Tweak It (Book Review)

Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day by Cali Williams Yost

Tell me if you’ve heard this one.

Bob heads home after a long day of work. He’s looking forward to seeing his kids and spending some time with his wife. 

He decides to jump onto his email when he gets home. You know, just to check. 

He sees an “urgent” message from a coworker, and he takes a few minutes to respond. Then another message comes in, and he’s already working, so he might as well respond to that one, too. 

Three hours later, he looks up and realizes that his wife and kids are in bed and he’s missed the entire evening with them. He resolves to look at that “work/life balance” stuff and heads to bed so he can get up early for work. 

Tweak It is the antidote for that guy (and the rest of us). Read on for more good info on work+life.

tweak-it-cali-williams-yostWhat I liked

  • When you’re in the throes of a work/life mess, it seems like everyone around you has it all figured out. Cali throws out a comforting number of “10-15%” with regard to those who are happy with their own work/life. The other 85-90% (AKA most of us) are still trying to find the right steps to take to make everything work in harmony. Next time you have a moment of panic, take a moment to remember that nine out of ten people feel just like you.
  • The “tweak it” method is fairly simple. First you get started. Then you pick a “tweak of the week” to focus on. Then you review and revise your plan and start it all over again.
  • One of the tweaks Cali recommends made me laugh. She recommends balancing “Batman” moments and “Robin” moments–meaning you should take times to chase your own dreams (Batman), but you should also make time to help others pursue their own dreams (Robin). In case you didn’t know it, I’m a Batman fan. :-)
  • A few other quick “tweak it” moments that I particularly agree with: younger workers need to take speaking/writing courses (desperately) and older workers need to take time to sit back and remember why they made their career choice in the first place. That’s a great way to rejuvenate the spirit and reignite the passion deep inside.

Wrap up

I just wanted to take a second to talk about my own approach to work+life, because it might offer some insights for those looking to make their own changes.

I use various tools for flexible work, but I also have a philosphy that helps with the time management side of things. I try to tie as many interests together as feasibly possible. It doesn’t always work and I can’t always make things fit like I’d prefer, but in many cases I am able to satisfy multiple needs with fewer overall actions.

For instance, when I run into a crazy situation at work, I will share it on the blog. It doesn’t really require me to create a new idea, but it helps to tie my work and online worlds closer together. Or maybe it’s time to hang out with the kids. I sit with them on the couch and read a book to review on the blog while they read their books or watch cartoons. I’m there and quickly available if needed, but I’m also working and making myself better. The last way is with book reviews like this one. I read many books to review here, but I also know that I will glean ideas and concepts to help me be better at my work as well.

Those are just a few ways that plays out, but it’s served me well thus far and I never feel like any part of what I do is truly out of “balance” with the others. However, I am vigilant, because I know all to well how easily things can quickly fall to pieces without constant attention.

The bottom line: we all run into work+life issues at some point in our lives. If you’ve ever had the thought that you can manage your work and life in a better way, this book is for you. If you’re interested, click here to get your copy.

Click here for other book reviews.

Thanks to Cali and her team for providing a review copy!

Tweak It
Reviewed by Ben Eubanks on
Jan 8.
Tweak your work/life to fit your needs
This book focuses on strategies for tweaking your current work+life setup to allow you to get things accomplished at work and home without stressing you out or forcing you to give up your dreams.
Rating: 4

Develop Your Own State of the (HR) Union Address

Every year, the President of the United States makes an address to the nation. The purpose of the annual “State of the Union” address is to give an account of the year’s events and discuss the priorities of the coming months. If communicated properly, this is an opportunity to reach a larger audience, share major goals, and get buy-in from the constituency.

state-union-addressSo why don’t we give it a shot?

I think every HR pro needs to have their own State of the Union address within their own company, department, or team (depending on your level of responsibility). This is strategic HR communication at its best, and it could become a valuable tool for your leaders to peer into the inner workings of the HR team while allowing you to share your key results areas as well.

The need is there

If this doesn’t prove that there’s an opportunity here, then I don’t know what will:

Although large U.S. companies spend about 36 percent of their revenue on HR, most annual reports fail to mention HR operations and how they contribute to the bottom line. Results of a two-year analysis of the 100 largest publicly traded U.S. companies by Mercer Human Resource Consulting show that only 20 percent of these companies discuss HR in their reports to shareholders. About one-quarter provide only limited references to the workforce, and some don’t mention their employees at all. (source)

How big is your “union?”

As I stated above, depending on where you are in your organization’s hierarchy, you might only be addressing your HR teammates. Or maybe you have the ability to snag an audience with your key senior leadership team, and you’re willing to put together a short presentation for that group.

