Let me first start by saying I love being an HR professional. I love the insight that the profession gives you into a company and its employees. But as HR people know, this insight can often be a double-edged sword. Instead of being coaches, we often become referees, and instead of ambassadors of our organization, we become law enforcement to …
Becoming a Consultant: Where Do I Start?
Not a day goes by without someone asking me how they can quit their job and become a consultant, coach, speaker, or entrepreneur. “I’m thinking about going out on my own, Laurie. How do I get started?” – HR and Recruiting Peeps Do you dream about quitting your job and going out on your own? It’s not unusual. Some people …
Know Your Why–Gut Decisions and Your Career
I feel like I should dedicate this post to PFP, a local gym my youngest daughter attends. My youngest has scoliosis, and in addition to being braced for a number of years by a phenomenal Orthotist, she’s been working out with a trainer to have an amazingly strong core. The best news–the workouts at PFP have been pivotal in reducing …
You Can’t Change the World on the Internet
Let’s say you are passionate about something and want to change the world. Q: How do you fix significant problems by using the internet?A: You don’t. Stop yourself before you start. – Laurie Ruettimann The internet is but one tool to affect social change, and it’s an imperfect one at best. You need an omnichannel approach that includes academic research, …
Want to Stay Married? Don’t Get Into These Lines of Work!
I’m a child of divorce. I know, right, cry me a river. I was never the kid who blamed everything wrong in my life on divorce. On the contrary, I think being a child of divorce probably gave me a leg up on all these soft kids who grew up in a nuclear family and never had to question if …
Duck Season, Wabbit Season, Conference Season, and March Madness: Part 2
Yes, it is time for March Madness. Spring is definitely in the air. About this time last year, I departed from my political and assertive writing to do a mash-up of topics impacting the HR and Talent community. Well, It’s time for a “Part 2,” so hold on to your hats and college basketball draw sheets, here we go! First, …
Walk This Way: What the #GoogleWalkout Means for HR Leaders
The irony of the Aerosmith reference in my title is not lost on me in the wake of the #GoogleWalkout over sexual harassment, gender and pay equality, and transparency in reporting. Check the lyrics if you were born in the ’90’s. What struck me as I was reading about this protest wasn’t necessarily the fact that Google paid executives to …
Insourcing is the new (and old) black
HR/Talent Pros are always nervous about outsourcing. I do some consulting from time to time in the corporate HR space and eventually in my time with corporate HR executives, the conversation will find its way to outsourcing. “Hey, Tim what do you think about us shopping our ‘blank’ out to…?” It’s a basic skill vs. resource vs. culture decision – …
Your Future Boss Thinks You Suck
At some point in the future, all of you reading this site will get a new boss. Most of you will have 5-10 new bosses over the rest of your career, which is reflective of how chaotic work is for our generation and the general pace of change. Some of those new bosses are going to have manageable expectations. But …
Anarchy In The J.O.B
Anarchist: A person who rebels against any authority, established order, or ruling power. Guess what? Anarchists are alive and well in your company. And HR is SICK OF IT. Every time we try to do something good, we get criticism. Why? Because we have the “appearance” of some sort of control – no other reason. It’s like I work for …