HR and Other Blogs.

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May 13, 2009

Over the last several weeks I have been following several blogs written by HR folks, Office Managers, and other such professionals. It has been a very interesting, entertaining, and enlightening experience. I've learned quite a bit has to how some professionals in those positions think. As with so many things available on the web these blogs must be taken with a "grain of salt." While I don't always agree with some of their advice or viewpoints more often than not I find myself nodding my head in total agreement. But wouldn't life be boring if we all agreed all the time as if we were all just a small cog in some gigantic machine - just say "resistance is futile" if you agree ;)

Here are two recent postings that I think are related and my thoughts on the subjects were too much to ramble on in their comments section so I wrote my own posts. Read the two postings first:

Company Culture by Clue Wagon

Asking for More Money When Asked to Do More Work by Ask a Manager

I understand the concept of company cultural and agree with Kerry at Clue Wagon that a job seeker should decide if he or she wants to work in such and such a culture.

However, in her comments section what I meant by "I do not get that and never have" is hiring managers, HR folks, recruiters, and others in the position of hiring using "cultural fit" as an excuse NOT to hire someone.

I can certainly understand and would also advocate what Kerry has said about a job seeker considering the cultural fit before accepting a position. But I think it is unethical for someone who is doing the hiring to make that decision about a candidate. Only the candidate can truly know if he or she will be comfortable in certain situations. Any assumption on the part of the hiring authority is just that - an assumption - which does not belong in the hiring process.

In the examples that Kerry has given for company cultural what I see is unprofessional behavior - a boss who swears; personal relationship drama in the workplace; staff not following through on work assignments because the manager didn't ask for their input; etc. I do not see these as issues of "company culture;" Rather I see these situations as employees acting unprofessionally; and, management not correcting the situations.

While sometimes it might be okay to bring up "company culture." For example; a fast-paced environment or tight deadlines. However, I would argue that these are not really culture. Instead I would call them "expected standards" for that organization. And, yes, they should be explained during the hiring process. In my opinion, if an recruiter or manager feels that a candidate would not be able to met those expectations it would be unprofessional to hide them under the guise of "you are not a cultural fit."

In the example given by Kerry about staff getting together for a beer after work and if the new hire doesn't socialize with them the new hire will be an "outcast." An outcast? How so? Will the current staff not talk to the person? Will they gossip about that person behind his/her back? Will they not work with the person to meet the team's goals? Sorry, I see this not as company culture; but as unprofessional behavior. I am at work to work not to socialize. If I make friends there that's great. But making friends should not be the primary reason for anyone to take a job; nor should it be a factor in the hiring authority's decision. Not only should such a comment should be off limits for the hiring person to even mention; but such outcasting (or is it casting out?) behavior should be stopped by management. (One fix would be to replace staff who exhibit such unprofessional behavior with more professional staff; and a good place to start is with the supervisors who encourage or even allow such rude behavior.)

There could also be a problem with the hiring authority asking the candidate if they feel that they would "fit in" as this can be a very touchy situation. Ask the question the wrong way and it could come across as discrimination.

This last is true in my case. Should I then be eliminated from the candidate pool because I am not seen as a "cultural fit" for the company despite having all other qualifications and relevant experience? While this might be legal - I see it as just plain wrong.

Kerry also mentioned the situation about two companies merging. Well, I have worked for companies that merged. Yes, there was some talk of "clash of cultures." But, again, I didn't see it any other way but people acting unprofessionally.

We had two offices that used to be separate competing software companies, a parent company bought both and told us "Merge - you figure out how to do it." I had the unique opportunity, as the software trainer, to work in both offices and therefore, see the behavior of the staff in both locations.

Each office had a general manager, only one would eventually be promoted to overall director of both. They both were aware of this but worked together to make the transition as smooth as possible. They had open and honest communication with each other which led to some very smart decisions. Just a small example is how they handled the issue of Good Friday. In the one location Good Friday was a holiday and the staff would expect it to continue to be a day off. The other location did not have it as a holiday and would not have welcomed it as a day off. The solution that these two managers devised was to keep it as a holiday for the one location, but give the other location a floating holiday so that both offices had an equal number of holidays. This and many other such smart decisions were reached by honest communication and professional behavior.

