Love Helping People? Don’t Go Into HR

Like many HR bloggers, I field several questions a month about how to get started in HR. When I hear that their primary reason for considering entry into the field is that they really love working with and helping people, I almost universally tell them to…

What Is Your Greatest Weakness?

Have you ever received that question in an interview? First, let me apologize. Most of us in HR who ask this question don’t even know what we’re asking, why we’re asking or what we’re supposed to get out of this question. Furthermore, candidates are usually so poorly…

Three Ways You Can Fill An Empty Passion Bucket

A few years ago, I listened to a lot of political talk radio. In an age when a bunch of my peers were listening to podcasts and that sort of thing, I was trying to dial in the static on the AM radio. I stopped listening to political talk radio…

This HR Guy Is Over Your Spelling Mistakes

It is one of the first thing people say about composing your resume: make sure you…

Exit Interviews Are Band Aids On Broken Legs

So let’s say you’re working for a company with turnover problems (i.e. losing your best people to competitors) and management comes to Human Resources to figure out why people are leaving. What far too many HR people will suggest is that the…

Is Human Resources Fatally Flawed?

Don’t think about it. Just answer me quickly: Is HR fatally flawed?

How many of you answered yes? When I first started writing this in April, I said yes too. Yes, this has been on my mind since April, sitting in my draft folder waiting for me…

Five Steps To Better Employee Communications

I have always been one of those guys who sees the world in non-exact, change filled, and nebulous ways. I am hesitant to say I am a big picture thinker because everyone loves to say that they are a big picture thinker (while, of course, still being…

The Only Authority That Matters Are Results

“Unthinking Respect for Authority is the Greatest Enemy of Truth” — Albert Einstein

Why Work Anniversaries Still Matter

I was looking at a post by Paul Hebert’s i2i about service anniversary awards and it got me thinking about the inherent ridiculousness of the whole concept. Why are we giving awards for people sticking it out? “Oh hey Jimmy, you made it through another year. Here’s…

How Having A Blog Landed Me A New Job

If you’re a blogger, you know the feeling. You just sat down at your computer and you are a paragraph into a blog post when it suddenly hits you: apathy. “Why am I doing this?” you ask yourself. It may be the worst paying job in the world (most people do it for…