JANUARY 2014 — PHRA — 1

New Board of Directors......................2Social Media.........................................3

Network Like a Pro.................................5The Consequence Conundrum.............6

What role do Employees, HR Professionals and Employers have in maintaining a positive work and family balancing act?

It is no secret that juggling work and family is difficult. Working parents have a lot in com-mon with circus performers. When I started my Human Resources career 16 years ago, I never knew that trying to balance work and family would be so incredibly stressful and at times unmanageable. I feel like a referee all day long between work and home life. When I first started my HR career, I was juggling more of a social life rather than having to care about things simultaneously like family health and medical benefits, saving my vacation days if my kids get sick rather than for a week at the beach and school and activity schedules. My HR career in the nutshell…graduated with my Bachelors, climbed up the corporate ladder, went to Graduate school, got married, had 2 kids and stayed home raising my kids for 3 years. It all sounds pretty typical if you ask me. Then I went back to work Full-Time and here I am today continuing to climb. So, how can employees improve their work and family life? I’m learning the answers to this question day-by-day as the cards unfold.

So far I’ve learned that not everyone has the same family responsibilities. And by everyone, I am referring to employees. There’s no one formula for every family. Each individual may have different circumstances that make the balancing act difficult. Therefore, it is important that organizations work with each employee’s unique situation to formulate a solution. HR Professionals don’t have the ability to look into a crystal ball and read the minds of their employees. I wish! Hence, it is up to the employee to communicate well with their company about his or her needs.

As a parent, my instinct is to care for my family which leaves almost no time to take care of myself. I have to remind myself to take care of ME and that it’s not realistic to accomplish everything. It’s important to eat right, exercise and get plenty of sleep because when I feel good, I will be better off when it comes time to deal with my hectic schedule. Let’s face it, when you aren’t feeling your best, you’re much more likely to feel overwhelmed. Individually, we need to decide on what’s most important and stick with it.

As for an Employer, it’s important to examine what a company expects from their employ-ees and what can be offered to help them balance work and home life. By being supportive of the work and life balance needs of your employees, you can set the scene for improved per-formance and for a group of healthier, happier and well-adjusted employees. Employers should maintain emotional fitness by assisting employees in finding and retaining the balance they deserve.

Here’s to wishing you all a very happy and healthy new year, filled with many successes, to overcome all of the juggling acts that come your way.

Wendy L. Renzi

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The Premier Human Resources Association In The RegionRex Gatto. Ph. D

Hope Vaccaro, PHR

Jeff Cermak

Mary Kohler, SPHR

Steve Korbel, Esq.

Ron Kubitz

Katherine Lebeck, PHR

Tamiko Stanley

Mike Toney, SPHR

Kristen Bell, SPHR (2014)Godfrey Bethea, PHR (2015)Columbus Brooks (2015)Kristina Conner SPHR (2016)Daniel Corkum PHR (2016)Carrie Dean, PHR (2015)Jeff Dressler (2016)Frank Duzicky SPHR (2016)Mary Grasha-Houpt, SPHR (2014)Monica Lorish (2015)Janet Manuel, PHR (2014)Pamela Nelson-Minteer, SPHR (2015)Melissa Morgan (2016)Becky Vinton SPHR (2016)

Alexis McConville - Chair

Kori Amos, PHR - Chair

Patrick Bendel - Chair

Tracey McIntyre-Holst, SPHR - Chair

Mylene Zupan, SPHR - Chair

Elizabeth Lamping

Deven K. Snyder

Donna Craig

Kristina Conner, Michael Couch, Ron Kubitz, Liz Lamping, Wendy L. Renzi, Bill Thomas

Perspectives is the official publication of the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association and is published bimonthly by the Editor. Articles for inclusion, inquires or comments can be mailed to Jay Lear, Editor, c/o One Gateway Center, 420 Fort Duquesne BLVd, Suite 1852, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 or communications@pittsburghhra.org. Please direct advertising inquiries to perspectivesads@aol.com. Any documents submitted become the property of PHRA.

