The Carnival of HR #22

Posted on 12. Dec, 2007 by Wayne in General

I believe it was Robbie Robertson (or Levon Helm, or one of The Band) who said, “Life is a Carnival, believe it or not”. Well, I believe it, brother and sisters. For those Cranky Middle Manager listeners who are unfamiliar with these gatherings, I’m honored to host this event. It’s kind of a “best of what’s out there” in HR blogs. Some of these folks you’ll recognize and others will be new to you, as they are to me.

I have grown to have more of an appreciation for HR in the last little while. Partly because Businessweek’s online edition called us “one of the best HR blogs”…never even knew this was one but hey I’ll take it. Not often I’m included in the best of anything so I’ll join any club that will have me.

Additionally, I have greater respect for the role since watching them process severance packages…unfortunately including my own. Check out this interview with Dr. Judith Bardwick on how companies don’t engage their employees and her book “One Foot Out the Door- How to Combat the Psychological Recession That’s Alienating Employees and Hurting American Business”.
For Carnival of HR types unfamiliar with this site, our own listeners do good work, including this article by Corey Sherman on his HR Strategy Blog .
One of my guests is a regular contributor to the carnival…. he’s one of the folksI’ve enjoyed most over my time here - Wally Bock. There have been lots of articles lately about “succession planning.” Most of them get it wrong because the concentrate on the CEO role and ignore leadership development. This article is called Forget “succession planning.” Instead think “leadership development.”

Another person who has changed my impression of HR is the Evil HR Lady, who apparently has been doing some navel-gazing with Is HR Not Respected? And even though it’s probably an HR violation, a lovely navel it is.

Now, it’s the Holiday Season, and you’d think HR would catch a break but no, ever vigilant our bloggers are constantly on the alert. Daniel Schwartz at the Connecticut Employment Blog had this to say about Holiday parties and Liability and Mother Jones is not overflowing with spirit- at least her boss isn’t in How the Grinch Stole Christmas- Again!

From India we have the Bombay Dosti blog on “When India Does an Uncle Sam” and from Prasad Kurian’s blog, “Simplicity at the Other Side of Complexity” we have this piece on the “Deep Specialist” role in HR.

Whew, lots going on but we’re not quite done yet. If you are reading this on your lunch “hour” you probably barely have time to gulp down that sandwich. Read how the Lunch Hour is one of those oxymorons like “jumbo shrimp”…. “Lunch is For Wimps” from Ed Kavanagh is well worth wasting some of that precious time on.

Finally, if thinking about all this makes your brain hurt, consider Alvaro Fernandez’ piece on “Cognitive Fitness, The Future of Work and Concept Maps”.

I may not be entirely an HR blog, but who doesn’t want to be included with talented folks like this?

The next Carnival (December 26th) will be over at Compensation Force on Dec 26th. See you there.