your phone, get a drink, leave early. If you do engage in conversations, you can’t wait to get away, avoiding any extended conversation that may take you past your comfort zone. 

The idea of networking is even more distasteful to those of us who lean more towards the introverted end of the extrovert-introvert spectrum. For us,  crowds of people we don’t know can cause butterflies to erupt in our stomachs, sweat to roll off our foreheads and a seemingly uncontrollable urge to RUN AWAY!

Sound familiar? You are not alone in hating the idea of networking. Anytime I mention the word ‘networking’, eyes roll, there are grunts of pain, even disgust. Not to mention blatant comments like “I hate networking”, “it’s so fake/sleazy”, “it’s all about self-promotion (and that’s a bad thing)”.

If only people would recognize your talent and the work you do for what it is without the need to network.

It is these negative beliefs held by many of us about networking that give it it’s bad name. But the discomfort doesn’t’ have to stop us from achieving our goals.

Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash

Don’t let fear of networking stop you from achieving your goals

Sure, there are plenty of experts telling you how to network. For example, tips from Business Insider Australia include:

  1. Leverage your existing connections
  2. You can start small
  3. Offer to help people
  4. Talk about something other than work
  5. Ask a lot of questions
  6. Review what is — and isn’t — working
  7. Follow up regularly
  8. Network all the time

Believe me, there are MANY MORE tips out there. And whilst they are all helpful, I found very little information about overcoming the discomfort and perceptions we have about networking. So it is no wonder that as aspiring leaders, HR professionals, entrepreneurs, and graduates we often avoid networking.

This was exactly the problem I faced last year after taking the plunge to freelance and build my business as a workplace psychologist. Creating a website, blogging, attending training sessions, researching, identifying target markets were all great fun for me. But then crunch time came and I could no longer avoid what the experts told me and what I knew in my heart to be true – that running a successful business requires more than a website and expertise in an area. It requires me to NETWORK. With tendencies towards introversion and a belief that networking is all about self-promotion, this was not a happy moment for me. Not one to give up, I said to myself “If I want to build this business (and I do want to give it a red hot go), and if networking is so crucial to success, I’m going to have to find a way to get comfortable with being uncomfortable”.

Good news: by leveraging research based on Psychology, networking doesn’t have to feel so excruciating

Some of us have developed the habit of viewing networking as a dirty word, a form of narcissistic self-promotion fraught with negativity. Because the thinking patterns we repeat most often are literally etched into our neural pathways, to break old thinking habits the trick is to form new neural pathways (through new ways of thinking) using cognitive reframing, habit pairing, and repetition. Below is a summary of how I shifted my attitude from “networking is a dirty word” to seeking out opportunities to connect with others in a meaningful way.

1.COGNITIVE REFRAMING  

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As a Psychologist with experience using CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), I have developed this technique with coaching clients, in conflict mediation, group facilitation, and workplace counseling. Along with other psychotherapy approaches, CBT entails the use of cognitive restructuring  or reframing which leverages the link between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to improve mental health. The main goal of cognitive reframing is to find a more helpful interpretation of events or ideas to promote a shift in thinking, which creates a shift in our emotional and behavioral response.

In my example, the first (and most important) step for me was to reframe my long-held negative beliefs about networking.

To do this I reflected on the growing research pointing to the psychological health benefits of social connections and how it is that when we have a purpose or something very important to us, we are more likely to put up with certain discomforts including social anxiety.

I worked on shifting my thinking from:

“Networking = self-promotion to get people’s business” (with all of its negative conations) to  

“Networking = Connecting intentionally with people for my mental health/resilience, to facilitate my growth and learning, and an opportunity to use two of my key strengths (asking questions and listening)”.

Okay, so I reframed networking as a not-so-evil activity that has numerous benefits that fit with my values. It still wasn’t quite enough for me to make a habit of thinking this way.  So I had to find a way to turn my newfound positive view of ‘networking’ (now known as ‘intentionally connecting’) into an automatic habit.

2. HABIT PAIRING

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After I reframed “networking’ as “Intentional Connection”, I thought about how I could create a new habit of thinking about networking in this way. This is where the concept of habit pairing comes into play. In short, habit pairing requires us to identify the habit we want to form, figure out an existing habit and link the two together. Ideally it is something that we enjoy doing, that we get short term benefits from.

In my example, for the last couple of years I have been using social media to post images related to my yearly goals (see my previous posts– How I Used Social Media to Make a New Year Habit Stick and Making Your Sticky Habit Even Stickier by Changing Just One Word

I came up with the idea to take a selfie of myself and a person I connect with, sharing the image on social media with the hashtag #intentionalconnections. 

