Sharlyn J. Lauby's Blog, page 30

Purn ogether Your Career MixtapesT hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I’m a tea drinker. I don’t hate coffee. I just like tea better. As such, I am constantly buying new teas to try. One of my recent purchases was Soderblandning, a blended tea from Stockholm, Sweden. The tea has an interesting story. It was created in 1979 by Swedish tea shop owner Vernon Mauris. He was preparing a tea blend when an extra ingredient accidently fell into the mixture. Not wanting to throw the tea away, Mauris decided to try to sell it and called it “mistake tea”. Later it was renamed Soderblandning after a local festival. 

Mauris’ “mistake” has ultimately become one of the tea shop’s most popular teas. And I read somewhere that it’s served at the Nobel Prize award banquet hosted by the Swedish Royal Family. 

It made me wonder – as I was staring at this little tea tin – how do we react to our mistakes? And are there ways for us to consider turning our mistakes into something better? 

Understand what mistake means. The definition of mistake means “to understand wrongly, misinterpret, or estimate incorrectly”.  Using this definition, an example of a mistake could be “I made a mistake and put extra bacon on the sandwich.” Or “I estimated that 75% of employees would respond to the survey. The reality is 87% completed the survey.” It’s important for us to remember that all mistakes are not bad. 

Get comfortable with making mistakes. None of us are perfect. We’re going to make mistakes. When we’re learning something new, we’re going to make a lot of mistakes. When you’re working on something, think about the different mistakes that could happen. If they don’t, then great! But if they do, then you had already considered this could happen and possibly even thought of some effective ways to respond. 

Hold yourself accountable. If you make a mistake, admit it. First, admit it to yourself. Then forgive yourself so you can focus on next steps. If we use the sandwich example above, if you accidently put too much bacon on someone’s sandwich, you might say “Okay, I won’t do that again next time.” Or “Darn, now I have less bacon for my sandwich.” Or maybe “Let me make some more bacon so I have plenty for all the sandwiches.” Admit the mistake, then move forward.

Be prepared to discuss it with others. After you hold yourself accountable, it’s time to manage the mistake with others. If we use the survey example above, we might have to inform others of the increased participation and suggest some additional actions. Like “I didn’t anticipate survey participation to be this strong. I think we need to keep the window for accepting feedback open a couple extra days.” Not acknowledging the mistake could possibly cut the survey off early and frustrate employees. 

Do a debrief. Regular readers of HR Bartender know I’m a fan of the two-question debrief. This is a perfect time to ask yourself: 1) What did I do well? And 2) What would I do differently next time? Even when a mistake happened, think about what things did go well because you want to continue doing them AND THEN figure out what you’d like to do differently next time.    

Please notice I haven’t spent any time talking about things that are bad or wrong. Yes, sometimes mistakes happen that are bad and wrong. We can apply the same principles. Realize a mistake was made. Admit it. Come up with solutions to mitigate it. Debrief so it doesn’t happen again. 

Often what makes mistakes bad or worse is when we refuse to admit they happened. For that reason, we don’t want to talk about them or come up with any solutions to change the situation. Because that would mean we have to say we made a mistake. Maybe instead of trying to hide our mistakes, we need to openly share them … who knows, they could turn into our next marvelous thing.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Orlando, FL

The post Turn Your Mistakes Into Marvelous Things – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

Turn Your Mistakes Into Marvelous Things –

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I’m a tea drinker. I don’t hate coffee. I just like tea better. As such, I am constantly buying new teas to try. One of my recent purchases was Soderblandning, a blended tea from Stockholm, Sweden. The tea has an interesting story. It was created in 1979 by Swedish tea shop owner Vernon Mauris. He was preparing a tea blend when an extra ingredient accidently fell into the mixture. Not wanting to throw the tea away, Mauris decided to try to sell it and called it “mistake tea”. Later it was renamed Soderblandning after a local festival. 

Mauris’ “mistake” has ultimately become one of the tea shop’s most popular teas. And I read somewhere that it’s served at the Nobel Prize award banquet hosted by the Swedish Royal Family. 

It made me wonder – as I was staring at this little tea tin – how do we react to our mistakes? And are there ways for us to consider turning our mistakes into something better? 