Whatever the case, the size and target audience will be different for everyone, but the tips below will still help you in defining what to discuss.

What to say

If you’ve been reading here for long, you probably have a few ideas on what you could discuss with your leadership team. (And if you haven’t, feel free to subscribe for free updates.) Here are a few ideas to consider.

  • Take the opportunity to discuss a few key areas that will impact the organization in the coming year (benefits and PPACA, for example).
  • Discuss the threats, opportunities, weaknesses, and strengths of the current HR team.
  • Share your priorities for the year ahead with regard to employee relations, training, or talent management.
  • If you are not a manager or lead, ask if you can help your manager develop one for your own team.
  • Use the platform to generate early buy-in for your ideas. (Here’s a stealth communication tip)
  • Demonstrate alignment of the HR function with the overarching corporate annual goals.

What are you waiting for?

This is your chance to get in front of a key audience (whether it’s the rest of your team or another influential group) and share your message.

What are you waiting for?

HR Recertification Credits-Starting My Journey

A few months back I published a short guide for those looking to get HR recertification credits with their PHR/SPHR through HRCI (info here). To be honest, I was a little selfish. I knew that I was about to start a fresh cycle and wanted to start gathering information on free/cheap/easy sources of HR recertification credits.

More importantly, I was looking for ways to make sure that the credits I pursued enhanced my career prospects and professional development beyond merely checking the block on some mandatory training. If you’re going to have to get credits, you might as well make sure that they are contributing to your overall success for the long haul, right?

So now I’m just a few short months into this certification cycle, and I’m going to publicly share my recertification credits and how I’m getting them during this cycle. I hope to post a monthly (or quarterly)  update on any credits earned and how I gathered them. It’s going to be an accountability tool for me, and I hope it also pushes you to pay close attention to your own recertification credits as well. No more waiting until two weeks before your due date to start cramming!

So let’s get started with a few easy ones, shall we?

circular-recycle-arrows-hiHR Recertification Credits Summary

  • SHRM membership-“You earn recertification credit if you are a member of a national or international HR-related professional association or society. You do not earn credit for membership in a local chapter or association.” 3 credit hours per year, limit 10 per cycle
  • Write an HR blog-“Writing and publishing a fact-based blog post covering subjects related to the HR field.” .5 credits per post, a limit of six credit hours per cycle

I figured I would get the easy ones out of the way. I’m currently a member of SHRM and don’t plan to change that any time soon. I use their website for research, and I also get discounts with my local chapter for being a member of the national organization. I don’t use a lot of other services with them, but the membership counts either way.

In addition, I write three blog posts a week, so I’m very confident that I’ll be able to max out the 12 posts per cycle under the blogging section.

HR Recertification Credits Running Total

At this time I am confident that I will be able to get 9 hours from professional memberships and 6 hours from blogging for a total of 15 hours for this three year cycle. Look for more updates in the coming months as I delve into professional development, work projects, and more to gather my 60 credits!

Disclaimer: I haven’t submitted any of these credits to HRCI at this point and my information may change slightly when I do gather the info to submit. I’m just keeping this here (as I said) as an accountability tool for myself and others who need the little reminders to stay on task with their credits. 

What do you think? Are you interested in following along? 

Employee Productivity Management

Employee productivity management is normally seen as a manager’s job, and that might be a good thing. Recent research has shown that some managers can achieve up to 10% increases in productivity among their staff.

In the video below I discuss this phenomenon and what it means for HR professionals and business leaders. I also talk about a book that has some crossover between the research on employee productivity management and how it actually played out in another study of manager impact on employee engagement, performance, etc. The third piece I discuss is a philosophy of author/speaker that HR’s last great unexplored frontier is employee productivity and how to get more from our staff. I think that’s a key piece of why engagement has become the hot buzzword in recent years (it sounds cooler than employee productivity management), but they both mean basically the same thing: how can we get more work out of our people for the same amount of money?

If it was an easy answer, we’d have answered it already. The book that I talk about in the video covers some amazing concepts for how to develop a culture of belief that is so strong that it drives employee engagement and profits. I highly encourage you to check it out if that’s something you are interested in.

Check out the video and let me know what you think!

Employee productivity management show notes


So, what do you think? How can HR professionals best impact employee productivity?

Want more? Check out the free employee performance management guide!

2012 Review and 2013 Plans

Another year gone by and an amazing one ahead. Today I just want to take a few minutes to talk about some of the things I’m planning for in 2013, including events, travel, new tools, and more. And for the fans who keep coming back for the content that I create, I truly appreciate you. It’s an honor to serve the HR community in this role!

