Archive for April, 2009
What if the CEO Died of Swine Flu?
Posted by: | CommentsSchools are closing and the World Health Organization (WHO) raised its global flu pandemic level. So far, the outbreak of swine flu has killed relatively few people and many experts feel the risk maybe overstated. But just maybe, maybe one of those statistics could be the CEO of your company.
Does your company have a crisis communications plan in place specifically addressing a global pandemic? Not likely. The last scare was the Avian flu outbreak a couple of years ago. According to a Deloitte & Touche survey of 100 companies in the U.S. last year, two-thirds of the companies had not planned adequately for the avian flu and there was no one in charge of such a plan. By contrast, 80 per cent of corporate officials surveyed at a conference in Hong Kong had people and plans in place because of reported deaths in Asia.
So it may just take the death of a prominent CEO of a U.S. company to scare companies into finally putting a crisis communications plan in place that covers not only disasters in a manufacturing facility, or a rumor about a product recall, but also one for a possible global pandemic.
The Gentle Art of Firing Someone
Posted by: | CommentsThe news seems to get worse everyday. Thousands of people are losing their jobs because of the economic meltdown. Firing someone is always difficult, especially for poor performance. But today, many employees being fired are good at their jobs. They’re out because the company is performing poorly. Senior management may actually be the culprits. There is the surgical way and the gentle way to fire somone.
The Surgical Way
In large companies dozens of people may be let go in single day. It’s surgical – like a knife slicing off a limb. And that’s how it feels, too. Don’t let them back in their office, shut down their computers and escort them out the door as quickly as possible like common criminals. At least that’s how it feels to someone who was gainfully employed at 9 a.m. and finds himself out on the street an hour later, stripped of his ID badge and told not to try to reenter the premises.
This isn’t speculation. It’s happening every day. Isn’t there a more gentle way of letting people go who have done nothing more than become an expense the company can no longer afford? Many companies are afraid that an employee may steal company secrets or sabotage the computer system. But how realistic is this? If an employee wanted to steal secrets or keep samples of her work, she no doubt would have done it long ago.
The Gentle Way
Everything you read about firing someone advises to make it private, to spare the employee’s feelings. But I have a different idea. Why not assemble all the people being let go that day in a conference room. Tell them they are being laid off, not because of anything they did wrong, but because of the economy. Tell the assembled group, after your briefing, that you wish them well, they are good people and you are sorry they need to leave right now. Let them go back to their desks where an outplacement executive can watch as they access their computer to copy any personal information they may need and to send some emails to their friends in the company to say goodbye. Have that person help them to pack up. A handshake from the boss never hurt either.
Establish a dedicated website where those who were let go can share job leads, resumes and just chat about how they are feeling. Having a virtual place to go will enable the group members to take care of each other. Have someone in the company online for the first 30 days (or more) to answer questions. Then you can let go of the lifeline as the group coalesces.
People laid off aren’t statistics. They are individuals who deserve to be treated with dignity.
How to Write Badly
Posted by: | CommentsAs I write this, I cautiously check each phrase to ensure that it cannot be shortened. I double-check my P’s (periods) and Q’s (question marks) to be sure they are properly placed. I look over my shoulder to see if the ghosts of William Strunk and E.B. White are watching as I type, eager to interrupt and correct my grammar. I think back to my college years when their “Elements of Style” was required reading in my beginning journalism class.
Today, those of us who blog, Twitter, and text message can learn from their admonitions: use the active voice; omit needless words; put statements in positive form; use definite, specific, concrete language, and so forth. Ah, if only.
The wild wild web has encouraged us to write badly. I believe Messrs. Strunk and White would be horrified at the decimation of language. What would they think of these Tweets that streamed by me just today: Me as a kid Meme (pic), This is Fiesta Day 1 for us and we are toast!, Have you submitted your tweets to Twitter wit yet?
For a half-century, this powerful little book has been guiding writers (bad, passive phrase). The New York Times reported last week http://tinyurl.com/c3q2vp that Pierson/Longman has just published a 50th anniversary edition of the book. I urge everyone who values simple writing to read it. The authors were very prescient.
Go to www.amazon.com to buy the book (used). It may be the best $2.99 you ever spent.
Stop Planning and Start Acting
Posted by: | CommentsA while back, I attended a seminar to hear a career coach talk about ways to build your career. She said something that stopped me in my tracks. It should have been obvious but it was one of those light-bulb moments for me. So let me share it with you and hope that it has the same effect on you. Here’s what she said,
Stop Planning and Start Acting.
I realized I had fallen into the trap of over-planning. I was working hard, so it wasn’t the same as procrastinating by calling a friend or wandering to the refrigerator or doing anything to avoid doing something. No, planning had become a substitute for action. The perfectionist in me was looking for the 100% solution. But as the CEO at the bank where I used to work always said, “Let’s go for the 70% solution.” He was right. And so was the career coach. You can become paralyzed into inaction by looking for the solution that is guaranteed to work. But I think we all know that’s an illusion.
Instead, set a goal, and feel good about it. Remember the good feeling you had when you achieved something or the happiness you felt at someone else’s good fortune. Try to replicate that good feeling as you set your goal. Then -
1. Plan a little
2. Test a little
3. Adjust the plan
4. Test again
Simply by taking action you will learn from it. Taking action helps to build momentum and gain confidence. Sometimes taking the path of least resistance will give you the energy to keep going. Maybe you’ll need to refine your expectations. As I learned, this is not a perfect process. I grew to understand that as the landscape under my feet shifted, I needed to embrace change and recommit to my dreams on a regular basis. I’ve learned to enjoy the victories along the way.
Another quote from one of my favorite authors, F. Scott Fitzgerald, also serves as a constant inspiration, “Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but the ability to start over.” Good words to live by.
