Monthly Archives: October 2009

This is not my day

Dear enthusiastic reader,

If you’re looking for another witty or helpful post, you’ll have to wait until Wednesday. My computer was attacked by a lovely little virus this past weekend, and I have spent an inordinate amount of time working to resolve the issue. As a result, I won’t be able to supply my normal banter for everyone.

Because I had scheduled it early, you can see the RocketHR post for today. In fact, you should already be subscribed to the RocketHR blog, so why not take the time to do that today? It’s not like you have anything more important to do! :-)

Check back later, because I should be back on track soon enough. And if you tend to be forgetful, you can always get free email updates delivered right to your inbox.

See you guys later,

Ben

P.S. This is the second time I had to type this. My computer randomly restarted in the middle of my first attempt.

P.P.S. I also saw that Trish had updated the Speaker page on the HRevolution wiki. Want to know who’s presenting? Check it out!

How did you get your job?

I’ve been chatting behind the scenes with HR professionals both locally and nationwide. Many of them are out of work and looking for the next gig to open up. I can give them advice until my face turns blue, but I’ve had a grand total of one HR position. Much of what I know is how to market yourself via social media and how to take advantage of the multiple tools out there to help yourself be found if someone wants to learn more about you as a candidate. But I know that I still have a lot to learn, and I was wondering if anyone out there would like to give some encouragement or advice to those who are currently out of work and looking for their next position.

How did you get your job? Did you use a personal connection, or was it just a random resume copy that fell into the right hands?

If you happen to be one of those looking for a job, there are some great sites out there that can give you a leg up on your job search. And finding local HR jobs isn’t as hard as it once was. Plus, it’s easier than ever to find helpful career advice, because most of us don’t spend the majority of our time preparing to look for a new job. Whatever your employment status, keep those who are out of work in your thoughts. It’s a tough path to walk.

Photo by rick.

A difficult mentoring question

Okay, people, I have a short post today. Why? Because I’m stumped. Recently I read this mentoring post by Alison at Ask a Manager. An excerpt is below.

Do we seek out those with star potential because they’ll benefit the most from our help — or is it possible that it’s actually less about that and more because we like to see ourselves in them, or that it’s so gratifying to watch them blossom and feel we played a role in their success? Maybe we’d actually have a more significant impact if we made that kind of time investment with someone who doesn’t have obvious star potential, someone who doesn’t appear to be a natural candidate for grooming.

Basically, should you spend your limited time mentoring someone who is a high performer or someone who is a low performer?

I can make an argument for each side, and I have talked with half a dozen HR pros while seeking an answer. There have been mixed results, to say the least, and I’m stumped. Therefore, I shall turn the question over to my incredibly intelligent audience. What do you think? Should you spend your limited time mentoring someone who is a high performer or someone who is a low performer? The best responses will be published in an upcoming post that will feature comments by some HR bloggers you know and love.

Image by Pierre-Olivier

My life in 700 words

mtndewEvery so often, I try to give some sort of mass update here, because people often ask what I\’m working on, why I\’m taking forever to reply to their emails, or what my favorite type of cookie is (probably chocolate chip brownie pillows). Anyway, here\’s the stuff that you do and don\’t want to know about my current level of insanity.

