How many times has someone appeared in your doorway about to faint? “I was told to come to HR by my Supervisor, am I fired?” You reply with a smile, “Relax, you just forgot a signature on a benefit enrollment form, no biggie, just sign here and you can go back to work” right?

How many times has this happened and it was simply for a signature on a form, to provide an update on FMLA hours used or to ask for documentation?

It should be no secret to anyone who has worked in HR for a month that it has a stigma amongst employees of all levels as the place for time out, the naughty corner, a dungeon of doom, kiss of death – a most horrid place you want to stay away from like the plague, the kind some people never return to their work area from.

My last employer had white boxes they would pack employee personal effects in – in front of staff trying to work, while employees were undergoing termination in HR. The joke was, “I got called to HR, if you see a white box you know I’m not coming back”.

In addition to losing an employee on those days, one in which a significant investment in training, coaching and mentoring had been made and would be costly to replace, productivity and morale would be shot, psyches wounded, employee satisfaction eroded.. the list went on and on until it got down to the bottom line..

Yet, unless all those peeps that still like to keep me apprised of the drama have forgotten to mention it, in spite of a C-Level overload of brain power in the organization.. they have yet to learn why attrition is high, morale is low and if other jobs were available people would bail like on the last voyage of the Titanic.

It doesn’t have to be that way. The accountability of how human resources is perceived is self-fulfilled prophecy. Here are my 10 best practices to ensure being called to your HR department is not viewed as the kiss of death.

1. Don’t call people to HR without letting them know why…. Hello.
2. Being a role model for respect in the workplace and insisting that the corporate culture adapt it as an imperative is doing the right thing… from the C-Suite down, of course.
3. Internal marketing for HR is as important a function as any in the long list of what we do.
4. Ensuring supervisory personnel (through C Level – of course) receive initial and ongoing training on how to deal effectively with employee relations issues is one of the best “best practices” in HR I can think of.
5. We should never forget that while confidential knowledge is shared on a need to know basis (hopefully) an HR communication vacuum is hazardous in an organization.
6. If you ask for feedback (like e-sat surveys and even suggestion boxes) be prepared to deliver the results along with recommendations for improvement to the big guns.. and stand your ground firm that if they aren’t going to be prepared to act upon results they should skip asking for opinions.
7. During new hire orientation let employees know the best way to communicate with HR and what your department’s strategy is to communicate with staff.
8. Create a service level agreement for HR, track, analyze and report quarterly how you’re doing. You’ll find “areas of opportunity” for yourself *gasp* and put your department up for the same scrutiny you are always subjecting others too.
9. Be there. Be available. Be visible. You don’t have to take the door off the hinge but you should have posted open door hours. Hiding behind closed door gives the perception you are not available, you are getting ready to fire someone or you are plotting how to cut benefits..
10. Get out from behind your desk and into the work area. Interview random employees about their jobs. Compare your notes to their job descriptions and their last performance evaluations. If the math doesn’t add up it’s a predictor their resumes are posted all over Internet job boards.

I have a lot of HR friends with tons of great experience. So chime in please, can you add a step to avoid running an HR dungeon of doom?

My take away from the session was that change continues to be uncomfortable for organizations even when it means optimization is on the horizon. Not that it completely fazes me….. Message to all those C-Level types out there –>

It’s time to crawl out of the Cold War trenches, warm your hands and learn what employees want and need to stay engaged in 2010 – your troops are your bottom line……..

THE Conference is the multi-track business conference of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce and will bring professional development and networking opportunities to northeastern PA on Tuesday, April 27 at The Woodlands.

The day long, comprehensive professional development and business conference will begin at 8 a.m. with Myra Golden, nationally renown keynote speaker and author of Beyond Wow. Myra consults for organizations that represent the brands and services you know and love to help them differentiate their service experience from that of their competitors.

Multiple tracks in business and nonprofit disciplines will continue throughout the day for C-level, marketing, fund-raising, human resources, entrepreneurship and management. Participants will enjoy interactive sessions on social media, media relations, branding, green marketing, ethical fund-raising, grants, board governance, employment law, recruiting and retention, diversity, business financing, business start ups, economics of technology, digital time management, global trends, capacity building, C-suite challenges and more.

I’ll be conducting a session on how to attract quality candidates and retain top performing employees through employer branding and employee engagement. There will be several panel discussions and a number of “Toolkit” sessions from which participants will walk away with ideas and strategies that can implemented in their business or nonprofit right away.

THE Conference concludes with Cocktails & Connections, a business mixer at 5 p.m hosted by POWER! Wilkes-Barre. What other way would you end an event like this?

