One of the major disruptions facing any career minded individual is when the head of the department is replaced with an external hire, or when there’s a major reshuffle following the appointment of a new organizational supremo – like a new Chief Marketing Officer for example. But whatever the case, I never completely understand why situations like these cause so much anxiety; sending people into a tailspin of unproductive activity – like cheesy self-promotion, hallway gossiping, and yes, even dusting off the resume you’ve been meaning to update all year.
For the reactive HR and personnel department too, these changes are often seen as a disruption to normal day-to-day operations. With activities like organizing the monthly employee newsletter and arranging badges and PCs for new hires, giving way to that darned hard task of determining who within the angst ridden ranks are actually talented flight risks, or even having to book office space in anticipation of the dreaded exit interview process. Ouch!
It shouldn’t have to be this way, since there are proactive approaches everyone can take to improve the position before and during times of organizational change.
The calm before the storm – Ok, as a talented professional you know there’s a storm a coming. If you’re lucky, your manager might have alerted you, or you sense the electrification in the thick ionised corporate atmosphere. Now’s not the time though to get jittery by the water cooler, or take solace in late night phone calls to your mate from department X. Nope, if you’re organized, you’ll have continuously documented your skills and achievements in a single system of record, built up a network of mentors across the organization and have a collection of references available on tap. For the HR folks too, don’t look at these times as a procedural challenge, but rather as an opportunity to work proactively with the departmental manager to confirm the talent position of the soon to be reorganized department. I’d even go as far to say that HR departments should always be looking to do this, especially in times of relative organizational stability and calm.
The storm hits – Well, the email goes out and you suddenly have a new departmental manager. They’ve been hired from the outside, and as the old British saying goes – ‘They don’t know you from a bar of soap’. Again, don’t panic by shooting off slurpy emails claiming your undying admiration and how you just can’t wait to work for him or her. Forget it. Chances are your new boss will be drinking from the proverbial information fire-hose and have no time for your let’s ‘meet and greet’ approaches. If you really have to impress your skills and achievements onto your new boss (normally because of poor internal talent management systems), then do so in a way that get’s the point across quickly, succinctly and powerfully (see my blog post 15 seconds on this point). Remember too, if you work remotely you may not even get a chance to meet the new manager. So consider incorporating video pitches and endorsements into your online resume. And for the HR department, don’t go missing when the storm hits. Sure there’ll be casualties, there always are. But make sure they get treated with the respect and consideration they deserve. Also, don’t lose talent to ‘friendly fire’ when changes occur. That is, the situation where good people are lost simply because their current position or role is redundant in the new setup.
Zapeteo
Living in a land far-far-away, Zapeteo writes about anything and everything related to the management and mentoring of really talented people. As such, he frowns on wooden phrases like ‘human capital management’ and ‘performance-based culture’. Instead preferring to discuss real issues, involving real people and especially what can help them build fruitful and rewarding careers.
Weathering the Storm
0For the reactive HR and personnel department too, these changes are often seen as a disruption to normal day-to-day operations. With activities like organizing the monthly employee newsletter and arranging badges and PCs for new hires, giving way to that darned hard task of determining who within the angst ridden ranks are actually talented flight risks, or even having to book office space in anticipation of the dreaded exit interview process. Ouch!
It shouldn’t have to be this way, since there are proactive approaches everyone can take to improve the position before and during times of organizational change.
The calm before the storm – Ok, as a talented professional you know there’s a storm a coming. If you’re lucky, your manager might have alerted you, or you sense the electrification in the thick ionised corporate atmosphere. Now’s not the time though to get jittery by the water cooler, or take solace in late night phone calls to your mate from department X. Nope, if you’re organized, you’ll have continuously documented your skills and achievements in a single system of record, built up a network of mentors across the organization and have a collection of references available on tap. For the HR folks too, don’t look at these times as a procedural challenge, but rather as an opportunity to work proactively with the departmental manager to confirm the talent position of the soon to be reorganized department. I’d even go as far to say that HR departments should always be looking to do this, especially in times of relative organizational stability and calm.
The storm hits – Well, the email goes out and you suddenly have a new departmental manager. They’ve been hired from the outside, and as the old British saying goes – ‘They don’t know you from a bar of soap’. Again, don’t panic by shooting off slurpy emails claiming your undying admiration and how you just can’t wait to work for him or her. Forget it. Chances are your new boss will be drinking from the proverbial information fire-hose and have no time for your let’s ‘meet and greet’ approaches. If you really have to impress your skills and achievements onto your new boss (normally because of poor internal talent management systems), then do so in a way that get’s the point across quickly, succinctly and powerfully (see my blog post 15 seconds on this point). Remember too, if you work remotely you may not even get a chance to meet the new manager. So consider incorporating video pitches and endorsements into your online resume. And for the HR department, don’t go missing when the storm hits. Sure there’ll be casualties, there always are. But make sure they get treated with the respect and consideration they deserve. Also, don’t lose talent to ‘friendly fire’ when changes occur. That is, the situation where good people are lost simply because their current position or role is redundant in the new setup.
Zapeteo
Living in a land far-far-away, Zapeteo writes about anything and everything related to the management and mentoring of really talented people. As such, he frowns on wooden phrases like ‘human capital management’ and ‘performance-based culture’. Instead preferring to discuss real issues, involving real people and especially what can help them build fruitful and rewarding careers.