  1. The last time I posted on the goings-on, I was gently reminded by a few of my friends out there that it looks like I’m not taking enough time for family. I just don’t usually bore people with that kind of thing. I live a fairly boring life outside of my jobs. But to satisfy those familial cravings, just check out #10 and #11. :-)
  2. At the urging of a friend, I have started writing three times a week on this blog ( Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). This is a change from my normal “whenever” posting. It’s interesting to try to fit to a schedule, but it’s also a lot of fun, too.
  3. With sales doing about as well as I had hoped, I have been working to finish the second Rock the PHR bonus item. It\’s actually 99% complete, and I have started to outline the third (and probably last) bonus giveaway. For only $14.99, this thing is a steal if you\’re planning to take the HR certification exam.
  4. I\’m writing a post every Monday for the RocketHR blog. I\’m trying to make it more beginner-friendly, and I\’m hoping that it will be a stepping stone for my local HR professionals into the world of social media.
  5. In a recent post, I went over some of what I\’m doing with the local SHRM chapter\’s student group. I was one of those youngsters not too long ago, and I am looking forward to helping them with all of the wisdom I\’ve accumulated (i.e. not much).
  6. Along with my designer, I am revamping my company\’s website. It\’s going to be more user-friendly, searchable, and better aligned to our organizational goals. It\’s been a fun experience so far.
  7. My online antics never cease, because I have also started working with another local SHRM chapter to help them set up a Website. (If your local chapter doesn\’t have a Website but wants something, shoot me an email. I might be able to help.)
  8. Secret project with Stephen from HR Gumbo. I’m waaay slower than he is at times. :-)
  9. I’ve been working on a half marathon training plan with the race scheduled in November. Should be a lot of fun. Haven’t done a long race since the Dizzy Fifties 50k a few years ago.
  10. My wife is amazing, and I’ve been working with her as a coach to help her prepare for a local 5k. She is going to do amazingly well. I tried to promote it to my coworkers, but with less than 5 days to race day, my wife and I are the only ones who have signed up for our team!
  11. Not sure how many of you know about it, but we’re adopting. And this thing has been going very slow in recent weeks with lots of work and extracurricular activities. But we’ve finally finished most of the preparation work for the home study, and we’re getting ready for our adoption.
  12. HRevolution planning is going well, and we are gearing up for the big day. It’s about three weeks away, but I can remember when it was three months away, and that blows my mind. We have a few sponsor slots left (last time I checked), and if anyone’s looking to put $25o or $500 toward a good cause, you might be able to secure one of the final slots.
  13. My loads of spare time are spent building my business and helping others do the same. I’ve been talking with 4-5 people about getting their own products/services out there on the market, and it’s amazingly fun for me.

I’m sure I’m missing a lot of other things that are going on. The Diet Mountain Dew is flowing cold and fast these days, and I’m hoping to keep up the amazing work that I’m allowed to do on a daily basis. Look for another “real” post on Friday, assuming I can keep up with the schedule I just committed to.

Where is HR going?

In recent months, there has been a firestorm of discussion online about the future of HR and where the profession is going as a whole. Will the job functions of an HR pro change radically in the next several years, or will it stay pretty much the same? I encourage you to read some of these thought provoking articles and think for yourself. If it\’s staying the same, what do you want to be doing? If it\’s changing, will you be ready?

This is Your Brain on HR-Discussion on HR\’s recent changes and its bifurcation into two main functional areas. When you finish this one, I think you\’ll be inspired.

Re-Branding HR-Revolves around the bad rap HR gets in most organizations and how to make it meaningful again by redefining its core concepts. This one\’s my favorite.

Blowing up Human Resources-Challenges the direction of our profession and its inner workings. While I disagree with this one, it will give you some interesting ideas.

Photo by paulsimpson.

10 reasons to hire zombies

It’s October. That means Halloween is just around the corner. And I’ve got a Halloween business strategy that employers will be dying to get their hands on. Okay, I’ll let you in on my secret. Zombies. What if your HR reps could reanimate dead flesh and bring those zombies into the workplace? The potential benefits more than outweigh the occasional brain-eating frenzy. Here are 10 reasons to hire zombies in your workplace…

  1. Use them to cull the bad employees from the herd. That should discourage the ‘ole quit-and-stay mentality.
  2. While they\’re not great at complex tasks, you can use them as motivators for the people who do those types of work. Bob in accounting wouldn\’t screw up the numbers with a zombie hanging over his shoulder!
  3. Since they don\’t get diseases or sickness, you won\’t have to waste any more time with FMLA.
  4. The benefits package would be cheap. They don\’t even need vacation pay!
  5. Zombies don\’t get tired, and they never waste time on Twitter (although Zombiebook is growing in popularity from what I hear).
  6. Everyone loves zombies. They\’re so cuddly. There have been dozens of movies dedicated to their antics.
  7. There is a drastically simplified recruiting/hiring process associated with zombies, and it\’s actually just a single question. Are you a zombie? [grunt] Great! You\’re hired.
  8. In case #7 worries you, don\’t freak out too much. Zombies aren\’t a protected EEOC class. I checked.
  9. You can train them to recognize and attack union organizers, IRS agents, or OSHA inspectors.
  10. With all of the recent employee engagement talk, you really don\’t have to worry. Zombies stay 100% engaged until a shotgun blast pulverizes their skull.

