I love this post from fellow blogger and pal Terry Starbucker called, My 10 Favorite Leadership Lessons. This post is brilliant and helpful, please go check it out now. Terry’s day job is that of a senior leader and he walks his talk.

I think Terry covers a lot of great ground in this post – I agree with all his points. Two additional lessons of mine that come to mind are”

• We are dragon slayers. Dysfunction and disorder – the guck and muck of management – are the dragon.
• Anyone can be a great manager if he/she gets it why he/she exist. Managers must, everyday, seek to make things better for people, processes, and organizations.
• OK, one more. Being a manager is a privilege. We have been handed a piece of the organization to run and this is a tremendous burden and privilege. Even front line supervisors have this burden and should feel some sense of awe at what they have been handed in terms of opportunity.
• OK, one more. People join companies, leave managers. We create the culture and we can lead improvements or breakdowns in culture.

Check out Terry’s post. What lessons would you add?

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What to do if you do not have health insurance and faced with cancer?  I am trying to figure out what is important.  I was hoping you might be able to give me some insight. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.  Thank you. Thank you.

These are the email messages that break my heart and motivate me to write about healthcare in America. I responded privately and offered my support. I provided a link to the American Cancer Society. I suggested that she fight for the best treatment out there, regardless of cost, and to proactively consult a bankruptcy attorney.

Such is life in America.

I don’t have many answers for unemployed and uninsured readers, but I have to believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Business leaders recognize that the status quo is killing us. Literally. Carl Camden of Kelly Services wrote about health care reform here, and even Jeff Kindler of Pfizer supports fundamental change.

Furthermore, Pfizer — my former employer — launched a new program called MAINTAIN. It’s a program that helps eligible unemployed Americans (and their families) who are in financial need and lack prescription coverage continue to get their Pfizer medicines free-of-charge for up to one year or until they become insured, whichever comes first. More than 70 Pfizer medicines are offered that treat a range of chronic health conditions.

Here’s where you can help fellow readers. What other programs are out there? How have you been managing your prescription costs while being unemployed? Were you aware that a program like MAINTAIN even existed? If you’re unemployed, will you use it? How can we share resources more effectively with our unemployed family and friends? Let me know what you think.

[Editor's note: I used to work for Pfizer but I am in no way benefitting from this post. I believe that in a time of 9.5% unemployment, a program like MAINTAIN is a good resources to share.]

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Thanks to HR Minion for keeping track and organizing the carnivals! As this is our first time hosting the carnival, please forgive any mistakes.

Plenty of posts came in this week, so without further delay, let’s get going:

• Jason Seiden was the first to submit his article and writes about how social media is blending our personal and professional lives, making it harder to hide behind corporate facades in his post entitled “Ethics, social media, and… “profersonalism”

• Susannah from Advorto chimes in with her 15-minute guide to recruiting graduates in a recession

• Cathy Martin from Intellectual Capital Consulting wants us to ponder if Engaged Employees can Sell more Soup

• Sharlyn Lauby from ITM has an excellent post on business agility

• Erik Samdahl of i4cp would like us to think about How High-Performers Support Employee Engagement

• Mark Stelzner, who hosted the previous HR carnival over at the Inflexion Point Blog has some Observations & Conclusions from SHRM 2009

• Drew Tarvin shows us how to Team-Build Through 3 Pictures

• Jon Ingham explains about developing people management strategy and the value of templates in this process

• Dan McCarthy wants us to Beware of Cult-like Leadership Development Programs

• Mark, Amy, and Meg (The TalentedApps team) discusses social networking in their submission One, but not the same

• Marie Adams has 2 very good posts this week: Are “lunch and learns” bad for business? and When cookie-cutter sexual harassment training just won’t cut it

• From the G.Neil HR Forum, some insight on Employees putting your data security at risk

• Lisa Rosendahl writes about Easier Federal Job Applications

• Trisha McFarlane has an interesting article entitled Yo Adrian! You Don’t Have to Win to be Great (yes you have to read it to understand the title!)

• Amit Bhagria lets us all think about How to Manage Human Capital

• Lexi Ruben Clifford Junio from PRECEPT has an excellent article on Health Care Reform: The Simple Truth

• Chris Young posts a Book Review on Three Laws of Performance
• Susan Burns has a good article on What’s your Employment Brand Relevancy
• Michael VanDervort authored an article titled Social Media and Human Resources

There you have it.. The last few were fairly late entries so they may have been rushed on here. We’ve been incredibly busy with the launch of Effortless Business Forms and the new pricing model for Effortless HR Software that our blog postings have been slow lately. We’ll be sure to catch up and get some recent posts online ASAP.

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My best advice? Stop being needy.

• No one is doing you a favor by interviewing you.
• When you are speaking to a potential employer, remind yourself that you don’t need the job.
• If you really needed a job, you would work at Wal-Mart.

Work is an exchange of goods & services. Your company exists to make a profit, and you work to earn money so you can support the things in life that have the most meaning for you.

Too many of us are involved in co-dependent relationships with our previous employers. We bring that psychological baggage into our interviews. There’s no bigger turn-off than a clingy, needy, desperate candidate who lacks confidence and self-awareness.

If you lack meaning in your life, and if you feel disconnected from the ones you love, a job will not fill that void. Dump those insecurities, re-prioritize your life and think about why you’re working, and engage each potential employer with a sense of determination and confidence.

I know you can do it.

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I have the day off today but it certainly doesn’t feel that way. I am way behind on e-mails, I have been sick since I got back from New Orleans and now my wife is sick. I’ve had a lot of time to think about my conference experience, why I ended up going and why I might do it again.