Understand what mistake means. The definition of mistake means “to understand wrongly, misinterpret, or estimate incorrectly”.  Using this definition, an example of a mistake could be “I made a mistake and put extra bacon on the sandwich.” Or “I estimated that 75% of employees would respond to the survey. The reality is 87% completed the survey.” It’s important for us to remember that all mistakes are not bad. 

Get comfortable with making mistakes. None of us are perfect. We’re going to make mistakes. When we’re learning something new, we’re going to make a lot of mistakes. When you’re working on something, think about the different mistakes that could happen. If they don’t, then great! But if they do, then you had already considered this could happen and possibly even thought of some effective ways to respond. 

Hold yourself accountable. If you make a mistake, admit it. First, admit it to yourself. Then forgive yourself so you can focus on next steps. If we use the sandwich example above, if you accidently put too much bacon on someone’s sandwich, you might say “Okay, I won’t do that again next time.” Or “Darn, now I have less bacon for my sandwich.” Or maybe “Let me make some more bacon so I have plenty for all the sandwiches.” Admit the mistake, then move forward.

Be prepared to discuss it with others. After you hold yourself accountable, it’s time to manage the mistake with others. If we use the survey example above, we might have to inform others of the increased participation and suggest some additional actions. Like “I didn’t anticipate survey participation to be this strong. I think we need to keep the window for accepting feedback open a couple extra days.” Not acknowledging the mistake could possibly cut the survey off early and frustrate employees. 

Do a debrief. Regular readers of HR Bartender know I’m a fan of the two-question debrief. This is a perfect time to ask yourself: 1) What did I do well? And 2) What would I do differently next time? Even when a mistake happened, think about what things did go well because you want to continue doing them AND THEN figure out what you’d like to do differently next time.    

Please notice I haven’t spent any time talking about things that are bad or wrong. Yes, sometimes mistakes happen that are bad and wrong. We can apply the same principles. Realize a mistake was made. Admit it. Come up with solutions to mitigate it. Debrief so it doesn’t happen again. 

Often what makes mistakes bad or worse is when we refuse to admit they happened. For that reason, we don’t want to talk about them or come up with any solutions to change the situation. Because that would mean we have to say we made a mistake. Maybe instead of trying to hide our mistakes, we need to openly share them … who knows, they could turn into our next marvelous thing.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Orlando, FL

The post Turn Your Mistakes Into Marvelous Things – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

Turn Your Mistakes Into Marvelous Things – hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I’m a tea drinker. I don’t hate coffee. I just like tea better. As such, I am constantly buying new teas to try. One of my recent purchases was Soderblandning, a blended tea from Stockholm, Sweden. The tea has an interesting story. It was created in 1979 by Swedish tea shop owner Vernon Mauris. He was preparing a tea blend when an extra ingredient accidently fell into the mixture. Not wanting to throw the tea away, Mauris decided to try to sell it and called it “mistake tea”. Later it was renamed Soderblandning after a local festival. 

Mauris’ “mistake” has ultimately become one of the tea shop’s most popular teas. And I read somewhere that it’s served at the Nobel Prize award banquet hosted by the Swedish Royal Family. 

It made me wonder – as I was staring at this little tea tin – how do we react to our mistakes? And are there ways for us to consider turning our mistakes into something better? 

Understand what mistake means. The definition of mistake means “to understand wrongly, misinterpret, or estimate incorrectly”.  Using this definition, an example of a mistake could be “I made a mistake and put extra bacon on the sandwich.” Or “I estimated that 75% of employees would respond to the survey. The reality is 87% completed the survey.” It’s important for us to remember that all mistakes are not bad. 

Get comfortable with making mistakes. None of us are perfect. We’re going to make mistakes. When we’re learning something new, we’re going to make a lot of mistakes. When you’re working on something, think about the different mistakes that could happen. If they don’t, then great! But if they do, then you had already considered this could happen and possibly even thought of some effective ways to respond. 

Hold yourself accountable. If you make a mistake, admit it. First, admit it to yourself. Then forgive yourself so you can focus on next steps. If we use the sandwich example above, if you accidently put too much bacon on someone’s sandwich, you might say “Okay, I won’t do that again next time.” Or “Darn, now I have less bacon for my sandwich.” Or maybe “Let me make some more bacon so I have plenty for all the sandwiches.” Admit the mistake, then move forward.

