human resources

You are currently browsing articles tagged human resources.

Take Your Frickin’ HR Hat Off!

March 20, 2013 in Business, Diversity, HR Advice, hr fundamentals, HR principles, SHRM by newresource | No comments

Tell me this hasn’t happened to you before, you’re out with friends and new acquaintances and everything is going great, then of course the conversation veers into work or the office dealings. Someone tells a great story about an inappropriate relationship, a rigged promotion and all of a sudden your HR brain kicks in. Here’s an unofficial stat (F.M.A. (from my a**)) – there are over 1.2 million HR blog posts that are inspired by a social experience or interaction.

So you ask probing questions; try to explain why the company took action or educate them on what actions should have been taken. Then you realize you’re doing it again. That HR hat has popped on and now you are in full on geek HR mode.

I have this one friend, I love her dearly, she tells me “Chris, I love talking to you but I hate when you put that effing HR hat on!!

Oh I’m the only one right!? No we are a bunch of geeks – a motley crew if there ever was one.

My friends are reluctant to talk to me about work related things (they only want HR when they need HR) because they say that human resources are focused on all the wrong things and they take the fun out of everything. They are right you know. We do focus on the wrong things. We are so focused ourselves and our workload that we rarely take time to focus on those that need us the most – the people.

That’s not totally our fault though – see we are trained and educated to protect the company against liability at all costs. We are tasked with forecasting problems, developing strategies to fix problems often times before they happen. We’re forced to cleanup messes, and fix things as if we’re Olivia Pope – you know the character on ABC’s “Scandal”, she’s a professional fixer. She can spin anything!  We do all this under the umbrellas of compliance and corporate policy.

Don’t get me wrong people need structure. Have you heard of some of the foolishness that some people try to get away with? It’s incredible. You name it, its happening; sex, drugs, and videotape – sure! And that’s not all.

The news is the worst! I mean you can’t turn on the tube or the net without seeing something crazy at work; a CEO accused of misconduct, employee theft, violence in the workplace, or my current favorite revoking ROWE (work from home…okay technically it means Results Oriented Work Environment) benefits.

We’re so used to fixing stuff and applying HR principles that we can’t always control it. Sometimes we even miss it. So when we’re sittin’ around shootin’ the breeze it just happens – work creeps in and that HR hat slide on. Just sitting there – hanging out and checking the scene.

Tags: , ,

No Tidbits – Just Hotness

November 30, 2012 in Uncategorized by newresource | No comments

Hey folks – regular readers will know that occasionally I publish “Tidbits and Hotness” on Fridays. It’s a collection of articles and things that I stumble upon online.

This week I want to just give you a recap of things I’ve written over the last week, you know in case you missed something.

So first up, I have 2 articles on Jobsite.com. I’m excited to be part of the U.S. launch of Jobsite aimed at assisting jobseekers with practical advice and tips. Jobsite is a great resource and you should check it out.

Major Hurdles for Jobseekers – Part 1 “Unprepared”

Major Hurdles for Jobseekers – Part 2 “Unwilling”

Then there’s SmartRecruiters the great FREE applicant tracking system company. They are one of the fastest growing totally adaptable ATS on the market. Over 25,000 companies role with them.

Why HR should collaborate with Recruiters?

And finally, I write content for a multi-contributor blogsite “Performance I Create.” We’ve recently added 4 new team members.

Steve Browne – Executive Director of HR at LaRosa’s Inc and Ohio State Council Director for SHRM. He writes regularly at “Everyday People.”

Justin Harris – HR Consultant and Specialist in the Greater Nashville Area – He writes regularly at “ruHRelevant.”

Tiffany Kuehl – Corporate HR Recruiter for Honeywell International – President of Twin Cities Human Resource Association in Minnesota. She has published articles in the TCHRA magazine.

Dave Ryan – Director of Human Resources at Mel-O-Cream Donuts – Active with Illinois State Council of SHRM -He blogs regularly at “HROfficial”.

Check out the entire team here.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What More Can I Say?

November 19, 2012 in Business, HR Advice, hr fundamentals, HR principles, SHRM by newresource | No comments

This blog is nearly 2 years old and while there are many other top notch blogs that have been doing it longer, I think CostOfWork is right up there with the best.

After blogging so hard and sharing so much content, many of us bloggers wrestle with the notion of quitting or at least taking a long sabbatical – it does become an exercise. Whenever I get to that point, I have to remind myself why did I get started in the first place and for me it was to prove myself and be helpful.

Human Resources is an under-appreciated, extremely valuable profession. Everyone thinks they can be in HR. I hear it all the time, “I’m thinking about going into HR because so and so said I’m good for it.” Hmpf.

Silly rabbit, HR is not for suckers – it’s not easy and everyone can’t do it. There are instincts, HR instincts and then there’s the law – you have to know it – you have to keep up with the changes.

HR professionals have to stay on top of human behavior, technology, market trends, social engagement, compliance, politics and the global economy. Effective human resource professionals are not just regional; they are national –they are global.  It’s kinduva big deal.

