Can I Give You Some Feedback?

I worked at a consulting firm that used “benefit of the doubt” as an excuse for any kind of bad behavior. Someone flubs: Benefit of the doubt. Someone stabs you in the back: Benefit of the doubt. Someone says they’ll do something, then they don’t: Benefit of the doubt.

“Benefit of the doubt” at that place meant, “Give that person a break no matter what they do.” It mattered more at that place to “get along” than to confront reality. I used to be known for saying, in response, “No doubt, no benefit.”

At that same place they also used to say, “Can I give you some feedback?” Listen, “feedback” was never the positive kind. I mean, do you need to ask permission to compliment someone? Hardly. So, whenever someone would say, “Can I give you some feedback?” I’d say, “If you want to criticize me, go ahead.” That usually ended it.

I liked this Fedex Kinkos ad with a manager who does some straight talk with his staff. He didn’t ask them, “Can I give you some feedback?”

Executive Pay as a Multiple of Average Worker Pay

CEO Pay 1970
Here’s a fascinating graphical view of CEO pay as a multiple of average worker pay from 1970 to 2005. Check out the site to see a rollover of the pay multiple as the years progress.

Think Not, Do and Social Media

The Yoda Part
In Accomplishment is What Matters, Chris Brogan writes:

In all transactions in your professional life, the weight of things will likely rest on whether or not you accomplished what you set out to achieve. Did you get the project completed on time? If the answer is no (with subtext of “because Jerry called out sick and we had nothing we could do”), then you didn’t achieve your goal. Who cares why not?

Our job in HR is to help employees be successful. A large part of that success is getting things done, no matter the obstacles. No excuses. Figure out ways to get things done rather than why it can’t be done. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you say you can or you can’t, you’re right.”

The Social Media Part
You can read the entire essay here. You know how I found this, by the way? Social media. I saw Steve Rubel’s Twitter post that he had loaded up from Facebook. Not on any of those? Your employees, especially the young ones, are.

Last Push: KnowHR Blog Reader Survey

Well, we’ve had 348 people fill out the KnowHR Blog Reader survey. And I just want to make sure we got all the opinions we need. If you have 37 seconds and would like to help me out, would you please click here? Thanks much!

Three Quick Things I Already Learned from the Survey

  1. More non-U.S. views (maybe even guest writers)
  2. More Learning & Development and training resources
  3. Provide a place to enter questions anonymously

I’m on it! And there are LOTS and LOTS more ideas. I’m going to do them…and then some. What do you want?

Self-Destructing E-Mail

Years ago I worked in a consulting firm where a guy working in our department of a few men and scores of women accidentally hit “Send to All” on Lotus Notes. That would have been fine if his note had been about company business. But you already can guess. His note was about his weekend of debauchery in Las Vegas for his bachelor party.

That event happened long before Sin City used “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” as a sales point. I bet that consultant wished his e-mail would have known that. In 2007, he would have had a fighting chance.

Here are 10 ways to send self-destructing e-mails. That’s a heckuva lot better than sending self-destructive e-mails.

Then again, maybe if you want to send e-mails at work that you wouldn’t want your grandmother to read, maybe you should just hit *Delete*. That should be high on the list of new employee orientation items. That, and an expectation that their performance review will be conducted by adults, for adults.

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