You want candidates who are passionate about what they do for a living, don’t you? Of course you do. But passion for a profession is tough to get a grip on. And like most subjective things, there’s a whole lot of bulls**t going on in the world related to determining whether someone has passion for what they do. But the …
What Does It Mean When a Tech Analyst Talks About People More Than Technology?
I’ve been attending a lot of talent management-related conferences recently, and that means that I’ve gotten a heavy dose of hearing everybody’s favorite HR technology analyst, Josh Bersin, speaking here, there, and everywhere. This has been an enlightening experience. As someone who has been covering the talent management space for a long time, I’ve heard Josh speak quite a bit …
Adjusting Your Attention Is The Key To Getting Great Results
If you run a coffee bean company (which I do), expect more bags of beans to be sold and when Barry complains about doing more work (e.g. more bags of beans to fill), you will need to listen. If you recruit and hire people (which I do), expect that someone (e.g., other Barry) at your client company will spam your …
Mandatory Manager Skill: Showing Confidence & Support When You’re Not Feeling It
Being a manager is full of things that are simple, yet hard. Perhaps no better example of this exists than showing confidence in team members who are struggling from a performance perspective. You’re not sure they’ll get over the hump, and one thing’s for sure – if you look like you don’t believe, they 100% won’t get over the hump …
Feeling Like A Pretender? (The New Leader)
If you get things that you desire, there may be unforeseen and unpleasant consequences. Another way to say that, “Be careful what you wish for,” but Google reminded me that’s also the name of a cheesy Nick Jonas flick (redundant, I know.) Whatevs, the spirit of the comment is the same – anyone striving for advancement in their professional life is …
Leaders: If You Are Not A Great Listener, You Are A Great Pretender
Being an active listener is hard. I work as an HR consultant/trainer for some incredible firms (including KinetixHR, Recruiting Toolbox, and naturally, Dawn Burke HR). Whether conducting training for corporate leaders, HR pros, recruiters, hiring managers, or coaches, there is one significant obstacle all face and struggle to conquer – active listening. My eight year-old-niece would say, “a-doy.” My husband …
Failure – A Facilitated Activity
I was recently asked to give a presentation to a group of 100 people about success after failure. It was for an all day event, and I was asked to speak for 30 minutes. The objective was to get folks inspired to rise up after their own moments of failure. I realized that speaking about success after failure for 30 …
Sweet Lies About Work and Other Final Thoughts from HR Tech 2019
Editor’s Note – FOT Contributor John Hollon is on the ground this week reporting from the HR Technology Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas How do I know I’m at an HR conference? I know when I hear Marcus Buckingham giving a keynote speech. To put it another way, if Josh Bersin is everyone’s favorite HR technology analyst, Buckingham may …
Have you traveled on the dark side? Lessons from a Diversified HR/Recruiting Career.
Confession time…I have never been and will never be a 30 year employee. 3 yrs, 5 yrs, 10 yrs…I can hit those milestones. But beyond that, fat chance. My career has been guided by gut and need and not always in that order. Why by gut? Work should be fun. You should love what you do and where you are and …
Treating Employees Like Your Kids
Because I’m reaching the “vintage” where the most junior employees I work with are now the ages of my own kids, I’m now recognizing this management phenomenon in the workplace more than ever before. Do you treat your employees like your own kids? On the surface it sounds preposterous. But then again, I treat my own kids pretty well. I …