Spicing Up the Staff BBQ July 2nd, 2009

Heather McCulligh

Our friend Steve Boese, in addition to teaching HR master’s students at the Rochester Institute of Technology about leveraging HR tech, writes a fantastic blog about the subject, and considers himself a BBQ aficionado. This interesting combination of expertise, and the summer months inspired a post about BBQ on our Talent Management Blog.

It’s a time honored office tradition – the staff barbeque. At some point this summer, you’ll all gather outside of your building and chow down on something that comes in a bun. I don’t know about you, but between my professional and private life, by July 4th I’m approaching barbeque overload. There are only so many burgers, dogs and veggie patties I can eat without having a distinct sense of barbeque déjà vu.

Too often maybe, the staff barbeque planning falls to HR, so why not take the time this year to spice it up? Here are a few ideas to escape the monotony of burgers and dogs:

• Create a Challenge: Too often, the barbeque can be a perfunctory 30 minute lunch time activity. Why not change it up and incorporate a challenge of some sort into the barbeque? This could be as simple as adding in a contest for the best homemade condiment, or a salsa tasting competition. You’ll probably be surprised at who shows up with something to contribute. You can then have staff do a blind test and vote on the items. Another challenge you could incorporate is the Iron Chef-style team builder. Or maybe even turn it into a chicken and rib cook off.
• Bring in the Professionals: Consider having your barbeque catered by professionals who can spice up the menu with different types of cuisine and up the ante on burgers and dogs. Popular options are southwestern or Asian style barbeques that include a range of tastes and flavors sure to please your team.
• Add a Community Flavor: So maybe you are going to go with burgers and dogs, but why not turn it into a fundraiser and invite the community to attend? It’s positive exposure for your company and all the funds go to a local not for profit organization. Employees are engaged in cooking and serving, while giving back to the community they work in.

How do you spice up the staff barbeque? Email us to share your ideas.

Better Together: Employee Engagement and Performance Management June 26th, 2009

Heather McCulligh

Last month, we were involved with a great Webinar with HR.com. It featured presenters Steve Roesler CEO of Roesler Communications and blogger at the popular All Things Workplace, and Kathy Anthony of O’Sullivan Creel, a long time Halogen customer.

The webinar was focused on performance management and employee engagement - why they work better when they are fully entwined together. Steve argued that to truly engage employees, organizations must meet their need to be “in the game” - they don’t want to feel like commodities; they want to feel productive and satisfied from work, and actively manage their future using good information. That’s why performance management must hinge on an always-active, people-centric process. Otherwise managers and employees are just going through the motions - and too often that ends up with managers humming one tune while employees write their own lyrics. Sort of like the webinar on sculling that Donna blogged about last week. If we’re not all pointed in the same direction, we’re just on a treadmill.

At the intersection of managing performance and engaging employees is the sweet spot for strategic HR. A performance management process needs to help your managers and employees have the most fulfilling conversations. Because reviews should not be scary, and they need to be tangible. They should be focused on doing - on next steps and where we go from here.

Employees disengage if they’re not challenged. So the old adage of “he’s not ready” won’t work in today’s workplace. To truly engage employees, you have to challenge them. And then with a talent management process that’s ongoing, you can track their process, and remediate where needed, before any major mis-steps can be made. Goals can be constantly re-assessed and mini-steps on the road to success can be rewarded.

At the end of the day, an employee has spread his wings; the organization has managed risk, and guess what? You’ve got employee engagement!

Kathy Anthony backed up this theory with some great results from her recent employee satisfaction survey, completed after using automated talent management processes. She said that all responses were higher than past years, and in particular:

• I believe my pay increases are related to how well I perform:  up 34%
• I understand my performance expectations and how I will be evaluated: up 13%
• I have received helpful coaching and career guidance from my office’s management team: up 13%

The numbers speak for themselves! Does your organization focus on employee engagement from a performance management perspective? Let us know how you keep employees in the game.

Tags: employee engagement, performance management, talent management