A Formula for Success

I spent the Thanksgiving Holiday in Chicago visiting my daughter. We arrived on a Sunday evening and left on Friday, so it was a short visit. (And a cold one as well, at least for this Southern boy.) While there we visited a number of restaurants, all very good. But one in particular stood out. It seems to have hit on the formula for success. It is a lesson that can be learned by all organizations. From my observations (I ate there three mornings out of the 5 we were in town) here is the list:

• Quality (the food was varied and delicious)
• Fast (we never waited more than 10 minutes, barely time to finish a half cup of coffee, which was on the table within 2 minutes of our drink order)
• Friendly (everyone had a smile and we were greeted as we walked in the door)
• Pride (we overheard the chef, as he was handing a customer another egg, that one of her eggs had been "cosmetically challenged" so he wanted her to have one that looked better)
• Understood their limitations (the restaurant was smaller and served breakfast and lunch.)
• Knew that customers would pay extra for the extras. (It is not the McDonald's price list.)

Does your place of business exhibit these 6 features? Does your HR department abide by these? It should.

I was not only impressed with the place as a restaurant but also as a business. I have no financial interest in the place and will probably never visit again, but I will name them as a recommendation. If  you are ever in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago stop into the Over Easy Cafe. Everything I said about them is shown in a quote from the chef/owner Jon Cignarale, “Everything about the meal is important, from coffee on the table as soon as you sit down to your eggs actually coming over easy… This is what I love to do – I wouldn’t want to wake up everyday doing anything else.”

Do you have a similar quote about yourself?

HR Carnival: 20 Great Reads for May 12th

Today I have the good fortune to be the host of the HR Carnival. And what a good one it is! A couple of themes popped out in the submissions. One of these dealt with "conversation".

First we have Wally Bock's Conversation: A Key Supervisory Tool. And it is. I have always been amazed to find supervisor who don't know how to talk to their employees. So heed Wally's advice at Three Star Leadership.

How about a "lack of conversation"? Well that is always frustrating, especially when you are an applicant waiting to hear back from a recruiter. Read the advice that Suzanne Lucas, The Evil HR Lady, provides to an applicant in I Interviewed and the Recruiter Won't Get Back To Me.

Exit interviews are usually conversations. Or are they? Sharlyn Lauby, The HR Bartender, reveals The Real Reason for Exit Interviews.

You cannot get more conversational than an actual interview and that is what we have in Drew Tarvin from Humor That Works talks to Zohar Adner about the Gift of Stress.


How about a conversation with you the reader. In her vlog Barbara Hughes of Intellectual Capital Consulting actually talks to us in Making Customers Matter: Eight Things You can do Right Now.

Another theme running in the submissions dealt with performance appraisal. The first of these is from Cathy Martin at Intellectual Capital Consulting.  She asks the question Managers and Appraisals: Why Don't They Get Along? 

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership tells us How To Be Accountable and Hold Others Accountable. This is a story all of us can identify with.

Part of being a good manager and doing good performance appraisal is being a good listener. Kevin Eikenberry of Leadership & Learning tells us how to listen better in Want to Be a Better Listener?

The final blog in this catagory deals with facilitation, a key skill for any manager in making a group perform better. Mark Stelzner of Inflexion Advisors offers us 5 Tips For Great Facilitation.


The next set of submissions dealt with improving or discussing the field of HR. Always a popular topic. A few of these posts offered interesting perspectives. Such as:

• Paul Smith of Welcome to the Occupation discussing Gay At Work: I need to know straight up.  There is a "Wow" moment when you start reading this.
• Benjamin McCall of ReThink HR tells us Human Resources: Be Like a 1-year Old and he wants to know if you think he is full of poop.
• Shauna Moerke, The HR Minion, tells us, with cartoons, that HR is not a cult. Some of your managers and employees may think differently. This will help.
• Eric Samdahl of i4CP sends us Mary Ann Downey's post on the much desired Real-world Application of the Strategic Business Partner Role .

Ben Eubanks of Upstart HR offer us 30+ Ideas for SHRM Chapter Leaders. A great read that all HR leaders need to pay attention to.

Jason Seiden tells us to be wary about When Employees Have Personal Brands: A Cautionary Tale. And given that everything written is telling employees to have personal brands this needs to be read.

A couple of submitters talked about training. These include:

• Maj. Gen. B.K. Bhatia of The Talent Junction tells us about Employee Training: A Management Perspective and gives us the results of discussions with management and line employees.
• Tanmay Vora of the QAspire blog offers Training and Development – A Holistic View. This is a key point about how to view HR as a system and not discrete programs.

Lastly in this set of submissions two writers express pride in their employees. Being proud of your workers speaks well of the company and these two folks sing the praises of their people.

• Chris Young of the Maximize Possibility Blog tells us about Three Critical Success Factors of Rainmaker Sales People.
• Lois Melbourne of the aquire BLOG tells about The Finest Software Professionals in the World

And of course I would be remiss if I did not include myself in this fine mix. I would like you to think about the future in a Strategic Planning Alert: The Changing Face of America at HR Observations.

HREvolution was held May 7th & 8th. The next Carnival of HR will be hosted by Ben Eubanks at Upstart HR and will deal with posts from that UNCONFERENCE. So stay tuned for that.
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