Monthly Archives: November 2010

HR Metrics Summit

human resources metricsI’ve been thinking more and more about HR metrics lately. Why? Because the new job requires me to actually use my brain. Well, I started looking around for some resources that would help me get up to speed, and about that same time I was contacted by someone at IQPC to see if I wanted to attend the 2011 HR Metrics Summit in Chicago. Talk about coincidence!

Click here to learn more about the event.

After checking into the event, I am really excited to be able to attend. Not only is Tim Sackett going to be presenting, but I’ll get to hear from other industry leaders about how to measure and analyze the business from an HR perspective. Some of the sessions I’m excited about: Continue reading →

Insights from my second day on the job

So, if you haven’t heard, I just started a new HR job yesterday (woohoo!). I was reading this great post on MonsterThinking today during lunch and realized how true it was. In the video below I talk about some of the drivers of employee engagement and the stark contrast between my last job and my current one. Yes, I’m still in the “ooh la la!” stage with my new job, but I can’t see my attitude towards work dropping like a rock as I did previously. Continue reading →

Jobs in human resources management (My HR Career #3)

The two previous parts in this series dealt with HR careers and how to get a job in HR and human resource career opportunities. Today I will talk about my own move into a new human resources management job (yippee!). :-)

My time in my first HR job taught me a lot about what I do and don’t want to do in my career. I can still remember talking with Jennifer McClure back at SHRM10 this summer about moving into a job that was a good fit for me. Then, a few weeks ago, I was talking with Dawn Hrdlica about the exact same thing. Both of them gave me the same advice, and I was finally able to do what I really wanted. They said:

You have to know where you want to go with regard to your career. Otherwise the opportunity might pass you by before you realize you wanted it.

So I thought really, really hard about what I wanted to do next. Yeah, I could just leap at any open position that came up, but it wouldn’t really be what I wanted. I made a short list of things that were highly desired in my next job.

  1. Small company
  2. Generalist role
  3. Opportunities for growth/experimentation
  4. Great culture

A few weeks ago I found out about an HR position with a small local startup company (there’s #1!). I applied, but it was over my head in that the person would wear many hats and assume multiple roles (#2). I didn’t expect too much, but it was a job I’d love to have. I contacted the hiring manager and learned more about the position.  A big benefit of the job would be the opportunities (#3) it presented for growth and development. All I needed was the culture…

So, fast forward a few weeks, and I’m sitting there being interviewed by the president, vice president, and operations manager. We get down to the end of the interview, and I’m feeling really confident about the whole meeting. As a parting comment, I asked the president if there was one “must have” for the person who would take the position. He responded that the person had to fit into their culture well, because it was one of his highest priorities that they hire for culture fit (#4!). One of the coolest things about the interview was seeing the president scrolling through my blog while I spoke with the operations manager. :-)

A few short days later, I had an offer letter in hand and my resignation turned in at work. This thing was going to happen. On Monday, November 22nd, I start a new chapter in my career. I’ll be going to Pinnacle Solutions here in Huntsville, AL, and I am so thrilled about the possibilities ahead. I’m thankful to those who have helped me along the way and I can’t wait to see how much I learn and grow in this new position!

Other posts in the HR Careers series:

7 thoughts on handling employee LinkedIn recommendation requests

LinkedIn RecommendationsHow should employers and HR pros handle employee LinkedIn recommendation requests? I received this great question the other day, and I wanted to answer publicly because she’s definitely not the only one curious about the topic. Here we go:

What is the recommended position for HR employees to take when other employees ask them to endorse them on LinkedIn (or other social networking recommendations)? I know I am old school, but it seems like an awkward position to be in as an HR professional.

Looking forward to your insights on this,

Naomi

  • There’s no way you can do it for all employees, so don’t set a precedent with one of them. Tell ’em no.
  • I might endorse a fellow HR coworker, but not someone outside my department. There’s just not enough close work experience to go on for other employees.
  • If it feels weird to you, don’t do it. There is no reason to feel pressured to do something like this.
  • Some of the scary lawyer types might tell you that it’s a bad idea to recommend someone, because if you have to terminate them a month later, they have this glowing recommendation to use against you.
  • I’d try to find out their reasoning. Are they asking everyone, or just you? If they just want to look good (and I don’t know any other reason for LinkedIn recommendations), then it really isn’t your job to do that for them.
  • I guess if you’re in a small company, you could do recommendations for anyone who asks, but I would limit it to their position and dates of employment (blame it on a policy) and that will probably turn them off from the idea.
  • For the record, I have no LinkedIn recommendations, but I have a dozen people who would recommend me to you in a heartbeat. They’re not all that useful. :-)

Anyone else have ideas? And while you’re pondering, I’d love to connect with you on LinkedIn!

