Shopping: The Nation's Newest Contact Sport

If you braved the jungles of America's malls and big box stores over the just concluded Thanksgiving holiday weekend you probably don't need to hear any more tales of camp outs outside Best Buy stores to snag discounted TVs, turkey and stuffing fueled midnight mad dashes through the aisles of Walmart, and assorted reports of shopping-related mischief and mayhem.What's 'Cyber Monday?'

After reading some of the most recent stories of 'competitive' shoppers pepper spraying their rivals to score an X-box game, a frenzied fight over $2 waffle makers, or Walmart store security also playing the pepper spray card to get some unruly bargain hunters under control, you'd be completely thinking rationally and probably wisely if you decided not to venture out into the retail jungles this weekend. Aside - what the heck is it with pepper spray lately? We've gone from pepper spray being something no one's ever heard of just a few weeks back, to it being the 'go-to' item of choice for crowd control and the most trendy subdue your adversaries substance.

In fact, with today being designated as 'Cyber Monday', the most active and profitable online shopping day of the year, with many online and traditional retailers offering steep merchandise discounts and free or low cost product shipping, eschewing in person and 'real life' shopping in favor of the online approach is becoming more and more popular. I'll bet lots of folks figured they'd hit up a few of these Cyber Monday deals from the office today. In between status meetings, planning sessions, and catching up on email that may have come in from the rest of the world that unlike the USA was not on holiday for a few days, scoring an online deal here or there at work doesn't seem like to much of an issue for most workers and organizations.

Except of course when employees doing a little Cyber Monday bargain hunting is looked at like the potential time waster that is worker access to social networking sites from the office. According to a recent survey conducted Robert Half Technology, and reported on by the Los Angeles Times, "60% of more than 1,400 chief information officers interviewed said their companies block access to online shopping sites -- up from 48% last year.  And an additional 23% of CIOs said that although their companies do allow access to shopping sites, they monitor employees for excessive use."

That is a drag for folks at those companies that figured they'd be able to save a little bit of time, (and possibly a shot pf pepper spray in the grill), by scoring a few items online while at the office. I won't argue that companies are not within their rights to block online shopping sites from being accessed via their locations and networks. After all, it really is not part of anyone's job description to be shopping online when they are supposed to be working. 

But what online shopping does do for people is give them back a little bit of their time. Time saved driving all over town, fighting off crazed 'competitive' shoppers, going to one place only finding they have to try another in search of what they're looking for. For whatever cost and risk avoidance benefits online shopping provides, this time savings is perhaps the most valuable one of all.

Organizations, at least the ones that are actively blocking this online shopping activity, would do well to at least consider this value and benefits to their staffs. Sure, the work has to be done, and excessive goofing off or abuse of the system has to be kept in check, but loosening the reins, even if it was only a temporary measure, might go a long way into improving morale around the shop this holiday season.

The last few years have been tough on organizations and employees alike, a small and simple gesture that gives people one the most scarce and precious gifts - time, is likely to be one that is not forgotten, and one that pays off in the long run. And no one has to get pepper sprayed.

If you must have a dress code policy...

I know, workplace dress code policies have (mostly), gone the way of the IBM Selectric and the Inter-office mail envelope as relics of a bygone age. In our more modern, progressive, and enlightened workplaces, most organizations have come to understand that with all the many thousands of things to worry about, that articulating specific dress code standards and policies is a colossal waste of time.Love the 70s

The vast majority or workplace dress code discussions have been distilled into short phrases - 'business casual ', seemingly the dominant one these days. What exactly does business casual entail? Who knows for sure, just walk around the office for a day or two and generally you can sort it out. Mostly, dress code standards are arrived at organically and are largely self-policing. Wear something inappropriate to the office some time and chances are someone will tell you about it, if not to your face, in a snarky comment on Facebook.  

Dress code policies are boring, and writing about dress code policies as I am right now, possibly represents the nadir of my adventure in blogging. But I had to come up with a hook to feature some fantastic workplace dress code policy imagery I came across recently. Fantastic workplace dress code imagery? That does not even make sense.

Well, take a look at the image on the right that accompanies this post, as well as the rest of the collection of dress code policy images from the British Postal Museum Archive described on the How to be a Retronaut blog. 

These dress code policy posters are, quite frankly, awesome. And not only do they look cool, but they also serve the purpose of transforming what would be a typical, boring written policy (that no one ever reads, except as a preface in an employee disciplinary hearing), into a vibrant and effective tool for educating the target workers as to the desired workplace behavior.

Additionally, the dress code posters attempt to connect the policy to real-world examples, demonstrate the potential negative ramifications of violations of the policy, and even have a little fun at the same time. Are these vintage posters really that groundbreaking and meaningful in the overall canon of workplace thought and theory? 

Not really. 

But they do remind us that even the most mundane and tedious parts of the job of Human Resources, the parts that still sometimes include writing and enforcing workplace dress code policies, can still be creative, can still be personal, and can (for shame), still be even a little fun.

No one reads your policies. Maybe it's time to get a little more imaginative in their presentation and communication.

Have a fantastic week!

The Unfamiliar and Scary

Submitted for your consideration, three pieces of news from the last week or so:

Maryland Department of Corrections subjects job applicant to a social media strip search by making him turn over his Facebook login and password.Flickr - soonerpa

New Jersey Police Chief offers tips and advice to parents on how to hack into their kids' social media accounts, to snoop and spy, sort of the 21st century equivalent of reading their diaries, (man, that is an old fashioned reference, does any kid keep a diary anymore?).

Spanish nun who had served for over 35 years expelled from her order due to 'Too much Facebook.'

