upstartHR

Category: General

  • Articulate Your Culture

    I talk about corporate culture often. Very often, in fact. You can tell what people value by what they talk about most often, so it’s no surprise that I believe a solid culture is one of the key ways to differentiate your organization. But there’s a problem with that. See, you have to know what…

  • Hey, We’re High Tech, Too!

    When I tell people I work in Huntsville, I usually get a glassy-eyed stare in return. I mean, really, I work in Alabama. How great could that really be, right? Cotton fields… Relatively low population density… Who cares? :-) The other day I ran across this study and wanted to share. Just click on the…

  • 76% of CEOs Value Relationship with HR

    I was reading a white paper recently that touched on the role between HR and the CEO, and it was something I have experienced personally and never took the time to put into words. This relationship is highly strategic, as I write about in this post on HR being the CEO’s trusted advisor. There are a few…

  • Asking the Right Interview Questions

    Last week I was driving to do some face to face interviews for a key position. With five hours on the road, I had a little time to think about what made the “perfect” personality, skill set, etc. for the opening. Then I started backing into the interview questions I wanted to ask. While we…

  • Driving Innovation with Event Planning

    Event planning? Really? I thought HR was supposed to give up the “party planner” role in the move to strategic partner… Well, let’s hear what the indubitable Sue Meisinger has to say about that: Open Communication Spurs Innovation Meisinger then pointed to employee social events as an opportunity to tear down boundaries that many HR…

  • Essential HR Skills: Communication, Conflict, and Change

    Last week I published part 1 of this series of essential HR skills focusing on Organization, Dealing with “Gray,” and Negotiation. Here’s the followup. The remainder of the items in our list include the following traits: Communication Discrete and Ethical Dual Focus Conflict Management and Problem Solving Change Management Communication Every job requires some proficiency…

  • How I Fell in Love with Guatemala

    This is a report detailing my some of my experiences visiting Guatemala as part of a mission team from 12/28/13 to 1/4/14. This has nothing to do with HR, management, etc. But hopefully you’ll enjoy it anyway. If not, you know where the “delete” button is. :-) I’ll start off by saying that it’s very…