Whether you’re looking for some learning or something more entertaining than another dry, boring white paper, you can find what you’re looking for on the web. One of my favorite things to do is listen to podcasts while I’m working on a repetitive task. It passes the time, and I’m learning, too. Here are a few of my favorite free HR podcast sources.
Category Archives: General
The future of HR: Is it you?
(This is a guest post by Kristi Daeda. Enjoy!)
It could be, but only if you keep an eye on where the field is moving rather than where it’s been.
When I made the move to HR, I did it because I wanted to make the organization more effective from its foundation — the people and practices that made up the company. I did it because I believed that stronger management, clearer communication, and better employee support would make for a better place to work and stronger business results.
I didn’t do it so that I could organize the holiday party, or photocopy employee benefit enrollment packets, or do the management work–discipline, coaching, recognition–that the managers didn’t want to do. Continue reading
Looking back at 2009 and forward to 2010
After all of the “end of 2009” and “here comes 2010” posts I’ve been reading, I realized I haven’t done my own! I checked my phone, and I have lots of jumbled ideas. Maybe I can straighten them out and have some smooth sailing into the new year. Let’s unpack, shall we? I’m just typing as fast as I can and will probably miss quite a few things.
Looking back at 2009
Created UpstartHR
I created UpstartHR and really got into writing online. It’s been an eye-opening experience for me, and I am thrilled to be a part of an amazing community.
Made LOTS of friends
I don’t have the space or time to mention all of the friends and acquaintances I’ve made this year. Andrew, April, Jim, Victorio, Trish, Steve B., Steve H., Rich, Lance, Chris F., Crystal, Joan, Margo, Mark, Paul, Michael, Kelly, Alicia, and Allen are just the tip of the iceberg. If I didn’t mention your name, please leave a comment below and hassle me for it. I promise it’s not on purpose.
HRevolution Continue reading
How I got immediate value from joining a SHRM chapter
Note: this post is not encouraging anyone to spam a group of people. It’s only a recount of my own experience. If you spam your local HR pros, you could get booted from the SHRM chapter. Fair warning!
Back in the spring of 2009, I started looking for my first HR job. While I graduated college a year earlier than that, I had to work for my employer for a year since they paid for my final semester of college. I knew that it was time to step out of the small pond and jump into the world of HR with both feet. At that time, I was working with Andrew at Jobacle as a staff writer. In a fortunate coincidence, I had interviewed JT O’Donnell for a story on the Jobacle blog, and after a brief mention that I was job searching, we began to work together. JT is a great career coach, and her company, CAREEREALISM, is the place to go if you’re a job seeker looking for help.
Within a week, an entry level HR position with a local nonprofit opened up. I went for it. I wrote a cover letter, attached my resume, and sent it to their in-house recruiter. The only problem is that I knew that everyone else who applied for the job would do that exact same thing. I had to make it better. Continue reading
2009-Still Time for Success
I’m always a bit teary-eyed as the year comes to a close. I simultaneously look back at the previous months and forward to those ahead and mentally measure my accomplishments against my expectations. One of the projects that I’ve been happy to watch come to fruition is the development of this blog.
Although RocketHR has only been cranking along for a few months now, I can tell that it is going to continue to become more popular in the coming year. How do I measure that success? Well, it’s getting steady traffic and subscribers, and it’s helping people to better themselves and their organizations. I’d call that a success.
In this final week of 2009, can you look back at your own year and honestly say that you were successful? Continue reading
Merry Freaking Christmas
I’m pretty good friends with Steve at HR Gumbo. We talked about this a good bit before we both posted. You might like to read his post on regulating holidays to make sure you get the “whole” story.
I’m definitely one of those people who gets angry when their company tells them how they can and cannot celebrate the approaching holiday. My last job was like that. My current one isn’t. I work in a radically different culture from a public institution. I’m in the far extreme side of the spectrum. The nonprofit organization that I work for is technically classified as a church, if that gives you any indication. But if someone brought in something representing another holiday, I can’t see us bashing their head in for it.
Christmas decorations rant Continue reading
5 Tips for Human Resources Leadership
Human resources is a vital function for an organization’s survival. With the proper tools, a good HR department can turn sticky problems around, increase revenues, and lead/challenge the organization to become better overall. The only problem?
Many organizations lack strong human resources leadership.
That fault may be intra-organization or intra-department. If the human resources staff has weak leadership, then there’s a good chance that HR within the entire organization is weak as well. If the organization has weak leadership, then there’s a good chance that they won’t give HR a chance to shine. Whatever the case, weakness like that can cripple an organization.