For me, making a public commitment using social media helps me remain accountable, garners social support for my commitment to change, and helps me chart my progress. In addition, like it or not I am susceptible to the feel-good chemicals that flood my system when I get a ‘like’ or comment on social. But once is never enough to form a new habit…

3. REPETITION

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Repetition is a key component of cognitive reframing, which is true of any new skill. When I first started learning to play the guitar, I was all thumbs and made noise, not music. But with repetition I can now hold a tune and play (some) music – it’s a work in progress!

Similarly, with enough repetition, old thinking patterns will be replaced with new thinking. Remember, changing our thinking is learning a new skill in a similar way we learn a physical skill. I don’t expect to be playing guitar like Jimi Hendrix anytime soon, it will take (a lot of) practice.

What is enough practice? There are different schools of thought about how long it takes to build a new habit. James Clear explains it perfectly. Essentially, it could take anywhere from two months to twelve months to build a new habit.

Think of it this way. How many hours have you spent repeating the thought that networking is a necessary evil/wrong/ fake/sleazy? It is likely that your thinking has become automatic. The trick is to now re-train your brain to think of networking in a different way. To do that you need to identify specific thoughts that are beneficial and to deliberately think those thoughts repeatedly.

#IntentionalConnection #43

I am now up to 43 #intentionalconnections Instagram posts and so far have gotten to know people in my social circle much more deeply, learnt more about others and myself, and met some amazing new people. Thinking of networking as intentionally connecting with people is gradually becoming a new way of thinking about networking for me.

So that’s it. A simple technique to shift negative beliefs about networking:

  1. Cognitive reframing – change your thinking
  2. Habit pairing – Identify an existing habit that you enjoy and use social media to share this activity
  3. Repeat repeat repeat

Now you’re ready to start thinking about networking in a different way. The good news is that you CAN change your attitude by changing your thinking and tapping into your values and higher order goals. I would love to hear how this technique worked for you. Alternatively, I am more than happy to brainstorm some ideas to help you create a new approach to networking.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets through 1-1 coaching or groupwork feel free to get in touch via email, phone or reach out to me on LinkedIn.

You can also view a short video summary of this article on my youtube channel here.

Small Shift – Big Change

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Conflict: One Thing You Need to Know (Part 3)

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The saying “why fix it when it is not broken” is the same as saying “why buy insurance if you are not sick”. As we know, if we wait until we are sick, until when we need insurance, it is too late. Not all conflicts can be prevented, however early prevention can decrease the number of conflicts that escalate to a point of no return.

In Conflict: One Thing You Need to Know (Part 1) I used the frog metaphor to describe why conflict interventions don’t usually happen until it’s too late. Then, last week in Conflict: One Thing You Need to Know (Part 2) I identified some causes of conflict, the key cause being the concept of difference. In this last of the series, I will share with you some ideas about what to look for while the water in the conflict pot is still lukewarm, before differences reach a tipping point and spill into a destructive conflict scenario.

Conflict always starts somewhere. There are always signs that conflict is brewing, no matter how small the bubbles. Managers who know and act on these signs early can more effectively nip conflict in the bud and thereby contribute to a positive work culture, increased productivity and higher employee engagement levels (not to mention a reduction in the high costs associated with conflict escalation!). Here are some signs to look out for:

Eight Early Warning Signs of Conflict

1. Behavioural changes. When you start to see people behaving differently, you know that something must be up. Look for signs such as people withdrawing, not providing input during meetings, exaggerated politeness, or remaining silent when this is out of character for them.

2. Changes in body language. The non-verbal impact of tone and gestures (38% + 55%), accounts for 93% of the meaning of communications of feelings and attitudes (Albert Mehrabian) – so don’t ignore it! Look for things like eye rolling, sighs, turning away, not looking people in the eye.

3. Words people use. The words people use tend to become more and more emotive as conflict deepens. You might also notice the following:

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a. Blame language. “It’s Bill’s fault that we didn’t meet our target this quarter”

b. Us & Them language (and an absence of the use of “we” language)

c. All or nothing language such as “they always/never…”

d. Strange comments made which puzzle you as they seem to come out of nowhere

e. Stereotyping. For example “All you accountants are xxx”

f. Sarcasm and patronizing comments

4. Formation of cliques. This is where you will start seeing work colleagues taking sides. You might also notice certain groups going to lunch/coffee breaks together, or the same employees always seeming to team up on projects, excluding others in the workplace. The formation of cliques is usually accompanied by an increase in workplace gossip.

5. Disagreements. When you start seeing people undermining or not co-operating with each other or contradicting and bad-mouthing one another you are witnessing the signs of developing conflict.

6. Decrease in discretionary effort. People stop going above and beyond and start to watch the clock, starting no earlier and leaving no later than their agreed hours.