There is no shortage of human resource related topics and competencies to speak on. There is a lot covered on this blog – social platform.  But I like talking about experiences and one of the best experiences I’ve had this year was the Illinois State SHRM conference in Chicago.  Had a chance to hang out with a lot of great HR people and within these interactions I learned that people are indeed watching – reading and really paying attention.  And I learned that no matter how much social interaction you have with people nothing beats the good old IRL –in real life connection.

That being said the mission changes a bit now. I have nothing to prove socially, now it’s about reality. No I’m not retiring this blog, there is too much great HR content left to share – too many folks to meet and projects to do, associations to attend and people to help. You will see more interaction in 2013.

When you follow the CostofWork you will be empowered, I always bring you the human resource play. If you are not in HR, this blog will provide insight into the mind of the engaged and excited HR professional – not the cynic or skeptic. You know, how HR folks should be.

So what more can I say? A lot….but there is even more to DO.

Tags: , , ,

It’s Your Own Darn Fault!

November 14, 2012 in Business, HR Advice, hr fundamentals by newresource | No comments

How did this happen? How did it get this way?

Ever ask yourself that question? I’m betting you have a time or two.  Life throws us all some serious curl balls just ask the people of New York and New Jersey, just as they were getting over hurricane Sandy, and Nor-easter comes along and adds insult to injury. But natural disasters are of no fault of your own. The mess that you have to deal with at work now-a-days could have been avoided, if you paid attention to the forecast.

Now’s the time for some self-evaluation and organization evaluation. Recently, I have had some interesting clients needing assistance with processes and problems within their companies. It never ceases to amaze me – how far gone we allow situations to go before we investigate. Look I get it, analysis is messy and no one really wants to do it – however if you don’t keep your eyes on it you will end up wondering, how did this happen? It’s like your credit score, you’ve got to stay on that thing or it will go all willy-nilly.

Okay back to the topic.

You’ve got a workforce full of folks coming to work drunk, high, and cursing like Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip. Your profits are down and costs are up. You don’t know how much it costs to locate, recruit and hire workers. You don’t have the latest technology that could make your human resource team and work force better. Productivity is down and no one goes out to the floor and talks to the employees to get feedback – that’s your own darn fault.

You’ve hired your friend’s daughter or son to manage your HR functions because you think like most ignorant people that HR is only about hiring and firing. You’ve allowed referrals and nepotism to dominate your selection process, even altering the hiring process to fit certain candidates instead creating a hiring process that best reflects the type of candidate you need.  No selection process or training what so ever – that’s your own darn fault.

And as far as personal development – you don’t want to learn anything new because you already know it all. You think that you will be retiring at 70 and the doors to your company will be open forever. You think that you are too old to learn new technology and it’s just for communication and games anyway. You don’t think there is a new workforce more ambitious, more driven and more talented ready to take over the corporate world.  Complacency – that’s your own darn fault.

Ownership and accountability are important in life and business, you’ve got to stay up on everything, and if you can’t do it – step aside!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

You Sorta Need to be Managed

August 27, 2012 in HR Advice, hr fundamentals, HR principles, SHRM by newresource | No comments

Anyone likes a micromanaging manager? No. How about that?

When asked what management style you prefer most job seekers say they want to be trusted and given freedom to perform their duties.  That’s relatable and sounds good in an interview setting. But the idea of total freedom is just not practical. In a euphoric world of checks and balances and workload equality it would awesome if everyone came to work and did what they were supposed to do. But they don’t.

If they did, there would be no need for HR or most management positions. Productivity in this country is in the cellar. At any given moment external forces such as employee health, breaking news stories, sporting event and social media can cost your company millions

No one can control the news, crap happens! But fetishes, vices and behavior habits are controllable and employees cost organizations billions (that’s with a B) of dollars annually.

Social media surfing | Smoking | Obesity | Disengagement

All 4 are productivity vampires sucking the blood and money right out your organization’s veins.

Let’s be honest, there is someone at your office that does nothing all day as much as possible. I can recall my corporate days, in every place I’ve ever worked there were slackers and now the stories from clients who take new positions are just scary. Not having clearly defined roles and duties, not having anything to do and everyone hides out in their offices or cubes all day, pretending to be busy until quitting time.

There is this “thing” out there that unemployed people are lazy and do nothing all day which is surprising and hypocritical coming from a nation of unproductive workers. The office gig is cover for laziness and entitlement.

What some examples? Okay.  Here is a news report of TDOT worker’s sleeping on the job in plain sight. And here is an article on city code enforcement officers using company vehicles to waste away the day. Trust me folks it’s not a regional problem, it’s a national problem.

Bringing this on home; it would be awesome if we didn’t have to monitor employees. Of if we didn’t have to administer performance evaluations but we kinda do. Not everyone is a high performer, hell not everyone is even a mid-level performer, that’s way you gotta watch them, just a little bit.

See I don’t want to be micromanaged either, but I don’t mind progress reports and status updates…you know accountability. I even like performance evaluations when they are accurate (that’s another article for another day).  But with so many ways for employees to be distracted at work (did I mention office romances?) an employer must monitor employee behavior and habits; internet usage, smoke breaks, social media surfing, network congestion, employee engagement and performance.  Sorry but you kinda need to be micromanaged.

Tags: , , , , ,

« Older entries