Author Archives: Ben

Free Engagement Webinar, Metrics, Failure, and More

Whew! There are so many great resources I’d like to share today. Let’s jump right in.

Free employee engagement webinar

These events by Workforce.com are fantastic. They have multiple sessions throughout the day and you can even get HRCI recert credits for some of the sessions. Definitely worth checking out!

Make your age an afterthought in your career

Careers are built on ability, not on age. (best quote ever!)

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

  • What excites you? Why do you get up in the morning? If time and money were no object and you had no pressing responsibilities, how would you like to spend your days?
  • What bothers you? What problem would you like to fix? There are all kinds of problems in the world… which one(s) are you most troubled by?

If A’s hire B’s and B’s hire C’s, will A’s collect a pension?

The B\’s need to hire A\’s, and the A\’s need to hire A+\’s. Even old, wasting companies can thrive again if the leaders can just recognized that if they are better than their predecessors, isn\’t it likely that those following should be better? Then hire to get them in, and not just turn the keys over to your workplace sons and daughters, hand-picked because they remind you of you at that age…

The 3 most important HR metrics

First, I would say that the metrics that will make my top 3 list have to be those that demonstrate they measure impact and/or results for the organization. So, you won’t see metrics like these on my top 3 list…

Know of some other neat/helpful resources? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Perform Like a Rock Star (Book Review)

how to perform like a rockstarWith my affinity for using “rock” as a verb, you just know I would love reading the book Perform Like a Rock Star (and still have time for lunch) by Orna Drawas. Receiving this book from my friends at the Cadence Group couldn’t have happened at a better time, because my new HR job is requiring me to work smarter (and harder) than ever before. Where it fits, I added the page numbers below to help you find the good stuff.

Some of the highlights

  • CEOs rate the top two qualities they say will help someone advance in their career quickly as:
  • 1) the ability to separate the relevant from the irrelevant
  • 2) the ability to get the job done quickly
  • Don’t prioritize your schedule. Schedule time for your priorities. And make sure it’s during your golden hour.
  • Inbox zero (for your life)-Commit to using a list. Really using it. Anything that will take longer than two minutes to complete gets added onto the list. While it may seem urgent at the time, adding it to the list and then comparing priorities might shine the light on some false urgency. (p77) Continue reading →

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!