7. Absenteeism/ Sickness levels start to increase.

8. Complaints are on the rise.

Remember that any change for the worse such as falling productivity levels, high attrition rates, or increased customer complaints may be signs that something needs to be addressed before it gets out of hand. Ideally, you want to nip things in the bud BEFORE you start to see decreased productivity, high attrition rates and customer complaints.

If you think you have identified any of the above signs in your organisation, ensuring that issues are tackled as soon as possible is paramount to problems being successfully resolved. Contact us today to discuss how to get your organisation out of hot water and reduce conflict in the workplace.

 

Are you spending more time on ‘people issues’ than on your business?

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Are you a business owner, manager, or HR professional, looking to spend less time on troublesome “people issues” and more time in and on your core business? Do you have trouble with employee engagement, leadership capability,  infighting, non-cooperative teams, personality clashes?

Do you want to achieve organizational success by improving the performance, motivation, job satisfaction, and overall health and well-being of yourself and your employees?

If this sounds like you then call/email so we can discuss the problems you face in your business — and potential solutions.

What Has Once Been Seen Cannot be Unseen: How to bring your unconscious bias out of the closet  

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Try this thought experiment….Place yourself in a relaxed position and close your eyes. Imagine you are on a deserted island. There is warm balmy breeze lightly caressing your skin, your toes gently dig into the soft warm sand. You hear the sound of waves lightly lapping against the shore. There is a slight scent of sweet coconut lingering in the air which mingles with the salty taste of sea spray on your lips.

You feel pleasantly drowsy, heavy and warm …

  

What thoughts first came to mind? Are you picturing a man or a woman? Are they tall or short? Are you picturing a Caucasian person or someone with another cultural background? Someone young or old? What is their physique like? What is their personality like? Are they loud and assertive or quiet and mild-mannered? Now hold that thought…. My guess is that if you are anything like me, you probably pictured a man, in a suit, of Caucasian descent with an outgoing, assertive personality, able-bodied and tall. This is an example of the unconscious bias of ‘stereotyping’ at play. And being unconscious in nature, we are usually unaware that we are making assumptions about people. No wonder workplaces are struggling with gender balance, particularly in senior leadership positions (even females will tend to have this automatic response).

“It seems not only unfair, but patently absurd to choose a CEO because of height, just like it is unfair and absurd to give employees lower performance evaluations solely because they are overweight… Or to treat the same people different ways because of their clothing. Or even to call on boys more often than girls when they raise their hands in school. And yet, all of these things continuously happen, and they are but a small sampling of the hundreds of ways we make decisions every day in favor of one group, and to the detriment of others, without even realizing we’re doing it.”  From “ Blink ” by Malcolm Gladwell

However, all is not lost! Whilst ridding ourselves of certain biases can take a long time of concerted effort (and even then, we may not completely eradicate them), developing an awareness and bringing our biases to the surface doesn’t have to be that daunting. With just one simple strategy, you could easily open your eyes to your own biases so that you can then make conscious choices about your behaviour, all without attending expensive workshops or being judged for having “politically incorrect” thoughts. How do I know? In developing workshops around diversity & inclusion and unconscious bias, I discovered that I too – who believe myself to be fair, non-discriminatory, and non-judgmental – also have biases. I didn’t like what I saw…but realizing that in order to be able to sleep at night and live with myself during the day, it was important for me to practice what I preach. So following through, I’ll now share with you how to use a technique right now in this very blog post. When we’re done you’ll know how to bring awareness to your unconscious biases as a first simple, yet crucial step towards fostering a culture of inclusion.

A foolproof technique to bring unconscious bias out of the closet

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But are you ready to be wrong? Before you start diving into bringing your awareness to your unconscious biases, you need to be ready to be wrong, to test assumptions and have the stomach to admit that you (like me and all other human beings) are flawed. Why bother? To help motivate you to open yourself up to potential self-judgment, start by establishing two or three main reasons that YOU want to uncover your unconscious biases. This is just like identifying why you do other uncomfortable things (such as spending every weekend watching your child play soccer because one of your core values is family). Sure, I could list all the business reasons for encouraging diversity and inclusion in workplaces and in society in general, but you have probably already heard the business case for overcoming our biases in the workplace – So I’m not going to bore you with what you already know. Let’s do that right now: 1) Why do you want to uncover YOUR unconscious biases? Some examples of why I want to uncover my biases include:

To overcome my self-limiting beliefs so that I don’t feel limited by my own assumptions about how I SHOULD be to reach my goals. 