The ideas expressed are those of the individual writers, not the members of board of directors of the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association, and should not be viewed as legal advice.

To hear the JANUARY 2014 edition of our President’s Message go to the PHRA’s YouTube Channel at http://youtu.be/DVZtdX1O_aA

Follow the PHRA on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

Rex Gatto, Ph. D., President, PHRAof

Dear PHRA Members, The Pittsburgh Human Resource Association (PHRA) was founded at the turn of the twen-

tieth century to serve the human resource (HR) profession and provide businesses with HR guidance. Today PHRA provides superior professional development, networking opportuni-ties, and educational resources for its members. Over 1,100 members strong, PHRA is the largest Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) chapter in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The responsibilities of the Board of Directors are to strategically align the PHRA in the community as the leading source of HR expertise and resources, and to assist in the facili-tation of regional economic growth. I am pleased to announce the 2014 Board of Directors. They are as follows:Executive Committee

Rex Gatto, Ph.D., President, President, Gatto Associates LLCHope Vaccaro, PHR, President Elect, Manager, Talent Acquisition, ANSYS Inc.Jeff Cermak, VP/Annual Conference, Manager of Operations, Gatto Associates LLC.Mary Kohler, SPHR, VP/Sponsorships, Sr. Consultant, NOVA ChemicalsSteve Korbel, Esq., VP/General Counsel, Attorney, Babst CallandRon Kubitz, VP/Membership & Diversity, Recruiting/Training Manager, Brayman

Construction CorporationKatherine Lebeck, PHR, VP/Treasurer, Senior Technical Recruiter, Lantek Tamiko L. Stanley, VP/ People Do Matter, Asst. Director, City of PittsburghMike Toney, SPHR, VP/Secretary, Manager, Paychex

New Directors for 2014Kristina Conner SPHR, HR Manager, WescoDaniel Corkum PHR, CCP, Total Compensation Analyst, Nova ChemicalsJeff Dressler, Managing Director, Coleman Search ConsultingFrank Duzicky SPHR, Director of Human Resources, Alpern RosenthalMelissa Morgan, Human Capital Consultant, ADPBecky Vinton SPHR, Sourcing Strategist Leader, Newton Consulting

Continuing Directors for 2014Kristen Bell, SPHR, ComcastGodfrey Bethea, PHR, Employment Specialist, Gateway Health PlanColumbus Brooks, GCDF, CBrooks HR Consulting, LLCCarrie Dean PHR, Sales Recruiter, ADP, Inc.Mary Grasha-Houpt SPHR, Vice President, Human Resources, VisitPittsburghMonica Lorish, Business Development / Lead Consultant, MercerJanet Manuel, PHR, Human Resource Manager, Coventry HealthcarePamela Nelson-Minteer, SPHR, Vice President of Human Resources, Fenner Dunlop

Committee ChairsCollege Relations Chair: Alexis McConville, HR Generalist, Oncology Nursing SocietyCommunications/Social Media Chair: Kori Amos, PHR, HR Manager, HRV

Conformance Verification Associates, Inc.Networking Chair: Patrick Bendel, Account Manager, Synergy StaffingEmerging Trends Chair: Tracey McIntyre-Holst, SPHR, Senior Employee Relations

Specialist, EDMCLearning and Professional Development: Mylene Zupan, SPHR, Director of HR, The

Bradley CenterAs always PHRA has many leadership development opportunities throughout the year. If

you are interested in joining a committee please contact me. I look forward to seeing all of the members at the networking events and professional development programs in 2014.

