Complacent or Competitive

My HR practice has changed dramatically over the last few years. In 2008 I thought I was hitting my stride. In a great job, felt like I knew my stuff, and was introducing strategies that were changing the culture of my organization. I was in the zone.

For a very short period of time.

Complacency Kills
For some reason I've been blessed, at least I would consider it a blessing, to be ultra-competitive. This tendency spills over to my work constantly. As the pressure began to mount on finding talent, very specific talent, I realized I was no longer competing at the level necessary to be successful.

Something had to change...and that something was me.

I was no longer pushing myself to learn new tools, or to try innovative recruitment strategies, or to embrace the "one brand" philosophy for the entire organization including recruitment advertising. (Sorry HR, you're not the advertising pros you think you are.)

New Territory

Not long after this somewhat humbling realization is when I began my social media journey. The signs were all around me that if I was going to be an effective human resources leader I needed to not only understand the tools, but I needed to use them. Are you with me? I had to use the tools myself.

Today my world is very different. My team now pushes me to deploy new tools as much as I push them. Our HR strategies are completely aligned with our Web and Marketing departments. But I'm still competitive as ever and am pushing myself to learn more.

How About You
What part of your career have you neglected? Have you convinced yourself that you're just too busy right now to try anything new? It's time to drop that excuse. There's so much happening and you're going to miss it if you keep chasing the same old routine.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



photo credit

Talent Emergency

I’ve recently found myself in somewhat of a talent emergency. Why? I’ve been reading a lot about the shortage of talent, the coming migration of talent away from my organization, the need to define the talent my company needs, and how we need to retain our current and future talent.

I wish I had a trademark on the word talent.

Talent = People, Right?

One of my HR passions is to help our leaders create a good place to work. (By the way, I can’t tolerate the “employer of choice” phrase. That seems to be a lot of hype and PR to me. I’ve never heard an employee use the phrase to describe their workplace. Since they don’t use it, I don't use it either.) So if the focus is on people and the skills necessary to get the work done, it seems to me we should make sure we treat our people well.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Respected Talent = Good Place to Work

-         Listening

-         Not believing we have all the answers simply because we have a formal title

-         Taking action

-         Not worrying about failing

-         Giving credit to those who do a good job (and make you look good BTW)

-         Involving the employees in the work

Just a couple of quick thoughts. I'm sure you could add fifty more examples.

How About You

How do you get through your talent emergencies? Do you spend a lot of money advertising in the Sunday paper so everyone knows you’re working hard? Or, do you stop worrying about HR jargon and get your employees involved in generating solutions? After all, they do the work every day.

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



photo credit

HR and Marketing Are Best Friends...Or Should Be

Did you ever wish you could get time back?  I do, particularly when I think about all of the meetings, strategy sessions, focus groups and vendor calls all intended to help me decide on the best creative campaign for my recruitment advertising needs.  Yes, a SEPARATE ad campaign from the rest of the organization’s advertising efforts.  Why?  Because every modern organization was built in “Silo-ville” that’s why.  God forbid we actually integrate our strategies, messaging, and creative ideas to maximize the brand!

The Good Ol’ Days Sucked

The examples listed above are all true experiences from my “formative years” in HR.  I actually worked in an organization that required Nursing leaders to approve the creative ads for various recruitment initiatives.  Since when are Nurses, or HR staff for that matter, the Marketing professionals?  Guess what, they’re not.  I submit that neither group should be making those decisions. 

Happy Days Are Here Again…for the 1st Time

Gone now are the days of competing ad campaigns with Marketing, interference from others, and a mixed message to our external customers about the organization. Now HR and Marketing are completely integrated relative to creative advertising, communication strategies including the extensive use of social media, our evolving exploration of a Talent Community as well as the general coordination of production. 

We meet weekly to ensure every detail is managed efficiently and professionally.  The results have been nothing short of fantastic.  Check out our facebook page to take a quick look at what teamwork can produce.

How About You

Are you still pretending to be a Marketing professional?  Do you have vendors pitch their programs to you with promises of great results for your recruitment blitz plan?  What about your company’s overall Marketing plan?  Do you meet regularly with the leadership in that area to ensure you maximize the message, the spend, and the brand?  On second thought, please don’t.  While you’re wasting all that time and money confusing your customers, I can make my move.

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses.


pics courtesy of corporate-eye and my iPhone