Sabrina Baker was one of the contributors in Do Amazing Things in 2011. I had the privilege of connecting with her through my buddy Ben Eubanks. Sabrina’s currently looking for her next gig… here’s a quick look at what she’s passionate about.

What do you love about HR?

I love walking the tight rope that balances the needs of the employee with the objectives of the business.

HR professionals have the unique opportunity to positively impact both. I delight in wearing multiple hats: coach, counselor, confidant, mentor, gate keeper and leader. I love that at the end of the day if my job is done correctly, I can walk away feeling as though I have added strategic value while maintaining all the traditional HR “stuff.”

Can you tell me about something amazing you’ve done in HR recently?

A short time ago, the company I worked for decided to open a call center in Kingston, Jamaica. I was fortunate enough to lead the project from a HR perspective.

A telecom provider was outsourcing their services to us and in the deal, we were asked to take on as many of their employees as possible. With details that could take days to write about, I will simply say this – the employees were less than thrilled, but had little choice but to accept our offer of employment.

You can imagine the employee relations nightmare.

I spent months on the island, learning HR laws and traditions from a totally different standpoint, earning the trust and respect of our new employees and doing my best to acclimate them to an American company. This project challenged me in ways I had never been challenged before, but in my career it is the experience I relish the most. I walked away with a lot of life lessons that I will carry with me forever.

In the end, we launched on time, with proper staffing levels and that center is still growing and adding business today.

What are you looking to do next?

After being laid off in May 2010, I took the opportunity to stay home with my newborn son for his first year. He turned one at the end of January and I am definitely ready to go back to work.

I am keeping my options open in terms of the specific job.

Job fit and work-life balance is most important to me now. I am open to roles that have me back in the HR trenches, but have also entertained openings that have me focused more on the recruiting side of the house. I could see myself happy with either.

One thing is for sure, I am ready and willing to go back to work!

For more info about Sabrina or her career, check me out her blog, HRChatterbox.com, or connect with her on Linkedin. You can also email her directly at sbakerphr@gmail.com.

I’ve been a big fan of job-based tests as part of the selection process.

Want to hire a marketing director? Give them a fake product or client, some constraints, and lock them in a room for an hour to see how they work. I think it’s a better way to gauge someone’s actual experience than how well they interview.

But there’s a giant, gaping hole in this idea.

You automatically screen out people who haven’t done something before, but could learn quickly and be amazing at it. People who are passionate and eager and brilliant, but just need a little training and guidance.

Any ideas on how to successfully balance passion and experience?

I’ve started a new blog: Go Make Things.

What’s it about? Putting ideas in action, because the best ideas are the ones that leave your head. I’ll be talking about science, handmade jeans and shoes, homelessness, the difference between Great Britain and England, and whole ton of other random things I find interesting.

Sound intriguing? Sign-up for updates to Go Make Things by email or RSS.

PS: I’ll still be writing at Renegade HR, albeit less frequently.

Image by Jerry Luk

Every week, I get invites from people I’ve never talked to asking me to connect on LinkedIn.

No explanation on who they are, how they know me, or why they want to connect. Just an invite. I reject them every single time.

Every now and then, someone sends me an invite saying something like, “I noticed you do X, Y and Z and I’d love to chat more about your work,” or “I noticed on Renegade HR that you’re passionate about ROWE. I am, too. We should connect.”

Those get accepted.

Networking isn’t about building a massive collection of email addresses and phone numbers. It’s about building relationships, helping others, and occasionally asking for people to return the favor.

Apparently today kicks off Say No to PowerPoint week. A variety of tech conferences have “banned boring slide shows in favor of short, fast-paced product demos.” Honestly, I think that’s pretty stupid.

The problem isn’t PowerPoint – it’s how people use it.

You don’t blame microphones for the influx of terrible hip-hop and pop music. You blame the artists who make it and the consumers who willingly consume it. Same goes for crappy presentations.

PowerPoint Is Just a Tool

Some people (like Garr Reynolds, Steve Jobs and Guy Kawasaki) use it to tell wonderful, visual stories. But most people in the business world create hideous, boring, bullet-point laden snooze-inducers.

Instead of banning a tool altogether, why not force people to create engaging presentations and compelling stories, no matter what medium they use. Need an example? Check out TED. Some people use slides. Some don’t. It’s a moot point. The pre-requisite is a great story – not a particular storytelling medium.

If you ask people how to make better presentations, a lot of folks say things like, “Use better software, like Apple’s Keynote or Prezi.” That’s just dumb.

You wouldn’t look at a painting by Michelangelo (or your favorite Ninja Turtle) and ask what paintbrush he used. The brush is just a tool. The artist is what makes a painting beautiful or boring.

Same goes for presentations.

Some Ideas

So what you can you do to make better presentations?

1. Tell stories. Don’t just spout facts and concepts. Tell a story. Use emotion.
2. Stop using bullets. I haven’t put a bullet-point in a presentation in two years. Take each bullet point and make it it’s own slide. One line of text per slide, max.
3. Stop using words. Better yet, ditch words altogether. You’re telling a story. Use pictures. Full-bleed pictures that run right to the edge of the slide. Beautiful, high-resolution images. Not the crappy stock imagery you find in Microsoft Clipart. Relevant images that reinforce your story. Treat PowerPoint like a slide projector (you remember those, right?)
4. Go naked. Skip the slides entirely. Use a whiteboard. Bring a tangible product people can touch and manipulate. (Please don’t actually GO naked. Wear clothes.)

I’m sick of sitting through crappy presentations. I’m sure you are, too. Let’s do something about it!

PS: A great place to start is Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds.

My good friend Ben Eubanks from Upstart HR has put together an awesome resource two awesome resources for young HR professionals: The Young Professional Guide and So What’s Next?. Both feature tips and advice from some awesome HR pros.

Check them both out.

A really cool behind-the-scenes look at how sound and music impact storytelling, told by Disney’s Imagineers…

Via Curiosity Counts