Okay, so I may have made up the name for the HR Capitalist Challenge (HRCC), but I didn’t make up the idea. Kris Dunn wrote a post last week about having passion for what you do. Like KD, I firmly believe that being passionate about what you do will put you ahead of so many others.

Pause: If you don’t know who Kris Dunn is, then you might want to check out his site linked above. He’s a pretty cool guy. The photo you see here is from when he came to my local SHRM chapter and spoke about using social media as a business professional. You can see from the line that he was pretty popular.

So what’s the HRCC, the thrill-inducing topic of this post? In his article, Kris talked about three questions that really show what your passion looks like. I’m going to answer the questions for myself. I’m also forwarding the challenge onto the rest of you.

You know when someone says, “you,” and you think they’re talking to the guy next to you? Well, this isn’t one of those times. I’m looking for a response from you!

The HR Capitalist Challenge

How do you stay up to date in your field outside of work? (looking for a real thirst for cutting edge material without regard to the time that it takes..)

I conduct research on a daily basis to help me as a writer, I attend events at my local SHRM chapter, and I stay active in social media to funnel in multiple news feeds. When I’m not working, I’m almost always reading, researching, or writing.

How have you used what you learn outside of work to get better at what you do for a living? (always nice to see someone put the “book learning” to work in their job to stand out from the crowd)

The research and news that I gather helps to spur ideas that I can use to better my organization. Whether I’m reading about essentials for a mentoring program or researching ways to motivate our team, there’s a secondary use for almost everything I learn. Some of the projects I take on at work were guided by something I read previously (so the process starts with research and ends up as a project), and other projects turn out the other way (it starts with a project idea and takes me into different areas of research).

Tell me the biggest project you’ve chased and delivered on related to your career outside of work? (looking not only for the candidate seeking knowledge outside of work, but projects that show an entrepreneurial streak).

In the past year, I’ve started two blogs, co-created an HR conference, and written an eBook. Each of those things has been solely targeted toward the HR niche and has helped who knows how many people to be better at what they do.

If just one person learns how to use social media in their department or uses the guide I wrote to help them become certified and hold a little more credibility within their organization, then all of the work I’ve put into these items was worth the effort.

I’m still relatively new to this HR “thing.” My enthusiasm is one of the things that really sets me apart, and I plan to keep the ball rolling with upcoming projects.

The topic of energy and excitement also showed up in another post I read this week. Look at the fourth item in his list. I try to bring that energy right to you every time we interact.

What about you? I’d like to hear your responses to the challenge. Are you doing something to show your passion outside of work? If not, do you have a good reason for that?

The HR Capitalist Challenge is a post from: UpstartHR

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Shall I make yet another confession? Yes, I believe I shall.

I like comic books.

While I haven’t been an active reader in years, I still love flipping through them at the bookstore. Recently my brother passed me a copy of a magazine that had an article about Marvel Comics (the company that made the movies for Spiderman, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, etc.). The article focused on their editor in chief, Joe Quesada. I think there were some great leadership (and HR) tenets that were covered, and I’ll share a few of them with you.

Leaders are humble, collaborative, and sincere

I never have that feeling that, “Hey, I control this universe.” For me, it’s really more of a feeling of collaboration. It’s the fun of getting up every morning and getting the opportunity to work with all of these creative people. Anyone who has worked with me-or works for me-will understand that. I didn’t run the editorial department with an iron fist. I’m really about collaboration, always looking for what’s the best idea. I think it’s impossible to run a universe like Marvel and just do it with a singular voice. You need to have everyone else’s involvement to make it that much better. -Joe Quesada

Leaders connect with customers and staff

Even when decisions are controversial within Marvel, Executive Editor Tom Brevoort characterizes Quesada as the right man to mend fences, someone who operates in the spirit of fairness with everyone from creators to fans best interests at heart.

