Any Given Monday

I write this as I sit here and watch today's football game of the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Minnesota Vikings. There is a term in football known as "Any Given Sunday".  On any given Sunday, the right strategy can be employed to overcome insurmountable odds. Losing teams can catch teams with winning records flat-footed and stop a five game streak in its tracks.  Conditions on the ground can allow anybody to take the advantage.

Any Given Monday

You can apply this idea to your workday.  When you go to work on Monday, do you give it your all?  If you are the manager or employer, do you fight for victory even when it looks like your team is outmatched?  You can win the victory on any given Monday.  It is so important day-to-day, week-to-week, season-to-season to come out ready to play each and every workday.

As I wait to see if the Eagles can come back from the unexpected beating they are taking from the Vikings, I would like to leave you with an Al Pacino monologue from the fabulous movie Any Given Sunday:

I don’t know what to say, really. Three minutes till the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Now either we heal as a team or we’re gonna’ crumble, inch by inch, play by play, 'til we’re finished.
We’re in hell right now, gentlemen, believe me. And, we can stay here -- get the s--t kicked out of us -- or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell one inch at a time.
Now, I can’t do it for you. I’m too old. I look around. I see these young faces, and I think -- I mean -- I made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I, uh, I pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who’s ever loved me. And lately, I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror.
You know, when you get old in life things get taken from you. I mean that's...part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out life’s this game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small -- I mean one-half a step too late, or too early, and you don’t quite make it. One-half second too slow, too fast, you don’t quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second.
On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch, because we know when we add up all those inches that’s gonna’ make the f--kin' difference between winning and losing! Between livin' and dyin'!
I’ll tell you this: In any fight, it’s the guy who’s willing to die who’s gonna’ win that inch. And I know if I’m gonna have any life anymore, it’s because I’m still willin' to fight and die for that inch. Because that’s what livin' is! The six inches in front of your face!!
Now I can’t make you do it. You got to look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes! Now I think you’re gonna see a guy who will go that inch with you. You're gonna’ see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows, when it comes down to it, you’re gonna’ do the same for him!
That’s a team, gentleman!
And, either we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals.
That’s football guys.
That's all it is.
Now, what are you gonna’ do?

And remember all of you Human Resources professionals:  Be Human... Be a Resource...  Be a Resource for Humans.


Interesting Link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146838/

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Winter Weather and Icy Conditions at Work

Snow!  Freezing Rain!  Ice!  These are exclamations that TV Meteorologists make that should send businesses into action.  Are you ready for the next big winter storm?  How you cope with these winter messes can showcase the effectiveness and durability of your services to your customers.  Proper execution of these plans can also improve the loyalty of your workforce.  Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion down below about your own experiences with the latest snowpacolypse.

Winter Weather and Icy Conditions at Work

Unfortunately, too many businesses do not do proper planning for Mother Nature.  Of those companies that have plans, even fewer of them have effective execution of their plan.  Always remember that a plan is no good if it cannot actually be used in the real world.  So your first step should be to come up with a realistic plan of operations for the business under adverse winter conditions.

Questions to Consider:

• What is the plan?  -  Write it down.  A plan does not become real unless you write it down.  In this digital age you do not necessarily need to have a hard copy, but it can sometimes help enforce the legitimacy of the plan to have a printed copy that can be referenced at the drop of a hat.


• Are you prepared? - Make sure you have enough salt for your sidewalks in your closet or warehouse.  If you need to contract a 3rd party vendor to plow or shovel, be sure to sign those contracts months before disaster strikes.  Consider having an emergency store of food or water on hand, just in case your workers need them.  Get your equipment secured before the storm hits full blast; don’t wait until the last minute.  Do not forget to watch for changes in weather forecasts, public transportation and school delays, and public emergency advisories.


• How many people? - Figure out what the bare minimum headcount is that you need to be able to operate safely.  Try to figure out how to meet that expectation in advance.  Consider having people work from home or at an off-site location.  


• How will you explain it to customers and employees? - Pre-write the language for your weather advisories so you are not scrambling to put together something at the last minute.  Have a web-portal, phone chain, or hotline set-up in advance to get the message out.  Be consistent in your update timing before, during, and after a storm to build some reliability into the system.


• How will jobs be completed on-time? - Maybe the jobs will be completed; maybe they won’t.  Consider writing language into your contracts with customers to accommodate weather delays.  Be upfront with your customers by showing them your Winter Weather policies in advance so they know the conditions that are considered untenable for operations.  It is suggested that you do not force employees into an unsafe condition just because a customer is unreasonable.


• When will you close? - The worst time to make the decision is after it is too late.  If you wait until you have machinery freezing or breaking; workers sliding across roads or trapped at their desks; you have guaranteed a failure in your work environment and possibly invited some liability into your processes.  Try to come up with a set of conditions that will always prompt closure.  Build in time frames for different phases.


• When will you open? - Think about road conditions after a serious storm and what you need to do to re-start operations.  Some companies may consider housing a skeleton crew at a near-by hotel to allow them to open faster after a storm.  Remember the human element - Your workers may have stranded family members or closed schools.  Just because you can resume operations does not always mean you should resume operations.  If appropriate, consider a snow delay or remaining closed an extra day.  


• What is the Practice Date? - You ought to do a dry run of your procedures and systems before the big snow emergency.  None of your preparation will be useful if you cannot execute it on the day of the storm's arrival. 

So... Do you have a policy in place?  What are some of the questions you ask when preparing your business for icy conditions?

And remember all of you Human Resources professionals:  Be Human... Be a Resource...  Be a Resource for Humans.

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Note: Please view the Disclaimer page for all liabilities and limitations.

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