Be prepared to discuss it with others. After you hold yourself accountable, it’s time to manage the mistake with others. If we use the survey example above, we might have to inform others of the increased participation and suggest some additional actions. Like “I didn’t anticipate survey participation to be this strong. I think we need to keep the window for accepting feedback open a couple extra days.” Not acknowledging the mistake could possibly cut the survey off early and frustrate employees. 

Do a debrief. Regular readers of HR Bartender know I’m a fan of the two-question debrief. This is a perfect time to ask yourself: 1) What did I do well? And 2) What would I do differently next time? Even when a mistake happened, think about what things did go well because you want to continue doing them AND THEN figure out what you’d like to do differently next time.    

Please notice I haven’t spent any time talking about things that are bad or wrong. Yes, sometimes mistakes happen that are bad and wrong. We can apply the same principles. Realize a mistake was made. Admit it. Come up with solutions to mitigate it. Debrief so it doesn’t happen again. 

Often what makes mistakes bad or worse is when we refuse to admit they happened. For that reason, we don’t want to talk about them or come up with any solutions to change the situation. Because that would mean we have to say we made a mistake. Maybe instead of trying to hide our mistakes, we need to openly share them … who knows, they could turn into our next marvelous thing.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Orlando, FL

The post Turn Your Mistakes Into Marvelous Things – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

Turn Your Mistakes Into Marvelous Things – hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I’m a tea drinker. I don’t hate coffee. I just like tea better. As such, I am constantly buying new teas to try. One of my recent purchases was Soderblandning, a blended tea from Stockholm, Sweden. The tea has an interesting story. It was created in 1979 by Swedish tea shop owner Vernon Mauris. He was preparing a tea blend when an extra ingredient accidently fell into the mixture. Not wanting to throw the tea away, Mauris decided to try to sell it and called it “mistake tea”. Later it was renamed Soderblandning after a local festival. 

Mauris’ “mistake” has ultimately become one of the tea shop’s most popular teas. And I read somewhere that it’s served at the Nobel Prize award banquet hosted by the Swedish Royal Family. 

It made me wonder – as I was staring at this little tea tin – how do we react to our mistakes? And are there ways for us to consider turning our mistakes into something better? 

Understand what mistake means. The definition of mistake means “to understand wrongly, misinterpret, or estimate incorrectly”.  Using this definition, an example of a mistake could be “I made a mistake and put extra bacon on the sandwich.” Or “I estimated that 75% of employees would respond to the survey. The reality is 87% completed the survey.” It’s important for us to remember that all mistakes are not bad. 

Get comfortable with making mistakes. None of us are perfect. We’re going to make mistakes. When we’re learning something new, we’re going to make a lot of mistakes. When you’re working on something, think about the different mistakes that could happen. If they don’t, then great! But if they do, then you had already considered this could happen and possibly even thought of some effective ways to respond. 

Hold yourself accountable. If you make a mistake, admit it. First, admit it to yourself. Then forgive yourself so you can focus on next steps. If we use the sandwich example above, if you accidently put too much bacon on someone’s sandwich, you might say “Okay, I won’t do that again next time.” Or “Darn, now I have less bacon for my sandwich.” Or maybe “Let me make some more bacon so I have plenty for all the sandwiches.” Admit the mistake, then move forward.

Be prepared to discuss it with others. After you hold yourself accountable, it’s time to manage the mistake with others. If we use the survey example above, we might have to inform others of the increased participation and suggest some additional actions. Like “I didn’t anticipate survey participation to be this strong. I think we need to keep the window for accepting feedback open a couple extra days.” Not acknowledging the mistake could possibly cut the survey off early and frustrate employees. 

Do a debrief. Regular readers of HR Bartender know I’m a fan of the two-question debrief. This is a perfect time to ask yourself: 1) What did I do well? And 2) What would I do differently next time? Even when a mistake happened, think about what things did go well because you want to continue doing them AND THEN figure out what you’d like to do differently next time.    

Please notice I haven’t spent any time talking about things that are bad or wrong. Yes, sometimes mistakes happen that are bad and wrong. We can apply the same principles. Realize a mistake was made. Admit it. Come up with solutions to mitigate it. Debrief so it doesn’t happen again. 

