To be taken seriously, looked at as credible, to feel valued, to be your CEO/COO/CFO’s confidant, of course, having a seat the table. HR, you really want it? Quit putzing around. Quit sabotaging yourself. Quit whining. Most importantly have a little self-respect. How? Quit being everybody’s “Wingman.” Remember Top Gun (“I feel the need, the need for speed”)? Heck yeah, …
There’s Lots I Don’t Miss About the Office, But Here’s The One Thing We Can’t Live Without
Confession time: It’s hard not to LOVE Canadians. I’ve worked with a lot of our Northern cousins, and I’ve found Canadians to be generous, helpful, and kind. They don’t wear their partisanship on their sleeve, as so many of do here in Lower 48 plus 2, and they’re pretty easy going unless required to be something else. Yes, Canadians are …
Want A 4-Day Workweek? Here’s ONE Thing You Must Do First
I have always loved the idea of a shortened workweek. Not the – let’s cram 40 hours into 4 days – but the true 32 (8-hour days, Monday-Thursday). I so badly want this to be a new US norm. Why not? The not-so-modern 40-hour workweek was created in 1908 in factories. Since then, technology has ostensibly made administrative tasks less …
Google Moves to Annual Performance Reviews (e31 of The HR Famous Podcast)
In episode 31 of The HR Famous Podcast, long-time HR leaders (and friends) Tim Sackett, Kris Dunn and Jessica Lee discuss Google’s move to a very uncool/unhip annual performance review cycle (called a “perf” which is dangerously close to bad stuff), David Blaine’s recent dangerous endeavor, and the latest CHRO move of the week involving IBM’s new HR leader. Listen (click this link if you don’t see …
Today’s HR – The Rise of the Polymath
Please. Go look it up. Kidding. A polymath is an individual whose knowledge spans a significant number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. The Good Old Days There was a time in HR when the list of things you had to know was fairly short. Maybe a law or two related to …
HR Needs to Do One Thing – And Nothing Else
I subscribe to a newsletter called “Now I Know.” Every weekday the author tells a story about a little known and underappreciated product or service, or recounts how something came to be that most of us would find interesting. Things like “How Much is a Buttload, Exactly?” Or, “This Is The Poem That Never Ends. It Just Goes On And …
Focus! Maybe An Accountability Partner Would Help
I am a big believer in the power of focusing. “Focus and finish” is a phrase you’ll hear me say to myself, my daughter – and perhaps occasionally to my husband. Most of us in the HR space know year-end and the fast start once January 1 rolls around = bust your a$$ while everyone else is taking time off. …
Kick-Start Your HR Creativity in 2020 with these Two Lessons
The Thin Red Line. Fight Club. American Psyco. These are films that solidified Jared Leto‘s success as an Oscar-winning actor. Then, as his star was rising, he basically stopped making movies. “I think it was about focus. I knew that I needed to commit everything to music at that point in my life,” said Leto. Fast Company interviewed Jared Leto and …
A Simple Formula For Becoming An Enviable Place To Work
Eventually, all leadership teams come to a realization that if they “win” in attracting higher caliber people than their competitors to their company then they will also “win” in their marketplace. Having a better team of people in place than your competitors is a sure-fire way to create a sustainable competitive advantage. But doing so is tricky. Why? Look no …
Always in Beta
One of my clients refers to itself as “always under construction”…that’s another way of saying you’re always in Beta… This has been their tagline for close to twenty years and they truly are always under construction in every way they approach business including HR and Talent… But what is Beta? Webster’s defines it as: a stage of development in which …