Leaders know the business

I’ll take the heat—that’s what I get paid for. Why not have fun with it at that point? […] Comics are supposed to be fun. It’s not brain surgery. It’s not politics and it’s not economics. It’s putting out entertainment and keeping people coming back. -Joe Quesada

Leaders pursue (and want to work with) A players

Part of the process of reinvigorating Marvel from its late ‘90s doldrums included bringing [all star] creators… into the Marvel fold while continuing to scout for artistic talent.

What do you think? I absolutely never thought I would open a comic magazine and find something that would thrill my little HR-lovin’ heart. I guess you never know!

Comic Book Leadership is a post from: UpstartHR

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After all of the “end of 2009″ and “here comes 2010″ posts I’ve been reading, I realized I haven’t done my own! I checked my phone, and I have lots of jumbled ideas. Maybe I can straighten them out and have some smooth sailing into the new year. Let’s unpack, shall we? I’m just typing as fast as I can and will probably miss quite a few things.

Looking back at 2009

Created UpstartHR

I created UpstartHR and really got into writing online. It’s been an eye-opening experience for me, and I am thrilled to be a part of an amazing community.

Made LOTS of friends

I don’t have the space or time to mention all of the friends and acquaintances I’ve made this year. Andrew, April, Jim, Victorio, Trish, Steve B., Steve H., Rich, Lance, Chris F., Crystal, Joan, Margo, Mark, Paul, Michael, Kelly, Alicia, and Allen are just the tip of the iceberg. If I didn’t mention your name, please leave a comment below and hassle me for it. I promise it’s not on purpose.

HRevolution

Trish and I snagged (a lot of) help from Crystal and Steve and built an amazing HR unconference together. From a few simple tweets in June to a smashingly successful event in November, you’ve all made me thrilled about the next one!

Rock the PHR

I decided to help people studying for the PHR/SPHR exams by creating Rock the PHR study guide with a little help from April Dowling. It did well and was an amazing learning experience for me. The relaunch next week (January 4th @ 6pm Central) is going to be so much fun. I can’t wait to welcome some new friends into the mix.

Venting HR Guy

It may not be big for all of you, but seeing Venting come back after a hiatus was nice, and now that he’s found a new job, it looks like we won’t be seeing him anymore. But that’s fine, since he’s finally out of the torturous clutches of his former employer.

Clue Wagon

Kerry is one of the funniest bloggers around, and I’m envious of her style. This week she posted her final post and is saying “goodbye” to the blog. She will be missed.

Looking forward to 2010

Relaunch

Like I said, the relaunch is going to rock.

New RSS distribution via HRM Today

In an effort to spread my message far and wide, I’ve joined HRM Today. Let’s see if the new owners can pull through for me.

New Kids

I laugh when I say that, because I’m still technically new, too. However, in the past few months, we’ve seen some great new blogs like tHRyving, HR Think Tank, RethinkHR, HRart,  and more. Keep it up, everyone! If you think you might like to start your own HR blog, hit me up. I’d love to help.

Assistant Webmaster for NASHRM

One of the “other” gigs I handle is working with my local HR chapter. I’ll be stepping up as an assistant webmaster in 2010, and I’m planning to bring the big guns. If you have a suggestion you’d like to see in a SHRM chapter, leave it in the comments. I’m taking all advice into consideration and trying to make this chapter the best. SHRM may or may not be awesome, but this local chapter sure can be.

Secret Project

I have a secret project running through January/February with some HR bloggers you all know and love. I hope to report back on it as soon as it’s through and I can get some feedback.

New products/services/partnerships

I’m always looking for partnership opportunities. If you have something you’d like to work with me on (publicly or privately), I’m interested in hearing it! I’m working on a leadership project and an HR ninja project at the moment, and I’ll be sure to let you all know when it’s ready to rock and roll.

That’s all I can scrape from my cranium at the moment. I know there are tons more things that I’ve missed. My final thought is that I’ve had a great year, and I can’t wait to share the upcoming year with each and every one of you. I hope you find my work valuable and uplifting. Thanks for being a part of this wild ride.