The main reason I went was to speak at the conference on a panel about HR blogging. Everybody has asked me how it went. I always tell people that it went great but that I feared we spoke to an audience that already had an understanding (or at least curiosity) about using blogging and social media as tools. I’d really like to explore how to reach out to people who aren’t using these tools. It is my hope that future sessions of this nature will be given a better timeslot (the last session of the conference is pretty brutal). I thought the idea of live broadcasting over the internet was outstanding though. Here’s another trend I hope SHRM embraces as well.

I came into the panel with three points I wanted to emphasize

1. Anyone can blog – It is a skill like writing a newsletter or a memo or learning a new software program.
2. Blogs can make you smarter – I’ve learned more from blogging than what I’ve given back.
3. Your blog isn’t part of the press – Even though it isn’t, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a wealth of information to be gained.

The conference experience was great if not a whirlwind. I met up with people I had only known through long lines of communication (including our entire HR blogging panel) and was introduced to hundreds of new people that I didn’t know beforehand. Kris Dunn hit upon something in his post that explains why my conference experience may be different than other’s: I connected with my niche. I connected with fellow bloggers and social media interested people in our space. I connected with companies who are doing cool things in this space. Outside of that, my conversations with other HR professionals were mostly along the typical networking paths.

SHRM is a huge organization. If I had come by myself without an established group or niche to connect with, I would have been disappointed with my experience. The enormity of the conference coupled with many of the sessions being repeats of content I’ve received through other local events would have made it hard for me to sell it to my employer.

Mark Stelzner’s idea about appealing to the stratification of HR professionals in their current role (generalists, managers, VPs, etc…) is a good start. I think SHRM also talked about different tracks to take depending on your skill level. Neither one of them matters if SHRM doesn’t help encourage some community built around these niche areas in their membership. Maybe SHRM Connect (SHRM members only) helps. I don’t know.

What I do know is that SHRM members should have hope about the organization moving forward. SHRM COO China Miner Gorman has shown she has what it takes to lead the organization forward if it is willing. SHRM’s Public Affairs staff treated bloggers as well as any of the traditional press. I honestly don’t have a single negative thing to say about the execution of the conference or the SHRM staff I worked with.

Will I go next year? I hope so. San Diego is my second favorite west coast city and is a quick two and a half hour direct flight down there with no time zone change. I am hoping we can get another chance to talk about blogging or social media to SHRM members. More importantly, I hope to meet up with my HR niche and continue to work on advancing HR.

In conclusion, my feelings about raging against SHRM haven’t changed thanks to the conference. I saw people that, given the same opportunities as everyone else, went hunting for swag instead of making connections or going to sessions. Being a rockstar in HR has nothing to do with SHRM and everything to do with how you operate.

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I don’t use the word hate lightly, hate is one of those strong words like love too lightly used. Hate in this instance entailed a strong aversion coupled with desire that evil should befall Thug Manager.  All of Thug Manager’s subordinates wished evil upon him.

An example of his thuglike nature was how he would interact with groups of subordinates. First, the military has a very hierarchical rank system, one that is extremely transparent as rank is worn on the uniform. You know immediately if the person you are talking to you is higher, of equal, or lower ranking than you. There are rules of conduct for how to stand, talk, greet, and address people of different ranks. These rules of conduct are punishable by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which interesting enough in a combat zone include punishments up to death for most infractions, insubordination being one of these.

Now, I never felt compelled in the military to remind a subordinate of my rank or position, that is readily apparent.  If you are in charge, you are in charge and act like it. I never raised my voice or demeaned a subordinate, it was unecessary for the reasons listed above. I was secure enough as a leader, unlike Thug Manager.

Thug Manager would enter a room, single out a subordinate, invade their personal space, put them at the position of attention (imagine standing in one place with your hands at your side), and start a series of retorical questions that included:

“What rank am I?”

“Do you understand English”

“What part of what I am saying don’t you understand?”

“What have you done wrong that you aren’t telling me?”

“Are you stupid or just insubordinate?” ( I always liked that one myself)

This would include forcing all subordinates to do push-ups all the while his face turning deeper shades of purple with vein popping and spittle included.

The problem with Thug Management besides the extremely dehumanizing and demoralizing behavior is that high performing subordinates with any sense of self esteem rebel. Not an outright rebellion but a rebellion none the less. They push back. They do only what was specifically told and nothing more. They do whatever it takes to shut Thug Manager up or make them go away. They create their own priorities of work to procrastinate. They wish Thug Manager dead and spent a lot of time fantasizing about such acts.

I used to walk around our office with five excuses for everything I was doing, not doing, or was worried about doing or not doing. I learned quickly to not divulge any extra information but to answer as succinctly as possible. No one volunteered for anything. Subordinates would band together and provide alibis for each other. There were many times where I would purposefully set the Thug Manager off, knowing it would send him into an apoplectic fit. That was the only method of fighting back I had.

Threats of punishment? Nope, threats get old after awhile. Once you are threatened and there is no follow through, it becomes an idle threat.

Threat of firing me? Please, I am begging you to fire me.

Unfortuntely, I couldn’t quit, it being the military and all. If I was in an at-will employment position, I would have quit after about two weeks. That’s the problem, high performers know they are exactly that and usually are quite marketable. Once all the people with self esteem are gone, what are you left with?

The only thing that a Thug Manager has is being a thug. Subordinates quickly learn that their behavior  and performance has no impact on how they will be treated in the present or future.

The worst part about the whole situation was that Thug Manager’s boss knew he was a thug and allowed the behavior to continue because our team met our performance goals.

Dan Hall

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There have been countless articles, seminars and books on how to keep Generation Y (aka the Millennials) engaged, and how to help Baby Boomers and Gen-X employees work with them more effectively. I think that’s all a big waste of time.

