Human Resources from a minion's point of view. I enjoy working in HR and in pursuit of learning more, entering into conversations with others about HR, and occasionally blowing off some steam, I have decided to add my own unique voice to the blogosphere. Have I piqued your interest?
The Christmas Eve Carnival of HR
The newest Carnival of HR is live right now and if you are all good boys and girls you’ll be sure to find it just as enchanting as its host! April Dowling of the Pseudo HR blog has brought together a great collection of posts in a truly charming holiday tale that is bound to be a classic. This is the last regular Carnival of HR of the year so grab yourself some eggnog and be sure to check it out here!
A little holiday rant
This holiday rant is brought to you in the style of The Bloggess. Enjoy.
So even though I’m unemployed again as of today I totally woke up at 6 am so I could drive Tim into work this morning. Because I’m nice like that. Well, actually it was just to the train station because I’m not that nice. That, and for some reason mass transit is operating on the holiday schedule so it would have taken forever for him to catch the bus. All because it’s Christmas Eve today. Whatever dudes.
You call that onboarding?
Just a quick little story to get your brain hurting for the rest of the day. You’re welcome.
Here it is:
Manager brings on a couple of temporary employees to take on some necessary, albeit tedious, tasks on a project in order to make sure everything is ready to go when the project rolls out. Makes sense, clear expectations, everything is going smoothly. Then, while training those temporary employees, the manager lets it slip that the previous employee handling this step of the process is no longer with the company. That, in fact, that employee had committed suicide a week ago. They then proceed to share details. Dude. Dude. Not cool.
So, there you have it, now I want to hear any bad onboarding stories you have. Hit me up in the comments and the best (worst?) one will earn yourself some yummy homemade fudge I am making this week. Yummy fudge will make everything better.
Be yourself
I have to say that of all the things that could have become my trademark, I did not anticipate that my laughter would serve as such a distinguishing trait. Would you believe me if I told you that I didn’t used to get compliments on my laugh? That phenomenon has only been around for the last few years. It’s not because my laugh has changed or because I was a more serious person before. It’s because I used to hold myself back. At work, in public, around strangers – basically, in any situation that didn’t involve really close friends or family, I would hold myself back. Read the rest of this entry »
In which others write my post for me
So here I was planning a post on customer service and a company’s image when I saw Trish at the HR Ringleader Blog just did a related, and great, post on it. Now you may be asking yourself, self, why do HR bloggers seem to care so much about customer service? It’s simple: customer service is both what HR does and what HR needs to care about because of the impact it has on a company’s success or failure. HR has both internal and external customers that they need to provide the best service to. Whether it’s getting payroll right the first time or providing the best candidate experience, that’s customer service. Additionally, HR cares about the customer service the company itself provides because not only does that speak to employee performance, it also affects company culture, brand, and success.
HR Happy Hour #14
Another HR Happy Hour is in the can and this time we stumbled into strange territory…Love! Clueless@Love to be exact. Two awesome ladies, Laurie Ruettimann and Sarah White came on to preview their new project, Clueless at Love, and we were happy to have them! What does HR have to do with relationship advice? Quite a bit actually! Not to get all work/life balance on you (that was last week’s show!) but from romance at work, to finding time for love when you are building your career, to HR pros being the counselors of the office, love is happening all around you.
The show was full of craziness from the start, let me tell you. We had the usual technical difficulties and some new ones too! Steve was kicked off the call twice and the show cut off mid conversation at the end but we still managed to cover some juicy topics! Online dating, stalkers, work place relationships, “office” and “Conference” spouses, and why people tell HR everything! You have to check out the show! Seriously, do you even have to think about?
Yes, you did just experience that, and you can’t un-experience it. Be sure to check out #HRHappyHour & #Cluelessatlove for the Twitter back channels and you can follow CluelessatLove on Twitter as well. You know you wanna. After all, as Laurie and Sarah say, they can’t make it worse. That sounds like a challenge to me.
The Social Business Carnival of HR
The latest Carnival of HR is up and wow did you all deliver! This weeks host is Jon Ingham at the Strategic HCM blog and his theme this time around had to do with Talent Management in this economy as well as HR in social business. It is packed, and I mean packed with some awesome posts that you have to check out!
Once again, you all amaze me with your participation, talent, and what I learn from your contributions! Keep it up! The next Carnival of HR will be on Oct. 28th and hosted by the HR Bartender herself, Sharlyn Lauby! And as always, if you’d like to serve as a host of an upcoming Carnival or just be added to the email reminder list, be sure to drop me a note at hrminion@gmail.com.