#HRevolution tickets for sale!

HRevolution tickets! Get ’em while they’re hot!

A few quick notes about the HRevolution tickets:

  • Discount for quick people-If you are one of the first 20 people to purchase tickets, you get $25 off. Snag one quick!
  • What you get for your money-Cost includes a meal on Friday evening plus Saturday breakfast/lunch/snack. It also helps us to cover the costs of the meeting space. We are still the cheapest (and coolest ;-)) event for HR/recruiting pros around!

Times are tough (duh)

There are a few ways for you to lower your costs of attending and still get the full benefits from being an HRevolution participant.

  • Room sharing-I shared a room with one guy at HRevolution ’09 and two guys at HRevolution ’10. As long as the trend doesn’t continue (four guys is a bit much, right? :-) ), I’ll be sharing room costs with my fellow attendees to make it more affordable in 2011. Some of the people who have roomed together in the past are now great friends and I’d like to think HRev helped with that at least a little.
  • Individual sponsors-I’m talking with a few companies to sponsor individual attendees as a sort of “scholarship.” If you are a company who’s willing to help someone attend this amazing event, contact me. It’s cheap ($150), will get you some kudos, and helps you to create a die hard fan. :-)
  • Carpooling (?)-I spent nine hours driving/riding to Chicago in May 2010. It was rough. But, again, it was a cost saving measure and all three of us were able to pay $30 for gas instead of buying 3 plane tickets. Plus we shared ideas and got the conversations started before we even arrived. Atlanta isn’t the hub of the universe, but it can still be less than a nine hour drive! If you’re interested in this, I recommend using Twitter with the #HRevolution tag and anyone who’s interested can reach out to you. Just a thought!

One more thing

If you are attending or interested the least little bit, let people know on LinkedIn. Same for our Facebook event. Share it. Hug it. Whatever it takes, just help us get the word out!

Hope to see you there!

Human resource career opportunities (My HR career #2)

In a recent post I talked about HR careers and how to get a job in HR. Today I’ll cover career opportunities for those in human resource jobs, specifically how to create career growth opportunities from within your job.

How I grew my career opportunities

I’ll go ahead and admit it: my first HR job wasn’t super strenuous. Surprised? Probably not. Most people in their first HR roles usually end up filing papers (me), handling the dull/routine tasks that nobody else wants (me), and generally wasting their time and energy on things that an admin or temp could do (me again). I don’t want to sound ungrateful for the opportunity to move into the HR profession, but if you have someone with a degree in HR and some enthusiasm, but you’ve kept them in a filing/admin type job for over six months, you’re wasting their brains and hamstringing yourself. They won’t do it forever.

That lack of stress and responsibility left me feeling like my free time could be used in a better way. At that time I had already started blogging to share about my new job and what I was doing/learning, but I really threw myself into it. I started using Twitter and LinkedIn to build connections with other human resources professionals around the world.

I was able to grow a little in my day job, but it seemed like there weren’t many opportunities for growth/challenge. Without Allen (my mentor and best friend) guiding me, I’d have sunk into a slump months ago.

Even with a full time work schedule, I had time for a few activities in my spare time…

  • Interacted daily with VP/director level pros and thought leaders in my field
  • Cofounded an HR conference that drew attendees from around the world
  • Wrote an eBook targeted toward my industry’s certification exam
  • Created and solidified dozens of partnerships with other blogs and businesses
  • And most importantly, I established myself as an expert in my niche both locally and nationally

Yes, I have this whole world of stuff that I do outside my day job, but the full time gig is still what pays my bills and keeps my babies fed. And unless you’ve been briefed on my online (empire) activities, it just doesn’t sound very impressive to say, “I’m an HR blogger.” Eventually I came to the realization that the day job needed to keep up with the pace of the rest of my activities, and I started looking for another job.

Most of us have made some job changes in the past few years. You’ve heard my story. What prompted that change for you?

Other posts in the HR Careers series: