Today I don’t have to ramble at you (aren’t you thrilled?). My pal’s going to do it for me. My buddy Allen Robinson has given me permission to republish the post he’s written about his SHRM experiences. He says they’re not as bad as everyone makes them out to be. I’m not going to agree or disagree with his assessment, but I will shut up and let Allen do some talking. Here we go!

How many times have you heard that SHRM is more or less a waste of space, a dinosaur of an organization or just not meeting the needs of the HR community? I have been hearing this more and more lately.

My view of SHRM apparently is different than the growing disdain among my fellow HR Professionals. As I was developing my knowledge of HR at the University of Michigan, I was given a great deal of support by SHRM either directly or indirectly. There in lies the key to why I feel that SHRM is still a relevant organization. Continue Reading »

(Subscribers may have to click here to view this video)

Here’s the transcript of the video above if you can’t check it out in all its glory.

Abdicating responsibility while maintaining control Continue Reading »

I don’t know about you, but I’m pumped about HRevolution 2010. We have some great things in store. While we haven’t yet shared some of the information on speakers/topics, there is still a core group of people who are fervent supporters. It’s amazing to see how popular this event that I helped to create is really becoming. I and the other planners really appreciate all of the support and hope to make this one twice as good as the last!

In that vein, I have asked some of last year’s attendees and some of this year’s newbies to give me a little bit of information about why they want to attend and what they are looking for from the event. It was enlightening and I hope you enjoy the responses as much as I have. And make sure you check out the HRevolution Preview on HR Happy Hour!

Chris Frede

Why did you sign up for HRevolution 2010?

I signed up for HRE 2010 to meet a lot of very smart people – and I have to say that starts with the planning committee. In addition, the list of attendees is outstanding. I look forward to meeting those who I have connected with on Twitter. I am excited to speak with them and get ideas about social media, HR and blogging. I regret that I was unable to attend HRE 2009 and was not going to make that mistake again! Continue Reading »

Check this audio piece for all the gory details.

Crap. I stabbed my hand. There goes my blogging career. (Click to play)

Should applying for a job be hard or easy?

Okay, so if you’re anything like me at all, your first thought is that it should be easy. We should keep the process as simple as possible for people to try to get into our organization. Keep that pipeline open and flowing!

So we’ll set the bar as low as we possibly can…

Are you starting to see my point? Maybe setting the bar low to let everyone in isn’t such a good idea. But going the opposite way isn’t that smart, either. Setting the bar very high would preclude people like me from ever finding a job.

One thing that I’m pretty certain about is that we should make it hard enough to repel those who are applying to anything and everything under the sun (whether the job or the culture is a fit for them or not). Continue Reading »

Hey, everyone! I hope you’ve had a great week so far. I realize that I haven’t written in a few days. And by “realize” I mean I’m fairly freaking out due to the fact that I feel like a goof. It’s seriously bothering me.

But it’s not just because I’m lazy or anything.

I had a 31 mile race last Saturday and I still haven’t recovered all the way mentally and physically. However… I have some fantastic ideas and some great stuff on the way. Promise.

So in lieu of having to write something with my brain still scrambled, I’d like to share some links to posts that I’ve found useful in the past few days. Continue Reading »

Well, SHE came, she saw, and she took the prize! Congratulations to Samantha for winning the free HR certification flashcards from HRCP. She’ll be hearing from me via email shortly.

I really appreciate everyone who entered, and I’ve created a 75% discount on the Rock the PHR guide as a consolation prize. The discount will only be good until Friday at midnight (one and a half days), so get the PHR study guide now if you’re planning to take the exam. The discount code is “random” (minus quotes).

Upcoming Contest/Giveaway/Whatever

Keep your eyes peeled for a new contest with a HRevolution flavor in the coming week! Subscribe now so you don’t miss out.

Oh, and I’m going to try to do more giveaways, contests, etc. If you have a good idea for one, drop it in the comments or email me. I’m always open to ideas.