upstartHR

Making HR better. One HR pro at a time.

  • The Front Line Leader (Video Book Review)

    Recently I read The Front Line Leader by Chris Van Gorder while I was on a flight. Usually when I’m flying I take something fun/entertaining to keep my attention, but I needed to knock down my review pile so I grabbed this one. I’m so glad I did. I read it from cover to cover…

  • Five Ways to Assess a Business’s Training Needs

    If you’ve been tasked with conducting a training and development program, it’s important to look at the issue from all angles. This involves taking a deeper look at the role that each individual plays in the organization, and where there are gaps in the current employee training program. Here are five areas to focus on…

  • How to Ruin Credibility in One Easy Step

    Recently someone asked this question on Quora, a site that I sometimes drop by to help shed some light on the world of HR: If I lie about a past felony on job applications, will the California FCRA keep background checks from finding out? The first two responses to the question were focused on what…

  • Top 10 Conversations with Employees (Seriously)

    Fun, happy, and crazy employees make this job awesome I absolutely love this profession, but we have some interesting challenges in front of us. On one hand, HR really wants to be strategic. On the other, we deal with unbelievable people issues. The variety really keeps us on our toes! The notes below are based on…

  • 24 Things I Learned about Behavioral Science This Weekend

    I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m a nerd of many facets. Recently I listened to an episode of Freakonomics on behavioral science and really enjoyed it, so I listened to it all over again, took notes, and created lessons for you guys from them since it was just that good. Enjoy! We need to make…

  • Forget About Employee Appreciation Day

    Employee Appreciation Day is upon us (March 6th, for those who are dying to know). While you all know that I am a firm believer in the power of employee recognition (whether it’s formal, peer to peer, or anything else in between), I am also a fan of making it part of your culture, not an annual…

  • Employee Communications: Stop Emailing Your Employees

    Employee communications are dominated by email According to a recent survey, up to 28% of our time is spent creating, reading, and replying to emails at work. In the average workweek that’s about 11 hours of time that you won’t get back, and we do that every single week. There’s something else I’d like you to…

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