Looking back at 2009 and forward to 2010 is a post from: UpstartHR

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Human resources is a vital function for an organization’s survival. With the proper tools, a good HR department can turn sticky problems around, increase revenues, and lead/challenge the organization to become better overall. The only problem?

Many organizations lack strong human resources leadership.

That fault may be intra-organization or intra-department. If the human resources staff has weak leadership, then there’s a good chance that HR within the entire organization is weak as well. If the organization has weak leadership, then there’s a good chance that they won’t give HR a chance to shine. Whatever the case, weakness like that can cripple an organization.

We All Know and Hate It

A few months back, in a fit of unsuppressed Twitter rage, I wrote a quick comment about how I was tired of HR people who dance around tough issues, avoid actions that would give them more credibility/responsibility, and generally are content to exist as spineless wimps. That comment gathered more retweets (in other words, people thought it was important enough to share with their own followers) than anything else I’ve ever said. That has to say something for the state of affairs out there with regard to human resources and leadership, right?

HR really needs both leaders and leadership. Within the profession as a whole, we have some amazing HR leaders pouring out our ears. But they can’t do your work for you. You have to step up and be a bold leader in your department and your organization.

5 Ways to be an HR leader

1. Take care of your people-Do you think your employees will look to you as a leader if they don’t think that you really care and want the best for them? (Hint: no!)
2. Look for ways to innovate-Find new ways to compensate your people. Switch up your recruiting strategy. Gather some metrics and do some forecasting. When people see you coming up with fresh, exciting ideas, they’ll naturally be more interested in listening to you at other times, too.
3. Stand your ground when it counts-When it really counts, and you are pressured to make a hard choice, you’re going to forever remember what you chose to do. Whether it’s an ethical question or one where your gut is telling you that something’s a bad idea, stand your ground. Leaders make the tough choices.
4. Finish what you start-Jason Davis says everything you need to know in his post “Leaders Finish.”
5. Subscribe for free updates and never stop learning!

Image by Hamed Saber.

5 Tips for Human Resources Leadership is a post from: UpstartHR

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I am always interested in finding out how people learn about me. But sometimes the information or avenue can be a bit… Um, weird? Yeah, that’s about the only way I can put it. Check out these 25 ways people found me via Google. If you’re one of them, I hope you found what you came for. And it looks like a lot of people ended up here looking for zombie info. Maybe you found that, too.