The programming staff were also as professional as possible. The programmers in both offices took this merger as a great opportunity to learn from each other. And they did; eventually they worked on a new software product together.

The sales staff in the other location were also very professional. I guess one could say that their salaries depended on it. Often asked by the sales reps to join them in helping to close a sale I never refused. The sales staff loved the fact that I made myself available in between training classes (even if it was for only a few minutes when my class was on a 15-minute comfort break) to help answer the more difficult questions from potential customers. I loved to help out and meet some of the possible new clients. It was a win-win for everyone because everyone acted professionally. If any of us didn't act this way I would not see it as a difference in culture but rather as unprofessional behavior.

Compare all that professional behavior to the "acting-out" behavior of the Help Desk Supervisors. Like the General Office Managers each office had their own Help Desk and Supervisor with the understanding that eventually there would only be the need for one overall Help Desk Supervisor. These two Help Desk Supervisors did just about everything they could to undermine each other; such as not retuning phone calls, referring difficult customers to the other location, not giving help for some of the software bugs on each other's software, etc. This was not a difference of company cultures; it was unprofessional, downright rude behavior. In my opinion both should have been fired!

The Help Desk staff tried to be professional; but were more often than not undermined by their own supervisors. As a manager behaves; so, too often, does his staff.

Flying back and forth between both locations and having the confidence of all involved; the Office Managers, the Help Desk Supervisors, Sales, Help Desk, and programming staff, I got to see all of this first-hand. I did not see it as a difference in company cultures - it was nothing more than professional vs. unprofessional behavior.

In another situation, years ago at a now-bankrupt electronics retailer I worked part-time three Christmas Seasons in a row. The Store Manager didn't want to hire me because he didn't think that I could sell as he expected his sales people to be "aggressive." This would have been a case of the hiring authority deciding that I would not be a good cultural fit except the Appliance and Ace (telephones, boom boxes, etc. Dept) Manager said that they were desperate for anyone to help out during the busy Christmas season.

Even as a part-timer, I sold more goods in that first season than many of the full-time employees. I earned customer loyalty with my low-key approach as many came back asking for me the next year. I really was surprised at how many customers remembered me and came looking for me!

During the second season there I gave the top-sales person a run for his money in the competition to see who could get the most customers to sign up for credit with the store. I wasn't even paying attention to the contest until the next-to-last day of the competition the credit clerk came up to me with her own application for credit. I was tied with the other guy. She told me to put my name and sales number in the salesperson field so that I could win the competition. She couldn't stand the arrogance of the top salesperson and wanted me to win instead. I could have won except the top sales person then brought in applications from his wife and her sister while the Store Manager exclude the credit clerk's application from the competition.

In the third year I stayed through the month of January as it was Scratch-and-Dent-Appliance month to clear out the warehouse. I had one contractor who would only buy from me. This contractor gave the store more appliance business that month than all other appliance sales combined. Why? Mostly, I am sure, because of the prices, but also because I approached sales in the manner in which I wanted to be treated. I don't like pushy salespeople when I shop so I didn't treat customers that way. One day the contractor came into the store and I wasn't there; the manager asked if he could help and was told "no," the contractor stated that he preferred to only work with me. The manager who told me about this encounter just didn't get it saying "for some reason he likes you."

If the managers had stuck to their attitude of me not being a "cultural fit" they would have lost out - I would not have cared as I was in it for the employee discount (I still have that 25-year-old TV, the stereo, and the breadmaker!) and to earn a few extra spending dollars; something that I could have accomplished at another store. So, I think this goes to show that what a hiring person considers to be a smart way of hiring can be working against them and they don't even know it.

