Influencer: The Power to Change Anything

Wouldn’t our jobs be easier if we had the power to influence and change anyone or anything? Well, if you would like a tool to help you do this, then you must read, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.

 

In the opening part of the book, the authors tell us the purpose of the book: “…to share the principles and skills routinely employed by a handful of brilliant and powerful change agents so that readers can expand their set of influence tools and bring about important changes in their personal lives, their families, their companies, and even their communities.”

 

As HR practitioners, we are routinely called upon to be influencers and change agents. Yet, most of us really don’t know how. As a result, we often take what the authors call, “the serenity approach.” The “serenity approach” is essentially accepting things as they are, “it is what it is.” Instead of surrendering, we should be looking for those influencers who truly have changed the world and found solutions to everyday problems, because they will teach us how to do it.  

 

Just the other day, I was listening to the BBC News and heard them describe a plant that had been developed by a group of Danish scientist that will detect unexploded landmines. Can you imagine the influence this will have in those countries where millions have died or been injured by landmines? It’s an excellent example of a group of individuals who wouldn’t, and didn’t, accept complacency.

 

Once we have decided NOT to accept things or behaviors as they are, we now must employ the tools used by master influencers. So, what are these tools?

1.  Identify the “vital behaviors.” Determine the behaviors that need to be changed.

2.  Provide “vicarious experience.” Give people the opportunity to learn from those who demonstrate the “vital behavior.”

3.  Master the six-sources of influence. They are: 1) Personal Motivation, 2) Personal Ability, 3) Social Motivation, 4) Social Ability, 5) Structural Motivation, and 6) Structural Ability.

 

As you can see, we don’t have to have a Ph.D. in psychology to become master influencers. It really only requires that we know, and use the available tools.

 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

 

I think you will agree that we loose millions of dollars everyday in lost productivity. Whether it’s employees spending their day surfing on the internet, taking extra breaks, or abusing FMLA, they are all examples of our, and the rest of the management team’s, inability to influence and change behaviors. Can you imagine the amount of money we would put on the bottom line if we could just get our employees to be more productive? Now, this is adding real value and will quickly demonstrate to Operations that we do contribute to the bottom line. In addition, it will show that we aren’t spavined. Thus, unless you have already become a master influencer, I would suggest that you pick up a copy of the book, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. Otherwise, we may find ourselves unemployed.

 

 

China’s Cheating Gymnast: A Lesson on Business Ethics

When it comes to all of the events at the Olympics, I like watching the gymnastics the most. And I was, like many people, looking forward to watching our team destroy the competition and come home with the team gold. Thus, I was very disappointed when Team China got the gold. However, now my disappointment has turned to anger on learning that the Chinese gymnast He Kexin is allegedly only 14 and should not be competing. If it proves to be true, can you imagine the embarrassment to China the host nation? And more importantly, the ridicule and embarrassment this innocent little girl will have to endure?  Will it have been worth it just for a gold medal?

 

HR professionals are often seen as “the police.” We are the ones who are frequently given officially, or unofficially, the title of CEO (Chief Ethics Officer). Therefore, we are often confronted by our leaders to get our blessing, and support, for questionable actions that may seem like a necessary evil for the sake of the organization’s survival.

 

In an earlier post, I reviewed the book Ethics 4 Everyone (Again, it is a great book for anyone looking for ethical guidance).  If you have read the book, you will remember that the authors tell us that there are two basic categories of laws: 1) “everybody oughta know” and 2) those that relate specifically to business.  And when these laws are broken, there are repercussions. In almost every case, these repercussions have disastrous consequences.

 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

 

As the Chinese gymnastic scandal, and the Enron and Arthur Anderson debacles have shown, breaking a law just isn’t worth it. We often rationalize our actions by telling ourselves that everybody else does it, or we are doing it for the good of our company, or it must be done in order for us to keep our jobs. These may seem like good reasons for vindicating our actions, but as history has shown us, these actions eventually are exposed and the aftermath is always very destructive. Thus, let’s make sure our actions are an anathema to the Chinese’s gymnastic approach and be the Michael Phelps type of winner of hard work and honesty.

Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advantage

About the Author

Professor Lawler is currently the director of the Center for Effective Organizations at USC and teaches at the USC Marshall School of Business.  He has authored or coauthored more than 43 books and his articles have been featured in numerous magazines and journals. In addition, he was named one of the country’s leading management experts by BusinessWeek magazine, and Human Resource Executive magazine deemed him one of HR’s most influential people. Moreover, Professor Lawler has appeared on Today, CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC. He is the recipient of many awards including SHRM’s Michael R. Losey award. He has also worked as a consultant to various governments and many Fortune 100 companies.

Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advantage is a must-have book for the HR professional.  In order for our organizations to be competitive, we must realize that our employees are, like the old cliché goes, “our most important assets.” Yet, we have to do more than just say this, we must implement actions that measure and show it. In other words, we must develop a strategy that will make our organization human-capital-centric. And this is why Professor Lawler’s book is essential to the HR professional. It provides us with every tool we need to make the transition to a human-capital-centric organization and a give our organization that competitive advantage. 

The book is divided into ten sections. They are as follows:

1.     Talent Matters

2.     Making the Right Management Choice

3.     Designing Organizations

4.     Managing Talent

5.     Managing Performance

6.     Information and Decision Making

7.     Reinventing HR (Yes, a total chapter written for us)

8.     Governing Corporations

9.     Leading

10.  Managing Change

As you can see from this list, Professor Lawler covers every critical aspect necessary to managing our organization’s talent. In addition, he provides us with a detailed roadmap for implementing an effective talent management program. Thus, if we were not an expert in the field of talent management before reading his book, we would be after.

 

Although every chapter is insightful with personal anecdotes from some of America’s top businesses, who are on the forefront of talent management, it is obvious that the most important chapter for us is Chapter 7: “Reinventing HR.” This chapter begins with Professor Lawler describing the HR department in most organizations as an “administrative function.”  However, in an HC-centric organization, the HR department has to move away from this role toward that of organizing and managing talent. Those HR departments that fail to take on this role will probably find their department being eliminated or powerless—not a pretty picture.

 

In the section, “Administrative Demands”, there is a story of a CEO at one company who refers to the HR function as the “BPU—the business prevention unit.” His reasoning: HR only tells him what and why he can’t do things rather than how and what he can do better within the law and regulations. I doubt the HR department at his organization is allowed to participate in many business strategy sessions. What do you think?

 

I really like the section, “What HR Should Do?”  In this section, Professor Lawler challenges us to stop using the term “business partners.” We don’t hear the people in finance and marketing referring to themselves as “business partners.”  So, why should we? Using this term as a descriptor for our department only encourages the rest of the company to consider, and emphasize, all the things that may make us seem as though we are NOT a ‘business partner.” It is better to say that we add “more value.” Yet, we just can’t say this, we have to show it. Hence, if we continue to play the role of “administrator,” we will never be seen as a department that adds value.

 

Now, the question is: “How do we add value?” The answer: we collect and analyze data. In other words, we use metrics. When it comes to conversations about strategy, the heads of finance and marketing come to the meeting with data. Thus, so should we. If we do not come with this same type of data, we probably will not have a major role, or say, in strategy formulation and implementation and thereby giving up our chance to “add value.”

 

Of all the sections, my favorite is, by far, the section, “Staffing HR.” This is because Professor Lawler presents a fictitious help-wanted add for an HR executive in a HC-centric organization. This is what it would look like:

Help Wanted

Need an HR executive who will think like a brand manager for the 200 Executive Group.

Qualifications:

–Driver of change

–Business acumen

–Excellent judgment about people

–Courageous, able to stand up to line managers

–Persuasive, but good listener

–Trusted by senior line executives

–Enabler of tough decisions

–Outstanding subject-matter-expert

 

Based on these qualifications, how many of us would get the job? It’s something we should all strive to achieve—the Executive position.

 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

 

In a 2004 Conference Board Study, 65 percent of the companies surveyed stated that talent management had become “dramatically or considerably more important” since 2001. According to a 2008 survey by “Human Resource Executive” magazine for its yearly Forecast issue, it was found that HR leaders will continue to focus on talent-management issues in the coming years.   The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics has determined that “as early as 2010 there won’t be enough workers to staff the nation’s jobs.” 

 

Based on these facts, it is evident that our success, and our organization’s success, depends on effectively managing our talent. Thus, unless you are already a guru in the field of talent management, I would  highly suggest that buy a copy of Professor Lawler’s book–our survival, as HR professionals, depends on it.