For example, the belief that “to be a leader I need to be an extrovert” 


So that my words and actions are congruent -  I don’t want to feel like a 
fraud and a hypocrite

So you can see that my goals are not particularly lofty (you will notice that I have not included “World Peace” on my list), but they do have meaning FOR ME. 2) Decide which biases you want to focus on After you’ve identified your reasons for uncovering your biases, figure out which biases you want to focus on. By limiting the types of biases, you should find it easier to remain focused and stay on track. Once you have mastered one, you can move onto another set of biases. Let’s do that right now: An example of a bias I want to uncover is:

Biases about gender stereotypes in the workplace

(NB: of course, assumptions do not have to just include people. You might have a bias about cats or dogs, or ways of doing something such as the way you drive to work) 3)   Notice your first thoughts The actual exercise itself is even simpler (though not necessarily easier). It is to notice the first thought that comes to mind when encountering a member of a group as identified in step 2. As I mentioned, this is very simple though not necessarily easy. To develop your ability to be aware of your thoughts in the moment, I suggest you practice Mindfulness on a regular basis as mindfulness has been shown to reduce our reliance on automatic associations by helping us slow down our thinking.

Yes, it’s that simple!

4)   Question your assumptions

Last, but certainly not least, question your assumptions.

For example “women are nurturing by nature” or “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. By questioning assumptions that have surfaced, your efforts in becoming aware are rewarded with a broader perspective, which then can help you make conscious choices about your behaviour and decisions. What I do after I have noticed my first thoughts is to ask myself:

“is that true”?

As a real live example, I was recently given a gift voucher for a spa treatment. When I arrived at the salon, the beautician who greeted me was a male. You can imagine my initial horror, my first thought being  “This is not a job for a man!” Then I asked myself “Why not?” and searched look for disconfirming evidence (such as focusing on what he did well and what other female therapists have not done so well) to derail any confirmation bias I might have. So instead of allowing my bias about job roles for males and females and refusing to be treated by him, I opened myself up to a different set of possibilities. Remember:

  • Biases are part of human nature
  • Biases impact on decisions and choices we make
  • We may not be able to eliminate biases, but we CAN minimise their impact

To sum up, bringing unconscious biases to the surface can be done in four easy steps:

1. Identify why you want to uncover your bias

2. Identify which biases do you want to focus on

3. Notice your first thoughts

4. Question your assumptions

In taking these four small simple steps toward self awareness you will be taking a giant leap towards creating a positive culture not only in the workplace but in society at large. But be careful…what has once been seen cannot be unseen. If you want to watch a short video summary of this article, visit my youtube channel here.

If you want to know more about shifting mindsets and behaviours towards a more inclusive culture? Contact me now. Still not convinced? Try the Implicit Association Test (IAT) online.

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Businesses are increasingly recognising the need to innovate so that they can navigate rapidly changing market conditions to drive change and business success. However, while many organisations SAY that they promote innovation, they often forget about the little things that can often make the biggest difference.In this post I want to share with you one simple formula for generating ideas when there is inertia, negativity or just a sense of “this is too hard” or “we’ve already thought of everything”.

The strategy is to reverse the question.

Reversing the question – what is it?

This strategy is based on Higgins’ Reversal-Dereversal technique (Higgins, J. M., 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques, The Handbook of New Ideas for Business, New York, 1994, S. 100). It is centred on the idea that innovative solutions can be easier to find if we turn the problem upside down.

Why does it work?

  1. Firstly, there is growing evidence that the human brain is essentially wired for negativity. Reversing the problem allows the brain’s natural ‘negativity bias’ to be exercised (or should I say exorcised), to make space for solution generation.
  2. Reversed questions can also create a lighter, more playful atmosphere, minimising the pressure to ‘get it right’.
  3. Reversing the question also gets people thinking about a problem from different perspectives, thus increasing the creative flow of ideas.

How does it work?

I had set myself the task of writing a blog post. But where to start? How do I make the post interesting?

I was stuck.

And then it hit me…why not practice what I preach and use the question reversal technique I’ve been using in some workshops I recently facilitated on how to encourage and inspire innovative thinking for leaders. The workshops are essentially about applying a set of tools to facilitate innovative thinking in others and to help people overcome innovation disablers. Not only did we have heaps of fun, the reversed question strategy in particular created energy and lots of laughter as well as some great ideas!

So, in writing this blog post, one of my problems was:

“How do I make the post interesting for readers?”

My first step was to REVERSE the question:

From: “How do I make this blog post really interesting for readers?”

To: “How do I make this blog post really boring for readers?”

This is what I came up with:

Then, I reversed these to identify possible solutions:

And so here it is, a hopefully interesting blog post.

Why not try the technique for yourself. This technique works really well in coming up with ideas to reduce the number emails that land in one’s inbox, a common complaint I hear across all industries as you can see on this short video on my youtube channel here.

I would love to hear about your experiences with using the question reversal technique in generating ideas and solving problems.

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