Can Internal Coach or HR Pro Be Trusted With Your Secrets?

I guess the discussion made me a bit #sad because as a former Human Resources pro myself, I felt like I was effective as an internal “coach”. Whether working with an employee as part of their career development process or providing support to some making it through performance improvement plans, I worked hard to balance their need for confidentiality in the process with my responsibilities to the organization. I took pride in being someone that employees at all levels could talk to and one CEO even referred to me as his Consigliere – which considering some of the bullets I took for him, was kind of fitting.

But I do recall a conversation I had one day with an employee who was experiencing some issues at work. When I offered to listen and provide support, she said “Unfortunately, I can’t talk to you about this. It’s not that I don’t trust you personally. It’s the chair that you sit in. You have the authority to fire me. And I can’t risk that.”

After she left my office, I thought about what she’d said. I wanted to be offended. But I kinda understood where she was coming from. While it was frustrating that she wouldn’t allow me to try to help out just because of my position in the organization, I also knew that sometimes it was part of my role to be involved in making decisions about her career. So sharing a weakness or performance problem with someone who has that type of influence could be perceived as a risk.

Fast forward to today, where I work with clients as an external Executive Coach… The feedback I’ve received from clients is that one of the most helpful aspects of the coaching process is the opportunity to speak confidentially with someone outside of the organization who can listen, support, challenge and guide them. I’ve listened as senior level clients have shared with me a variety of potentially career damaging things – being afraid of making decisions, that they’re intimidated by a peer or they’re unhappy in their jobs. We’ve been able to work through and resolve those issues, but I’ve often wondered if it would be a challenge for me as an internal coach to have access to that same information.

HR often seems to get thrown under the bus in regards to confidentiality and credibility issues (if you’re the one causing that to happen, then please STOP), but I don’t agree that credibility/trust of internal coaches is an “HR” issue. I think it’s more about the perceived confidentiality that an external coach can provide – no matter how good an internal coach may be.

I think it’s hard for employees not to feel at risk when sharing information with people in a position to influence their careers.

What do you think? Can HR pros serve as effective coaches inside their organizations? Do external coaches have an advantage over internals?

The conversation at the conference has caused me to wonder if maybe the employee who was preoccupied with where I parked my derriere each day was on to something…

2011 Career Trends

The job market is not improving fast enough for most Americans. I have to agree with a recent New York Times op-ed  by Bob Herbert, which pointed out that, while many data experts are painting a somewhat rosy picture of the economy in 2011, prospects for the 15 million+ unemployed Americans are still very grim.

Citing a Rutgers study, Herbert provides this chilling assessment: "The recession has been a cataclysm that will have an enduring effect. It is hard to overstate the dire shape of the unemployed." I, for one, am committed to keeping this issue top-of-mind and working to find creative and effective solutions. As always, I will continue to share as many tips, tricks and tactics as I can to help more Americans get the jobs they want and need.

2. Fortunately, recent grad hiring is a bright spot. The good news if you're looking for an entry-level position is that the job market is improving at a faster rate for recent grads than most other demographics.  The National Association of Colleges and Employers' Job Outlook 2011  survey has shown that the job market for the Class of 2011 is off to a good start.

According to the organization, "Employers responding to the NACE Job Outlook 2011 Fall Preview survey reported plans to hire 13.5 percent more new bachelor's graduates from the Class of 2011 than they did from the Class of 2010. When asked to describe the overall job market for Class of 2011 bachelor's degree graduates, the largest group—almost half of employers— characterized it as ‘good.' In comparison, last year, the largest group saw the job market as just ‘fair.'"

This doesn't mean it will be easy for the Class of 2011, but we are definitely heading in the right direction when it comes to entry-level hiring.

3. Job categories are being forever changed. In the op-ed I mentioned above, Herbert also cites another New York Times article , which highlighted the fact that many of the jobs being added to the U.S. economy are not full-time positions with salary and benefits. Instead, "temporary workers accounted for 80 percent of the 50,000 jobs added by private sector employers in November." This is not a new trend. Temping, freelancing,"permalancing,"  adult interning, "free agenting,"  consulting and other forms of non-full-time, non-salaried positions have been on the rise for years and they will continue to grow in 2011.

While many people opt for this arrangement as a lifestyle choice, for many other people it is the only option they have. If you are a recent grad or any job seeker, you need to seriously consider launching or re-starting your career in one of these employment situations. Although they may not be ideal, for many professionals these gigs have turned into the only way to get a foot-in-the-door of the workforce.

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10 things you doesnot know about NOKIA

1) The ringtone "Nokia tune" is actually based on a 19th century guitar work named "Gran Vals" by Spanish musician Francisco Tárrega. The Nokia Tune was originally named "Grande Valse" on Nokia phones but was changed to "Nokia Tune" around 1998 when it became so well known that people referred to it as the "Nokia Tune."

2) The world's first commercial GSM call was made in 1991 in Helsinki over a Nokia-supplied network, by Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri, using a Nokia phone.

3) Nokia is currently the world's largest digital camera manufacturer, as the sales of its camera-equipped mobile phones have exceeded those of any conventional camera manufacturer.

4) The "Special" tone available to users of Nokia phones when receiving SMS (text messages) is actually Morse code for "SMS". Similarly, the "Ascending" SMS tone is Morse code for "Connecting People," Nokia's slogan. The "Standard" SMS tone is Morse code for "M" (Message).

5) The Nokia corporate font (typeface) is the AgfaMonotype Nokia Sans font, originally designed by Eric Spiekermann. Its mobile phone User's Guides Nokia mostly used the Agfa Rotis Sans font.

6) In Asia, the digit 4 never appears in any Nokia handset model number, because 4 is considered unlucky in many parts of Southeast/East Asia.

7) Nokia was listed as the 20th most admirable company worldwide in Fortune's list of 2006 (1st in network communications, 4th non-US company).

8. Unlike other modern day handsets, Nokia phones do not automatically start the call timer when the call is connected, but start it when the call is initiated. (Except for Series 60 based handsets like the Nokia 6600)

9) Nokia is sometimes called aikon (Nokia backwards) by non-Nokia mobile phone users and by mobile software developers, because "aikon" is used in various SDK software packages, including Nokia's own Symbian S60 SDK.

10) The name of the town of Nokia originated from the river which flowed through the town. The river itself, Nokianvirta, was named after the old Finnish word originally meaning sable, later pine marten. A species of this small, black-furred predatory animal was once found in the region, but it is now extinct.