I had a really interesting discussion the other day about whether or not work should be fun.
The resounding opinion was that work isn’t fun – it’s satisfying. Doing challenging things. Helping others. Doing work that’s well aligned with someone’s passions and strengths.
Fun, people felt, comes from the relationships with their coworkers. From the work environment. From the culture.
Satisfying work. Fun culture.
What do you think?
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Today’s article is a guest post from Sean Conrad of Halogen Software.
Chris’ recent post on The Power of No got me thinking. Especially where he encourages HR pros to say no to things managers should be doing themselves.
There’s a litany of items that fall into this grey area. HR has to report on engagement metrics for example, but the drivers of engagement aren’t solely in their hands – right?
Same goes for coaching and development. It’s not exactly a job you can pin squarely on HR even if the reporting metrics come out of the department.
But HR – you can definitely guide managers on this front. Let’s put it in context.
Keep reading…
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A friend of mine sent me this video (email subscribers click here to watch):
Can you imagine if that was your workplace? What does that say about the culture?
You’re so out of touch, so completely unconcerned with the human element of your business, that people need to file an anonymous petition with overt threats against the organization to get something as basic as healthcare.
And they have to organize it themselves, because you don’t even conduct an anonymous employee survey from time to time. Or maybe you do, and you knew about this already, but you didn’t care until they threatened to go the press.
The presentation style on this video is great – very engaging. But I know there are actually workplaces out there like the one in this video.
I wanted to take a minute to thank you. You’re an HR Renegade. I know your workplace is nothing like this.
Keep up the great work!
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Today’s article is a guest post from Benjamin Eubanks of Upstart HR. Ben is up and coming rockstar. He’s the author of Rock the PHR and founder of the HRevolution Unconference. He’s also one of the coolest guys in the HR world. Enjoy!
Ever play Tetris before? The goal is to line up geometric figures in complete lines to earn points. Making things fit is the name of the game. The image on the left is a joke, because it’s simply not possible to complete a line with the rounded bottom.
In other words, success is impossible.
As recruiters and HR pros, we do our best to get people into our organizations that fit our culture. Sometimes it’s extremely frustrating when you find someone who looks like an all star but isn’t the right cultural fit for your business. Trying to force a fit in this situation isn’t going to make things work. And that isn’t necessarily your fault.
Sometimes people just won’t fit.
But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s what separates Zappos from Wal-Mart. Keep that in mind.
Image credit: XKCD
Ben Eubanks is an HR professional from Huntsville, AL. He pretty much lives online, and you can connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn. He also writes a blog for the entry level pros, seasoned veterans, and zombies in the human resources space.
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There’s a great video on the AMEX OPEN Forum of Tony Hsieh from Zappos on corporate values.
The premise: Values create a common language and way of thinking about the organization. They also provide a clear decision making tool – would this decision fit the values of our organization?
The catch? You actually have to live the values.
They can’t just be words on a piece of paper. They have to be how your organization truly thinks and acts.
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Think about tribal leaders—they sit around a fire and share their learning with younger tribe members. So that’s the number one responsibility of the WD-40 tribe—to make learning inclusive and evolutionary.
- Garry Ridge, CEO, WD-40
Garry Ridge is the CEO of WD-40. But he doesn’t lead an organization. He leads a tribe.
Garry’s really got the Renegade HR thing down. Some insights from an article on his leadership style:
Check out the full article for more great insights (and some context around the ones I listed above).
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V. Michael Ferdinandi, former Senior VP and Chief Human Resources Officer for CVS Caremark (he’s also my dad), and I discuss organizational culture.
What is it? Why does it matter? How do you change it? (11:33)
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Michael’s business career spans 30 years with three leading Fortune 100 companies, including CVS Caremark, PepsiCo and Ford Motor Company.
In his most recent role, Michael was the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for CVS Caremark, a 215,000 employee retail pharmacy and clinical healthcare provider.
Michael has a long career of managing organizational behavior and workforce development initiatives. Under his leadership, the Department of Labor, the National Council on Aging, and several other notable organizations have recognized CVS Caremark for its commitment to outstanding workforce development.
In 2009, HR Executive magazine named Michael to the “Human Resources Honor Roll.”
Michael earned both a BS and an MS degree in Industrial Education from Rhode Island College. He received a Doctoral Degree in 1995 from Boston University where his major research focused on business process re-engineering.
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