Often what makes mistakes bad or worse is when we refuse to admit they happened. For that reason, we don’t want to talk about them or come up with any solutions to change the situation. Because that would mean we have to say we made a mistake. Maybe instead of trying to hide our mistakes, we need to openly share them … who knows, they could turn into our next marvelous thing.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Orlando, FL

The post Turn Your Mistakes Into Marvelous Things – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

Emploo Supporning Is an Essential Business Activity derHow to Support Employees During Times of Conflict –– hr bartender hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

A while ago, I published an article related to how organizations can save money. I hope you’ll check it out when you have a moment. Sometimes one of the first budgets to get cut when times are tough is training. In my experience, when that happens, sales and service decline and managers complain that the reason they can’t meet their goals is because employees aren’t trained. Sound familiar?

I know you’re thinking the same thing I am. Well of course employees aren’t trained. They didn’t get the proper training because the company cut the budget. Sadly, the company created the situation. And in many cases, they just don’t want to admit it. 

The reason I wanted to bring this up is because I was recently on a conference call where someone said that organizations are reluctant to implement training initiatives because they don’t want to train employees and then have them leave. This is the same principle as cutting the training budget. It reminds me of that well-worn cliché “What if I train employees and they leave? Well, what if you don’t and they stay?”

Basic employee training – the kind of training that employees need to do their jobs – isn’t a luxury item. If you cut it from the budget, you’ll pay for it somewhere else. If employees don’t feel that the company supports them by providing the training and tools to do the job, they will go somewhere else. Basic employee training – again, the kind of training that employees need to do their jobs – isn’t a carrot to dangle in front of someone and say, “I’ll tell you how to do your job if you promise to stay.”

Now, that being said, there are training topics that organizations might be able to cut if needed. Maybe training sessions that are considered “optional” and were offered as an enhanced learning experience. It’s possible the company has found the same topics on sites like LinkedIn Learning, which many of us can access for free with a library card. 

While I believe that training is important, I do understand that training budgets need regular evaluation. But the notion that companies aren’t providing essential skills to employees because they’re concerned they might leave … seems very short-sighted and not very business focused. 

There’s one other suggestion I want to make when it comes to employees and training. This has to do with managers. 

If organizations cut the training budget, the responsibility for employee training falls to the manager. Are they prepared to take on the task? Meaning do they know how to train people?If the organization decides to reduce classroom training and rely more on OJT (on-the-job) learning, do managers know how to build those types of activities into their departments?If the organization decides to eliminate some of the enhanced learning opportunities because there are outside resources that can offer the same for free, do managers know how to encourage employees to use them?And finally, do managers know how to evaluate their training needs so they can ask for help if they need it?

Organizations need to remember that these “cut the training budget” decisions have consequences for their managers. And if managers haven’t been trained, then it’s only making a bad situation worse. Organizations can make changes to their training offerings – including cutting some programs – when the right infrastructure is in place. That includes having trained managers who know what to do. 

Train employees so they can do their jobs. Train managers so they can support employees. Make no mistake, employee training is essential for business success.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the SHRM Annual Conference in Orlando, FL

The post Employee Training Is an Essential Business Activity – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

Employee Training Is an Essential Business Activity – hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

A while ago, I published an article related to how organizations can save money. I hope you’ll check it out when you have a moment. Sometimes one of the first budgets to get cut when times are tough is training. In my experience, when that happens, sales and service decline and managers complain that the reason they can’t meet their goals is because employees aren’t trained. Sound familiar?

I know you’re thinking the same thing I am. Well of course employees aren’t trained. They didn’t get the proper training because the company cut the budget. Sadly, the company created the situation. And in many cases, they just don’t want to admit it. 

The reason I wanted to bring this up is because I was recently on a conference call where someone said that organizations are reluctant to implement training initiatives because they don’t want to train employees and then have them leave. This is the same principle as cutting the training budget. It reminds me of that well-worn cliché “What if I train employees and they leave? Well, what if you don’t and they stay?”

Basic employee training – the kind of training that employees need to do their jobs – isn’t a luxury item. If you cut it from the budget, you’ll pay for it somewhere else. If employees don’t feel that the company supports them by providing the training and tools to do the job, they will go somewhere else. Basic employee training – again, the kind of training that employees need to do their jobs – isn’t a carrot to dangle in front of someone and say, “I’ll tell you how to do your job if you promise to stay.”