Sincerely, Liz LampingExecutive Director

JANUARY 2014 — PHRA — 3

’ve long been a fan of social media for the purposes of recruit-ing, training and corporate communications. I am not a fan of studies however, as like meteorologists there are too many and most are incorrect (sorry Ashley Dougherty I will still continue to love your forecasts). However study after study these days from the likes of Aon Hewitt, Nielsen, Mercer, Gallup and the like seem to all draw upon two conclusions:

A. Social media usage is at an all-time high within the cor-porate world.

B. Employee engagement is at an all-time low within the cor-porate world.

You know the person at your place of work, who has been there forever and still can’t figure out e-mail? Hopefully this per-son is not you but if you do not get up to speed on social media in 2014 and beyond studies show that you WILL become that person. According to Indeed.com compared to last year (2012), 2013 has shown a thirteen fold increase in jobs posted that require some sort of social media savvy. While these numbers are on the rise the number of employees feeling actively engaged within their companies are at all-time lows with studies showing anywhere from 30%-70% of employees feeling dis-engaged and generally unhappy at work.

Building employee engagement is an ongoing battle for most organizations. So knowing this is a problem and knowing that social media is now the norm rather than the exception it makes sense to view the benefits social media can bring to companies both large and small in terms of employee engagement. The benefits in my opinion are many so let us explore a few:

• Silos are for grains not people! Sadly many employees work in silos forming only small networks within organizations. An effective social media program can break down these silos and increase cross fertilization of ideas and the like.

• Organizations need to be forever learning and growing both on the corporate and individual level. Utilizing social media allows for real time sharing of best practices and “aha” moments, and also allows for quick feedback in terms of Q&A and problem solving. A by-product of this learning of course is a sense of teamwork and sharing!

• Deeply rooted cultural change/improvements can come about through social media efforts. Social media allows a com-pany to give more autonomy to employees and let them share their respective passions for the business and company. This peer to peer interaction can be more effective than a top down approach to management. Ask yourself is your corporate man-agement culture a deeply rooted top down approach? Is it work-ing?

• As a recruiter I see as plain as day that the current and next generation of employees are attracted to companies that com-municate both internally and externally in ways that they, the employees desire to communicate. Using social media as a communications piece is a great source of advantage for com-panies in terms of attracting talent.

• Trust is key in all relationships these days and the employee-employer relationship is no different. Through social

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA—PART 1

media increased trust in an organization can be fostered as well as a clearer sense of what the organization desires to achieve. This has proven to be done more effectively through conversation than direct broadcasting (preaching).

Sadly with all the benefits that social media can bring to an organi-zation many companies are still using outdated forms of communication or do not have the executive level buy-in to use social media on a broad scale. Part II of this series will focus on the barriers to adopting an effec-tive social media/engagement strategy and Part III will focus on how to set up and streamline social media operations within your company.

Social media has grown so critical to the workplace, in fact, that major universities and other educational institutions are beginning to offer cer-tificate programs for socially challenged corporate types to get up to speed. Communication is changing and if taken advantage of employee engagement should change for the better as well. Prefer not to take advantage of social media than risk becoming known as the company that still uses cassettes and eight tracks!

Ron Kubitz, r_kubitz@brayman.comRecruiting/Training Manager, Brayman Construction

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To advertise call 724-787-8718 or e-mail perspectivesads@aol.com

FOR ALL THINGS PHRA VISIT US AT PITTSBURGHHRA.ORG

Is it hard to transform yourself from a business card collector to a networking pro? Even more importantly, how do you develop these relationships into future mentors or sponsors?

Think about the last time you attended a networking event. When you left with the stack of cards in hand, did you ask yourself, what’s next? Follow these steps and make the most of your valuable time spent at networking events.

Be Prepared. Prior to your next event, review the attendee list. Make your list of who you would like to meet. Identify individuals who are already in positions you aspire to hold one day. Don’t limit yourself to others just like you.

Take Action. Seek out individuals on your list and be open to accept introductions. Make a few notes on the business card you received, especially anything personal you may share during your brief conversations.

Follow-up. Send a LinkedIn connection request and be sure to reference where you met. Set up a meeting outside of a group event such as coffee or lunch.

Once you have established a causal connection, a mentoring relationship will naturally follow. Ask questions about their career path, and they will give you good advice. People love to share sto-ries about themselves. A mentor talks with you, gives you advice and guidance when you need it. If you’re lucky, your mentor may one day become your sponsor; which is someone who speaks for you. They will promote your talents and abilities even when you are not there.

