saying something is better than nothing
SUPPORTING PEOPLE WITH
Hey you 👋🏽
I'm glad you opened this email. Welcome and happy Friday! 💃🏽
If you...
- Attended either HR Therapy on Wednesday or the 'Culture Can't Wait' workshop on Thursday this week, thanks for coming! I hope you had fun.
- Attended both, I think love you I am really honored that you dedicated so much time in your week to hang out with me! 💞
- Didn't attend either, I'm crying right now then that's OK, I'll see you next time!
Anywaysss, this week in the Dear Hebba & Friends newsletter, we're not only talking about the importance of speaking up during trying times (for yourself and for others) but also about the importance of listening! 📢
These questions were submitted by anonymous HR leaders and were answered by the wisest people I know (my Safe Space community members)!
If you have an HR question or concern of your own, you can submit it here and keep an eye out for its appearance in a future edition! 👁️
Now listen up! ⬇️ or don't, I can't tell you what to do! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
SPONSORED BY TOGETHER
What do deep-sea divers, high school students, and HR managers all have in common? 🤔
They might not walk into a bar together, but they all do benefit from the same thing:
Great mentorship! 🧠💥
That's why Together Platform co-created a research report with HR.com and the help of hundreds of HR folks across different industries. It answers questions about mentoring like:
- How effective is mentoring at increasing performance and development? 📈
- What do companies seeing positive outcomes do differently? 🏆
- What are the most common challenges HR managers deal with around mentoring? 💫
If you're looking for the simplest way to develop L&D programs, this report will give you the head start you need– think of it as a cheat sheet!
ASK AWAY
🗣️ saying something is better than nothingCopy anchor linkCopied
✍🏽 What should I do when terrible things are occurring around the world but my leadership team doesn't want to address them?
Context: HR in a startup of younger leaders.
📣 Kendyl Skinner, Director of Human Resources at Orange Barrel Media:
In my experience, while it can be really tough to know WHAT to say in these moments when emotions are high all around, saying nothing is probably the worst thing to do. By saying nothing, you're letting employees make their own assumptions about the silence and the assumption is often, unfortunately, that the company doesn't care or isn't supportive.
I feel like a neutral message to the team to say "we recognize that there are really difficult things happening in the world and we're here to support you in whatever ways may be needed" can go a really long way. Even better if you can couple it with resources your company offers in the way of mental health, EAPs, etc.
📣 Katy Smith, HR Business Partner at Wend Collective:
If, as an organization, there's discomfort with leaders in addressing or even acknowledging recent events to the company, one way to check in on folks is through 1:1s.
Depending on company size and what's already set up for recurring touchpoints, check in with managers and ICs to see how they're doing! Even a simple "There's been a lot going on and I'd love to connect with you just to see how you're doing" can go a LONG way. It never hurts to help encourage managers with their 1:1s, too.
For the LT to consider, are there any needs that can be reasonably met to make it even just a little easier for folks? Can a floating wellness day be offered?
✍🏽 What advice do you have for when employees bring up political and worldly events in our public comms channel (Slack, Teams, etc.) and disagreements arise?
📣 Jessie Fields, Talent Development & DEI Director at C2FO:
Disagreements aren't necessarily a bad thing. If the discourse is healthy and cordial, I'd leave it alone. But if it takes a bad turn, or if you hear feedback that it's making others uncomfortable, I'd acknowledge it.
- Consider putting some Slack/Teams "rules of engagement" in place. Align them to your company values and make clear what is and is not tolerated with internal communication systems.
- Let Slack bots do your dirty work! A Slack bot can provide automated friendly reminders about proper discourse in social channels, which could help HR not always be the bad guys.
- Ensure employees have a clear process where they can safely lodge concerns or feedback. This way you can keep a pulse on things.
- Worst case scenario, if something genuinely harmful is said, have a response plan in place. Obviously, you'll talk to the employee first-hand, but in the Slack world, think about if you would want to respond to the comment or delete it altogether.
📣 Cassandra Babilya, Career Coach and Head of EEx Strategy at Amazon:
First, I'd like to just address that employees are humans first, and "political" issues are really just human issues, and our teams feel the impact in direct and indirect ways. We feel what's going on in the world and we don't get to just leave it at the office door.
If you can, redirect the conversation to what, if anything, the company can do together to provide support, either to employees through EAP, or to the community through volunteering.
I'll also add that Jessie's advice to align responses to company values is spot on! "Here at XYZ Company, we believe..." I would also refer back to any company zero-tolerance policies against harassment, bullying, etc.
Many more People Leaders had thoughts and advice on these questions...
Find out what they had to say in the private Safe Space forum.
🚨 ON YOUR RADAR
👄 October 31st: I'm speaking with Melanie Naranjo, Ethena's VP of People, about saying exactly what you mean (and how to do it professionally). Register to join us here!
💻 November 15th: I'm hosting another HR Therapy. We're breaking down what an effective HR tech stack looks like going into 2024. Join me!
🎧 I Hate It Here Podcast: I've been releasing new episodes of my podcast with some pretty fabulous guests! Check it out on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
🎶 Screaming into the Void: I made this Spotify playlist for when you want to rage. Please enjoy (and send me song recommendations)!
🔗 Hirefor Partnership: HireFor is offering a HUGE discount to my Safe Space members to make your lives easier when it comes to recruiting!
💰Pay Transparency matters (but it's also difficult). That's why I created this course to help you stay ahead of the curve.
SPONSORED BY UBER FOR BUSINESS
I’ll let you in on a lil secret…
Your employees want benefits that are exciting and useful.
And, you probably want a tool that helps the business run more efficiently, retain all-star employees, and increase engagement.
Have you heard of Uber for Business?
Yes, that Uber!
It's much more than a car ride. With Uber for Business you can create employee meal programs, provide ride options to employees for their commute, send vouchers for meals or rides for new recruits and more.
Streamline your perks while engaging employees! Sounds lovely.
Create your company profile – without sign up fees – today.
FRIDAY FUN
👂🏼 Open your ears, folks!Copy anchor linkCopied
Sometimes I wonder how many words I'd save per year if I didn't have to repeat myself constantly. Millions, probably.
That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed! If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I'm allll ears.
Reminder: Today is FRIDAY. 🙏