In addition to the above mentioned stories I have a couple of decades experience of working with several companies across the country and around the world, as an employee and as an outside contractor, so I truly do understand "culture" in its many meanings. But often I see this phrase being misused to justify an "Us vs. Them" mentality; especially in the hiring process where it is being used by some to mean "I want to hire someone like us," even if they are doing so on a subconscious level. Don't even get me started on how the academic world screws themselves and, most importantly, their students out of a truly comprehensive education by including political philosophy in this "cultural fit."

(Maybe next I should do a small post about another misused phrase "team player." As in when a manager says so-and-so is not a team player; what he really means is so-and-so doesn't brown-nose enough. Or, perhaps, that other irritating phrase - "personality conflicts")

In summary, I believe that any reasonable, professional person will be able to adapt to whatever "company culture" that they will feel comfortable in. But, I believe it is the job seekers decision to make; not the hiring person's.

On a related note: Ask A Manager gives the following advice:

A writer asked if it is okay to ask for more money if expected to take on more work.

". . .If the latter, asking for more money isn't likely to go over well. You'll risk being seen as difficult and not particularly committed to the company or your own performance."

Read the whole post to fully understand. It is quite an interesting issue.

Here's my take on it.

While I agree with this advice on one level I also feel that if the employee doesn't ask about this up front there can be a disaster down the road. Especially in this case where the advice-seeker was hired as a secretary and is now asked to help out with IT. These are two very different job functions with very different duties, expectations, and compensation

To me this isn't a simple case of being asked to do more of the work that one was hired to do. This is really doing a different job that should have much different compensation. Without open and honest communication about what each side expects, the final outcome could be the employee feeling exploited while management views the employee as being difficult. That's a no-win situation for everyone that simple, honest, professional communication could avoid.

Far too often I have seen employees asked to do something beyond what they were originally hired (and compensated!) to do. Trying to be seen as cooperative they will just do it hoping that management appreciates the extra effort. Come review time when the employee expects a raise or at least some sort of recognition there is none because management sees that the employee did the extra work without asking for additional compensation and is now considered "difficult." Why? Because they are asking for additional compensation for work that they have "agreed" to do as they have been doing it for the last six months.

I see nothing wrong with the employee simply stating:

"Yes, I am capable of doing Y. As you know even though I was hired to do X my background is in Y and I would love to help out. Let me do this for a couple of weeks, or let me do this one project, so that you can see what I can accomplish. Then let's talk about me doing it permanently."

I think something like this sets the expectations with management that this will not be a new job duty without discussing it further while at the same time it demonstrates that the employee is very flexible with taking on additional responsibility.

A manager who doesn't respond with a "that sounds good, let's talk about it" is really someone who does not have what it takes to be a competent manager.

With a good manager this issue would not have to be addressed by the employee as the good manager would have already initiated such a conversation. Or even better, the good manager would have mentioned before hiring this person that "we are hiring you to do X; but with your background in Y we might have a some need for that in the future. We'll talk about it then."

There is another issue at work here in that management might see this person as just a quick "fill in" with no intention of really considering this "secretary" for an IT position. Employees, by bringing to management's attention that they are skilled/experienced/trained for such a role, show that they are worth such consideration.. In short, free work is considered of lesser value that compensated work. If you do the work for free management might value it less and hire a "real" IT person when it becomes a full time position.

Again, let me state that I agree with Ask-a-Manager on this if it really is a simple issue of doing a little more of what one was hired to do. An employee who "objects" to every new job duty does indeed run the risk of being seen as difficult; and rightly so. But competent managers will be able to tell the difference between a difficult employee and one who raises a legitimate issue.

But, then again, perhaps I am wrong in thinking that this doesn't fall outside what some might consider "company culture." I would see this as professional behavior while others might simple see it as an employee making trouble because he is not a "cultural fit."

What others have said about this posting:

There is no set up for comments yet. But you can email (send to: nooriginalthought*at*earthlink*dot*net); just be civil. Let me know if the email is to be added to the posting here. Be sure to mention which posting and provide the URL for any links that you want included. All comments are posted as anonymous unless you request otherwise. Thanks!

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