What’s Love Got to Do with It?

In the month of February, Who’s Your HR? challenges you and your employees to show some love. In February, this month (and it should be all year long), there is a discussion about showing love and how great love looks. This month, we show love in a variety of ways by: 

• Showing thanks for an anticipated early spring, thanks to Phil the groundhog.
• Noting our past and current executive leaders during President’s Day.
• Celebrating Black History Month and the masterful roles members of our great country played to build America. 
• Appreciating the Leap Year in 2024. Thank you, calendar leaders of the past. 

What’s love got to do with it? A LOT. This year and currently, show and share your love, not with secondhand emotion at work but in numerous ways. Showing love as a leader is critical. Within the organization with employees and with your customers/clients, your business is relational first; operational second. Think about the role you and your employees play every day. 

Some might consider these the Critical Non-Essentials. But these actions of love—small or large—may impact your organization’s success. Think about the role you play as a leader or an employee. Your actions speak volumes about your care and your worthiness of love. Just like the candy, when you lead with love, this means you can:  

• Be on time for work and/or a requested meeting with a leader, manager, client or customer.
• Be prepared for the actions or events of the day. 
• Be encouraging by offering kind words and quick tips to help a fellow employee go through a challenge at work.
• Be appreciative of the great work and support you and others have received. 

These actions are key demonstrators of love in and out of the workplace. However, as you think about the organization and the additional ways love can be shown, there are other considerations that are critical. At work, can you show your love? For example, can you:  

• Be supportive of diversity and inclusion? Often, diversity and inclusion describe the makeup of the workforce as well as the policies. However, there is more to this as we consider. It includes how we enable others to be their authentic self and support that right to have a diversity of thought and be open to being heard and to listen. 
• Be engaging? Active listening to employees requires ensuring hard and challenging work questions are heard, difficult conversations are held, and actions are taken for the greater good of the organization. 
• Be open to employees taking a leap? It is Leap Year. You may find that individuals may seize this opportunity to make a change in their career. Can you provide the support needed to ensure they land correctly? 
• Be consistent in the approach toward all HR processes and procedures, including: 
  • Selection and Hiring Practices – Leveraging methods and capabilities that are consistent for each candidate.
  • Alcohol and Drug Policies – Following a policy applicable to all employees. 
  • Pay and Promotion Practices – Using data, relative contribution, and collaborative decisions to make decisions.
  • Termination – Applying documented communication on performance/behavior regularly to support final decisions.

These factors and others are indicators of love. It’s the little things in the end that matter. Showing love at home and at work takes a great deal of work. However, the payoff is significant as it impacts:

• How your business functions and the organizational climate.
• Whether employees, customers and clients decide to stay or leave. 
• What it may cost to keep someone with you in the organization.
• Whether additional work is referred your way.
• Whether new opportunities are found.

At Who’s Your HR? we would love to show our love to you by enabling you to be successful this month and going forward. Let’s work together to ensure your success this month and in the future. Let’s chat!