Instant People Skills: Coach Yourself & Others

Chief Blogging Officer, Social Networking?

The world is getting more complex, so skills that simplify it are more valuable than ever. Small businesses must go nuts hearing data such as Workforce Management's revelation this week that 11% of large companies now have corporate blogs, some even appointing Chief Blogging Officers (http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/25/50/77.html). Should they try to keep up and what has to give elsewhere if they do? 

This raises tons of questions. How many companies at this point even have Chief HR Officers for instance? What are the priorities - people or some poorly understood marketing or recruiting tool? More to the point, where should they do be to be successful and sustain their people through these turbulent times?

In this start-up period, while we figure out the place for Social Networking in business, we need to remember we can't do everything. There's a growing need to understand blogging and other Web 2.0 and 3.0 options - what can they do, what does it take and what are the best ways to use or not use this vast array. Can we have it in simple terms - and perhaps even more importantly, what do they replace or what do we drop to fit them in?

I just heard a marketing guru who successfully specializes in getting PR at every turn say, "I've got a blog; I have no idea why, but they say you have to have one, so I got one." He was articulate and to the point about what other things you need to do to boost PR, but here he was clearly lost - and not even touching on newer social networking alternatives.

The best advice this past week came from VP, Susan Van Klink, of Select Minds (www.SelectMinds.com) where they specialize Social Networking tools for use within companies to get employees sharing information and networking better. She advises: avoid knee-jerk reactions and watch security.

Don't ban employees from blogging and networking, but help them understand company rules still make sense - pay attention to confidentiality of information, the fact your words will live forever on the Internet (and may reflect badly on both you and the company) and don't get hooked into something you haven't thought through from a security point of view, whether individual identity or leaking company information might be the issue. In general, proceed… but watch and think first, cautiously and with small steps till you have a feel for where things are going. If you don't have time for much, let others make the mistakes while systems and approaches shake out. Look for the simpler, single, proven uses.

Best "Better Management" Blog

John Hollon, Editor-in-Chief, of Workforce Management writes one of the best blogs you can find on management. (Free registration is required, but it's not intrusive at all.) He comments with insight and dedication, identifying and suggesting alternatives for problem management styles. His job is watching employment news so he can always find items that make your hair stand on end.

John's logic and common sense make you wonder how these managers get to where they are. Recent comments about Bob Nardelli, echoing others a year before his outrageous severance package, make it obvious why that outcome was inevitable - and make you wonder why Chrysler thinks he might work out there. It's only a matter of time for guys like this. The bigger question is whether they will take down the entire company - a real possibility in this case. But, still, how do they get there to begin with? This one has to make you question the legacy of Jack Welch, Nardelli's former CEO and a GE Board that would even let him get to the level of consideration.

One problem is the immense power we accord the role of "boss" in any organization. Thousands of bosses at every level lament they can't fire anyone because of union rules, legal protection and other impediments to free-wheeling lashing out. They go through life frustrated, yet it's often with these bosses specifically that somehow everyone feels punished... and not just the weak or bad ones, but almost everyone working for them.

Bad bosses create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Most of their best employees leave because they can and they hate where they are. The boss may not be able to fire the bad ones, but finds plenty of ways to force the good to leave. The remainder tend to be exactly those the boss deserves, complains about and feels justified in persecuting and ordering about. It becomes a reinforcing downward spiral into misery, minimal effort and poor results.

Only when a company builds a culture that develops good and refuses to tolerate bad behavior will we see this change. Developing positive habits in how people are treated isn't difficult, but everyone has to make it a priority. Then the bad employees, including the bad managers, leave because they are passed over, can't get a foothold and don't want to be faced daily with the fact they don't fit.