Now, that being said, there are training topics that organizations might be able to cut if needed. Maybe training sessions that are considered “optional” and were offered as an enhanced learning experience. It’s possible the company has found the same topics on sites like LinkedIn Learning, which many of us can access for free with a library card. 

While I believe that training is important, I do understand that training budgets need regular evaluation. But the notion that companies aren’t providing essential skills to employees because they’re concerned they might leave … seems very short-sighted and not very business focused. 

There’s one other suggestion I want to make when it comes to employees and training. This has to do with managers. 

If organizations cut the training budget, the responsibility for employee training falls to the manager. Are they prepared to take on the task? Meaning do they know how to train people?If the organization decides to reduce classroom training and rely more on OJT (on-the-job) learning, do managers know how to build those types of activities into their departments?If the organization decides to eliminate some of the enhanced learning opportunities because there are outside resources that can offer the same for free, do managers know how to encourage employees to use them?And finally, do managers know how to evaluate their training needs so they can ask for help if they need it?

Organizations need to remember that these “cut the training budget” decisions have consequences for their managers. And if managers haven’t been trained, then it’s only making a bad situation worse. Organizations can make changes to their training offerings – including cutting some programs – when the right infrastructure is in place. That includes having trained managers who know what to do. 

Train employees so they can do their jobs. Train managers so they can support employees. Make no mistake, employee training is essential for business success.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the SHRM Annual Conference in Orlando, FL

The post Employee Training Is an Essential Business Activity – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

Emploo Supporning Is an Essential Business Activity derHow to Support Employees During Times of Conflict – hr bartender hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

(Editor’s Note: A huge thank you to  Carrie Cherveny, senior vice president of strategic client solutions at HUB International , and  Eric Peterson MSOD, an educator and speaker on inclusion and diversity  for their help with this article. I was looking for resources and asked for some assistance which was very much appreciated.)

Over the past week, a war has started in Israel and Gaza. And there is still a war going on in Ukraine. Today’s article isn’t to talk about how these wars started and what’s currently happening. I want to take a moment to talk about employees and their needs during conflict. 

Our workplaces are diverse. We have individuals of all religions, including non-religious believers, in our workforce. And even if someone doesn’t speak about their beliefs, it doesn’t mean they don’t have them. It’s possible organizations have employees with family in a war zone or close to a war zone. Employees might be worried, distracted, and possibly angry about what’s going on. 

Employees might be wondering if there’s something they can do to help. So, I wanted to share some resources that could be helpful. Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list. 

INTERNAL PROGRAMS

If your organization has an employee assistance program (EAP), wellbeing programs, or mental health benefits, employees might want to utilize those programs. HR departments should be regularly reminding employees about these benefits because employees might be too conflicted to come to HR and ask about how to use them. 

In addition to internal programs, organizations need to be aware that employees might encounter workplace conflict and harassment. Alex Alonso, chief knowledge officer at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), wrote a book titled “Talking Taboo: Making the Most of Polarizing Discussions at Work” that might be insightful and helpful at this time. 

Speaking of SHRM, if you’re a member, you have access to Express Requests. This is a section of the SHRM website where their knowledge advisors curate information about a specific subject. SHRM does have an express request available on the Israel – Hamas War. Be sure to check it out.

Also, Eric B. Meyer, an employment attorney with the firm of Fisher Broyles, published an article on “5 Fantastic Resources to Help Your Business Address Antisemitism in the Workplace”. Eric has been writing about how the events in Israel might impact the workplace, so if you’re not already following his work, check out his blog “The Employer Handbook”. 

HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS

Several community- and faith-based organizations have indicated that they will be trying to help the victims of the attacks. Time published an article titled “How to Help Victims of the Israel – Hamas War” that includes a list of organizations offering support including the Alliance for Middle East Peace, The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, The Red Cross, and Save the Children.

It’s also possible that your local community- and faith-based groups are trying to help as well. For instance, your local synagogue, Jewish Community Center, mosque, Islamic Community Center, and / or church.

One more thing. There’s a lot of information being circulated via the internet and social media. I’ve already seen misinformation being shared and I’m sure you have too. Now is a good time to remind ourselves that “Media Literacy is a Business Competency” and be alert to online information. This is one more way that we can be supportive during this time of conflict.