I don’t do things because I’m Gen-Y

The big theory around multigenerational workforces is that shared experiences during a generation’s formative years creates a set of shared values that guide their behavior. Gen-Y is allegedly very influenced by 9/11, helicopter parents and exponential growth in technology.

I’ll admit that technology is something my generation is, generally speaking, very comfortable with. But I have friends who aren’t on Facebook, and I know plenty of Boomers who text and email far more than they pick up a phone.

There’s as much diversity within generations as there is between them. Given that, doesn’t it makes sense to stop focusing on differences between generations, and start looking at differences between individuals?

The Individual Workforce

The real goal of the multigenerational workforce movement is to help everyone in your organization work together effectively. Focusing on generations is divisive. It requires you to lump people into categories and teaches managers to treat everyone within that category the same. Doesn’t it make more sense to teach managers how to deal with individual work preferences?

I think organizations could manage a diverse workforce much more effectively if they took all of the “stuff” that gets taught during multigenerational seminars and ripped away the generational labels.

Teach managers why some people prefer to text or email instead of call. Teach them to have discussions with their employees about how they prefer to work, and to get out of the way and let their people do amazing things.

I envision a training that’s a lot more like Myers-Briggs training for new work teams, where people learn more about their individual work styles and how to interact more effectively. And when the training is over, everyone can get back to what really matters: doing amazing things that drive your business.

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What I find most interesting is how confused I seem to be on the subject. I started out in recruiting knowing less than nothing and have slowly figured out some of the complexities in the industry thanks to connections I’ve made online, many of which have graduated to physical (actual) relationships. Some of my best friends, colleagues and clients are in my life today because of social media and networking.

And while social media was very helpful in finding candidates, I never set out to use it that way. For me it was always an extension of the marketing portion of my business and I always treated it as such. So it boggles my mind slightly to see something so powerful used to capture candidates, which I always seemed to be able to find in spades. Granted I was never in executive search but still…

Now, I’ve gone on to discover that I’m a better marketer than recruiter, which is all well and good. But since recruiting encompasses both sales and candidate development, let’s look more closely at this social recruiting phenomenon.

So at the Social Recruiting Summit there was a lot of talk about candidates (how to attract them, how to network with them, how to connect with them through mobile devices, the whole shebang) and there was some talk about employees (how they own their own stuff, how to create your personal brand, buiding an authentic voice) and some about social media fancypantses in general (how we should all bend over backwards to engage anyone interested in our personal or professional or corporate brand lest they hate us.) And don’t get me wrong, all of this is valuable and MUCH of it is true. But what about ME?

Yeah, you heard me. You see, I’ve been digging around lately and examining some of the arguments from the old time recruiters and marketers who do nothing but seemingly complain about social media all day long. But that’s not the whole story. When you really pick apart their arguments, it comes down to a very real and sincere question: Is the pendulum swinging too far in one direction?

I think yes. There is too much talk about how to please candidates and not enough talk about how to manage them. There are a lot of presentations about transparency and not so many about market position. There is great postulation about blog comments and not enough about billable hours. Popularity has replaced effectiveness. Which is a crying shame.

Please don’t slam me. I’m all for popularity. Shoot. If it weren’t for Social Media, I would be dictating blog posts to a hot, empty attic in Nebraska. With it, well….tens of you are benefiting from my wisdom.

But the truth is, when communication shifts this unalterably, we need to harness that power for all the aspects of our livelihood. And for recruiters, especially third party ones, half of that livelihood is client dev, sales and marketing. Interestingly, corporate recruiters seem to have gotten this somewhat, finding themselves more wrapped up in “employer branding” than ever before. They find themselves involved in the marketing and sales aspects of HR that they never had to deal with before, which is cool.

I think Social Recruiting is not a fad. I think it currently has an incomplete definition. Here’s a good one though.

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Every time I attend a conference, I think about my early days in HR.  Those days when I was new or junior in the organization.  It was sometimes difficult to convince senior management to spend the money to let me attend a conference.  As a result, I quickly learned to take responsibility for my own professional development.

Yep, that’s right…I decided it’s not the company’s responsibility to fund my professional development.

Over the years, I negotiated with my employers to attend conferences, get certifications, and participate in programs with a part of the funding coming from me personally.  My bosses always said that they were more receptive to my proposals because I had a “stake in the game.”

And, during those times when neither I nor my company could afford for me to attend an out-of-state conference, I’d attend something locally.  Or I’d find someone to share expenses with.  But I found ways to get access to professional development.  Sometimes I would attend via ‘sweat equity’ – I’d apply to be a speaker hoping the conference organizers would assist with travel expenses.  And, in some of my volunteer roles, I was given the opportunity to attend conferences (with the non-profit assuming or subsidizing the expense.)

Now that I’m self-employed, I still budget for professional development.  I can’t imagine why any organization would purchase the services of a consultant who’s not spending any time and/or money in keeping their skills fresh.

Why do I bring this up?  Because, as I’m getting ready to leave for New Orleans, I’m reminded that I’m in control of my professional development.  I’m planning and preparing what I’ll do so I can make the most of the event.  This isn’t my vacation.  That doesn’t mean I won’t have fun, but I have stuff to do.

Whether you’re heading to NOLA or not, take a moment and think about your professional development.  What are you doing?  How are you staying on top of your game?  And, who is in control of it?

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Your new Ringmaster HR Minion (aka Shauna Moerke) has been kind enough to let the clowns here at Inflexion host this week’s Big Top of the HR blogosphere. Be sure to wander through all the posts as we’ve assembled a terrific show. Let’s get right to it!