For me, one solid new connection per event is a success; you will have to define what success is to you. It has been said by many -- possibly even your mother -- who you surround yourself with, you become. Start building your network of success today!

Kristina Conner

Justifacts Credential Verification, Inc., a fore-runner in the back-ground screening industry, has expanded their list of ATS integration partners to 20 leading ATS providers.

In an ongoing effort to provide clients with the most efficient and cost effective background screening services, Justifacts recently entered into a partnership with Deverus, Inc. which includes the implementation of the Hubworks integration solution. This partner-ship expands Justifacts’ integrated solutions to 20 of the most popu-lar ATS providers and provides clients the ability to seamlessly inte-grate Justifacts employment screening services with a variety of ATS platforms, including Oracle PeopleSoft, Taleo Enterprise Edition, Kronos, Kenexa BrassRing, and more.

According to Chief Technology Officer, Douglas Beckett,”Integrating Justifacts background check and employment screening reports with these popular ATS platforms enables us to reduce turnaround time, offer cost saving efficiencies, increase secu-rity, limit data entry errors, and more. These improvements benefit not only our clients but also Justifacts; for this reason, we do not charge any fees to setup any of these configurations for our clients.”

This recent integration expands the Justifacts ATS integration capability list to include all of the following ATS providers:

• ADP VirtualEdge• Berkshire Associates (BALANCEtrak)• Decision Toolbox• EPICOR HCM (formerly Spectrum iVantage)• erecruit• First Advantage HRLogix• HealthcareSource PositionManager• HR Smart• iCIMS• Kenexa 2x BrassRing• Kenexa BHI• Kronos SaaS HR• My Staffing Pro• Newton• Oracle PeopleSoft• PeopleAnswers• SilkRoad OpenHire• Taleo Business Edition• Taleo Enterprise Edition• Tempworks SoftwareIn recent months, Justifacts has been working diligently to estab-

lish an expanded network of ATS integration partnerships. “Our first goal was to be able to readily offer these turn-key integration oppor-tunities to our current and future clients. Secondly, beyond just sim-ply having the basic integration in place, we understood that each company has different needs along with their own specific on board-ing processes. For this reason, my team developed customizable integration solutions to ensure that Justifacts has the capability to adapt our system to meet and, as much as possible, exceed our cli-ents’ expectations.” concluded Beckett.

JUSTIFACTS EXPANDS ATS INTEGRATION SOLUTIONS TO 20 ATS PROVIDERS

6 — PHRA — JANUARY 2014THE CONSEQUENCE CONUNDRUM©A PERFORMANCE CULTURE’S WORST ENEMY

In most companies, strategy is considered the domain of the busi-ness leaders and culture is typi-cally left to HR leadership to worry about. This separation of own-ership or roles causes a discon-nect that creates problems for most strategies.

The business leaders don’t instinctively anticipate and address the cultural elements that will enable or disable their strategy. And HR leaders don’t instinctively think about how their HR tools and practices can impact a strategy-enabling culture.

That disconnect often results in the company falling into what I call The Consequence Conundrum ©. This article is geared to both busi-ness leaders and HR

HR leaders to show both sides how the culture – strategy discon-nect happens and present some keys to fixing it. To begin, there are three core requirements or critical success factors for any organization’s strategy to succeed. They are Customer, Capability and Culture.

First, a strategy is all about growth (not cost reduction), and if it doesn’t focus on creating something unique and valuable to cus-tomers, there simply won’t be the growth the organization seeks. Second, a solid, customer-centric strategy is for naught if the organization doesn’t have the capabilities needed to effectively execute that strategy. Lastly, any strategy will be of limited value if the organization doesn’t have the culture required to drive and sus-tain those capabilities.

