I work in HR for a medium/small/large local/Multi-national institution in the _____ industry.

HR is a function that performs many tasks.

Sometimes it is efficient.
Sometimes it is not.

When HR operates like a machine and executes transactional work which can be measured, they are often not viewed as an efficient function?

When they perform work that is difficult to measure because it is viewed as ‘strategic’ they are seen as performing well?

I am just a robot, seeking to understand Humans, human interactions, human resources.
Just trying to ‘figure it all out’

come on dude(s)

show a little initiative, leadership, decision making maybe?

We want more than that

please

It’s tough sometimes.

Sometimes I feel like I wanna get free ( via the Vines)

Sometimes I have to deal with difficult situations and people.

Sometimes I have to do things that I don’t agree with- like roll out a company initiative I know is destined for failure.

Sometimes I wanna get free (via Major Lazer/Diplo/Amber from Dirty Projectors collab)

Then there are situations that make it all worthwhile.

There are times when the phone call I make to extend a job offer is literally life changing to people- you can hear it in their voice, you know you’ve reached out and touched someone (via vintage 80’s AT&T)

There are times when a program or initiative works and delivers results that build credibility of our function.

HR isn’t so bad after all

it bothers me

It’s time to reboot

I’ve been busy (we all are) and I’ve decided to start up again with renewed focus for many reasons:

-I’ve had a lot of time to think about things

-I now need to publish those thoughts so that I may put them into action

-my co workers are tired of hearing all my “great ideas”, so I need to write them down

-a lot of really great writers have been very inspiring lately

-I’m finally done with this super big, super important project(details to come) and now have some free time to ruminate on HR and workplace issues and how I’m going to make them better

-blogging makes me feel happy inside

I hope to have some posts up soon

k thanks bye

The following is an actual transcription between my friend Ian Sanchez and I.  I’ve included the relevant stuff, and have removed icons to protect the parties involved.

Enjoy!

Robot: is starting my day w/ Starbucks Breakfast Blend, listening to Yo Yo Ma, and reading HR blogs. I’m so fucking cultured it’s sickening

Ian: There’s nothing classy about HR blogs chief. And Starbucks is for scenesters. Yo Yo Ma is cool though.

robot: You’re wrong about the Starbucks- it’s gone from cool to mainstream back to cool b/c you can say you’re being ironic by indulging in the java of the masses

Ian: (after some nonsense comments back and forth)… HR banned me from blogging about work matters. Something about compromising my coworkers’ rights to a non-hostile work environment. HR: Where dreams go to die.

robot: Wait are you serious about that? What could you have said to put yourself in that spot?

Ian: The pending lawsuit prevents me from any further disclosure of the case.

robot: Well I’ll just wait until the case is settled and read all about it in HR blogs

Ian: what do HR blogs talk about, making sure no one has anything creative or controversial to say?

robot: You’d be surprised to find out that it’s quite the opposite. Most talk about HR letting employees be free to be creative, getting out of the way of progress and empowering employees

Ian: Why can’t employees be empowered, creative, and progressive without someone telling them/encouraging them to do so?

robot: IMO 2 reasons:
1- old school HR did a great job of scaring employees into compliance and drone mentality
2- managers don’t value employee contributions and creativity. It’s impossible to think a non-management employee may have a great idea to help move their business forward

Ian: The 1950’s corporate paradigm is dead. You’re only perpetuating it by having “think tanks” that do nothing but waste time and money. Managers who don’t value employee contributions are paranoid, unqualified mental midgets who represent the old, outdated guard!

robot: I agree, so do many HR pros. So it’s become a priority for us to educate and train managers, hopefully change the mindset and eventually the way we work and think about work. See: Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) as 1 example

Ian: I know about ROWE, but there’s really no need for that acronym. Things like that only further perpetuate unnecessary shit. It’s like having a meeting to plan a meeting. How about people just do quality work and companies have bosses who know what they’re doing instead of ones who “climbed the corporate ladder.”

robot: I agree w/ you, again so do many HR pros. I hate that bullshit too- people get promoted b/c of arbitrary accomplishments and meeting criteria that out-of-touch managers create. Leaders (not managers) need to be developed

And then it just turned to nonsense which has nothing to do with the point of this post.

