Author Archives: Ben

HR Blog Carnival-Make it Matter

If you’re looking for the newest HR Blog Carnival post, you might like to check the home page for the event. But make sure you read this post so you know how to make the most of this fun and informative event!

I can still fondly remember reading my first HR blog carnival and ravenously devouring each of the great posts linked there. I often speak with HR professionals and advocate for them to seek out and read the HR blogs that they enjoy. Usually the conversation goes like this:

Me: Hey, what sort of news do you read on a daily/weekly basis that keeps you up-to-date on the HR world?

Random HR Guy/Gal: I\’m usually too busy.

Me: What if you could get one or two short and sweet (and free) articles a week via email? I could recommend a few.

RHRG/G: Hmmm. Sounds interesting.

Me: Do you have a favorite topic? Training? Development? Leadership?

RHRG/G: (Delivering a beautiful pitch across the plate) Well, I like reading about leadership. I\’m the HR director at my organization and it\’s hard to find new and interesting ideas on how to lead and inspire my department.

Me: (Swinging for the fence) Excellent! Well, in that case, I recommend that you sign up for the free news feed for both Wally Bock and Dan McCarthy. Your leadership style will never be the same!

What\’s the point? Continue reading →

Sphere of influence

As an HR professional, what is your sphere of influence?

This was one of the conversations I witnessed this past weekend as I took part in an event called HRevolution. It was an amazing event that gathered fifty HR professionals together for a closer look at social media, HR\’s role in the workplace, networking, and more. The question above was dropped during the session where the participants discussed the best ways for HR professionals to make a difference in their organizations.

Spinning wheels

For some of the participants, I got the impression that they were working furiously just to stay afloat. When you\’re spinning your wheels on a daily basis, it\’s quite difficult to see where your efforts are actually making a difference. From personal experience, I can tell you that I know what it\’s like. It can be disheartening. If you are focusing your efforts on changing a large group of people, most of them will never get enough guidance or attention to actually make a change.

Take three

One of the participants at the event, Paul Hebert of Incentive Intelligence (a brilliant writer whose work you should be reading!), gave a relatively simple answer to this problem. His solution was for HR professionals to target a small handful of people to influence. Spend your time developing and mentoring three of the best managers you have. When you have done what you can with those managers, help them to do the same for three more supervisors. You can continually focus on your core group of leaders and they can each spread that knowledge and expertise much farther than you could have if you were trying to go solo.

In an ironic sort of way, the smaller the area where you focus your efforts, the more impact you can have on your organization.

Would you like to respond to this article? Click here to leave a comment.

Photo by wwworks.

What the heck is KickTailTues?

Sometimes you just have to force yourself to be in a good mood. I don’t know how it all works, but I spend a lot of time being very peppy. As in people-wonder-if-it-is-chemically-related happy. I see it as my job to help others be positive and excited about the day ahead. But sometimes it doesn’t always work. After starting out so well on Tuesday, I spent much of my day in a funk. Why? It’s a lot of things, but none of them were very important. When you’re generally feeling blue, lots of tiny things seem huge at the time. But with a little help, I was able to pull out of the slump and have a pretty good day (a sincere thanks to April and Stephen!). It really did turn into a Tuesday where I kicked some tail.

Enter #KickTailTues

I’m on Twitter (follow me, if you dare). I mentioned something Tuesday morning about kicking tail during the day, and Stephen quickly threw out the #KickTailTues hashtag. A hashtag is just a word/phrase that people can use to search for things on Twitter. Here is the search page for the #KickTailTues hashtag to see when it’s been used.

This Tuesday, plan on doing something great. And remember, “great” is objective, so it all depends on you. But whatever you do, tell us about it. We’d love to see how you are making things happen in your daily life. And if you need some pepping up or an idea to get you rolling? Hit me up. I’ll be back on track, kicking tail as always.

Photo by scottfeldstein.

Morning Ritual

How does your day start? Is it a frenzied rush from the moment your alarm blares to the second you plop into your chair at work? Do you weave in and out of cars on the roads like you\’re preparing for a NASCAR event? I should hope not! Why? Well, let\’s get a few words of wisdom from Henry Beecher Stowe:

The first hour is the rudder of the day.

