Comments on: Renegade HR: Getting Started

By: #FunFriday – The Best of HR & Social Media Geeky T-Shirts

#FunFriday – The Best of HR & Social Media Geeky T-Shirts — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:49:31 +0000

[...] touchy feely employment issues. For the rest of you, focus on applying Chris Ferdinandi’s Renegade HR philosophy to Human Resources: Recruit great people, and help them do amazing things that drive [...]

By: Chris Ferdinandi

Chris Ferdinandi — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:55:41 +0000

Dan, before you buy the book, you may want to do a quick Google search for some video. Seth did a great preso at TED on it. There’s a longer form version (which is more informative, as well) floating out on the web somewhere.

The basic premise is that change happens when you can start small and build a “tribe” of people who support what you’re trying to do. Leaders of a movement often don’t invent the movement – they just find people who believe the same things they do and bring them together and help provide direction.

I agree wholeheartedly – we need to talk about these things more. I think many of my readers are in small HR departments. I sometimes forget that there’s a whole segment of people out there like you and I… in large organizations and feeling like there’s only so much they can do to make an impact.

Good luck!

By: Dan Goyeneche

Dan Goyeneche — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:52:09 +0000

Chris,
I completely agree – there’s only so much I can accomplish from where I’m sitting. We are getting there, as an org., and our HR programs have come a long way – which I’m also trying to put my mark on =)
It’s nice to hear others are in the same boat – we really can, and should be talking more about this kind of stuff and learning from each other – talking about actions and results
I’ll definitely check the book out, after I finish “Made to Stick” – thanks for the recommendation!

By: Chris Ferdinandi

Chris Ferdinandi — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:37:03 +0000

@Dan – That’s a great question!

I’m actually in the same boat that you are. I work for a 40,000 person organization, and I’m a junior level HR pro. Here’s what I do…

Rather than focusing on making organization-wide changes, I put all of my effort into improving the little corner of the organization that I support.

I don’t recruit in my current role, so that piece of the equation is out of my hands. But I do run a career development community on our company intranet. I’ve been focusing on providing mangers with the ability and tools to more effectively onboard employee, provide clear goals, and give feedback.

You can’t do it all yourself – as HR pros we should really be empowering managers to positively impact employees. I’d say don’t even start with your whole corner of the org. Start with one manager. Help them create a team of rockstars, then move on to the next manager.

I’m fortunate in that EMC has damn good HR programs and processes in place already. But your question is definitely valid.

Start small. Recruit people who believe in what you’re doing to help. If you haven’t yet, you may want to check out “Tribes” by Seth Godin.

By: Dan Goyeneche

Dan Goyeneche — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:40:59 +0000

Chris,
great stuff! simple and concise. Question – have you had success implementing some of this at your organization? it seems really hard to try and influence some of this behavior at larger organizations. I try everyday but I can only do so much as 1 of like 200 people in HR across the country in my company…curious about your thoughts
-Dan-

By: Chris Ferdinandi

Chris Ferdinandi — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:17:16 +0000

@Steve, it’s times like these I wish I had a subscription to HBR. Thanks for the hat tip. From what I read (just the first page), seems like a very interesting article!

By: Steve Gilbert

Steve Gilbert — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:32:35 +0000

Regarding “Rockstardom is relative” you may enjoy this Harvard Business Review article by Ashish Nanda from several years ago. It’s stuck with me over the years and it supports your “performance is situational” statement as well.

http://hbr.org/2004/05/the-risky-business-of-hiring-stars/ar/1