Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 20, 2015 EXECUTIVE SERIES/NEWS 11 Find these suppliers and more in the HR Vendors Guide – your source for human resources vendors, suppliers, consultants and professional development from across Canada. Visit www.hrreporter.com/hr-vendors-guide HR VENDORS GUIDE HR VENDORS GUIDE Are you looking for help with recruitment? Training and development? Recognition? Information on HR professional development and post- secondary programs? Starbucks really knows that their brand experience is delivered to customers through their baristas and through their partners. So they certainly have a very good grasp of that," she said. "Where they ran into a bit of trouble here is when you ask an employee to be a brand ambas- sador for a political belief. ese are obviously very diverse in any group of people, let alone amongst the massive diversity within the organization that is Starbucks." CSR or courting controversy? ere's a lot that companies can learn from the Race Together campaign, said Timothy Calkins, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago — particu- larly about designing a corporate social responsibility initiative that avoids such backlash. "e challenge is that you have to be very careful about the dis- cussions you begin, and you want to be very thoughtful about what you ask people to comment on," he said. "In the Starbucks case, I think the company was very well-intended. The campaign was grounded in appreciation for the issue and a desire to do a good thing, as well as a desire to be very contemporary and very relevant." Even so, the negative reaction was strong and swift, he said. "In the end, I think it did quite a bit of damage to Starbucks be- cause people said, 'e last thing I want is for Starbucks to be lec- turing me on racial issues — I just want a cup of coffee,'" he said. "And the other issue was that by bringing up the topic, Starbucks invited scrutiny, so a lot of people started looking at Starbucks and saying, 'Well, you are not the most racially diverse company out there, and you've got some issues to think about as well.'" It certainly sparked discussion and debate, so from that perspec- tive it may not have failed, said Cuthbertson. "ey have been quoted as say- ing that this was used as a cata- lyst for the platform, and we don't know whether they did that just to start a discussion or not. So, from that angle, it may not have been a total miss if that was part of their strategy," she said. "In this day and age, there are always going to be critics. Is it a PR nightmare if dialogue is created? Not necessarily. But I think being prepared for that dialogue and un- derstanding how you're going to respond is important." Regardless of how the campaign was received, it's encouraging to see a high-profile organization go- ing all in on a CSR campaign, said Cuthbertson. "It's really wonderful to see or- ganizations really put those core values out into the arena, and to work for change. And especially an organization as (high-profile) as Starbucks, they have great in- fluence. And I think it's a fabulous thing to see them trying to work for social good." Adding value A CSR campaign can really add value if it's done correctly — even when the topic is a tricky one, said Cuthbertson. "If you've done the work and the research and you feel really well- prepared, and it's an issue that you feel passionate about as an orga- nization and that your employees support, it's a risk worth taking to speak authentically about things that matter to your organization," she said. "(But) when you ask employ- ees to be a brand ambassador for your organization in any capacity, you really have to be sure that it's closely related to the EVP, the em- ployee value proposition, and that it is truly experienced by those employees in order for them to support it in a really genuine way." e lesson from the Starbucks situation is that companies need to be very careful about how they approach controversial issues, said Calkins. "e challenge is when there are issues like that, a brand can get caught in the middle," he said. "at will have an impact on cus- tomers… and it also will have an impact on employees." But that isn't to say a company should avoid all controversial is- sues, he said. "ere are times when a com- pany needs to take a stand on a controversial issue because the company has a real business in- terest, one way or the other. ere are other times where a company will want to wade into an issue be- cause it's an opportunity to define their brand. ose are the ones that are particularly delicate," said Calkins. "The important thing, espe- cially from an HR perspective, is that a company really needs to un- derstand their values first because it's had to assess how to deal with some of these issues if you don't really know what your company stands for." Don't shoot the messenger Another key consideration from the Starbucks scenario is whether organizations should have front- line employees, particularly in a retail setting, be the ambas- sadors of a potentially sensitive and nuanced social message, said Cuthbertson. "It depends. If it's really a genu- ine part of the organization make- up, if it's really woven into the fab- ric of who you are… giving them an outlet to express that can be really powerful. But, again, asking employees to be a brand ambassa- dor on highly contentious issues, when you haven't necessarily done the homework, can be problem- atic from a variety of angles." It may be something you're bet- ter off avoiding, said Calkins. "You really don't want your front-line employees speaking on behalf of the company on a contro- versial issue. at's just fundamen- tally a very difficult thing," he said. "Today, front-line employees do play a big role in building a brand, and so front-line employees are becoming exceptionally impor- tant when it comes to building and shaping a brand. So a com- pany has to think about that, and has to give employees guidance as to what they should talk about and what they shouldn't talk about, and what are appropriate ways to respond to particular questions." In the service sector in particu- lar, there is always the possibility front-line employees might see their ill-advised words or actions enshrined forever on the unfor- giving expanse of the Internet. "You can be fairly confident that they will be filmed frequently when dealing with these things, and they have to know how to re- spond in different situations," said Calkins. "It used to be that a front-line employee could either delight or offend one person, maybe two, maybe three. Now, front-line employees' behaviour can be cap- tured on video and broadcast all around the world." That's not to say that using these employees as ambassadors will never work, said Cuthbertson — it just needs to be done with caution. "It can certainly be done, and in some cases can be very power- ful and effective for your overall brand, but it has to be done with great care." "You really have to be sure that it's closely related to the employee value proposition." Tackling sensitive social issues a risk STARBUCKS < pg. 1 However, managing brains is sig- nificantly more complex. Each industry is unique; each organization within an industry is unique; each employee within the organization is unique; and each role is unique. erefore, each individual has to be trained and nurtured in a unique way. How can management do this and yet remain equitable to all? It cannot. Each employee's role must pro- vide value. But not all employees contribute the same amount of value. For instance, an employee responsible for mergers and ac- quisitions may be considered more valuable than one responsible for purchasing office supplies. How much more valuable? Well, this is up to the senior executive team to determine. It must quantify the strategic value each person pro- vides and what his potential value may be in the foreseeable future. is assessment, once complet- ed, determines who gets the royal jelly — who is given more groom- ing, more support and more op- portunities to grow and advance. Some companies such as Google and Facebook use the "hire slow, fire fast" approach. is is where the "new" management comes in. In order to manage this new knowledge-based talent pool ef- fectively, it takes a new kind of manager at all levels. She must be one who can articulate the organi- zation's purpose and strategy. She must paint the picture (the vision), inspire the team, motivate and guide each member in the devel- opment of his skills and talents. In essence, the traditional manager's role has to change. Now she has to become both a leader and a coach. Being just a manager is not enough. One way to get managers to focus more on the leading and coaching aspects of their jobs would be to remove the word "manager" from their titles. Insert leader or coach instead. And, just like the coach of a hockey team, this new business coach must map out the season's strategy, pick the right players; evaluate each play- er's potential; assign them to the right positions; and develop their skills to maximize their respective potentials — with the sole pur- pose of winning the cup. Morgan Smyth is an SCNetwork thought leader and a change manage- ment consultant who launched his own IT services company which soared to Profit Magazine's 50 Fastest Grow- ing Companies. He is based in Toronto and can be reached at msmyth@brae- gen.com. Nurture people STRATEGY < pg. 9

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