In the end, I think someone could have a wonderful career in HR if he chose to pursue it.

Otherwise…

How do you promote your Recruiting/HR Team Internally??

It brings up more questions than answers in my mind.

Depending on your company culture, HR may still be seen as the workplace equivalent of going to the principal’s office.  So then it’s up to us as HR professionals to promote all of our strategic efforts, to get out in front of the office and be seen as a positive contributor to our organization’s success. Right?!

Sure, we do this with our HR Management and/or VP’s, but do your worker bees really get it?

I’m sure the ones who know think they’d like to work in HR one day – maybe they’re getting advanced degrees or certificates in HR – they know what we’re capable of, what our days look like etc.  The rest of them still have no idea.

How then, do you build up the internal respect, and more importantly succession planning for your department within your company?  How do you brand ( or re-brand in some cases) your HR department as a valuable business partner and potential career path? How can you build a viable internal pipeline?

So far what I’ve come up with is this:

-HR needs to be visible, part of which is being approachable and seen as useful in the eyes of the average employee

-HR needs to self promote the hell out of their accomplishments!!!

-Recruiting teams can spend more face time with hiring managers, and on the floor with the worker bees (I’m on the fence with this)

-Communication will be key in achieving any sort of spur in recognition (goes along with self promotion)

Random Ideas on how to do this:

-create a dynamic site on your intranet that highlights some of your current efforts.

-use different types of media to showcase your efforts – podcasts, videos, pictures of recruiting events

-create an HR blog to discuss relevant workplace issues, allow employees a place to vent, and (again) highlight some of your efforts

In short, as HR pros, we need to get out there, we need to become the “go to” people and be shameless about what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it. We’re charged with maintaining order, contributing positively to company culture, recruiting and retaining the best and the brightest,  so let’s tell everyone that!

Recent unemployment figures don’t look good, and many predictions think the worst is yet to come.

So what are you doing, Recruiters? huh?

I hate this question from business units.  Fortunately I have a great answer that will end up saving the company money.  You should too!

With hiring slow, now is a great opportunity to look at your recruiting processes.  Now I know, as much as I believe we’re not process driven and predictable, the fact remains that you need to have the RIGHT people, doing the RIGHT things, in the RIGHT way.  Hopefully this way is cost efficient, fast, and adaptable so when the market picks up, you’ll be ready for it.

If you can get a good, solid recruiting foundation, then you open up the opportunity for recruiters to really shine.

So what should you be looking at?

Look at your ATS – what improvements can you make?  Look at who does what – is there any administrative work in the process you can move somewhere else, so recruiters can focus on “higher level” staffing conversations?  What is your reporting and metrics process? (please say you have one) Can you centralize any part of the process?  Where are there opportunities to try new technologies?  Where are the opportunities to educate and empower hiring managers?

If you don’t periodically look at this stuff, you’re dooming yourself and your organization to failure.  Failure to plan is planning to fail…(insert any other over-used business clichés here)

Hopefully by doing some of this work, and publicizing it internally, you’ll earn some credibility in the organization (you’re trying to save $$ here people!) and you’ll be able to answer the question:  “So what is HR doing now that we’re not hiring?”

For those of you who have had the Radiohead song stuck in your head while reading this, you can find a neat video here

Good luck!

So let’s start nice and easy.  What is HRobot anyway?

The blog title comes from the idea that we in the workforce shouldn’t behave as robots – that we aren’t process driven, we’re not following some “program”, and our behavioral patterns are not predictable. Plus, it’s pretty clever, right?

Me: I work in corporate HR.  I’m passionate, impulsive, and I will certainly tell you what I think –especially when you are doing something wrong! I will try to empower people I work with to make great decisions on hiring and keeping awesome people.  Mostly, I’m just trying to make my mark

Most of my posts will be about the following:

-Corporate HR/Recruiting (Mis)adventures

-Corporate Culture

-Music/Pop culture

-Doing your job well!

-Random thoughts

Ideally I’ll actually have something useful to say, and not just clever repackaging all of the other great thoughts and ideas that are already out there – of which there are many. Check the blog roll for those that have inspired me to create this blog, along with some other entertaining folks

Thanks and I’m really excited to get this going, and I appreciate any comments or feedback on what I’m writing.