As a human resources professional, I know that sometimes employees are reluctant to share that they’re hurting. And when I say employees, I mean employees at every level. Sometimes an executive might feel they have to “stay strong” for the team. If you know of a resource that would be helpful to the HR community during this time of conflict, please share it in the comments. Having a list of resources available can be helpful. You don’t have to wait until someone asks. Just bookmark the page in case you need it.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while at the Wynwood Art District in Miami, FL

The post How to Support Employees During Times of Conflict – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

Turn Your Mistakes Into Marvelous Things – hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

(Editor’s Note: A huge thank you to  Carrie Cherveny, senior vice president of strategic client solutions at HUB International , and  Eric Peterson MSOD, an educator and speaker on inclusion and diversity  for their help with this article. I was looking for resources and asked for some assistance which was very much appreciated.)

Over the past week, a war has started in Israel and Gaza. And there is still a war going on in Ukraine. Today’s article isn’t to talk about how these wars started and what’s currently happening. I want to take a moment to talk about employees and their needs during conflict. 

Our workplaces are diverse. We have individuals of all religions, including non-religious believers, in our workforce. And even if someone doesn’t speak about their beliefs, it doesn’t mean they don’t have them. It’s possible organizations have employees with family in a war zone or close to a war zone. Employees might be worried, distracted, and possibly angry about what’s going on. 

Employees might be wondering if there’s something they can do to help. So, I wanted to share some resources that could be helpful. Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list. 

INTERNAL PROGRAMS

If your organization has an employee assistance program (EAP), wellbeing programs, or mental health benefits, employees might want to utilize those programs. HR departments should be regularly reminding employees about these benefits because employees might be too conflicted to come to HR and ask about how to use them. 

In addition to internal programs, organizations need to be aware that employees might encounter workplace conflict and harassment. Alex Alonso, chief knowledge officer at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), wrote a book titled “Talking Taboo: Making the Most of Polarizing Discussions at Work” that might be insightful and helpful at this time. 

Speaking of SHRM, if you’re a member, you have access to Express Requests. This is a section of the SHRM website where their knowledge advisors curate information about a specific subject. SHRM does have an express request available on the Israel – Hamas War. Be sure to check it out.

Also, Eric B. Meyer, an employment attorney with the firm of Fisher Broyles, published an article on “5 Fantastic Resources to Help Your Business Address Antisemitism in the Workplace”. Eric has been writing about how the events in Israel might impact the workplace, so if you’re not already following his work, check out his blog “The Employer Handbook”. 

HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS

Several community- and faith-based organizations have indicated that they will be trying to help the victims of the attacks. Time published an article titled “How to Help Victims of the Israel – Hamas War” that includes a list of organizations offering support including the Alliance for Middle East Peace, The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, The Red Cross, and Save the Children.

It’s also possible that your local community- and faith-based groups are trying to help as well. For instance, your local synagogue, Jewish Community Center, mosque, Islamic Community Center, and / or church.

One more thing. There’s a lot of information being circulated via the internet and social media. I’ve already seen misinformation being shared and I’m sure you have too. Now is a good time to remind ourselves that “Media Literacy is a Business Competency” and be alert to online information. This is one more way that we can be supportive during this time of conflict.

As a human resources professional, I know that sometimes employees are reluctant to share that they’re hurting. And when I say employees, I mean employees at every level. Sometimes an executive might feel they have to “stay strong” for the team. If you know of a resource that would be helpful to the HR community during this time of conflict, please share it in the comments. Having a list of resources available can be helpful. You don’t have to wait until someone asks. Just bookmark the page in case you need it.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while at the Wynwood Art District in Miami, FL

The post How to Support Employees During Times of Conflict – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

How to Support Employees During Times of Conflict – hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

(Editor’s Note: A huge thank you to  Carrie Cherveny, senior vice president of strategic client solutions at HUB International , and  Eric Peterson MSOD, an educator and speaker on inclusion and diversity  for their help with this article. I was looking for resources and asked for some assistance which was very much appreciated.)

Over the past week, a war has started in Israel and Gaza. And there is still a war going on in Ukraine. Today’s article isn’t to talk about how these wars started and what’s currently happening. I want to take a moment to talk about employees and their needs during conflict. 

Our workplaces are diverse. We have individuals of all religions, including non-religious believers, in our workforce. And even if someone doesn’t speak about their beliefs, it doesn’t mean they don’t have them. It’s possible organizations have employees with family in a war zone or close to a war zone. Employees might be worried, distracted, and possibly angry about what’s going on. 

Employees might be wondering if there’s something they can do to help. So, I wanted to share some resources that could be helpful. Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list. 

INTERNAL PROGRAMS

If your organization has an employee assistance program (EAP), wellbeing programs, or mental health benefits, employees might want to utilize those programs. HR departments should be regularly reminding employees about these benefits because employees might be too conflicted to come to HR and ask about how to use them. 

In addition to internal programs, organizations need to be aware that employees might encounter workplace conflict and harassment. Alex Alonso, chief knowledge officer at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), wrote a book titled “Talking Taboo: Making the Most of Polarizing Discussions at Work” that might be insightful and helpful at this time. 

Speaking of SHRM, if you’re a member, you have access to Express Requests. This is a section of the SHRM website where their knowledge advisors curate information about a specific subject. SHRM does have an express request available on the Israel – Hamas War. Be sure to check it out.

Also, Eric B. Meyer, an employment attorney with the firm of Fisher Broyles, published an article on “5 Fantastic Resources to Help Your Business Address Antisemitism in the Workplace”. Eric has been writing about how the events in Israel might impact the workplace, so if you’re not already following his work, check out his blog “The Employer Handbook”. 

HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS

Several community- and faith-based organizations have indicated that they will be trying to help the victims of the attacks. Time published an article titled “How to Help Victims of the Israel – Hamas War” that includes a list of organizations offering support including the Alliance for Middle East Peace, The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, The Red Cross, and Save the Children.

It’s also possible that your local community- and faith-based groups are trying to help as well. For instance, your local synagogue, Jewish Community Center, mosque, Islamic Community Center, and / or church.

One more thing. There’s a lot of information being circulated via the internet and social media. I’ve already seen misinformation being shared and I’m sure you have too. Now is a good time to remind ourselves that “Media Literacy is a Business Competency” and be alert to online information. This is one more way that we can be supportive during this time of conflict.

As a human resources professional, I know that sometimes employees are reluctant to share that they’re hurting. And when I say employees, I mean employees at every level. Sometimes an executive might feel they have to “stay strong” for the team. If you know of a resource that would be helpful to the HR community during this time of conflict, please share it in the comments. Having a list of resources available can be helpful. You don’t have to wait until someone asks. Just bookmark the page in case you need it.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while at the Wynwood Art District in Miami, FL

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Knowing What Introvert and Extrovert Mean – hr bartender

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Today’s article is about two definitions. 

Introvert means a person who prefers calm environments, limits social engagement, or embraces a greater than average preference for solitude . I’ve always thought of an introvert as someone who gets their energy from being quiet or having time to themselves.  

Extrovert means having a disposition that is energized through social engagement and languishes in solitude . So in contrast to introverts, extroverts get their energy from being with people in teams or on group activities. 

The reason I’m bringing up extroverts and introverts is because I recently participated in a meeting where someone got these definitions wrong. And on top of that, they implied that being an extrovert is better than being an introvert because you have to be outgoing and gregarious in order to be successful. 

I believe we need to be careful when attaching labels to people, even labels like extrovert and introvert. Because the truth is we’re a little bit of both. We might find that we gravitate toward one or the other at home versus at work. Or we tend to feel one way around certain groups and differently in others. 

In fact, it’s possible if we would self-identify as an extrovert that maybe we’re working through a challenge and deliberately focused on introverted qualities like a calm environment and spending time alone. The reverse could also be true. An individual who self-identifies as an introvert might be in a new role and trying to build new work friendships by spending more time with others. 

Organizations need employees to have both introvert and extrovert qualities. Teams need both as well. As individuals, we know our preferences. That being said, as individuals we should be willing to share our preferences and occasionally flex to meet the needs of the situation. And if we’re on the receiving end – meaning that someone is asking us to give them space or asking to be included with the group – we need to figure out how to respect them.

The meeting I was in recently reminded me of a few things. 

Know the meaning of the words you use. No one is 100% introvert or extrovert. We have a bit of both. While we know our preferences, there might be times when we need to flex. We need to respect the preferences of others. 

As organizations spend more time talking about returning to the office and the benefits of collaboration, knowing what extrovert and introvert mean will become incredibly important.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Havana, Cuba

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