• Lexy Rubin of the Precept Group channels a modern apothecary in her post, “Prescriptions – Do Your Homework“. Her advice? Don’t eat the blue cotton candy. I repeat, avoid the blue cotton candy.
• Michael Homula of Bearing Fruit Consulting brings home the bacon in his post, “Avoiding Lipstick On The Pig: The Difference Between Talent Acquisition And Recruiting“. Semantics aside, that’s one breathtaking swine.
• For smaller (and less politically correct) bacon, Chris Ferdinandi of Renegade HR instructs you to, “Use your employees as guinea pigs“. Please note that no animals were actually harmed during the application of the Guinea Pig Method.
• Terri Albee of Compensation Cafe questions who owns your online brand and identity in, “What Happens When Your Social Media Brand Leaves?” I was stung by this exact scenario when the Human Pretzel took his Twitter name to Ringling Brothers (traitor!).
• Mary Ann Downey of i4cp offers, “Recruiting in interesting times“, including Chinese curses and a “gentlemen’s agreement” gone awry among Silicon Valley competitors. This is the same agreement made among clown car manufacturers in the 1920s. The result? All the clowns in one car. Tragic…
• Gautam Ghosh begins by explaining that it’s not about free lunches in, “How to Achieve Employee Engagement“. Cathy Martin of Intellectual Capital Consulting follows with her point that employees don’t leave their companies, they leave their managers, in, “Employee Engagement: In or Out?” Both posts made me realize why my elephants quit over what I clearly mistook as a peanut-related strike.
• The Young HR Manager, Amit Bhagria, thaws out his inner Jack Welch in, “Do you think a hiring freeze is the most effective strategy?” For my lowest 10% of carnies, we simply unhook their train car between towns. It’s very effective.
• Laurie Ruettimann of Punk Rock HR follows a shoulder-tapping bar encounter with, “Social Media, Recruiting & Millennials“. This reminds me of our young tightrope walkers who constantly updated their Facebook status (may they rest in peace).
• The HR Bartender, Sharlyn Lauby, pours us a cool glass of managerial kryptonite in, “Leadership Superman“. Like I explained to my less seasoned gymnasts, hold on to your unitard.
• Frank Mulligan of Recruit China announces the, “Death of Optimism“. I didn’t know I was suffering from BODS, but now I can’t shake it’s ill effects. And no, BODS does not mean Beware of Dodgy Soleil (although their “Cirque” is questionable).
• Michael Haberman of Omega HR Solutions asks, “Want to Learn How to Sell HR to Your CEO?” Boy do I! The last thing sold to my CEO came with it’s own Wolf Boy.
• April Dowling of Pseudo HR wonders who’s at the wheel in, “Driving and your career“. You know the dusty one-track road leading to our Carnival? That’s not really where you want to be.
• Amy Wilson of Talented Apps overcomes her personal introversion in, “Speak Up More“. Do you remember the name of the mute clown that silently squirts water from a plastic flower? Exactly.
• Jason Seiden tackles temptation with, “Office hook-ups: What you need to know (and what people don’t like to talk about)“. The safest Carnival hook-up? Obviously it’s the rubber-skinned man and the snake woman.
• Alice Snell of the Taleo Blog hits the bottom line in, “Recruiting: Reduce Costs and Reap Results“. We applied their methodology and saved over 85% on drifters.
• Ryan Johnston of WorldatWork agrees with, “Salaries as Sorting Mechanisms“. Another great sorting mechanism? Free pond baths.
• Michael Moore of the Pennsylvania Labor & Employment Blog believes, “Employers Should Protect Registered Trademarks and Company Names from Appropriation on Facebook“. They should, and they should also protect themselves from knife fights on the back lot. I’m just saying.
• John Ingham of Strategic HCM jumps into the HBR debate with, “How to fix Executive Pay“. Not familiar with HBR? That’s why you’re at a Carnival.
• Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership offers, “Lessons from the Rise and Fall of Delta Airlines“. As he chronicles, they eventually became “ham-handed and clumsy”. Mmm… ham-hands. Delicious.
• Ben Eubanks of UpstartHR gives us the, “Top 10 Reasons I’m NOT Attending SHRM 2009“. My favorite is that he’s terrified of the scary people that will be there. Good thing he chose a Carnival instead.
• Rowan Manahan of Fortify Services gets muddy in, “Digging up dirt on Job Applicants“. Worried about unconscious bias? Try bringing one of these looks to an interview.

Well, it’s time to take down the tents and move the HR Carnival to a new town. We hope you enjoyed the show, and be sure to join EffortlessHR on July 8th. The show must go on!

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It’s those interview questions where you’re supposed to give a:

S/T — Situation/Task

A —  Action You Took

R — Result You Achieved

See, it spells out STAR.  That’s so you (and the interviewer) remember what you’re supposed to do.  Yeah, it’s a goofy little acronym.  But this interview technique (or a close variation of it) is used by most big companies, and quite a few small ones as well.  It’s part of behavior-based interviewing, which essentially works on the idea that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior…so interviewers want to know what you’ve done in the past, to understand whether you might be successful in the future.  You need to know how to work with this type of question.

