Optimism is bad for business...

I know this has little to do with recruitment, HR, or Marketing directly but I just have to comment on the current 'shock' at the latest GDP figures and the confirmation that we are in the longest recession since 'records began'.

How can anyone be shocked? I certainly wasn't.  It was never going to be good news but the so called experts, along with the witless optimists - and there are plenty of those in recruitment I have to say - kept saying 'growth next Qtr!'

How the hell anyone can think you could go from -5.5% to a positive number after the unprecedented year we have just had god only knows and only goes to show that those who thought and said that have extremely poor judgement. That will be pretty much every government and shadow commentator then!

If I had a pound for every time I have seen someone 'talking up' the economy, on Twitter alone, I'd be one of the UK's secret millionaires by now. And while we are on the subject, why is it that the recruiters in particular are guilty of this ridiculous spin?  I guess it's a feature of being such a sales focussed community - they cant resist talking it up.

This kind of misguided optimism is not only stupid, its really bad for business.  Leaders who adopt this approach create false hope, unrealistic expectations and set unrealistic goals, none of which creates a winning organisation.  All it does is create a lack of credibility amongst the workforce and a lowering of morale and commitment.

It reminds me of a study carried out by the Economist some years ago who asked different groups groups of people for their five year predictions for the future of the economy.  These groups were made up of people from a wide spectrum of professions, from doctors to dustmen.  Oh, and for good measure they included a group of economists.

And guess who were the most accurate?

Yep, the dustmen!

Time for a real clean out methinks!

Ill leave you with this little pearl of wisdom:

The pessimist complains about the wind; The optimist expects it to change; The realist adjusts the sails. — William Arthur Ward

A Right Royal Mess...

Lace me with a few beers and get me started on the subject of HR and it won't be ling before I'm boring you senseless with my lament at the demise of the HR Generalist. Or more accurately the demise of the classic TU infested environments that maggie almost single handedly killed off back in the 80's that were the breeding ground for many of the senior generalists plying their trade today.

If there was one thing that those environments taught you it was humility and an apreciation of your fellow man, no matter what their status. And let me tell you nothing knocks the arrogance out of a rookie HR professional than going three rounds with a Trade Union Convenor.

These are the thoughts that spring to mind when I consider the current predicament of the Royal Mail and their troublesome internal relations. You could be forgiven for thinking we were back in the early 80's given the current stand off.  It certainly feels like a long time since 'the management' and 'the workers' were so polarised in their positions.

Now, speaking as someone who spent their formative years sparring with the unions this is quite interesting. But it is also quite sad.  After all, it's the year 2009. And Its not as if the Royal Mail is still being run by a bunch of dinosaurs. No.  At its helm are what some would say are a crop of the finest leaders money can buy including Alan Leighton (recently departed) and Adam Crozier. Yet, despite all this expertise and a book or two between them on what constitutes excellence in leadership it appears that no one in the leadership team is capable of leading this organisation!

Instead there is lot of chest pounding going on and to be frank I expect better. It's basic stuff, as anyone with an ounce of industrial relations experience and common sense will tell you. It's going nowhere and I lay the blame firmly at  managements door.  Oddly enough, since Tony McCarthy's departure the top HR seat has been vacant with no sign of a credible replacement.  Surely Adam and his team are missing a trick here?  Although a source tells me the top team, for reasons better known to themselves, don't actually want a replacement.

I say be careful. I think there would be a lot of value right now in spending some of that remuneration pot on an HR with a few grey hairs.  I thought I could win a war of attrition once but after many months and some significant collateral damage I realsed that the way forward no matter what you may think is collaboration. Not confrontation.

Unless of course you are Maggie, whom Adam certainly is not!

Would they cry for you..?

Flicking through my old notes recently I was reminded of having the good fortune to have Greg Dyke speak at one of our events back in 2005.  At the time he had recently released his book – Inside Story - and we were lucky enough to have him share his inspirational comments on leadership and his time at the BBC.  You may remember that Greg left the BBC controversially and his departure was followed by unprecedented scenes of 'mourning' by the employees.  Thousands turned out in protest with many reduced to tears, prompting the question for other CEO’s “Would they cry for you?”  In most cases, I'm pretty sure the response would be "probably not."

Listening to Greg speak, was not only inspirational but also emotional and frustrating.  Why?  Well emotional because Greg comes across as a very straight guy and what he says comes straight from the heart.  Despite a quite conservative presentation style compared to many on the speaker circuit, he captivates and you feel right there with him when he shares the experiences of life at the BBC, both good and bad.

Frustrating because, as he talks through those experiences and what he did about them, and also his key lessons on leadership you can't help but hear the voices in your head screaming “I know, I know!”  Of course, it’s all common sense, and Greg seems genuinely at a loss as to why more organisations/CEO/senior executives seem to miss the point when it comes to people and engagement.

When asked why he thought “more people don’t get it” his answer, which was preceded by a long silence, concluded that it was a mix of greed and ignorance.  Not a great write up at the time but who could have imagined that the greed and ignorance in question would go on, 4 years later, to have such a damaging effect on the world economy.

There's a guy who's ahead of his time...