Just a quick post today with various updates. I just got home from my Thursday night men’s meeting and it’s 11:54pm. Whew. Tiring, but totally worth the effort.

Survey and winners

I notified the survey drawing winners on Thursday 2/28 via email. If you didn’t get an email from me, sorry about that. Better luck next time! I still appreciate all the effort, even if you didn’t happen to be in the pool of winners.

Speaking of the survey results, I had 99 responses to the survey. Holy cow. That was an amazing response, and I’ve only been able to read through half the answer so far.

What have I learned?

Well, the responses are all over the map. I need to aggregate and quantify the results, but it was interesting to see that some things (video, for instance) were both loved and hated. Some people really like book reviews, others are not so interested. And some people left the most amazing, kind comments. I am so blessed!

Book club progress

This week I led the second meeting for the NASHRM book club. Our local chapter is running this initiative this year and it was a blast as we moved through the book. We’re swapping to a new book next month, and I expect the group to continue growing and developing over time. If you’re interested in something like this for your chapter, reach out to me and I’d be happy to share some details.

You need this

Smile file. Do you have one? If not, you need one. I’ve been doing it for years, and I recommend it to everybody. Here’s how it works.

So you get an email from someone with a kind word or comment. Create a folder in your email client called “Happy Thoughts” or “Smile File” or “Let’s Do a Happy Dance.” Then when you get another email that makes you smile, drop it in that folder.

On the days that you are having a tough time or feel like things just aren’t going your way (why am I even doing this job, anyway?!?), just open up that smile file and read a few of those kind words. It will remind you of why you do what you do every day. And as HR pros, that is sometimes your only avenue for stress relief!

And that’s all I can think of at this point. Heading in to kiss the girls and then to bed for the rest of the morning. Hope you have a phenomenal Friday!

Rock it,

Ben