AKA How to Move Beyond a Crappy Job

A lot of us get frustrated when we want to do work on a level of 10 (while we’re stuck doing work at a level of 1).  In this video I give you a suggestion I’ve learned from experience about how to make that level 1 work suck less.

What do you have to offer the world?

A week or so ago, I was doing some research for a leadership project I’m working on. I came across a moving video that I really think you should check out. It’s longer than most, but the message is worth the wait. Check out The Butterfly Circus video below. (Email/RSS subscribers may need to click through to view.)

Here’s the original link to the video.

My thoughts

What does this mean for your employees?
What does it mean for you as an HR pro?
Are you aligning your staff’s talent with the organization’s needs and motivating them to be the best they can be?

Check it out. I even got up the nerve to shoot a video for you guys. A big shout out to Allen Robinson for the design work. I really appreciate his hard work. Have a design project in mind? Contact him.

Hey guys, it’s Ben. I just wanted to throw up a quick video to answer some questions and let everyone know a little about the Rock the PHR guide.

This thing isn’t like the other study sources out there. In an effort to meet the needs of a lot of test takers, I have created a batch of resources that fall under the RTPHR umbrella. Let me say that this is not a full-blown study guide. This is a supplemental resource to fill in the gaps that even the really high priced options have.

Back to what I was saying-RTPHR is the guide, but it comes with some special resources that can help you study smarter and more efficiently. One new and exciting piece of the relaunch is a private forum/chatroom where customers can meet and support each other. Many of you, like me, probably didn’t have a study group nearby. The private community slows you to interact with others from the comfort of home. Pretty cool, right?

On a lighter note: someone asked me the other day why I was selling this so hard. I laughed and said, “If you developed a resource that could drastically improve someone’s chance of success, would you hide it or share it with the world?”

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Thanks!

This post was written last week, and I have since written about HRevolution (the HR unconference) and announced the new look for the blog. But you still want to see me in action, right? Continue Reading

Can you say "instant relief?" I can.

VHRG and Leadership

I don’t know if you’re a regular reader or not, but Venting HR Guy is a funny human resources blog that showcases some of the daily events we all face. The difference is that VHRG can be a little more forthcoming in detailing his workday, because his identity is a secret. It makes for an interesting blog, that’s for sure.

Anyway, VHRG often has issues that he tries to deal with at work. However, the response from his boss, known by the clever name “The Boss,” is often to side with the employee for some reason. Have an employee getting payroll advances several times a month for more than a year? Instead of cutting the guy off, VHRG will probably be forced by The Boss to give into the demands of the financially moronic employee. And that’s just one example.

While you might not have that specific problem, I’m pretty sure that plenty of you have seen this in your own workplace (and if not, count yourself lucky!). You want to handle a situation that is within your realm of influence, but someone upstream gets word of the issue and wants to handle it a different way. How in the world can HR be taken seriously if they’re constantly hamstrung and second-guessed by senior leadership?

They can’t.

That’s why I think VHRG needs some leadership. He needs a change. He is already looking for a new job, and I know that many of us would love to help, but with the whole “cloak of anonymity” he has going on, it’s a bit tough to do. If you have suggestions for how he can deal with his spineless leaders, please drop them in the comments below. I’m going to collect and pass them along to him.

In contrast to VHRG’s leadership problems, I spoke to a friend recently who was looking for a new job. She was ready to move on from her current position, and she had her eye on several positions. Then a new leader was brought into the organization, and it’s been amazing to see the change. She’s more positive, excited about her work, and the “leaving” part has completely been pushed out of her mind. It’s amazing to see what positive leadership does, but it’s also sad to see what happens when that leadership is absent, which is what’s going on in VHRG’s situation.

I’m not picking on my pal here; I just know that there are lots of other HR professionals who have the same issue, and they know that their “leaders” won’t back them up when a tough issue comes along. And if you have any tips on how he can move into another job, please post them in the comments, too. Every little bit helps, and the HR community is well-known for its helpfulness!