Some people just can’t work within this framework, and they manage to blow the interview by not being able to get through the questions effectively.  Here are the four most common mistakes I’ve seen candidates make in this type of interview:

1. Not listening to the question. Interviewing can be nerve-racking.  Everyone gets that.  But if I’m repeatedly asking you to tell me about a time when you had to deal with interpersonal conflict, and you keep telling me about how you studied for the CPA exam, you’re telling me you’re not a good listener.  That’s bad.  Employers choose these questions up front to focus on the skills and traits they think are most important for this job.  You need to give them what they want.  Incidentally, if you can remember what the questions were, you’ll have pretty good insight into what they’re looking for in a candidate.  That will help for subsequent interviews, and help you know what to reinforce when writing your thank-you notes.
2. Giving hypothetical answers. These types of interview questions always start with “Tell me about a time…” or “Describe a time…” or something like that.  That means they’re looking for a specific example from your past.  Don’t try to cheat, because trust me when I tell you that you will annoy the crap out of them in doing so.  If I say, “Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a personality clash at work,” you should never say, “Oh, I would talk it out with them; I would do this and that and the other thing.”  I don’t want to hear what you would do.  I want to know what you did do.  Everyone is perfect in hypothetical situations; I want to know about your real-life experience.  If you can’t tell me about that, you either don’t have that experience or you’re not really listening.  Now, there are times when you really don’t have the experience they’re asking about.  It’s fine to say, “I’ve never actually done X, but here’s how I think I’d handle that.”  That way, you’re letting them know that you heard and understood the question just fine, but you just don’t have an experience that matches what they’re asking about.  It’s much better to admit you’ve never done something up front than to pretend you’re not really understanding the question.
3. Giving disorganized answers. The reason somebody invented that STAR acronym is so that interviewers and candidates could organize their answers in a succinct, meaningful way.  Make sure you do that.  Clearly describe the situation (I had a co-worker who was constantly playing her iPod on the stereo in the next cube, and she played ‘Poker Face’ over and over and over again).  Then clearly describe the action you took (I went to her and told her that I sometimes found the music distracting, and I wondered if we could work out a solution that would work for both of us).  Then describe the result (We agreed that since I’m in meetings most mornings, she’d play whatever she wanted then, and that in the afternoon she could only play “Poker Face” five times).  It’s okay to pause and organize your thoughts before you begin to answer the question…anything to avoid a rambling mess.
4. Giving bad results. Sometimes people are so nervous in interviews that they don’t really think about their answers to questions.  They just start talking.  As a result, some candidates get to the “results” part of these questions, and either find that they have a lousy result (She played “Poker Face” 27 times between noon and 2:30 the next day, so I beat her to death with my stapler) or no result at all (My boss moved me to a new cube farm the next day, so I never saw her again, and as far as I know she is still playing “Poker Face” to an unsuspecting victim).  It seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how few people choose stories with outcomes that actually make them look good.  Again, it’s totally fine to pause and think before you begin answering a question.

Mastering the art of answering these types of questions will put you way ahead of the pack in terms of interviewing.  In fact, thinking of your career experience in terms of situations/actions/results is a good exercise for resume writing and networking too.  The better you are at clearly and concisely describing why you’re fabulous, the more likely you are to convince someone else to hire you.

As always, thanks to Anna at ABDPBT, who started the Fighting Listlessness on Mondays trend in blogging. Anna’s blog isn’t about job hunting; it’s about other, way more interesting things. I highly recommend it.

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Leaping into a field like HR is quite interesting. I’ve only been doing this for a short while, but I can tell that it’s like nothing else out there. We take problems and make them our own. We sometimes have the thankless job of policing and cleaning up after poor employee behaviors.

But then there’s the other side of the equation. We fix problems. Help people to love their jobs. Reward people for performing exemplary work. Guide employees along their career paths toward a rich, satisfying future. Sure, HR has its quirks, but by keeping a few ideas in mind, your work can be more fulfilling, exciting, and engaging.

Enthusiasm is Essential

I often get complimented on my enthusiasm. It’s a product of many things—from my fresh perspective to my desire to learn everything right now. Enthusiasm is essential not only in the early years, but in the later ones as well. What good is having all of those years of experience if you’ve turned into a curmudgeon? Having the right blend of knowledge and enthusiasm turns you into a credible advocate for the profession as a whole. Plus, it can help you to inspire others.

Humor is Handy

Humor is handy in so many different situations. I think that’s one thing that sets me apart from so many HR professionals. Growing up in a small business with parents who injected liberal doses of humor into the workplace prepared me for my role in HR. Sure, I can be funny, but it’s nothing for me to step into a serious role as required. Being able to laugh (especially at yourself) will go a long way toward increasing your longevity in regards to both career and physical health. Sharing that humor will make you stand out.

Maintenance is Mandatory

Like a marriage or a flower, proper care will help your HR career to flourish. Continually seeking new ways to innovate in the workplace will make you more valuable to the organization, and going out of your way to network with other professionals on Twitter or LinkedIn can make quite a difference in your own career in the long run. Keep in mind that the HR field changes very often, and it’s up to you to face that challenge head on. Be competent and current in what matters to you and your organization, and you will be highly valued by the leadership.

Of course, like much that I write, these HR thoughts can be applied to both new professionals and veterans, but that doesn’t mean they are any less true. Keeping enthusiasm, humor, and a “maintenance mindset” will mean that a young professional won’t be as likely to get burned out, and they could help a seasoned veteran along toward a stellar career.

Ben writes his own blog, UpstartHR. True to his words, Ben is enthusiastic, funny and focused and he is developing quite a presence on line. Did I mention he has energy?  Subscribe to his blog and follow him on Twitter to (try to) keep up with him.

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Enough.

There is a problem with all these lists. The problem is not that there’s not some good insights in some of them. It’s that no list will ever get you a job. Ever.

Know what’ll get you a job?

One thing: action.

Let’s do an experiment:

Right now, open a new browser tab/window. Go to your social networking site of choice. Think of a friend you haven’t spoken to in awhile—someone you don’t have anything important to talk about. Take however much time you need… when you think of that person, send him/her an invite to connect and a note that reads something to the effect of: “Just thinking of you; would love to connect when you have a few minutes and hear how you’re doing.” Then come back to this page.