If you’re in northeast PA you can’t miss this professional development and business networking event. If you are not in the immediate area but are looking for a mega quality event at a price that can’t be beat then by all means join us! Registration is $99 ($79 for Chamber members and nonprofit employees) and includes continental breakfast, lunch, conference materials and entrance to the Cocktails & Connections networking mixer.

For 6 tracks and 30+ speakers and events for only $99 it’s worth driving from NYC, Philly, Harrisburg and even flying in from Texas or Timbuktu… <<—- Go back and read that sentence!

If you’re interested in a great way to showcase your business why not rent an exhibitor booth for $150?

Tip for Students: Take advantage of the very special deeply discounted student rate of $49 to come for professional development and to network with potential future employers.

I can’t wait to see you there!

Good works and help behind closed doors go on everyday in Corporate America but it can’t always be recognized in traditional ways, hence the closed doors. C knows what is going on and says good job over the speaker phone and that’s it. You might be expected to understand that your recognition comes by retaining your employment, qualifying for and receiving a COLA  increase at the end of the year and feeling special when ATS, HRIS vendors and Staffing Agency end of year chotchkies show up… if the Receptionist doesn’t sack them before you ever see them. Due to the confidentiality of so many HR missions, they’re never heard of again except in the most generally unrecognizable terms over a Cosmo on Hump Day.

Why do we care? Why do we think we need recognition?

Some of it could be because we are people too and we want recognition just like everyone else, though some people sure seem to need more of it than others.  The most important reason is that it’s about trust and buy-in. Because freaking people out when HR requests their presence and being thought of as company police is counter-productive. It’s about moving and shaking the employer brand, attracting talent, retaining the talent you have, so much more than warnings for dress code violations.

When HR creates and drives policy with an iron fist, is responsible for keeping health care premiums low by forcing people to go to health fairs in the cafeteria, is required to act in so many ways as the unofficial legal department, administers benefits and ends up involved with the most personal information and secrets people are required to divulge to employers on that nasty FMLA, STD and LTD paperwork, knows and in many cases recommends everyone’s salaries, is privy to transgressions and administers their discipline, and gets “rid” of people, among so many other highly sensitive and fundamentally critical functions, is it really a wonder why staff is afraid of what is perceived so often as the KGB.

For departmental reputation and PR I think it is important during orientation and other opportune times to plug the fact that because a high degree of confidentiality is required with many situations that end up in the HR offices many of the good works it does will never be known. This is precisely why I was nicknamed “Secret Agent Porter” at my last job.

Sometimes while barreling down the hall and I could hear staff… “There goes Secret Agent Porter, wonder what she’s up to now!” It was exciting and glamorous, like the life of Agent 99 or Natasha… people would run interference for me at the drop of a hat, all I would have to say was “Hey guys, I’m on a mission, would you please defer traffic down the other hall?” They would rather miss a meeting than let someone through until I relinquished them from duty while the authorities escorted someone out without anyone’s notice. They received thank you cards or email from me. Everyone was a deputized HR Assistant. It was fun, they weren’t afraid of me. Staff would stop by, ask if there were any “missions” they could help with. I would always come up with something to keep them engaged, happy and feeling appreciated.

It’s also important to ensure the department is recognized in visible ways when it can be and is appropriate. When the IT department is doing rocket science and getting bagel baskets from C, if you put up fliers around the building for “Blood Pressure Screening” everyone is just going to laugh. Timing is everything and it is largely up to the creative genius of the HR team to do things right and do the right thing – at the right time. Testimonials from satisfied internal customers – voluntary not under duress are best- are good in the company newsletter. If you can manage to save someone’s life or career and get it on video or a podcast for the company Share point site you are an HR Rock Star.

Regardless of how conservative and brown shoe the organization is we work for, we made a decision to accept the mission. There is always a way to be creative, give and earn trust, show and garner appreciation and recognition but it calls for innovation and leadership not following like blind sheep. Sometimes it means plotting a concept, creating a business case and persistence to take it to decision makers. It can mean being told no and having to have the wherewithal to take it back to the drawing board, rework it and present it again if you really believe in your idea. It might mean lobbying others with similar ideas, forming an exploratory committee over Cosmos, getting buy-in and going in as a team with representatives from all levels of employees and departments.

It means having entrepreneurial spirit, owning your work, believing in your ideas and being an agent of change to make them happen.

Maybe I’m jaded but I have been fortunate to feel trusted, appreciated and valued by my internal and external customers and partners.

What is the level of trust in the organization you’re with? How can you influence it?