Things that Grind my Gears: Cliches, Platitudes, and BuzzWords
‘You know what really grinds my gears? People in the 19th century. Why don't they get with the freakin program? It's called an automobile, folks. It's much faster than a horse!
(Peter Griffin – Family Guy ‘The Untold Story’ 2005)
I was told last week that my blogs are very technical and written perhaps with my largely engineering client base in mind. For some reason this surprised me. I tend to write my blogs on subjects inspired by something that I have come across that causes a memorable reaction from me; a question from someone that inspires a reflection or occasional mirage of clarity; an assertion from someone that I might disagree with; or an activity I observe in a company which I believe may be misguided. In responding to these, perhaps my use of diagrams, schematics, and 2by4 tables may suggest a long supressed engineer deep within me trying to escape (I am fond of engineers but really can’t claim to be one).
Today’s blog is an attempt at a different style and is about my visceral reaction to buzz phrases and terms. I will confess my list is a little longer than I have shared here, but what follows in this blog is my top 5 phrases that Just Grind my Gears! I’m channelling here that legendary diplomat and balanced social commentator Peter Griffin from the Family Guy.
1. Employer of Choice and Employer Brand
I have come to really dislike this phrase. The original challenge here was to encourage employers to create a virtuous internal work environment for existing and prospective employees. If you will, create beauty from the inside, which will ultimately be recognised by the outside world. On this level it was a noble pursuit.
Now, increasingly, I see it massively misrepresented and increasingly superficial. The focus has become on making a company appear exciting, slapping a thin veneer of gloss on the outside which promises much, but does little to tackle the thorny challenges required to make the actual internal experience a great one. We have awards for employer of choice, rankings, companies now with departments specifically to manage the external brand.
My plea here is simple…. focus on making the experience for your existing employees a great one…. deliver on the 3 big pillars beyond basic hygiene factors (interesting work, growth/development, and an authentic and empowering boss) and let your employees be your advocates.
2. Right people, right place, right time
Oh how I dislike sound bite HR clichés. This is a very popular one which suggests both something blindingly obvious about workforce planning, but also incredibly misleading. Alex Hagin wrote a good piece on this.
The problem with these sorts of seemingly smart phrases is they reduce complex challenges to banal tabloid headlines. The interaction between increasingly dynamic, rapidly changing work environments and economics means that employers increasingly don’t have the luxury for long term planning. The global environment is complex and volatile, competitors are constantly fighting you for market share, and your employees are increasingly interested in doing what they want to do rather than what you need then to do! Let me also underline my biggest issue with this statement…..are we really saying it’s the employer’s parental obligation to deploy perfectly skilled employees wherever the business feels it needs them? This doesn’t feel very empowering to me at all!
Oil & Gas mechanical trainer, assessor (OPITO)
8 年I am inspired your article, Creating an inspiring work place is removing all jargons & gimmicks and creating a work place where the employees feel they truly belong and work with respect and get adequate challenges to keep themselves inspired and add value to their company's vision.
Commodity Trading Expertise and Leadership
8 年Thanks David. I have two reactions. First, it is surprising to me that organizations will still roll out platitudes as revelatory and inspirational when I think most of their employees find them to be neither. Second, when staffed with people who truly understand the business, I agree that the HR mandate can extend to areas of business where they perhaps fear to tread. By doing so, they can help prevent numerous organizational misteps by insisting all areas of the business strive to create your "3 big pillars ......interesting work, growth/development, and an authentic and empowering boss".
Smart post. Today's HR has a bit of an identity crisis, and I find the "do the right thing, not the easy thing" to be quite timely. Many HR organizations have become psuedo arms of corporate legal, with a sole focus on protecting the organization. That is certainly part of the mandate, but if that becomes the primary focus, it has fallen well short of what is needed by both the organization and its employees. Another buzz word I could do without - "robust"
Corporate Recruiting Executive | Pay Negotiation Coach | Best-Selling Author | Speaker
8 年David, thanks for posting this. The latest one I encountered was "We believe our employees are our greatest asset." While once (30 years ago) this was a refreshing phrase, now it is meaningless, and tired as a Grand Canyon pack mule.