Jack Welch on HR

Those of you who follow my blogging have seen me blog about Jack Welch before. His matter of fact style, intelligence, and success have been inspirational to me. When I signed up for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conference this year, I was elated to see he was going to be the key note speaker. He did not disappoint.

Welch has been a long proponent of the HR function in organizations. He repeatedly states that the HR leader should command the same level of respect and importance in an organization as the CFO. When asked why many other CEOs don’t get it, Welch stated sternly that HR professionals need to deliver: “You gotta have the guts to make sure you’re important in the organization…get out of the picnics, birthdays, and insurance forms business and [focus on] developing people and building confidence”.

Welch started off the conversation, which was moderated by Claire Shipman author and correspondent of ABC News, stating that it is important for HR to establish trust. So how does HR build trust within the organization? According to Welch, it’s pretty simple: “listen to people, keep confidences, and tell it straight, communicate like hell, and get out of your damn cubicle and walk the floor”. Welch stated that “if [employees] think HR people are there to truly get them to grow, they will trust them.”.

I sat in the audience amazed at this man giving tough love to an audience of 10,000 human resources professionals. Welch knows how to run a business and he recognizes that having the right people in the organization is what leads to success. He also understands that it’s HR that brings the right people in, and perhaps we could do a better job of making sure they are building themselves once there. About his candid advice, Welch said “I love ya, and I want ya to win”.

I was fortunate to get the chance to shake his hand and have him sign my copy of Winning after the talk. An awesome experience indeed.

Careful What You Put in Writing!

E-mail is the predominate mode of communication these days. It’s fast, efficient, and easy. The only problem with it is that you leave behind a trail of communications that can come back to bite you.

Case in point. Politico.com’s Shenanigans blog uncovered a heated exchange between an executive assistant at lobbying firm McBee Strategic and the cantankerous office manager of Congressman Jim McDermott’s DC office, Elizabeth Becton. In the exchange, the executive assistant unleashes Becton’s furies by referring to her as “Liz”. In response to an e-mail the exec assistant began with “Hi Liz”, Becton responded with a curt “Who is Liz?”. While the McBee employee apologized profusely, Ms. Becton didn’t let up, getting ruder and meaner in further e-mails. See the full exchange of e-mails here: http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/0609/No_namecalling.html?showall.

As can often happen in today’s world, this chain of e-mails made its way to the web, via Politico.com, and they’ve posted the whole exchange. You’ll the find the McBee representative to be apologetic and polite, while Liz responds with increasing anger and contempt.

The lessons to be learned here are:
-Don’t put things in writing that you wouldn’t want to be broadcast on the Web.
-Tone and intent can be really difficult to decipher in e-mail.
-Sometimes it really is just better to pick up the phone.
-Don’t call Elizabeth Becton “Liz”.

Volunteering Takes Work, and That Leads to Work Experience

Yesterday, I participated in the 24th Annual AIDS Walk in Boston, to benefit the AIDS Action Committee (AAC). Thinking about my experience today, and having had a few conversations lately with people who didn’t have much in terms of job experience; I came to the realization that while I wasn’t getting paid for my participation in the event, I drew upon certain skills in the days leading up to it. First, I organized a team of people to walk. I recruited people from school and my personal life. Second, I had to fundraise, so I made calls and sent e-mails to my network. I also used social media like Facebook and Twitter to raise awareness for the cause and solicit donations. Thirdly, I had to motivate my team to do the same. Sure, the work involved resulted in a couple of people abandoning the team efforts, but all but a couple of people remained involved and made a nice chunk of change for the AAC.

When I was in high school, I volunteered at the City Library. I typed out cards for the card catalog (yes, there was a card catalog), organized the periodicals section, and helped patrons find reference materials. I was a Red Cross volunteer, where I learned CPR and First AID. I was a volunteer at the local historical association, where I learned historical record keeping, and computer data-entry.

The point here is, if you’re an entry level job seeker, while you may not have much in terms of actual paid work experience, you may have participated in clubs, or volunteered your time to organizations. And while you weren’t compensated, you did in fact have experiences that helped you develop various skills, that you can indeed relate to getting your first “real” job.

Good luck!