Personal

Despite the fact that I talk about HR, recruiting, leadership, etc. for 99% of the time, that makes up just a piece of my world. Like the rest of you I have social, family, volunteer, and other commitments. Here are the highlights for the year ahead:

  • I’m stepping down from my volunteer role with NASHRM, my local chapter. After 4 years of working with them I want to take some time to focus on other priorities and this is my best chance. The only sad part is that RocketHR, the site that I built from the ground up starting in August 2009, is going to stop being updated. I expect it to shut down at some point, and I have copied all of the content over to this website so it will not be lost.
  • I’m setting another goal to read 25 business books in 2013. I know I’ve been doing a lot of book reviews lately (and I have several more in the works). I realized that if I’m reading them, the least I can do is share the content highlights with you guys so you get the benefit of learning from industry experts without having to invest the time to read 25+ books. That’s why I do book reviews, so bear with me as I roll out more in the future. I hope they’re helpful for you!

Work

Again, I spend plenty of time writing about this HR stuff, but I only do that after I’ve spent 8+ hours that day working in my full time HR generalist role. Since my promotion a few months ago I’ve had the opportunity to do great things. I’ve made a few missteps, but I’ve also helped us grow in some key areas. Really excited about what is coming in the next 12 months.

  • Nothing is solid right now, but I’m really hoping that we grow enough to bring on an HR assistant next year. We are pushing the limit with our high-touch HR/leadership style, and we’re going to have to grow or reduce the level of service in the coming year. It’s not an easy choice, but it’s a necessary one.
  • I’m planning a major HR audit in January now that the end of year performance/salary changes are out of the way. I’m going to build in about 40 hours during the month to take care of dozens of actions (big and small) that have been on a growing list for a while. I’m really excited to get that accomplished and think there will be some valuable lessons that I plan to share here once I’m done.

upstartHR

Finally, this is the area of my life that I get a massive amount of enjoyment from, but it takes up a relatively small portion of my time. Some of you know this, but I ride to and from work every day (~40 minute commute each way) and I listen to… Nothing! I just love sitting and thinking about ideas to write about and share with others. Yeah, kinda nerdy, but it’s working for me. :-) Here is a list of the big things on my roadmap for 2013:

  • SHRM 2013 in Chicago. ‘Nuf said.
  • HRevolution 2013 in Las Vegas. Heck yeah.
  • Currently developing a tool for entry level HR pros to help them get a job and get promoted. Really excited about that and can’t wait for it to debut. It’s in the middle stages of development, and I’m currently working with an “inner circle” of testers to get that sharpened up for the rest of you who might be interested.
  • I have plans for 3-4 other products, including a GPHR tool, an 8 week version of the PHR/SPHR study course, and more. So many ideas, so little time!
  • I’m putting some time and effort into developing more video content. I spent about 3 hours today doing an actual setup (not just me in front of the webcam) and I think the quality’s much better than in the past. I am still fine tuning, but expect more of that medium in the coming year.
  • I’m working to do a few speaking proposals for state SHRM conferences and other events.
  • Plus a few surprises. Can’t let all the cats out of the bag!

Fun facts and info

I started upstartHR in April 2009. Since then the site has grown beyond my wildest dreams. It still amazes me to see these kinds of information about who’s reading content on upstartHR:

  • The site gets right at 10,000 visitors every month. Google is my biggest traffic source, but I also have a respectable number of referrals from social sites and email newsletters.
  • I have about 1,500 subscribers who read everything that I write.
  • I expect traffic to double in the coming year. I’ve had amazing growth so far and it’s reaching a critical mass. I might be overshooting but I’d rather stretch than not.

All in all, this is still an amazing journey, and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with each of you. I appreciate the time and effort you put into reading and sharing the things that I write, and I hope you get as much from reading as I do from writing.

One more thing before we call it a day. I read a lot of stuff from Chris Guillebeau, and he talks about the world changing people out there. He says (paraphrasing) that their ability to influence and change the world is not because they have 10,000 interested followers, but because they have 1,000 true fans.

Those true fans are the “small army” carrying forward the ideas and concepts that will truly change the world. I think of you as one of those in my small group of true fans. Together we can change the world of HR, one interaction at a time. Never lose sight of the fact that you have friends out there who believe as you do and truly want you to be successful.

I wish you all a happy, healthy 2013. Go out there and make things happen.

