Tag Archives: personal brand

Got What It Takes to Hack It in HR?

Posted in HR Competencies, Leadership, Lists, Professional Development, Radical HR by

hack_identifier-300x179

HR isn’t for everyone. And truth be told, that’s just the way I want it. I believe there a lot of HR peeps who have what it takes to elevate this profession into a more respected business partner to the corporate world. These folks have a special and rare combination of knowledge and soft skills. These are the HR professionals that can not only hack it in HR but are leading the radical HR movement.

Here are the must-have competencies of a kick-ass HR professional:

  1. The ability to forego quick wins. As in life, in HR, nothing worth having comes easy. HR Professionals must possess the ability to delay gratification and work and toil towards the accomplishments that are hard-fought by winning over every layer of bureaucracy, decision-maker and stakeholder before seeing their ideas bear fruit.
  2. Emotional Intelligence (EI). This one is a non-negotiable. HR Professionals must possess a high EI factor. EI is said to be the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others, while harnessing those emotions and applying them to tasks such as problem solving. HR may be the only side of the business that gives permission to bring emotion into the workplace. A good HR professional has to be self-aware before they can counsel and advise others.
  3. The ability to stand-up for oneself and to push back when necessary. History’s most significant accomplishments were at inception some of the most radical and rejected ideas. HR professionals must be willing to stand up for their core beliefs, own their arguments, disagree when needed and fight for what they know is best for the business, even when it’s exhausting and would be easier and safer to relent.
  4. A somewhat obnoxious ability to interject oneself in business situations . So, no one invites you to the party. Invite yourself. Crash that party. Instead of nodding and going on your merry way when your manager says “We’ll keep you posted”, take yourself out of that reactive position and get all up in that grill. Ask questions, get a better understanding of the situation and offer solutions right then and there. Make your participation in employee relations issues and business problems a requirement. Instead of your  managers waiting until something escalates, they should be seeking you out at the onset.
  5. Super strong customer service skills. The world is your customer. Everyone in the world looking for their next best job. Your peers, your managers, your employees, your pain-in-the-ass IT team. They are all your customers. Even when the situation is negative and you have to deliver a negative message, leave that customer with a “wow” experience.
  6. Business acumen. HR professionals can no longer afford not to know what line of business they are in. HR professionals need to know their businesses’ services and products. An HR professional worth their salt should be able to perform a SWOT analysis of their business without breaking a sweat.
  7. A mastery of HR knowledge. During an interview for my first real HR job, the Director of HR asked me to recite to her several tenets of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Totally legit question for an HR Coordinator job, right. HR professionals need to know not only all of the directly and indirectly applicable Federal and State labor and employment laws but also how to apply them in any situation especially on the fly.
  8. Must question the old-timey HR ways of doing things. When the nature of work was as simple as you do your job and the company pays you and the balance is equalized, Personnel Administration did a really good job at the tactical work of HR payroll processing and hiring people. If we are indeed undergoing what some people call the new Industrial Revolution, HR Professionals must get off their ass and revolutionize the profession or the profession will die.
  9. Ability to live and operate in the gray. Humans are messy. And human situations are messy. Even though laws and regulations in the past may have dictated that we treat everyone the same, consistent, equal or whatever, there is simply no way to create one-size fits all solutions. HR professionals must be able to creatively solve issues while operating within the confines of the law.

In several weeks, DisruptHR will be holding an event in Raleigh, NC. I’m super excited to network with and learn from  some of these radical HR leaders who hopefully possess some or all of the competencies above.

HR Mix Tape

Posted in Employee Relations, Lists, Radical HR by

mixtape_event-640x420

For those musically inclined, you may hear a song and relate it to your professional or personal life. In HR, there are days when the theme of Happy Days could be playing in my head or when circus music is on a never-ending rotation. Back in the day, we would make mix tapes for our friends, for road trips, for playing in our walkman, for the summer of 1990 and just any old reason we wanted to compile all of our favorite music on one medium.

For no good reason at all here is the 2016 HR Mix Tape Play list. I shall call it HR Jams.

  1. “Welcome to the Jungle”- Guns N’ Roses tale of LA’s dark side, is also a great tune to play on your way into the office especially during the week of a full moon.
  2. “People Are Strange”- The Doors. Perfectly captures the variety of human behaviors, actions and responses in the workplace that an HR professional will encounter on any given day.
  3. “Sussudio” – Phil Collin’s made-up song title reminds of me of silly business buzzphrases and office jargon such as  “human capital management”, “the optics of it”, “synergy”, “core competency”, and “corporate values”.
  4. The Bangles, “Manic Monday”. For dealing with the onslaught of Monday morning work bombs.
  5. “Gimme Some Money”- Spinal Tap. Above ALL else, employees work to be paid y’all.
  6. Black Eyed Peas, “Shut Up”- because God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason. IMO, effective workplaces are led by leaders who listen just as much, if not more, than they speak.
  7. Bruno Mars, “The Lazy Song”, some days are just dead in the water before they even begin.
  8. “Lean On Me”, Bill Withers. Having meaningful relationships in the workplace is a direct correlation to employee happiness. This song reminds me of that.
  9. Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey”- because HR must and should operate in the grey.
  10. “California Love”, Tupac and Dr. Dre’s ode to California. Actually, this is the opposite about how I feel about managing the HR function in California, but there is no song to my knowledge titled, “California Hate”.

What songs would you add to the B side?

Ten Ways to Impress Your Boss.

Posted in Top 10 Lists by
  1. Show up on time.

Nothing earth shattering here. But believe me, not showing up on time is the easiest and fastest way to hurt your credibility and lose respect amongst your team members.

  1. Act like you care.

We all have to do things in our job that we would rather not do. The boring stuff. The things that are not challenging and have no bearing on our professional development. Don’t complain, suck it up.

  1. Learn more.

Get a mentor. Join a professional organization. Pursue professional certifications or designations. Job shadow with other departments. Become indispensable by accumulating experience, knowledge, skills and abilities.

  1. Get Self-Aware

Take the PI, DISC or Myers Briggs assessments and do some self-reflection. Know what you do well and build on it. Recognize what you suck at, forgive yourself and move on. It’s easier to work on your strengths.

  1. Perform like every day is an interview for your next job.

If you work for a strategic, forward-thinking organization, the Senior Leadership will no doubt  have a succession plan. They will recruit with an eye towards determining who their high-potential employees are. Be the employee they think of during these conversations.

  1. Stretch yourself.

Volunteer for a challenging project, jump on a cross-functional team, get a seat on the company wellness committee.

  1. Up your Emotional IQ

Build meaningful relationships with your coworkers inside and outside of your department or team. Know people’s names. Ask them questions. Get to know them.

  1. Do not make excuses.

Own your accomplishments and most certainly own your mistakes and failures. Learn from them. Show some accountability. No one respects the peer who deflects blame, spins reality in their favor and scapegoats.

  1. Be the champion of you.103380a

You are your own best advocate. Get constructive feedback from your manager and peers early and often. Keep a diary or file of the things you knock out of the park and don’t let your manager forget.

  1. Get Shit Done.

Period.