One of the key challenges for any organization is to effectively align and leverage their customer-focused strategy, related capa-bilities and supporting culture. Many organizations, however, fail to sufficiently make this alignment work and really pay off for them. Oftentimes, at the heart of that failure is The Consequence Conundrum© – Expecting X, while Rewarding Y and Tolerating Z. Expecting Everyone’s Support

All too often, organizations say all the right things and make all the right moves (initially) that suggest something is vitally important to them. Things like safety, qual-ity, innovation, customer focus, and the like. We’ve all been there. It starts with pro-claiming the mission or vision or strategy and leadership’s related commitment to something – customer satisfaction, for example. An eloquent announcement from the executive offices, slogans, tee-shirts, buttons, posters and splash screens scream the message – “customers are our top priority!” And with that parade and fan-fare comes an implied expectation that everyone will get it, embrace it and do something to demonstrate it. In short, the

organization wants and expects everyone to get on board (our X factor).

However, many organizations fail to take the next steps nec-essary for turning the mantra into movement. They seem to expect people to perform or behave in a new way, different way or better way simply because they pro-claimed it to be so. But it just doesn’t happen that easily…does it? When it comes to asking peo-ple to take their performance to a new level, or shift their energy to a different area, or change their behaviors – there needs to be con-sequences. Consequences for ful-filling the new priority, and, con-sequences for fighting it. The organization needs to drive the behaviors it wants (our Y factor), and drive out the behaviors it doesn’t want (our Z factor). Not Rewarding That Support

If customer focus or customer satisfaction is truly the top priority, then the compensation practices of the organization must align with it! Leaders can talk about their customer commitment all day long, but at the end of the day people are moved by what leaders do, not by what leaders say. If the organization wants its people to treat something as a top priority then it must be sure the incentives, both financial and non-financial, are in place to drive them that way.

For example, one company we recently met has three key per-formance indicators (KPI’s) that support their customer-focused pri-orities. In several departments, those three customer KPI’s make up 50% or more of the department’s total KPI’s. However, the short term incentive plan formula only allocates 10% weight to the com-bined customer KPI’s. So an employee in one of those depart-ments may be expected to achieve three customer related KPI’s out of six total KPI’s, but can only impact 10% of their incentive pay-

ment with all of that customer-focused effort. Where would you spend your effort – on the three customer-related priorities that drive 10% of your compensation, or on the three that drive the other 90%? Bottom line – an organization’s rewards must be consistent with the organization’s stated expectations for performance and behavior.Tolerating Non-Supportive Behaviors

Similarly, if customer focus or customer satisfaction is truly the top priority, then the organization should not tolerate perform-ance or behavior that dilutes, impairs or detracts from that priority. Too often, lead-ers turn a blind eye on someone who pas-sively or actively resists or otherwise works against their customer-focused priority, or some other priority. Many times this hap-

— Continued on page 10

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A colleague recently described to one of our clients that what he liked about competency-based talent management was that the system was so “elegant”. I thought that was a very apt description.

To me, the elegance of competency-based talent management comes from how the tool allows you to link your talent strategy to your business strategy and to align every talent decision (hire, develop, promote, deploy) with that focus. The result is a talent system that adds value because it supports and drives business results.

Here’s what we know about the elegance of properly developed and validated competency models:

• Best-in-class organizations are more likely to have defined competencies at all levels or even for select positions.

• Competencies are solid predictors of both job performance and future potential - both short and long term.

• Competency-based selection exhibits higher levels of validity, reliability and utility.

• Using competencies to increase the rate of promotion from within is a hallmark of high-performing organizations.

• Employee’s rated higher on critical competencies are signifi-cantly more productive.

• Select leadership competencies are drivers of employee engagement.

• The same set of competencies can be used to describe almost any job, anywhere in the world.

The dictionary definition of competency is “an ability to do some-thing, especially measured against a standard.” That’s not bad but a more relevant definition for our purposes would be “measurable characteristics of a person that are related to success at work”. Competencies are sets of observable behaviors, not personality traits or motives. They are knowledge, skills and abilities expressed in work behaviors that people choose to use. Not all competencies are created equal. Some are better predictors of performance and potential. Some are harder to develop than others.