1. Can You Train a Zombie? I haven’t, but it doesn’t mean you can’t try. Just keep an eye on your brains.
2. why i didn’t pass the sphr exam Probably because you didn’t have an awesome study resource to help.
3. passing the gphr I got some search traffic on this one, but I sure as heck don’t know how to pass the GPHR. Anyone out there in the audience GPHR certified?
4. HR formulas I feel bad for the people who used that one. It takes you to a post with absolutely nothing useful in it. One of my earlier, funnier posts. I keep meaning to go back and fix that, but it slips my mind…
5. can sphr be passed without experience No, because you have to have experience to take the SPHR. It’s not the same with the PHR, but it will be in 2011.
6. creativity for hr professionals Creativity is what I have more than enough of. I can’t get that darn brain to shut off. Now if I only had the time to make it useful, things would be wildly different.
7. recruiting rock Hmmm… Is that a song? A recruiter for rocks? I can’t figure out that one!
8. 10 reasons why you’re a zombie All of them probably start with “because you were bitten, you idiot.”
9. computer is dying before upstart is ready Ummm. What?
10. dude you’re a zombie There’s really no way to break the news to them easy, you know?
11. culture comment funny Yeah! I have culture. I comment. I’m funny. What else do you need?
12. do you think hr should encourage education assistant Probably was supposed to be “education assistance.” I’m not sure. Encouraging education assistance means more out-of-pocket for the company, but it also makes for a more educated workforce. Anyone else want to chime in?
13. free education on hr You’re reading it right here, baby.
14. free phr novel read I’ve written an eBook, but it’s no novel. If someone has written a PHR novel, they should be shot.
15. funny hr videos I’ve seen a few here and there. This is one funny HR video that sticks out.
16. have finally been Why would you search this? And why would you find me? Weird.
17. how much pay will be for hr assistant say appropriate The pay will suck. You’ll do hard work. Get used to it.
18. how much do hr assistants make See #17.
19. how long should you study for phr exam A lot. The more the better. The free PHR guide has more info.
20. how long should i study for phr exam Probably the same as the guy who asked #19.
21. how to get entry level hr people Buy some. Or rent some. We’re cheap.
22. how to get entry level hr experience You find a job like I mentioned in #17 and you keep it up until you can do something more useful. Or you can be smarter and find somewhere to volunteer or intern. Just a little bit of experience makes a huge difference that early in the game.
23. HOW TO GET INTO HR You can study in school and progress to an HR job (like I did) or you can work in some other field and “fall into” HR, or you can get kidnapped and forced into an HR position against your will and they suck your brains out before you even know what happened. Good luck!
24. how do I know if I’m affected by a zombie Ask yourself if they are sucking on your brains. If the answer is “yes,” then you’re affected. If the answer is no, check your zombie handbook.
25. hr career i am entry level I am, too. What’s it to ya?

Hope you enjoyed the post. This was definitely a fun one. Look for the second half pretty soon. Make sure you’re getting free updates if you don’t want to miss it!

25 Ways People Found Me is a post from: UpstartHR

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I am on the cusp of my six month “anniversary” with my current employer, and I got to attend an orientation session earlier this week.

If I had to describe that experience with one word, it would be “amazing.”

Seeing our VPs of HR and Operations go out to meet the new employees, field questions, and provide some background on values and expectations was inspiring for me. As an in-between employee (both in HR and a new employee), they wanted to know my take on the experience. My response was something dripping praise, but it basically boiled down to “keep it up.”

Since I started, I have been tracking our turnover rates. There are some trends that I am interested in observing as this new element to the hiring process begins.

Take it from someone who will tell it to you straight. Do an orientation with new employees. If you want it to be more useful, wait until they’ve been there for a few weeks (or do it in two parts). That way you can ask about problems/issues before the person begins to feel powerless, and hopefully you can rectify them in some way. It makes a big difference to people when they feel appreciated. I’m walking proof of that.

But whatever you do, just do something. As a semi-new employee, I left the meeting with the desire to do something amazing for my organization. Wouldn’t you want your employees to want the same thing?

Photo by GIHE.

I have finally been oriented is a post from: UpstartHR

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So… What is a Gruzzle? That’s what I said the first time I spoke with G.L Hoffman, a brilliant blogger and entrepreneur with a penchant for word puzzles that stimulate surprisingly deep thinking. Actually it’s fairly simple. A Gruzzle is a combination graph and puzzle. And they are fantastic for generating conversation and new ideas.

Leadership Lessons via Gruzzle

G.L. is working to spread the word about these things, and I enjoy them more than enough to share a few with you. He has created dozens of them and incorporated them into a few packages that are targeted toward HR professionals. The first ones I saw were the onboarding group, and that’s when I knew he was onto something special. If you are looking for straight talk, then look no further. He helps you to tell employees like it is, and it can help to develop some desperately needed communication.

Stuff you need to know

Sometimes it’s hard to say what really needs to be said. It can be awkward or just plain weird. Want some help? How about this one?

Starting the hard conversations

If you’d like to know more or order your own pack of HR Gruzzles, contact him on Twitter or via the contact page on his blog. I’m going to do another post on this in the future, but don’t you want to grab one before they’re everywhere?

What the heck is a Gruzzle? is a post from: UpstartHR

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