Friday, September 9, 2016

Microstory 405: Floor 38 (Part 1)

Being some of the most self-reflective people in the world, as with other human resources representatives, everyone in my team blames themselves for our recent woes. You can build the tallest tower and sell the greatest product, but if you don’t have the right people running a business, it simply won’t work out. Now, if you assume that our company’s problems are rooted in its labor force—which I’m not convinced it is—that doesn’t mean my department is at fault. Corporate recruiting, though within the same division, is a whole different ballgame. And even then, recruiters aren’t the only ones responsible for new hires. The decision is ultimately up to the department that’s in need of new blood. Recruiters are just facilitators, and as I said, that’s not what we do up here on the 38th floor. We’re in charge of two major components of the company; performance and culture. We don’t even handle compliance  or compensation. There are two entire floors dedicated to how the organization deals with the law and legal problems, and we outsource our compensation requirements to an outside firm. Behavior and performance are related, but not completely so. Yes, it’s true that someone’s personal problems will have an effect on their work, but there are plenty of professionals out there who are fully capable of compartmentalizing their emotions. That’s what we like to encourage here at Analion, and I think it’s what separates us from other companies. Of course we mediate disputes, but we mostly try to hold inservices and disseminate information to help the employees hold themselves accountable for their own conduct. These people are adults; we’re not their therapists, and we sure ain’t their mamas. We’ve seen some pushback to our methods, but I honestly believe that we made the right choices. Probably nothing I can say will relieve the doubt my colleagues have in themselves, but then again, that’s not really my job, is it?

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