Creating competency models has been described as being both an art and a science but more on the science side than some would have you believe. Using competencies in talent processes has been around since War World II so there’s a lot we know about what works and what doesn’t. Here are some basic guidelines to establishing valid, reliable competency models.

Don’t start from scratch. There are a variety of thoroughly researched and normed competency dictionaries out there. When it comes down to it, the behaviors related to success at work are the same; some dictionaries just give them different names. Work from an existing set of defined behaviors and don’t try to build your own. It’s well worth the investment.

Model the future, not the past. Competencies should describe what behaviors should drive future success for an organization, not what success looked like in the past. Direct links should be built between the organization’s strategy and the behaviors critical to driving the strategy.

Don’t just copy other’s work. Different business strategies require different organization capabilities to be successful. That means that you can’t just copy what another organization devel-oped and shoehorn it into yours. It won’t work and you will not have

the needed commitment to the competencies that comes from the validation process.

Model top-performance. Research has shown that high-per-forming, high potential employees describe success very differently than low performers. Therefore, use those High Pro’s as your sub-ject matter experts in developing your definitions of success. Otherwise, your models will describe average performance and not have any stretch to them.

Model roles and processes, not jobs and departments.Even the largest organizations should have less than a dozen or so overall competency models that match broad roles and levels. Not every position, career level and function should have unique mod-els. Build clear links between the models. Otherwise silos will be reinforced and the cross-functional movement required for suc-cessful careers will be hindered.

Align all of your talent processes. Once you know what suc-cess looks like, than every talent tool you have should be focused on increasing the organization’s capability and capacity. Most organization’s start with building competency-based selection and promotion since that has the biggest immediate impact and long-term payoff. Next is typically leadership development that involves proving feedback, coaching and targeted development plans for high potentials in mission-critical roles. Leadership Development begets succession management. Not far behind is usually a revi-sion of the Performance Management process to integrate the competencies. And so it goes.

Make the competencies come alive for every employee.Once the models are validated, they should not be locked away in HR. Managers and employees should understand the models and have the opportunity to interact with them. Build development tools. Train managers in providing coaching and feedback. Build self-service assessment and career planning tools. Train everyone behavior-based interviewing.

Finally, keep the models up to date. As the competitive pres-sures change for your organization, so should the requirements for success. Competency models should be reviewed any time your strategy is updated. The impact of applying the competencies should also be tracked to see if any continuous improvement is required.

Michael A. CouchPresident, Michael Couch & Associates Inc.

THE OF COMPETENCIES

Elegance

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Kathryn Ballas........................................Point Park UniversityStefanie Becker......................................Anderson EquipmentSara E Boone...................................Life’sWork of Western PARon Bromley.............................................Neenah EnterprisesRena S Buckley.....................................................PeopleShareMichael Chiapetta...................................................HDH GroupJennifer Clark.......................................................Thiel CollegeSabrina Ann ContiMaritza Allende CoxJeanne M Creese.........................................Township of MoonJeff D Cypher...................................................Duquesne LightTara Jenee Czekaj............................................................EDMCCami L Davis..........................................Clark Hill Thorp ReedToni DeFigio ...........................................................BEA Inc.Joseph Elmer Dicianno..........................Point Park UniversityCarol R Estok..................................................................FACETShelby June Fish........................................................MastecvhBrenda Good.........................................J.L. Nick & AssociatesRobyn Gray..............................................Sherwood Valve LLCDavid Edward GreenFederal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburghkristin henne....................................................eckert seamansLisa Herrington.....................................................Axion PowerDavid M HershbergerAmber Hoffman.........................................NOVA Chemicals InJennifer Ann Hoffmann....................................Giant Eagle IncMary Beth Keller..............................................Enterprise BankDavid Adam Kensey......................................NOVA ChemicalsSarah J Knight...........................................Cutitta ChiropracticMichele Ann Konyha........Butler County Community CollegeAshish Kumar.........................................Talencea CorporationLois Kuttesch................................................La Roche CollegeJoey Lerch...........Specialized Staffing & Industry RecruitersJohn Adam Liersemann.................................Fifth Third BankJanice Lipps.....................Molded Fiber Glass Tray CompanyMichelle H. McCully...................................................KidsVoiceJeanne McDonald.......................................Mitsubishi Electric