Does that put things in perspective? Why should you expect the rest of your day to go smoothly if that\’s how you wake up and get started? What would it take to steer yourself in the right direction? If your day starts off like I mentioned above, how much work would it take to wake up five or ten minutes earlier to have a few moments of peace?

I know that some things are essential for my day to go well. I make time to eat breakfast, pack a healthy lunch, and read some news from my Google Reader. Confession: I purposefully write and schedule my blog posts to go live early in the morning so other early birds can benefit.

What is essential for you to start your day off on the right foot? Is it exercise, a good cup of coffee, or something more? Please share, because you never know when it could help someone else.

PHR-SPHR Deadline and Free Practice Exam

Update 11/14: Eric has won the free PHR practice exam for giving the best comment. Good luck to everyone who commented!

Just a quick reminder to everyone out there contemplating the PHR or SPHR exam—the test window is closing on November 13th. If you miss the deadline, you will have to wait until mid-2010 to take the exam. I can tell the final registration date is closing in, because I\’ve received more than a dozen emails from people looking for support, encouragement, direction, or resources.

Everyone knows that the best PHR study guide was developed right here, but everyone might not know about the free bonus exam that goes along with it (thanks to April for helping!).

I\’ve decided to give away a free copy of the 50 question PHR practice exam.

I want to hear from people who have taken or who plan to take the exam. Why in the world did you study your tail off just to have the opportunity to add a few letters after your name? Was it for a promotion? Did you want a new job? I\’d like to know the motivations behind your attempt at the PHR or SPHR exam. There\’s a free 50 question practice exam in it for the best answer I get by November 13th! And remember, the deadline from HRCI is November 13th, so sign up if you plan to take the test.

Get the HRCP discount

If you’d like to get a $20 discount on the HRCP program, click here to get the discount code.

Featuring HRevolution Sponsors Doe Anderson and Fusion Frames

This is the second post in the HRevolution sponsor series, and I am excited to talk about two more amazing organizations who really understand the significance of this HR and social media event.

Doe-AndersonLogo 4C

Doe-Anderson

You\’ve heard me talk before about how important it is to turn employees into brand champions. One of the first things I learned about Doe-Anderson was so similar to that thought that it looks like I snagged it from their own site (and hey, it\’s a great idea, so why not share?).

Creating brand enthusiasts is at the heart of all we do. We know that creating deep and lasting relationships with a brand’s core customers, regardless of the business category, is the most efficient method of growing our clients’ businesses.

Wow. The Brand Enthusion idea sounds powerful, right? I thought so, too. Doe-Anderson is a full-service national agency specializing in all areas of communication, PR, advertising, and more. I know I speak for the rest of the team when I say “thank you” to them for their support.

And it just wouldn\’t be right if I didn\’t also give a hat tip to Crystal Peterson of Doe-Anderson for being indispensable in the planning process for HRevolution.

fusion frames

Fusion Frames

I\’ve seen Lyn Hoyt tweeting here and there, but until I actually had a chance to email with her back and forth, I never realized just how excited she was about the event. It hit me full force when she emailed me this little ditty:

Fusion Frames thinks it will take all areas of HR (tech, generalists, law, recruiters, vendors, etc) to collaborate and formalize cutting edge methods for using social media in HR. HRevolution represents a real learning and sharing opportunity. To meet people in person that I have been sharing information with online is the real benefit. In the end it is all about people communicating and team building. That is what HR is all about.

It almost brings a tear to my eye! Wow! But what Fusion Frames does is quite serious. They design, supply, and sell stock and custom frame award products to businesses and nonprofits. Unlike other similar companies, they are heavily invested in social media and the online world. Lyn is a new blogger (and her HRevolution anticipation post was absolutely amazing!), and I for one am thrilled to see where she is headed. The Fusion Frames brand is complemented with a partner site that specializes in only award certificate frames of the 8-1/2”x11” variety. Looking for a sweet frame to jazz up your wall? Go with Fusion Frames.

Just as a teaser, I know that Lyn has a special surprise for each of the attendees at HRevolution, so make sure you come prepared!