While the three stories all have social networking in common, specifically Facebook (aside, are we getting close to Facebook becoming the generic term for 'social networking', like 'Kleenex' now essentially means any facial tissue?), this post really isn't about Facebook at all.

To focus too much on how organizations, be they public or private, approach and adapt to Facebook, Twitter, and whatever comes next is, I think, to take too narrow a view of what is important and common about the above three situations. 

It is sadly for leaders and institutions of limited courage and vision a short and straight path from the unfamiliar to the scary.  What they don't understand, what they can't reference in a policy or by past experience, what in their narrow world view seems at all out of the ordinary can quickly evoke feelings of discomfort, angst, anger, and in the cases we see above, result in seemingly irrational reactions. 

Yesterday I posted about trust, or at least a form of trust.  I more or less said that external measures of influence can only be guides at best, and that ultimately the value and influence one exerts upon you is a highly variable, highly personal evaluation. And I think we all can kind of agree on that, at least in theory.  'Trusting' an algorithm to give you sound advice that is to be used as a meaningful measure inside organizations does seem like too much of a stretch.  We love our machines, but we are not quite ready to trust them. Even you Watson.

But in the cases above, trust between people is lacking, and in the kinds of relationships we would normally expect trust to be assumed, a given, and only to be withdrawn in the case of some kind of egregious action.  A long time employee attempting to obtain a better role in the organization, a public safety official (who we ought to be able to trust), advising parents to spy on their kids (who the parents ought to be able to trust), to finally, of all things, a nun who somehow ran afoul of her order by discovering a new way to spread the good word.

I don't want to be too hard on institutions and their leaders, often challenged by a flood of new tools, technologies, and issues that they simply can't process quickly enough to adequately address in their customary manner.  It has to be difficult for the Mother Superior of the 'Facebook nun' to know just what exactly she should do.  

But in these cases the leaders, the decision makers might be absolved from nuanced understanding of this new world, they are not absolved from retreating immediately to a position of fear and mistrust.

The unfamiliar might indeed be scary, but people are still people, and by placing your trust in those that you know you have earned that trust, the unfamiliar becomes less scary, and more exciting. 

Open Door Policy?

Come by any time, you know I have an 'Open Door' policy.

I mean, unless I am in one of my 8 standing weekly meetings, or 10-12 ad-hoc meetings that pop up every week.

Or if I am on the phone.  

Or if I am intently responding to one of the 79 e-mails in my inbox marked 'Urgent'.  

Aside - if you send e-mails and mark them as 'urgent' and the subject matter does not involve  bodily injury, hospitalization, or natural disaster, then you are half a jerk.

Or if I am setting the roster for my fantasy sports team.

Or if I am actively monitoring our employer brand on the Social Networks playing Mafia Wars.

Come to think of it, I am not sure I really have an 'Open Door' policy after all.  

In fact, I had better close the door and enact a new policy :

Sign outside Frank Sinatra's residence circa 1965

If that is the 'true' policy, better to be upfront about it, don't you think?

Oxygen is Complimentary

Spirit Airlines recently announced the implementation of a new plan that will charge passengers as much as $45 each way for a carry-on bag starting Aug. 1. Personal items like purses and laptop computers that fit under the seat will still be free.

The reaction from the blogosphere, from industry watchers, and from attention-seeking politicians was to be expected.

How dare they charge for carry on bags?  This is insane, I will never fly them again?  What's next, charging passengers variable fares based on how much they weigh, or how many magazines they bring on board? I mean, have you seen how big and heavy some of those fashion magazines are? Flickr - Lori Spindler

Personally, while I think the fees for carry-on bags are probably a bad idea, will serve to drive customers to seek other alternatives, and certainly have generated a wave of bad publicity, Spirit is a for profit enterprise, and they are certainly free to make any decisions they like as to marketing and pricing. Airlines have been going down the path of decoupling fees for a while now, under the notion that people will prefer more control and transparency about what specific benefits they are paying for. Why we seem to feel offended by the airlines charging separately for food, drinks, bags, etc., while most of us month after month quietly pay our Cable TV bills, paying for dozens if not hundreds of channels we never actually watch is kind of curious.

To me, why this is interesting is how executive strategy and decisions have a trickle down effect throughout the organization, and how they will impact the front line workforce that will be tasked with the implementation and enforcement of these new fees.  While the odd passenger or politician may craft a strongly worded letter (gasp!), to the CEO and issue a complaint, the reservations people, the gate agents, and the flight attendants will all be face to face with scores of potentially frustrated and angry customers.

These folks not only have difficult jobs already, but in many ways they are the face of the brand, each one personally interacting with hundreds of customers each day.  When the organization creates policies that clearly will have the effect of alienating a large contingent of customers, it makes the jobs of these brand ambassadors even more challenging and likely, less fulfilling. 

By creating rules that force these employees to do more enforcement, to say 'no', and to otherwise have more of an adversarial relationship with customers, they have less and less of an opportunity to engage in behaviors that can actually deliver excellent customer service.  I can't imagine that many gate agents and flight attendants look forward to the idea of playing 'baggage police' day after day.

Sure, the analysts, politicians, and pundits are all annoyed about Spirit's new plan, but I'd be more curious to know what the front-line employees think.  Do they look forward to the day where every interaction with a customer comes with a price tag? Will there be any further opportunity for them to go above and beyond, to ever deliver some good news, to ever say 'Yes' to a customer?

Executive decisions matter, not only to customers, but to every employee tasked with their implementation.

Footnote:  Recently I was on a flight where the flight attendant rattled off a list of items that were available for purchase -  food, drinks, headphones, etc.  At the end of the speech he added, 'Oxygen is Complimentary'.  It was kind of funny, but sad at the same time.