I like to build things. I like to improve upon what we know and make things better. More productive, more safe, more reliable. As an engineer, I learned early on that you don’t make equipment mods without talking to the operators. And I learned that they were picky about the smallest things. So when I…
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Is Your Workplace a Floundering Cruise Ship?
Last month one of my friends commented on how Lance Armstrong should be grateful the Manti Te’o story broke, and Manti should be happy that Lance went to see Oprah. Why? Because when you can’t avoid the attention of the media, nothing beats a good distraction. So the audience gets split. Corporate reputations are kind…
Voices In My Head – Paul Hebert
Happy Tim Sackett Day, wherein we honor those HR pros who make it happen day in and day out. I’m lucky that many of these greats blog about their experience, because it makes me that much more dangerous in my work! Today we recognize the incomparable Paul Hebert. When HREvolution came to Atlanta in 2011,…
Teams and Balancing Skills, Part 2 – The Framework
In my previous post, I promised a framework for thinking about the balance of skills required in a team. So here we go! First, I am sure there are as many frameworks as there are people who would like to think about frameworks for skill balance. This happens to be one of them. My exposure…
Jerry Sandusky And Other Alternate Reality Employees
“Tragic” is not a strong enough word to describe the whole situation of the scandal at Penn State and the current trial of former coach Jerry Sandusky. When I watched the interview with Bob Costas that was held late last year, it reminded me of several workplace investigations I’ve been involved with over the years….
The Daily Balance
I can’t remember a time when someone wasn’t talking about work-life balance. Or life balance. Or just balance. Many are looking for “the solution” but there is not a solution. At least not one approach that works equally well for all. But there are choices. We are allowed a certain number of days off, and…
Voices In My Head – Jay Kuhns
Bloggers will talk from time to time about “finding their voice”. A simple expression writers use to mean their writing is in sync with their thinking. As we are all influenced by how we experience life, my voice is impacted by others. Since first loading up my Google Reader, I know that I have been…
Work Life Balance? How About A Life Plan
Melissa Fairman at HRRemix posted yesterday on the notion of work-life integration. She recently came by an article explaining this concept by Craig Chappelow. In her post, she makes the point that this idea makes much more sense than work-life balance, as gaining balance in our complex lives just doesn’t seem likely. This is something I…
Physics in HR – Sound
We listen up, we listen in, we hear each other out, we sound each other out, we monitor the channels and we interview, poll, and workshop to gather input. The most immediate form of communication we share is the voice. When we are in direct communication with others, especially one-on-one, ideas flow with the least…
Kinetic Human Resources – People In Motion
This is the third part of my series looking at HR from a standpoint of Physics. My 401(k) options always offer this bit of warning: Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. In the field of Human Resources, we frequently look at past performance as the primary indicator of future performance. From the…
