In 2007. the SHRM Conference was in Las Vegas and the attendance was huge and it was fun.

In 2008, the Conference was in Chicago and the attendance was down and the atmosphere was not as much fun.  The CEO of SHRM told the attendees to stop whining about not having a seat at the table. 

In 2009, the Conference is in New Orleans and the attendance is in half and the atmosphere is subdued.  Many attendees are not worried about being at the table; they are considering leaving the building.  For the first time, there is a Career Transition Center at the conference.

You know, it is easy being in HR during the good times.  We find out what we are made of during the bad times.  I am reminded of a cliche:  When the going gets tough, the tough get going. 

We HR professionals need to be tough and strengthen our resolve to become a more of a positive force in our organizations.  As Frank Roche has said (something like this), “To heck with that table, make your own and have them want to be at your table.”

A recent survey indicated that 37% of Human Resource people were thinking about bailing out of the profession.  They were tired of being the “Grim Reaper” in their organizations.  Waves of layoffs has dampened their enthusiasm for their career. 

I know how they feel.  I have probably been associated with thousands of employees being reduced in force.  None of them were fun.  On top of the distasteful chore, there are other negative aspects swirling around - managers using layoffs to dump their poor performers that they should have addressed before and the CEO choosing not to listen to you when you are recommending other forms of cost cutting (furloughs, salary reductions). 

My message to these HR folks who are depressed is:

This is life.  Get used to it. There are ups and downs.  You are not in an easy profession.  Even when times are good, you rarely get kudos for your contribution.  Your reward is in knowing that you do make a difference even if few others recognize you for it.  Take advantage of this time period to regroup and strategize to how to best move forward.  When the cycle turns upward, you want to be ready.  Here are some tips on what to do…

1. Go one step beyond to help the people who are being laid off.

2. Focus on bolstering the morale and productivity of the employees who are left.

3. Plan on how you can be better as a business person to help avoid future downturns.

4. Review whether the company you are working for is a match to your values.

5. Research other companies which might be a better match for you.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.  And so is it with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

You can learn from the people who are barely getting by, from those who are doing fairly well or from those at the top of the heap.  Talk to people who are already successful and find out how they did it.  That’s what the book, “I Can’t Believe I Get Paid To Do This! ” is all about.  Its purpose is to provide success principles and philosophies from those who have excelled.  They’ve already been down that road and you can learn from their experience.  Why reinvent the wheel when someone else already did a great job of creating it?

Let me reiterate the 10 Success Strategies:

1.  Create wealth in alignment with your passions.

2. Honor numero uno: Design your life around your priorities.

3. Visualize every step of your dream and watch the magic unfold.

4. Easy does it: Inspired action always trumps forced action.

5. Laser in on one idea, business or income stream at a time.

6. Strengthen your relationships: Your financial independence is dependent on your connections with others.

7. Develop your resilience muscle: Bounce back from setbacks.

8. Streamline your efforts: Align your natural talents with your goal.

9. Disarm that sneaky inner saboteur.

10. Shorten your learning curve by learning from the best.

Even when we know what we need to do, we often don’t do it out of fear of experiencing the emotions and other things that may come up as a result.  Fear of failure and fear of success are the two biggest internal fears that people often face.  Most other fears such as fear of rejection fall underneath one of those major categories.  As human beings, we will go to great lengths to avoid our fears.  That is why so many ideas never get beyond being a great idea, or projects are started and never finished.  It is easy to find reasons, excuses, other diversions or projects, create chaos, and sometimes even create emergencies to avoid these negative feelings or outcomes.  One of the most important things you can do is allow it to be okay to have these feelings.  Then step back and notice what it is you do to get in your own way.  When you have identified that, you can make a conscious decision to do it differently.

Success comes easier and more quickly when you enhance your strengths and delegate in areas where you are weak.  Your natural talents are those things you do so easily and naturally that you think they are no big deal.  The key is to take your natural talents and abilities and strengthen them through education and experience.  You are not born an expert at anything - it is something you develop.

The truth is that you will have setbacks along the way.  This is just inevitable.  The sooner you accept that, the better.  Many of these setbacks take the form of circumstances that come up and block your way.  If you look closely, you may find these setbacks are directly correlated with your inter-most thoughts, fears, and limiting beliefs. This is because we create what we focus on including those things we don’t want.  Don’t get stopped by these bumps in the road; learn from them.  As you work through the setbacks that come up, you will become the person you need to be to live out your dreams.

It is a rare occurrence that a person makes it without the help and aid of others.  “No man (or woman) is an island” as some great philosopher said.  I’ve seen many talented and gifted individuals in the world of work who lacked people-skills and they might as well have stayed home.  Even if they had the secret formula to the product being produced, eventually someone did them in.  

Here are a three tips to strengthen your relationships:

1. Cease judgement.

2. Be of service.

3. Love them unconditionally.

I am sorry, but I couldn’t resist commenting on today’s AP news bulletin about the 700+ teachers in New York City who are paid to do nothing. 

When you hear the people who are worried about our future in the United States, they usually point to my home state of California and New York City as warning signs of where we might all be headed.  Frankly, I’m with these prophets.  Here’s the deal:

These people are teachers who have been accused of infractions from insubordination to sexual misconduct.  They have been sent to a “reassignment center,” affectionately called the “rubber room” by the inhabitants.  Here, they can surf the web, read a book, write a novel, whatever, while they collect their full salary of $70,000 or more costing the city of NY about $65 million a year.  Some teachers have waited up to 6 years to get a hearing.  It looks like most of them wait over a year.  The city is in this mess because of the union contract that makes it extremely difficult to fire teachers. 

Actually, it probably costs more than $65 mil to the city since there is the cost of the facility and management of it.  The teachers are also earning full benefits including vacation. 

I am now wondering how many “rubber rooms” are there around the country that we don’t hear about.  This phenomenon can’t be limited to just New York City - the teachers’ union is everywhere. 

I know you would be disappointed if I didn’t mention the Employee Free Choice Act which is still on the agenda for this congress.  With unions able to organize employees so much easier, “rubber rooms” may become common within industry.

One of the mistakes people make is diversifying too quickly.  This is true whether you are trying to build multiple streams of income or are just working on several different ideas at one time.  The key is getting the first stream or idea up and running, producing good revenue and having systems in place so it will keep running without you before going on to the next unrelated stream.  Loral Langemeier, who is a financial literacy coach, said, “Several things going on at one time is a distraction to cash.”

One mistake that I make is in the area of self-development.  After reading an inspiring book or attending a motivational seminar, I want to instantly go out and change 10 things about me.  I’ll sit down and write goals and post actions on my calendar.  Two weeks later, I’m feeling guilty because I’ve run out of steam. 

I’ve also heard that it takes at least 30-40 days to change one habit.  I’ve been successful when I did this.  I need to remember Success Factor Number 6 and laser in on one thing at a time.