I’ll wait while you go do that…

OK, now let’s review the experiment: did you actually do it? What would you have learned from a list, awareness that you should call? Hey: this ain’t “life appreciation class,” this is life itself. If you want something, you’ve got to move!

Others may care, but personally, I don’t give a hoot or holler about the proper etiquette for re-introducing yourself to an old acquaintance. I don’t give a flying fish about thank you notes or emails, either. Nor do I care about how awkward this all must be for you. All I care is whether or not you act. Because when you act, messing doesn’t matter. (As much.) When you mess up in your head, you stress; when you mess up in real life, you try again and improve. It happens without thinking about it whenever you refuse to give up!

I recently called a friend I hadn’t seen in 19 years. Out of the blue, just to say hi. That was awkward… for about a minute. Then we clicked and now I’ve 200 more people in my network. I called another friend, too… that conversation didn’t go as well. So? I lost nothing on that one. Ten minutes, maybe.

Now it’s your turn again: put down the list and go make that call. Bungle it. In fact, try to mess it up. You know what you’ll find? You’ll find you can’t. No more thinking about it, go do it!

Because they only way to guarantee that you get a job is to go out and get the job!

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Surprised? I’m not. Twitter is starting to rival Google in terms of traffic. Which shows that Twitter is clearly an incredible marketing tool, even when you don’t have that many followers. (I only have slightly over 5,000.)

This article is not about how to build a following on Twitter though. Instead, it’s about how to value your following on Twitter, because the marketing strategy I endorse for Twitter is finding a quality community on Twitter that helps you achieve results rather than just a big following. (Not that there’s anything wrong with a big following. That can be important too!)

The overarching question is: what makes a Twitter’er in your community valuable? Look at just one of your Twitter’ers to get an idea. There are certainly many different opinions about what factors could contribute to a Twitter’ers value to you, but I’ve narrowed these down to eight major factors and tools to help analyze your current Twitter stream:

Whether the Twitter’er tweets about topics you’re interested in

This is the first and foremost reason you would want to follow anyone. If the information a Twitter’er tweets is relevant to you, then you are gaining value in the form of information, even if you don’t interact with the person. NOTE: If the Twitter’er does not tweet about topics you’re interested in, they detract value from your community because they add noise with their tweets.

Tools: WeFollow, Mr. Tweet, TwitterPacks, Twellow, LocalTweeps

Bonus Tip: List yourself at each of these sites while there!

Whether the Twitterer follows you back

Without a Twitterer who is following you back, you don’t have much of a valuation. I know some people will disagree with me on this one, but my argument is if someone is following you back, there is an opportunity for them to see your messages. If they are not following you back, you may as well not exist to them. Clearly, someone who is following you back is worth more than someone who is not.

Tools: Twitter Karma, Tweepular, Huitter, Qwitter, SocialToo

How often the Twitterer tweets

Engagement is vital to the success of the Twitter community. A Twitterer who tweets often probably pays more attention to their Twitter stream, which means they are more likely to interact with you on Twitter. Heavy users also share more information with you, and are less likely to become a stagnant account that hasn’t updated in awhile.

Tools: MyCleenr, TweetLater, UnTweeps

How often the Twitterer tweets @ replies

If a Twitterer has a high percentage of @ replies in his or her tweets, this is also a good indication of how engaged the user is with the Twitter community. A more engaged user should have a higher valuation to you.

Tools: TwitterAnalyzer

Bonus Tip: Good for many other stats on you or your friends too!

How often the Twitterer retweets (RT)

One of the greatest values of having followers is when they retweet the content that you’ve written. The Twitterers who retweet others’ content most often should have a higher valuation to you.

Tools: RetweetRank, Twinfluence, Retweetist, Twitturly, Tweetmeme

How often a Twitterer @’s or RT’s YOU

They say past performance is a good indicator of future performance. So it follows that if someone has retweeted or replied to you in the past, they may be more likely to do this in the future.

Tools: TwitterSearch

Whether the Twitterer tweets about the same topics you tweet about

If a Twitterer does retweet, the chance of that Twitterer retweeting you depends on whether the two of you tweet about the same topics. If you do, your chances of getting retweeted by this person will be higher than if you don’t share the same topics.

Tools: TwitterSheep

Whether the Twitter’ers followers are similar to your followers

If the Twitter’ers followers are completely the same as your followers (extremely unlikely) and he retweets you, it’s essentially like you tweeting the same thing twice. So you can see how the more alike your set of followers are, the less reach you are getting from one follower retweeting you.

At the same time, when a message is endorsed over and over again by multiple sources in the same community, that creates buzz within the community. There could be a positive effect rather than a negative one here.

Tools: TwtrFrnd, WhoFollowsWhom, FriendOrFollow

What factors did I miss? What (unique) tools did I miss? Tell me in the comments section!

Author:

Monica O’Brien writes career advice for young professionals at her blog, Twenty Set. You can also follow her on Twitter (@monicaobrien).

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Manager: What are YOUR Goals?

My goals fall into 3 buckets this year: Learning, Succession Planning and Projects.

All of my goals are due on/before November 15th, 2009.

The goals I set have 2 key parts:

• Measurability
• Timeframe

After that, my goals update format is very simple:

• Goal name
• Status
• Next Steps

I’ll step through my 3 buckets. This is helpful for me and for you, as now I am sharing my goals with you, so I am now accountable to you for my results. I will report back on/about November 15th, 2009.

Learning goal

• Read and review at least 12 new books a year. I can listen to audio books when I work out, and I can read books when I’m in airports and between meetings.

