Ready for some mansplaining? Good, because I’m a guy, and damn, it seems like companies are having a hard time avoiding gender-related harassment. So I’m here to help. I’m referring to s*x**l harassment, but I have to call it gender-related harassment because a lot of you have email filters at the corporate level that won’t allow content in with the …
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 …
Is Unlimited PTO Just a Scam Not to Pay Out Accrued Vacation and Sick Time?
Yeah, I said it. In my darkest moments, I’m a bit of a skeptic. And I think unlimited PTO might just be a scam to not pay out accrued vacation and sick time. With me? Against me? As with most things, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Here’s 5 things I know about vacation/sick time and the connection …
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 …
Dispelling HR Police Mythology
It was 5 minutes until 5:00 pm on a Friday. I was at my desk holding court about where the Sales team was going for happy hour when suddenly the “personnel” lady appeared with a figurative summons for me to appear in personnel court along with a fellow Account Executive. “Why,” you ask? Two weeks prior while in Sedona, Arizona …
Is High Performance a Zero-Sum Game?
I read a lot of HR stuff about high performers. We all want an entire population of these employees at our companies. Adding more high performers means better overall results, which means better everything, right? Maybe not. Depending on your culture, you could be making it hard for the best performers to stay. As Long As It Helps Me A …
Bosses Behaving Badly: When Integrity Matters Most
How many of us have seen our leaders (C-Suite, bosses, the ivory tower, “the brass”) abandon their integrity when the going gets rough? Maybe they decided to cut salaries to shed costs without cutting their own, or they identified a sacrificial lamb to take the fall for what was their mistake. Perhaps they simply elected to flat out lie to …
The Politics of HR – Whose Side Are You On?
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., HR’s largest membership organization’s CEO has been catching a lot of flack lately. In fact, a band of HR innovators and outliers have pushed the #fixitSHRM hashtag for a while in their displeasure with the CEO’s actions on behalf of the society. It’s even getting some press and blog play in the HR and talent space …
HR CAREER ADVICE: Never Let Your Boss Tell You How Other People Feel About You Without Forcing These 2 Questions…
Dateline: Somewhere in Corporate America. The Scene: A C-Level is telling the HR pro who reports to him what another C-level thinks about her performance (hint: it’s not glowing). The Mistake: The HR pro in question thinks that since the C-Level reporting the feedback is supportive of her (it’s the other guy with the problem, right?), and she doesn’t have …
HR Practices Making You Feel Bad? Check Your Habits
7 months ago, I made a personal decision to stop drinking. Although not a chronic issue, it had become a habit that wasn’t giving me the “feels” anymore. Frankly, it was making me feel “more bad than good,” so it was time to make a tweak. A habit is “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is …