Category Archives: General

Why Do You Keep Hiring Poor Candidates? (Leadership 101)

poor culture fitSo you made a bad hire. Lesson learned. Eventually it happens to everyone.

But why haven’t you moved them on yet? Why are they still hanging around and leeching the morale from your team when you know good and well that they just aren’t going to fit?

Every day that you keep a “poor fit” employee, you make the decision to hire them all over again.

I’ll explain. See, when you hire someone and put that money into them, that’s what economics nerds like to call “sunk cost.” In a nutshell, the cost of the original choice has already been incurred, so don’t let that impact your decisions going forward. Continue reading →

Is the PHR Exam Difficult?

Is the PHR exam difficult? Just how hard is the PHR exam?

how hard is the phr examBecause of my history of talking about the HR certification exams, I get a lot of questions about the difficulty level of the PHR and SPHR exams. At first glance, it’s easy to see why people ask those questions. According to the HRCI statistics, nearly half of those who take the exams fail them, which can cause anxiety for those who aren’t good test takers.

What makes the PHR exam difficult?

Maybe it’s the “timed test” factor. Maybe it’s test anxiety. Maybe it’s the difficulty level of the questions. Maybe it’s the nearly-famous ambiguity of the questions. Or maybe it’s something else.

I honestly don’t know which part of the exam presents the biggest hurdle, but based on the failure rate statistics I mentioned above, it’s obvious that there is a barrier to HR professionals successfully completing the test. Continue reading →

UAB Innovations in Wellness Conference

innovations wellness conferenceRecently the organizers for the inaugural UAB Innovations in Wellness Conference reached out to me to see if I would be interested in attending. It sounds like a unique event with some great insights, and I am excited about the opportunity to check out this new conference.

Even better, I can take you with me.

Yes, you heard me correctly.

If you’re local to the Huntsville/Birmingham area (or within a reasonable drive and you want to get a hotel in Birmingham) and you are interested in attending, please send me an email by Thursday, November 8th. Continue reading →

Company Book Club? There’s a Better Way

company book clubCompany Book Club vs. Developing an Employee Reading Program

In a previous blog post titled hire for attitude, train for everything else, I wrote about the importance of considering a required reading program for your employees (takes it a step further than the corporate library, right?). At the time, it was just an idea spawned from observing another company and how they operate. However, I am now giving this kind of idea serious consideration in my own organization. See, this year we are going to focus on emphasizing our corporate culture as a recruiting tool, and this is just one more thing (strategy) to set us apart from the average employer.

Why I Believe in Reading (And Why HR Should, Too)

Before I try to sell this idea, I want to explain why reading matters to me. According to some (terrifying) statistics, in 2002, nearly 90 million adults in the US did not read a single book. That might not have an impact on you; but it should. I'll put it another way.

Those are our employees. Those are our managers. Those are the unemployed who so desperately want to find jobs.  Continue reading →

All In (Book Review)

all in by adrian gostick and chester elton

All In by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton

All In by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton-A book about culture, belief, and leadership

When I stopped by the Snagajob booth at the SHRM conference this summer, I was lucky enough to receive a copy of All In (How the best managers create a culture of belief and drive big results) (here on Amazon). I knew it would be a great book, and these tried and true authors didn’t let me down.

A few high points

  • Managers matter: The authors mention a very interesting red/green experiment that still rolls around in my mind when I’m thinking about management/leadership topics to write on. They mapped out their departments using green, yellow, or red. Green teams were higher than average in productivity, profitability, etc. Red were just the opposite and were especially poor in the area of turnover. So the company decided to experiment by moving some “green” managers to “red” areas and vice versa to see the results. Here’s a direct quote, “In every single case, no matter the background or expertise of the manager, within a year the red departments were green and green departments were red. It was the manager who made the difference.” Wow! Continue reading →

Conference Booths, The Hard Sell, and What We Want

A few weeks back I attended the first day of the HR Technology Conference in Chicago. I had an expo only pass to go in and see the vendors, and I was reminded yet again of the awkwardness of the current setup. At one point my friend and I were walking down the aisle and someone asked us a question, my friend answered, and the person started trying to steer him over to their booth. It was very strange and uncomfortable, and I am not a fan of that approach.

I completely understand that it’s their job to hit up prospects and get people into the marketing funnel, but we both walked away with a bad taste in our mouths due to that person’s “hard sell” mentality.

If I have no experience with your company, there’s a low likelihood that I will just randomly decide to stop at your booth. That’s why many vendors bring swag, but then they get annoyed if you stop and take some just to walk away again. There needs to be a time of building a relationship before the sales pitch, and that’s where some of these suggestions come in.

Who I visited Continue reading →

I’m Running (And Other Updates)

Whew. It has been quite a week. By the time most of you read this I will be a few miles into a 50 mile, 3 day stage race on some gnarly trails in Birmingham, AL. Yes, I have a running problem; however, it beats a drinking problem, and in HR, that’s almost a job requirement. :-) I’m hoping that I get a lot of brilliant ideas and clarity out of the most difficult physical challenge of my entire life, but I’ll probably just end up with some really sore legs and hobble around like an arthritic 90-year old for a few days. I’ll try to post something semi-coherent on Monday (we’ll see). Now for some very cool updates that I’m hoping everyone is excited about (because I know I am!). Continue reading →