Author Archives: Ben

As President and CEO, I’m…

As President and CEO ’round these here parts, I’m going to be giving myself the day off. What? Oh, yeah. You heard me. It’s somewhere in that employee manual thingy I created if you want to flip through there. Eh, it’s somewhere near the back. Oh, never mind.

Today is my wedding anniversary.

So, what the heck does that mean for you? Well, you can check out a few posts I’ve written for my other HR blog or you can even get in touch with my softer side by checking out the note I left my wife on the adoption blog. Bring a hankie. ;-)

I’ll catch you guys later this week.

Onboarding-Intimate and Personal Contact

Whoa! What a title, huh? I’ll get to that in a minute, but first I’d like to ask if you have an onboarding program. How do you introduce new people to your organization?

A few well-known onboarding methods:

  • Is it by tossing them a manual with instructions to “read through and ask questions?”
  • Do you make them watch a video or slideshow detailing the long (AKA boring) history of your organization?
  • Or do you surround them with people who are willing and able to help, guide, and provide the support necessary to prepare them as a representative of your brand and an employee of your company?

In case it wasn’t totally clear, the last one was supposed to be the “right” answer, if there even is one. I was reading this really old book a few days back, and I ran across this great explanation. Onboarding isn’t new, and people have been doing it the right way (and the wrong way) for many years. Check it out:

See that? I’ll repeat it for you.

This company undertakes to form an intimate and personal contact with its new employees… This personal touch is regarded as all important.

Why do I care?

My organization is of medium size, but our employees are scattered to the far corners of the state. Creating and sharing a new onboarding program is something I’ve been increasingly interested in recently. A few other resources I’ve found:

Have anything more you’d like to add? I’d love to hear your ideas for what makes an onboarding program succeed (or fail).

Steve Browne-Only the Lonely

Today we have a guest post from Steve Browne, an HR pro who I’ve recently come into contact with and have already developed a respect for. I recently joined his HR Net group, and after you hear what he has to say, you might want to do the same. Hit him up in the comments if you’d like to know more about the group. In this post, he’s sharing his thoughts on HR’s isolation and how we need to be getting out there. Enjoy!

Human Resources is one of the most fulfilling, challenging, uplifting and… lonely professions. You see, almost any position within a company has a place they can go to and vent (HR) or complain about employees (HR) or grouse about Senior Management (HR). Where can HR go?

Often it’s to a bar. I mean really! Since we are the bartenders (with no copyright infringement to Sharlyn Lauby) in our own organizations listening to every story of woe and sense of frustration from our employees about other employees, we’re just missing the long wooden bar and the stools. (That would be a cool office for HR though!)

People are tough. However, that’s why most great HR professionals are in HR! They truly are “people” people. So, where can they go?

The great voices in HR that are flooding the waves of Social Media forums such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter are sending out great messages… But, more often than not, it’s to each other and their great thoughts never reach practitioners.

Why? Continue reading

What is your “go to” resource?

I’ve been working on a post on small HR departments for a while now, and a reminder this past Monday is going to help me finish it once and for all. However, I need a little help so I can finish up that post.

One of the ladies in my SHRM chapter mentoring group (the same one who made the dress and read for the job you want quote) asked a great question that HR people everywhere should have a quick answer for–when you are looking for specific, targeted information, where do you go? Continue reading

Review-How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

review how to win friends and influence peopleHow to Win Friends and Influence People Review-I received the book as a contest prize (video review below), and it’s been one of the most valuable prizes I’ve ever won. All of us have strained relationships, ideas we want to move forward, and connections we want to make. I’ve picked up a piece of advice on each of those topics that has helped me in my professional and personal lives.

These ideas are, for the most part, common sense. We already know some of them. But I think the difference for me is knowing that some of the most successful people in the world have used these ideas to achieve what they have. If you are looking for ideas on how to win friends and influence people, get the book today! Continue reading

Can Students Take the PHR Exam?

Can students take the PHR exam? Yes, they can, but only for a short while longer. There are new rules going into effect in 2011 that change the eligibility rules for students and other HR professionals who would like to take the exam. Here are the HRCI eligibility requirements for getting PHR certified.