HR… In Space!!
Despite ongoing conversations on the death of HR, there is one television show that isn’t ready to order flowers for HR’s funeral just yet. The newest Stargate show, Stargate: Universe is introducing their own HR character, Camile Wray played by the lovely Ming-na.
HR isn’t usually portrayed in the nicest light in the media, so here’s hoping Ming-na brings a new level of awesomeness to HR’s image.
The Employment Trap
So, I’m starting to get used to the new gig and settle into a good rhythm. No husband harassing yet, but we did accidentally dress alike one day, much to the amusement of everyone else. Dudes, I swear, we are not “that couple”. I really, really, do not want to be “that couple”.
Anyway, I have come to realize that unless you decide the job is a bad fit right from the start (which would really suck) this is about the time that people can fall into what I consider to be the employment trap. You see, that job you worked so hard to get is the thing that can hinder your ability to find the next one. Let’s be honest here; it is highly unlikely that your current job is going to be your last one. Temp/contract positions aside, people just don’t work for companies their whole lives anymore. So while you should give your all in your current job, you can’t lose sight of the future.
But what is the employment trap? Glad you asked. The employment trap is essentially a false sense of security. You start a new job and breathe a sigh of relief. Benefits, steady income, branded tchotchkes, they all lull you into a state of contentment which causes you to…
1. Stop looking for work. I’m not advocating job hopping here, but it is important to keep an eye on what jobs are out there. It can help you notice trends such as what type of jobs are available, when are companies hiring, and even which companies always seem to be staffing the same position every few months. If you stop looking you may miss the job of your dreams.
2. Ignore your network. When you are looking for work, your network is invaluable. You call, email, and generally invest a lot of time connecting and building relationships. But then you start to ignore it once you are gainfully employed again. Your network doesn’t exist simply to be there when you think you need it. Nobody likes people who take and never give. Keep investing in these connections and be sure to pay it forward.
3. Stop learning. One of the worse things you can do is expect that the skills that got you the job will be the same ones that will let you keep it. Change is constant and that’s why learning should be as well. Personally, I may be done with institutionalized learning, but learning does not only exist in a classroom. Stretch your mind and stay flexible.
Don’t grow complacent. Contentment is for cows, not people. Love your new job (hopefully!), but don’t let it trap you into self-destructive behaviors.
It’s a problem of motivation
Everyone has had to deal with employees who lack motivation. In fact, a lack of motivation seems to be some people’s defining characteristic. But have you ever been, or wanted to be, one of them? Have you ever had a job that you hated, for one reason or another, and just didn’t want to care?
I had a job in college that I really, really, really didn’t like. It wasn’t the pay; it was great for a part time gig. It was a combination of people and the work. The work was boring and inconsistent. As for the people, while some were awesome, others were jerks. And I found myself quite apathetic to the whole thing.
An Effortless Carnival of HR!
That’s right, the latest Carnival is up right now at the Effortless HR Blog. They really do know how to make it look effortless to throw together such a great collection of posts! Be sure to take a little time and go check it out here!
Thanks again for everyone’s willingness to both be hosts and contributors! The next Carnival of HR will be on July 21st hosted by the Infohrm’s Blog! And as always, feel free to drop me an email at hrminion@gmail.com if you would like to be included on the reminder email list!
Let the clowns out Carnival of HR!
The newest Carnival of HR is up now at the Inflexion Point Blog, hosted by Mark Stelzner. Mark has brought together a great group of bloggers and a lot of great content so be sure to stop on by to check out all the carnival fun!
That’s not recruiting, that’s telemarketing
Yesterday, I got a rather odd phone call.
Random Guy: Hi, I’m calling from XYZ company and I was wondering if you were still looking for a job.
Me: Uh, yes.
Random Guy: Great, do you have a pen and some paper?
Read More…
Guest Blogger! Moving beyond minion-hood in HR
Today, we have a very special Advice for Minions post for all my darling minions out there. Ben Eubanks of Upstart HR is going on a guest blogging blitz because, well, he’s hopped up on Diet Mountain Dew and M&M’s so what else is he going to do with all that crazy energy? I’m kidding, I’m kidding…maybe. Anyway, Ben is all kinds of awesome and so is his guest post, which starts… Now!
HR-mageddon!!!
If you are like me and sometimes find yourself with both an intense desire to waste time and relieve your work place frustrations, then I have the game for you.
Caution: This game is not actually appropriate for the workplace and for the faint of heart. But it’s funny, and that’s all that matters sometimes.
