upstartHR

Making HR better. One HR pro at a time.

  • Note to self: Don’t insult a hand-to-hand combat instructor

    Warning: This post is supposed to be humorous. If you are not experienced with humor, you might not get it. If that is the case, here’s the IRS website. Feel free to read some of that really exciting stuff over there. Why humor? Because we’re HR professionals, darn it. If we don’t get some measure…

  • Gratitude matters, now more than ever

    The other day I had to stop by the dreaded DMV to get a new tag for our vehicle. The lady behind the counter couldn’t have looked more bored if she tried, but I tried to put on my happy face. This place was not going to destroy my soul for the short duration of my…

  • Alabama legislation: No more gifts for teachers

    This saga has rocked Alabama for a few days, and I thought it was an interesting story to share with the outside world. The short version is that teachers can no longer receive gift cards or anything of value from parents as a “thank you” for doing a great job. My response is to this…

  • Disengaged employees-this is what it feels like

    Hi, I’m Ben, and I’m a disengaged employee. When we talk about disengaged employees, we look at it as a problem to be solved. In some cases (like mine), there might not be an easy solution. In case you’re wondering, I am not talking about my day job. I’m talking about a second gig I…

  • Am I good enough?

    AKA A Short Story About Feedback I was talking with my manager the other day after not seeing her for a few days, and before I could stop myself the words just started tumbling out of my mouth: I know you haven’t been in the office much lately, and when you have, you’ve been so…

  • Job interview test-Let’s see what you can do

    Ever been quizzed in a job interview? Test prep is difficult when the interviewer moves away from the rote questions and asks you to actually perform the job as a display of your competency. I ran across this great post the other day by Jorden Bartlett and just had to share. She talks about using tests…

  • 17 ways to enjoy the HR Carnival

    We are drawn to lists. It’s pretty simple, really. With all the information at our fingertips on a daily basis, our brains need some way of keeping track of all the data. It needs a way to catalog resources it runs across, so it sorts, ranks, and filters as needed. Today I have a special…

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