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 …
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 …
Can You Measure Passion in Candidates In Interviews?
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 …
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 …
Should We Retire the Term “Full-Time” Position?
As I survey the employee/employer relationship landscape, I really never see a great story. Oh, sure, there are good “anecdotes” here and there of some company (typically privately held, startup-mentality, uber-cool) doing something unique and interesting enough to get into INC and Forbes. These stories are the bloody chum consultants tweet, retweet, post and build models around (until the next …
Prepare For Your Amazon Interview with this Airbnb Experience
Let’s say you’re eyeing that Director-level position at Amazon. You’ve read the culture takedown pieces and understand that you might be walking into an…ugh…aggressive workplace. Still, you know that 3-5 years at Amazon is money in the bank when it comes to your career. You can do anything for 3 years if it means you exponentially jump up the career …
Diversity of Thought, Not Look
Let me start by saying that I’m a big advocate for diversity. And this post isn’t suggesting otherwise. In fact, quite the opposite. I’ve seen the power of diversity first-hand many times – assembling a diverse group of folks attacking a problem or issue from every possible angle and dimension, one goal in mind, collectively architecting a solution that broaches …
To Squash Fears of Failure, Discipline Yourself to Keep Moving.
“Action cures fear” – Mike Kim. I am someone who needs structure. And you do to. For the last 18 months, I’ve been on my own workwise. Before you roll your eyes, this isn’t a missive on entrepreneurialism. However, going from larger corporate environments to working for an organization of one (me) has forced me to analyze every nuance of …
Why HR Should Pay Attention to Technology Design Trends
Technology is eating the world. Everything – and I don’t say this with any hyperbole – is technology. Even the human stuff we do every day (or should do every day) is a function of technology. I’m almost positive if HR (and business in general) didn’t have email, SMS, or slack we wouldn’t know how to get a hold of …
Can HR Ever Be Antifragile? Should It?
I’ve been fascinated with the idea of “antifragile” ever since I read about it in Nicholas Taleb’s book by the same name. His book is about how systems react to stress, attack, or change. Fragile systems are easily damaged when exposed to negative change. They operate best when things just stay as they are. A robust system is one that …