Status: What books have I read and/or reviewed:

• The Genius Machine by Gerald Sindell (review and author interview coming soon)
• Upbeat by Rajesh Setty (book review)
• Greater than Yourself by Steve Farber (book review)
• Who’s Got Your Back by Keith Ferrazzi (review coming soon)
• Ignore Everybody by Hugh Macleod (review coming soon)

Next steps: Read 7 more and review 10 more books.

Succession Planning/Training Goal

• Identify and train my next in line

Status: In progress. Training is going well.

Next steps: Continued attention is required to complete this goal by year end.

Projects Goal

• Successful completion of 4 key projects to move our IT department forward

Status: 1 project complete, 2 just kicked off, 1 will kick off in another week

Next Steps: Continued attention to projects, process map all processes, understand support/training needs, attend project meetings, inform team as needed.

Manager: What are YOUR goals?

You’re welcome to leave your goals in the comments.

I’d also like to hear if you have a different format for goals and/or if this was helpful for you.

Post from: Slacker Manager

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Honestly, though, how do you know if your recruiting process is as effective as it could be if you’re not measuring it against anything? You might have a system in place to measure the effectiveness of your recruitment strategy – perhaps by looking at metrics like number of hires and applications – but if you’re not benchmarking your metrics against the industry, how do you know how you compare to competitors for talent?

If you’re a staffing or human resource professional, you are accountable for the effectiveness of your organization’s recruitment investment, and recruiting is just like any business investment right now, where you need to make sure you’re putting your dollars where you’ll see the greatest possible return.

I realize that’s easier said than done, but there are resources out there that help organizations can better assess how they source and attract talent – and pinpoint exactly which parts of their process need improvement.

One firm that’s doing just that is Personified – CareerBuilder’s consulting arm – which developed its Sourcing Effectiveness Formula based on 14 years of data from over 300,000 clients including 98 percent of the Fortune 1000.  This formula measures the effectiveness of a company’s total recruitment strategy, comparing it to the best in class of its industry. Personified even has case studies of customers that have seen 30 percent to 300 percent more for every dollar they spend.

How the formula works…
Say a job seeker is conducting a regular ol’ organic job search… The Sourcing Effectiveness Formula measures the searches where a company’s job listing appears, the number of times candidates click that listing from the search results, and then the number of times those candidates that viewed the opportunity click apply. From there, it counts the actual number of applications that result.  Then Personified looks at how this search/application ratio compares to others in your industry.

Clear as day right?  No? Fair enough.  I’ll break it down…

Search results - Personified starts by measuring how many times your job advertisement comes up in an organic search. If this numbers is lower than that of your industry’s best, it could indicate that the job listing is written poorly, or that it’s not optimized for search engines (which are designed to pick up on certain words and phrases).

Views – Personified then looks at how many times job seekers actually saw your opportunity in their search and clicked on it to learn more.  If this number is comparatively low, it could indicate something small, such as, again, the title of the job or the way the job is written. Or, more likely, you need to work on communicating your employment brand. Lower views frequently point to a disconnect with the employment brand as job seekers may not recognize your company or have a predetermined perception of your company as a place to work. (Want to know what makes a good employment brand from job seekers themselves? Check out this article.)

Clicks to Apply – Once a candidate views a job, he or she will make the decision to apply…or not (sad face emoticon). The conversion rate of candidates viewing the job to clicking the apply button largely depends on either the way the job advertisement is written or the company’s B2E brand. And don’t confuse a job advertisement with a job description. Certainly, a job description should be a part of the advertisement, but ultimately you are selling the company, the job and the opportunity, so it should read like a (truthful) advertisement.

Completed Applications – Making the decision to apply and actually completing the application are two different things.  Technical difficulties or long or overly complicated application processes can deter job seekers from completing the process.   For this reason, it’s important to have an applicant tracking system, or process in place, which can give you insight into if and why you’re experiencing applicant drop-off – and then using that knowledge to improve your process and make sure that you are capitalizing on every opportunity to find the best person for the job.

Whatever formula or set of metrics you use to measure it, the important thing is that you have a way to understand how you stack up against your industry’s best.  Especially now, as you look toward economic recovery, plan for the future and begin to think about refilling your talent pipeline.  Don’t let those candidates get away. After all, they might your future employees, and that’s your greatest asset. (The more you know…)

If you’re ready to improve your recruitment process and ROI, we’re here to help with a suite of solutions that improve every step of this process. Let us know what you think? Is your process broken? Think you’re at the head of the class for your industry? Don’t really know? Reach out to us and we’ll let you know how you stack up.

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So it was interesting when Guy Kawasaki’s name was mentioned several times—both publicly and privately—during my recent trip to Google. Some attendees at the Social Recruiting Summit wondered if Guy is a good example of an authentic expert with a credible voice.

Someone privately asked, “Does he speak for something greater than himself? Or is he just a narcissistic spammer?”

I’m not sure if speaking about something greater than yourself is a mark of authenticity, but I get the point. It is tough enough to weed out the selfish assholes in your real life — but now you’re tasked with discerning personalities from blog posts, avatars, and tweets.

Personally, I think Guy Kawasaki is a nice guy. I have talked to him ZERO times and we have had ZERO interaction in real life, but I get a tremendous amount of traffic from Alltop. I think he genuinely cares about big ideas, social movements, and technologies. I believe he deeply cares about people.

I do sympathize with attendees at the Social Recruiting Summit who have a difficult time navigating through the world of self-appointed gurus and social media experts. Who’s the real deal? Who’s the Spencer Pratt of the new media world? It’s tough to figure out, and there is no magic formula for credibility on the internet.

Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself if you’re concerned about following the advice of career gurus and business leaders on the internet.

