Carnival of HR!

It seems we HR types are a curious bunch.  In true blogging spirit we are asking and answering questions all over the place, and challenging our readers to ask and answer as well.  There's an African proverb that says "The one who asks questions doesn't lose his way."  If that's the case, than this month's offering is evidence that we are all well on the way!

Deb at 8 Hours and a Lunch leads off with the question Why does HR stink?" Ann Bares at CompForce picks up the theme of "stink" with "Do we stink at pay communication?"  John Agno at Coaching Tip has some ideas to address concerns about how well HR is performing overall and offers several questions to help you figure out if your CEO and HR have the same priorities.  Jon Ingham chimes in with "What can we all learn from Google?"

Once we get the HR group straightened out, we're ready to tackle talent management for the rest of the company, right? Ryan at World at Work wants to know is "talent" merely the word of the day...or is it the word of the decade?  He's joined by Alice Snell at Taleo who asks "Why talent management now?" Not to be outdone, Wayne, the Cranky Middle Manager, jumps in with What War for Talent? 

After we address Wayne's concerns we should have no trouble recruiting good people to good jobs.  Jackie over at Consult Cameron has a handle on the talent pool out there because she is currently helping a group of young people get ready for their upcoming job search.  She answers your questions about "What are the differences and similarities for Generations X and Y?"  Michael Haberman at HR Observations has some ideas about what to look for in candidates and asks and answers his own question - Enthusiasm! Should you hire for it?  Meanwhile, Maren at Fistful of Talent has some cautionary words about the hazards of title inflation and asks "what's in a name?"

As we bring all that great talent in the door, we'll want to make sure the policies are clean.  Jon at the Employers' Law Blog asks us to consider both the legal and human considerations of policies in The Softer Side of Employment Law.  Susan Heathfield at the Human Resource Blog answers the question why legislated paid sick days may not be a win-win after all. and Lary Crews at TrendWatcher answers your questions about how telecommuting affects employee morale and productivity. 

Speaking of policies, Kris Dunn at HR Capitalist exposes how dangerous the simple question "You're with us, right?"  can be in his posting about the proposed Employee Free Choice Act.  And speaking of things that are dangerous, Nurse Ratched relates a very scary story of workplace violence and explains why she asked her HR Director to "please don't stop needling me."

But policies are only the beginning.  Then the real fun begins as we help people grow as performers and develop their careers.  Dan McCarthy at the Great Leadership Blog was inspired by a question on the ASTD website and writes about great leadership development on the cheap.  Wally Bock at Three-Star Leadership has some thoughts about this complex endeavor and wonders Can leadership development be simplified into a step-by-step schematic?

Of course, as we invest in developing all these people, we want to make sure we are developing and rewarding the right things.  In his Last Lecture, (NOTE - Beg, borrow or steal or otherwise come up with 72 minutes to watch this video!!) Randy Pausch says "when there's an elephant in the room, introduce it." Jake Flanagin at Maximize Possibility introduces a pachyderm when he asks "Are your top performers really top performers?"

Whew!  All this work to manage talent is making us tired! Lisa at HR Thoughts wants to know how good leaders can sleep at night when there are business problems to resolve.  Nina Simosko offers some relevant insights on this same topic when she asks "What can leaders learn from Marion?" 

And bringing us home with one final question, Guatam Ghosh wants to know how often do employers fail to analyze attrition data to improve retention?  He's got a detailed slide show to help you think through this important topic.

Happy Carnivaling!  The next carnival will be hosted by Michael Moore at the PA Employment Law Blog.

 

Comments

[Ann Bares]

Thanks for hosting, Peggy. A masterful job!

[Wayne Turmel]

Peggy, a fine job of wrangling content....it's a constant source of amazement how many people care so passionately about the human resources (and I despise that term)in our companies. Nice job as always. Don't let the weasels get you down.

[Rowan Manahan]

Superb carnival Peggy, I love the way you have clustered the various strands together.

[GL HOFFMAN]

I second Rowan's comments. I just know how much work this is...wow.

[Peggy]

Thank you all for your encouraging words! This was my first time hosting the Carnival, and I certainly have a much greater appreciation for the work that goes into it!

[Eamon]

Hey Peggy! WELL DONE! Please have a look at our humble blog (we're very new in town) and see what you think.

Really appreciate what you do here!
http://hr-worldview.blogspot.com