Power Products, Inc.Patrick McGonagleKaren Marie McGrail...........................................................fi360William J McMinn..................................Willis of PennsylvaniaJennifer Miller.................................................................PaycorMaria Morales................................Urban Settlement ServicesKelley O’Mahoney....................................................SSEA, LLCBrian C Osborne.................Justifacts Credential VerificationKirsten D Piatt..............Technosystems Service CorporationRoxanne Ransley.....................Kerotest Manufacturing Corp.Mark SaltrelliGilma Saravia............................................................U. S. SteelJeff M Sassano..........................Youtopia Wellness SolutionsMark Allen Schafer...................................Advance Auto PartsDiana K Siard.......................Pittsburgh Mercy Health SystemRobin E Smith..................................................ComponentOneDavid A Spear......................................................Ceridian HCMGena Marie Sproul..............................MPW Industrial ServiceKelli Diane Stillwell..............................................Crown CastleJudith A Tomayko..................................Benefits Network, IncPhilip M Toner.....................................................................ITxMLiz A Vincenty............................................Metro Benefits, Inc.Rachel Alyse Wachter.........Pittsburgh Mercy Health SystemMelissa Wertz................................................Fein Power ToolsChristopher White....................Kerotest Manufacturing Corp.Stephanie Elaine Wigenton..........TeleTracking TechnologiesNicole Marie Wilson........................................Reed Smith LLP

Congratulations to Chris Jones, Director of Operations for The Rhodes Group who recently became SPHR Certified.

Congratulations to all PHRA members as the PHRS offices moves to ...

One Gateway Center20 Fort Duquesne Blvd, Suite 1852

Pittsburgh, PA 15222Stop by and visit the new offices!

pens when an employee or manager is really good in their respec-tive role and has great results to show for it – but, they just aren’t “on-board” with the organization’s new direction or focus. “But they do so many other things really, really well.” Or, “but they have been with us for such a long time and are really loyal to the company.” Or, “but we can’t afford to lose them and all the historical knowl-edge and experience they have.” Sound familiar?

When it comes to trying to change aspects of an organization’s culture – whether it’s customer focus or something else – there’s no such thing as being somewhat supportive. Either an individual is on board or they aren’t. Those who aren’t need to be managed. Either the organization helps them get all the way on board, or the organi-zation helps them leave. Few things are more toxic to an organi-zation’s efforts to change or take its performance to the next level than inconsistent, or a complete lack of, accountability.

More insights on enhancing the accountability in your organi-zation will be discussed in future articles. But for now, the key point is –behavior that doesn’t align with the desired culture cannot be tolerated and must be managed. Conclusion

Culture is one of those truly enigmatic terms. Most people have a hard time defining and measuring it. As a result, they see it as something that’s too complex or vague to effectively address. That is, until a customer, competitor, investor, new leader or potential merger partner starts taking note of it. Then everyone suddenly wants to focus on it. Granted, it can be complex or vague. But at its core it boils down to this. If we expect X, we must reward for X and address anything that stands in the way of X. When those three core factors aren’t aligned, it creates mixed messages and incon-sistent outcomes.

Where does your leadership team stand? Does everyone rec-ognize the impact culture can have on your strategy’s success? Do they understand how various management and HR practices act to shape and sustain that culture? Are they building and leveraging those practices, or are they puzzled by the broader organization not being as excited, engaged or committed as they are? In sum, are they using the company’s culture to drive success, or have they created their own conundrum of consequences?

Bill Thomas, Managing PrincipalCentric Performance, LLC

THE CONSEQUENCE CONUNDRUM©A PERFORMANCE CULTURE’S WORST ENEMY

— Continued from page 6

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