• Do you trust that the blogger is operating beyond his self-interest? If not, does that matter if you still learn something?
• Does the blogger respond to your questions or care about you as part of his community? If not, are you visiting the site because the blogger’s posts fill other needs in your life?
• Are you following the blogger because of his popularity or because he has a perspective that you can’t find anywhere else?

I want to read blogs and tweets from writers who are brave. I want someone to tell me a great story, take risks, and teach me something. I am willing to forgive narcissism if it comes from someone who is brilliant, generous with his time, and willing to accept his own flaws. I read newspaper columns, magazine articles, novels, and blogs that are written by people who are confident enough to take a stand but humble enough to listen to feedback, reflect, and question their own voices.

Guy Kawasaki seems like the real deal. He is not the Spencer Pratt of the social media world. Thank God.

That’s my perspective. What’s yours? What did I miss?

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Oh… sorry… typo there. I was updating my Facebook status while writing that last bit and forgot the topic. Right! Ok. Multitasking (re-reading the opening paragraph again). Perhaps psychologist William James can get us back on track with his definition of attention:

“Everyone knows what attention is.”

Um, thanks William. Care to elaborate?

“It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction, and Zerstreutheit in German.“

That’s better, thank you. It is this “withdrawal from some things” that we struggle with in today’s 7×24 uber-connected environment. So what are the negative effects of Zerstreutheit? In his 2007 Atlantic column, The Autumn of the Multitaskers, writer Walter Kirn provides an glimpse:

“[The] next inevitable contraction that everybody knows is coming, believes should have come a couple of years ago, and suspects can be postponed only if we pay no attention to the matter and stay very, very busy. I mean the end of the decade we may call the Roaring Zeros—these years of overleveraged, overextended, technology-driven, and finally unsustainable investment of our limited human energies in the dream of infinite connectivity. The overdoses, freak-outs, and collapses that converged in the late ’60s to wipe out the gains of the wide-eyed optimists who set out to “Be Here Now” but ended up making posters that read “Speed Kills” are finally coming for the wired utopians who strove to “Be Everywhere at Once” but lost a measure of innocence, or should have, when their manic credo convinced us we could fight two wars at the same time.

The Multitasking Crash. The Attention-Deficit Recession.”

That’s catchy. But c’mon Walter, the pressure to be everywhere and do everything at once is palpable, and the unspoken rule at most organizations is to be “on demand” whenever and wherever your company needs you. Is it really that harmful?

“[C]ertain studies find that multitasking boosts the level of stress-related hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline and wears down our systems through biochemical friction, prematurely aging us. In the short term, the confusion, fatigue, and chaos merely hamper our ability to focus and analyze, but in the long term, they may cause it to atrophy.“

Hmm, “atrophy” doesn’t really sound analogous to “productivity”, does it? It seems like we all know we should slow down, focus, prioritize and breathe. If only there were a quote from thousands of years ago that could sum up this topic in a brilliantly simplistic way….

“To do two things at once is to do neither.” ~ Publilius Syrus, Roman slave, first century B.C.

Well done Publilius. So what about you? What tips and tricks do you have for dealing with divided attention? What does your organization do to encourage focused attention? Share your trade secrets and let’s keep the conversation going.

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One of the best books I’ve read about networking is Keith Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone”.  It’s kinda ironic that I read the book while traveling (alone) from a conference.  But I digress.

Before I share my take-away from the book, let me first explain what networking isn’t:

• It’s not handing out your business card to everyone you meet
• It’s also not giving your resume to everyone you meet
• It’s not about calling to ask for favors
• It’s not something to cross off your ‘to-do’ list (as in “I networked today.”)

Networking is about building relationships.  Let me say that again.  Networking is about building relationships.  And, that’s what the book talks about … how to build relationships.

How do you build relationships?  For me, I think of listening, smiling, sharing, offering assistance, being helpful and connecting.  Networking is about giving, not about getting.

What have you given to your network lately?

BTW, if you happen to be going to the SHRM Annual Conference, I’m giving a presentation on strategic planning called “Fail to Plan . . Plan to Fail” on Tuesday, June 30. You can read more about it (and everything else about the event) at the SHRM Conference Blog. Hope to see you there!

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1) No opportunities – Too often all the best opportunities go to your more seasoned associated. Stop cherry picking and spread the wealth. Also, don’t reward fogeyism. You know what I mean…the people who just “hang in there” and who quit and stay. Instead, make it meritocracy rules! Some places you cannot get promoted until you serve a certain amount of time in a particular job. Some think this rewards the loyal, but most young people would call it a major demotivator.

2) No understanding – Ask those who stay why they stay in, ask those who leave why they leave and make some changes. If someone leaves your company because they don’t like the discipline or the uniforms, stop chasing this person. This goes against the core culture of your organization. But if somebody leaves because they didn’t get something that they should have, find out early, and make it right. BEFORE they leave, preferably, not a last ditch gasp.

3) No equitable pay – This is stupid, and it’s so simple to fix: Pay your people equitably. If the gap in pay between your CEO, your top person, and your lowest level employee is 400%, you’ve got something wrong in your compensation structure.

4) No risk taking – Organizations that don’t take risks aren’t very attractive to young leaders. Instead of being risk averse, don’t be afraid to take risks, and reward those who fail. Too often, we see younger employees afraid to “take the shot” for fear of screwing up and costing the company money. Set aside money in the budget for some (not a ton) of calculated risk taking, and encourage managers to spend it. REWARD managers who spend it would be even better, especially if the 1 failure leads to 1 HUGE idea.

Not easy, to be sure, but these are a few simple ways companies can attract and retain their younger leaders.

What suggestions do you have for keeping your best young leaders?

Young leader courtesy of Srinivas Padma

Post from: Slacker Manager

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