Today marks my first day at a new company, and I have to say that I’m very excited about the weeks and months ahead. Two years ago I joined Brandon Hall Group as an analyst to see if that was the direction I wanted to go with my career. I’ve been doing an informal analyst “thing” here at upstartHR since 2009, and what I learned was the “formal” analyst role isn’t all that different from what I’ve done here. It all revolves around knowing the technology and trends and being able to discuss them in a way that makes sense for your audience. As I was telling a friend last week, it’s not something that you can study for or know overnight–it takes time, dedication, and effort to truly grasp the wide variety of concepts and inputs.

Personally, it felt good to confirm that I have been on the right track for all this time and that the many hours invested into this site was a good way to build up my skills, connections, etc. for when I was ready to make the next step. Think about my journey so far. I’ve worked as an HR leader and in-the-trenches practitioner, but I’ve always wanted to have a bigger impact on the world around me. That mindset has led to numerous volunteer opportunities with SHRM and my local chapter, but it still wasn’t enough.

The New Gig

As I’ve always done, when I felt like I had learned everything I could, I decided it was time to move on to another opportunity. I have explored some new areas of HR and human capital management over the last two years, and now I have decided to move to a new firm with new challenges and opportunities.

I am now the Principal Analyst at Lighthouse Research and Advisory, which allows me the freedom to explore the various areas of HR, talent, and learning that appeal to me without having to be pigeonholed in any particular area. Many of you wonder what the heck an analyst actually does (I know my wife is still asking herself that question all these years later). Here’s a short explanation:

• Through regular briefings and updates, I stay on top of technology and how it is changing. I’d estimate that I’ve had one or two meetings with vendors every week for more than two years now.
• Through regular corporate briefings and updates, I share research and gather intelligence from companies on their challenges and any other noteworthy trends.
• I use those insights to help target advice and content for those vendors so they understand YOUR needs as HR practitioners. If you’ve ever bought HR technology, you know how hard it is. I’m hoping to make that easier in some way.
• That insight comes in the form of white papers, research reports, webinars, conference attendance, speaking, and advisory sessions.
• Occasionally I work with corporate clients to help them with their innovation, technology, or strategy plans. As I said, this stuff is complex and it helps to have an outside viewpoint when you’re contemplating a new direction.

That might not be super clear, but it gets us closer to home. :-) By the way, if you want to reach out to me about anything connected with Lighthouse, here is my email address.

I’m also a member of the HR Federation, a group of rockstar independent analysts that covers pretty much the entire market. Honored to be associated with this illustrious group.

And the best news yet…

It’s an exciting time for me and my family, especially since we have a new baby on the way! Yes, little peanut is due in November 2016, and we are all very excited for the arrival. With the baby coming and my desire to have more freedom and flexibility in my work, we felt like it was the right time to make the move.

As for my plans for upstartHR, I’m still here. My heart for small business, in-the-trenches HR, and witty banter hasn’t gone away. I still plan to write, share, and explore the best ways to improve your HR service delivery and work as a strategic player. I’m selling HR certification tools for the PHR and SPHR to help those of you who are looking to improve your capabilities as HR leaders.

Thanks for everything you do to support me and this site. I couldn’t do it without you!