I try not to let things catch me by surprise. But it happens anyway. Oh, well! I am on the move much of the time, and I try to save my best writing times for this site. However, I occasionally slip in an article somewhere else, and I try not to let them go by without at least a passing mention. With that in mind, feel free to explore these little seeds that I’ve scattered to the four corners of the online world. Continue reading
Category Archives: General
NASHRM Mentor Program
Want to get mentored? Well, you’ll have to wait until next year. This year’s participants in the NASHRM mentor project were announced last week, and I am thrilled to be on that exclusive list. The mastermind of this project, Rusty Brand, passed along this comment:
We believe that the mentor program has the potential to bring tremendous value to the career development of our members. NASHRM has been considering the idea for a few years and we are excited to get it off the ground in 2010 under the title of Mentor University. The plan is to utilize a variety of approaches including group, peer, and flash mentoring as well as the more traditional approach. HR Pros will have a chance to network and engage in a smaller forum and focus their time on areas/topics that are of interest to them, helping them to take the next step within their respective careers. Its going to be a lot of fun!
Someone asked me the other day why I would use my own limited time and money for this project. My reply: why not?!? You probably know how hard it is to break into the HR field and advance through the ranks. This experience is going to put some of that hard-to-reach information at the fingertips of the next generation of HR leaders. If the others are as excited as I am about this, then it’s going to rock.
One thing that really excites me about NASHRM Mentor University is that the leaders have purposefully kept the group small enough to encourage discussion and interaction. That’s one thing I learned at HRevolution earlier this month. The smaller sessions encouraged a lot of ideas and chatting, but the larger groups were more subdued. The smaller the group is, the more people can absorb and interact. Look for some great posts to come from the interactions facilitated by Mentor University.
Offer for New Bloggers and a Video
This post was written last week, and I have since written about HRevolution (the HR unconference) and announced the new look for the blog. But you still want to see me in action, right? Continue reading
HR Unconference
It has been a wild journey, and HRevolution 2009 is in the books. What can I say? It was, quite simply, an amazing experience. I\’ve read plenty of accounts about HR tweetups and HR unconferences, but nothing quite prepares you for what occurs once you arrive. Wait a minute, you don\’t know what an HR unconference is? It\’s basically a conference with much less formality and structure. Instead of being governed by rules and overbearing planners, an HR unconference is more free-flowing and open to the whims of the attendees. While HRevolution wasn\’t as lax as a normal unconference, it still had a lot of flexibility and fun thrown into the mix. Here\’s a quick breakdown of my own timeline surrounding the event. It\’s a weird, rambling version of the events, but I have to untangle it all before I can make sense of anything!
25 Pieces of HR Awesomeness
Brand New Official HR Carnival Logo
I’m thrilled to be hosting my first HR carnival, and that’s for several reasons. First, I get to converse with a few great writers behind the scenes. Second, I get the opportunity to promote those writers all in one place. And third, I get to unveil the new HR Carnival logo, created by the illustrious Allen Robinson (or “LogoMan” according to Eric Winegardner). No longer will carnival hosts have to search for an image to use with their rendition of an HR carnival.
If you haven’t read my last post about how to make the HR carnival really matter , please hop over there and read it before continuing. I promise you’ll get more out if it if you do. Enough about me. Let’s showcase those great writers I was talking about! Continue reading
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.
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