The Titleless Leader (Book Review)

The Titleless Leader: How to Get Things Done When You’re Not in Charge by Nan Russell

I’m in a unique position. Due to the importance of my role (hey, HR is important, right?), I’m a member of the leadership team where I work; however, I don’t have anyone who directly reports to me, which makes some requests a little difficult. I can’t tell or force someone to do something for me, and even if someone did listen, the diminishing returns of playing the boss card are always out there. If anything is going to get done, it will have to be through gentle persuasion and steady leadership. So when I saw this book by Nan Russell, I knew I had to check it out (it’s on my list of leadership reading recommendations). It was a huge hit, and I have some phenomenal tips and ideas to share with you today. Let’s jump in.

the-titleless-leader-nan-russell

What I liked

  • The book starts early with this great quote: “Discretionary efforts are tamed, ideas are shelved in heads, and interest in work has waned at a time when intellectual property and initiative are competitive necessities leaders can’t buy with a paycheck.” Paying for physical effort is vastly different from paying for intellectual effort, though many managers still cling to the ideas that worked 60 years ago when manual labor made up the lionshare of the workforce.
  • Titleless Leadership is common sense, but uncommonly displayed behaviors that, when practiced, create trust, positive influence, exemplary results, and natural followership. For a titleless leader, it’s not rank that gets results, it’s actions. Wow.
  • Leadership is a choice. You don’t become a leader by taking a class or reading a book. You become a leader by making “leader decisions” time and time again.
  • How do you get trust? By giving it first. Assume the best. The trust “calculator” on page 29 is an intriguing idea. It looks at what levels of trust you can delegate to people and when to give more or rein it in based on the results you’re getting.
  • The chapter on teaming with others starts with this phenomenal proverb: If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. A strong team can take the business farther than the sum of its parts.
  • Want to draw people to you? Practice self-accountability, and practice it well. When you hold yourself up to a high standard, others will want to achieve that same standard. Be accountable for keeping your own tasks on target, and others will want to follow that success.
  • Rankism sucks. If you don’t know what rankism is, it’s basically treating others differently based on their rank or status. And it’s a terrible practice. And that leads us to…
  • Don’t look for special treatment. Give it instead. Yeah, you heard me. Instead of expecting someone to treat you with kid gloves or offer you something special, you should be practicing that for others, especially those who wouldn’t expect it.
  • One more for this review since it’s getting pretty long. A little later in the book the author brings up an example of an organization that had some public fallout due to 10% of their staff using the government web servers to view pornography and other illicit content. It’s a quick and easy illustration for how we all too quickly focus on the negative and ignore the fact that 90% of the staff are doing the right things. I see this as especially valuable for HR pros. Too often we get bogged down in the negative and lose focus on the great work the rest of the staff is accomplishing. Don’t let the negativity take over!

Wrap up

I would highly recommend this book as a resource for anyone who wants to have more influence within their organization.  Just a word of warning: you will be ready to take over the world when you pick up some of these contagious ideas. Some of the concepts are very “common sense,” but even those are presented in a way that is fresh and invigorating. I’m going to be recommending this to friends and coworkers, and I wholeheartedly recommend it for you as well. Click here to get your copy of the book.

Click here for other book reviews.

The Titleless Leader
Reviewed by Ben Eubanks on
.
Leadership from the bottom up!
This book focuses on leadership and how to do it when you don’t have a fancy title or manager responsibilities. Highly recommended for those looking to advance their career and grow their leadership influence.
Rating: 5

5 IFTTT Recipes for Recruiters

There are new tools released every day that make our lives more complex, but I’ve been looking at IFTTT lately, and it’s all about making life simpler.

IFTTT stands for “if this, then that.” It’s an online tool that looks for an “if” and then takes a “then” action. The most common examples you might be familiar with are Outlook inbox rules. For example, IF that creepy coworker sends an email to you, THEN it gets marked as “trash.” Or IF your boss sends you an email, THEN your rule marks it with a flag to follow up.

IFTTT does that on a bigger scale. For instance, it can monitor your email account. If you receive an email with an attachment, it can automatically download the attachment to your Dropbox folder to save it.

Or even simpler-you can set it to monitor the weather and send you a text message if it is raining/snowing so you don’t forget your umbrella. Or maybe you get an email from your best friend, and it sends you a text message alert as a heads up. There are hundreds of ideas for rules (or “recipes,” as they like to call them), and the only limit is your imagination.

iftttHere are 5 IFTTT recipes I think recruiters could use

  1. share relevant blog feeds on Linkedin using a Feedly category (link)
  2. send yourself an email whenever someone posts a job or resume on Craigslist (link)
  3. dictate a voice memo and email transcription and mp3 file to yourself (link)
  4. use Google calendar to schedule content for your recruiting/careers page on Facebook (link)
  5. send a text message that calls your phone (for those times when you’re stuck with that candidate who just won’t stop talking despite all of your nonverbal cues) (link)

More ideas for IFTTT recipes from around the Web