But, as always, I’m not covering something. What are we missing? Is there another great reason to hire zombies that I’m not covering? Drop it in the comments below! And if you enjoyed this list, then you might want to check out the Batman list as well!

Update: I posted a sequel list (more reasons to hire zombies). Check it out!

HRCI Changes Requirements-Part Deux

This post originated as a comment left by Matthew Stollak (or akaBruno if you know him from Twitter) on a post about the HR Certification Institute changing its PHR/SPHR/GPHR eligibility requirements. I asked him if I could reuse his comment as a post, and he had no problem, so you get to see his comments front and center. Enjoy!.

I have been a SHRM student chapter advisor for over 10 years and have taken and passed both the PHR and SPHR exams. I know a lot of other passionate and dedicated student chapter advisors who were not pleased with the recent changes in eligibility. These changes sparked vigorous discussion on the SHRM Chapter Advisor listserv, and prompted HRCI to host an impromptu conference call with advisors to address the new eligibility requirements. While I believe the changes are set in stone, I do know Nancy Woolever, Director of Academic Initiatives at SHRM (whom Ben has interviewed about SHRM’s HR education program), and Chuck Salvetti, SHRM Student Programs Manager, are looking into alternatives for students to help students distinguish themselves as they apply for HR positions.

That being said, here are my thoughts:
1. I concur that “If some “upstart” can take the exam after college and pass without any exempt level HR experience, then that doesn\’t necessarily mean that they\’re as qualified as someone who has years of HR experience before deciding to take the exam.” However, as @adowling noted, there are already restrictions in place for student who pass the exam. Students who pass the exam are NOT allowed to claim they are certified. They MUST get 2 years of exempt-level experience in five years after passing the certification exam before being allowed to use the PHR designation.

2. One concern stated by HRCI was that students had a lower passing rate than HR professionals (57.2% to 71%). First, that should be expected. However, that is still a majority able to pass the exam. Further, if, as @Lori noted, “a certification exam touts its value on an experiential level,” and a majority of a group of individuals are able to pass it without the experience, shouldn\’t the focus be on changing the exam than the eligibility requirements? Why aren\’t HRCI and its question writers being held accountable for an exam that doesn\’t reflect that experiential level instead of punishing students who may demonstrate a strong understanding of the HR knowledge base?

3. Why is exempt experience held as the end-all, be-all of eligibility? One can take the exam without ever having taking an HR course. One can even take the exam without ever taking a single college course! A siginificant number of students walk into the exam with a wealth of HR “experience”: they have taken several HR and management courses, participated significantly in their student SHRM chapter, participated in HR internships or job shadowing or mentoring, conducted HR research, competed in the HR games, and attended SHRM professional chapter meetings and state, regional or national SHRM conferences. Many of these activities count toward recertification, but are not seen as important enough to qualify for certification.

4. In a similar vein, no effort was made by HRCI/SHRM to examine the “quality” of student passing rates on the PHR exam based on academic program. Do those students who come from a program that follows the SHRM curriculum perform significantly better on the exam? If true, wouldn\’t this have been a tremendous selling point for SHRM on the quality of their academic initiatives?

5. If experience is seen as critical, many academics have taken and passed the PHR and SPHR exams, and can claim being certified, without having worked a single moment in an exempt HR position. Should a similar constraint be placed on academics?

6. If the concern is that students who pass the exam are taking jobs away from more “qualified” HR professionals who have the experience, but have not passed the exam, one has to wonder about the true signal of certification and what it represents. If certification is so critical, why do so few HR jobs require it or use it in their advertising. A 2005 study by Aguinis, H., Michaelis, S. E., & Jones, N. M. in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment analyzed each of 1873 HR job announcements available over a 1-week period on http://monster.com, http://hotjobs.yahoo.com, http://careerbuilder.com, and http://shrm.org. Results showed that only nine (i.e., .48%) job announcements stated that there was a requirement and only 70 (i.e., 3.73%) job announcements stated that there was a preference for job applicants with any type of HR certification.

Matthew teaches the next generation of HR professionals and somehow finds time to write an interesting blog called True Faith HR. Check it out.