Carnival Reminder!

The 17th Carnival of HR is only 1 week away! Make sure you get your submissions in to Natalie CooperPersonnel Today. Send your submissions to Natalie!

As a reminder, keep it down to one post per blogger. And if you could--something that you've written in the past couple of weeks is preferable.


The October 3rd Carnival will be hosted by Natalie Cooper at Personnel Today.

The October 17th Carnival will be hosted by Kris Dunn at HR Capitalist

The Spooky October 31st Carnival will be hosted by HRO Manager at HRO Manager

The November 14th Carnival will be hosted by Patrick Williams at Guerilla HR

The November 28th Carnival will be hosted by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace

The December 12th Carnival will be hosted by Wayne Turmel at The Cranky Middle Manager

The December 26th Carnival will be hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The January 9th Carnival will be hosted by Ask a Manager at Ask a Manager.

The January 23rd Carnival will be hosted by Deb at 8 Hours & a Lunch.

The February 6th Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The February 20th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts

The March 5th Carnival will be hosted by Gautam Ghosh at Gautam Ghosh - Management Consultant

The March 19th Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The April 2nd Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The March 16th Carnival will by hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force

The April 30th Carnival will be hosted by The Rainmaker Group.

The May 14th Carnival will be hosted by The Career Encourager at Career Encouragement

The May 28th Carnival will be hosted by Michael Moore at PA Employment Law Blog

The June 11th Carnival will be hosted by Jon Ingham at Stategic Human Capital.

The June 25th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at Evil HR Lady.

We're always looking for new hosts, so send me an e-mail at evilhrlady at hotmail dot com if you want to host. And get your submissions into me!

Carnival of HR #15

Is up over at Fortify Your Services.

Once again it's a fabulously informative set of articles. I do have to say that the carnival seems to get submissions from the best and brightest minds in HR.

The September 19th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at, well, Evil HR Lady.

The October 3rd Carnival will be hosted by Natalie Cooper at Personnel Today.

The October 17th Carnival will be hosted by Kris Dunn at HR Capitalist

The Spooky October 31st Carnival will be hosted by HRO Manager at HRO Manager

The November 14th Carnival will be hosted by Patrick Williams at Guerilla HR

The November 28th Carnival will be hosted by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace

The December 12th Carnival will be hosted by Wayne Turmel at The Cranky Middle Manager

The December 26th Carnival will be hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The January 9th Carnival will be hosted by Ask a Manager at Ask a Manager.

The January 23rd Carnival will be hosted by Deb at 8 Hours & a Lunch.

The February 6th Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The February 20th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts

The March 5th Carnival will be hosted by Gautam Ghosh at Gautam Ghosh - Management Consultant

The March 19th Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The April 2nd Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The March 16th Carnival will by hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force

The April 30th Carnival will be hosted by The Rainmaker Group.

The May 14th Carnival will be hosted by The Career Encourager at Career Encouragement

The May 28th Carnival will be hosted by Michael Moore at PA Employment Law Blog

The June 11th Carnival will be hosted by Jon Ingham at Stategic Human Capital.

We're always looking for new hosts, so send me an e-mail at evilhrlady at hotmail dot com if you want to host. And get your submissions into me!

Carnival of HR #17

Is now up over at The Work Clinic. Natalie's in the UK so it's up bright and early in the US.

The next Carnival will be on October 17th and hosted by our favorite HR Capitalist, Kris Dunn. Get your submissions in to him!

As a reminder, keep it down to one post per blogger. And if you could--something that you've written in the past couple of weeks is preferable.

The Spooky October 31st Carnival will be hosted by HRO Manager at HRO Manager

The November 14th Carnival will be hosted by Patrick Williams at Guerilla HR

The November 28th Carnival will be hosted by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace

The December 12th Carnival will be hosted by Wayne Turmel at The Cranky Middle Manager

The December 26th Carnival will be hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The January 9th Carnival will be hosted by Ask a Manager at Ask a Manager.

The January 23rd Carnival will be hosted by Deb at 8 Hours & a Lunch.

The February 6th Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The February 20th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts

The March 5th Carnival will be hosted by Gautam Ghosh at Gautam Ghosh - Management Consultant

The March 19th Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The April 2nd Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The March 16th Carnival will by hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force

The April 30th Carnival will be hosted by The Rainmaker Group.

The May 14th Carnival will be hosted by The Career Encourager at Career Encouragement

The May 28th Carnival will be hosted by Michael Moore at PA Employment Law Blog

The June 11th Carnival will be hosted by Jon Ingham at Stategic Human Capital.

The June 25th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at Evil HR Lady.

The July 9th Carnival will be hosted by Natalie Cooper at Personnel Today.

We're always looking for new hosts, so send me an e-mail at evilhrlady at hotmail dot com if you want to host. And get your submissions into me!

Carnival of HR #13

Is up over at Compensation Force. Since it's the 13th Carnival, Ann has managed to get exactly 13 posts and talks about being either lucky or unlucky.

Do you think it is just coincidence that Satan's new training brochure came out at the same time as the 13th Carnival of HR? I told you HR was evil.

The August 22nd Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The September 5th Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The September 19th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at, well, Evil HR Lady.

The October 3rd Carnival will be hosted by Natalie Cooper at Personnel Today.

The October 17th Carnival will be hosted by Kris Dunn at HR Capitalist

The Spooky October 31st Carnival will be hosted by HRO Manager at HRO Manager

The November 14th Carnival will be hosted by Patrick Williams at Guerilla HR

The November 28th Carnival will be hosted by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace

The December 12th Carnival will be hosted by Wayne Turmel (the Cranky Middle Manager)at Management Issues

The December 26th Carnival will be hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The January 9th Carnival will be hosted by Ask a Manager at Ask a Manager.

The January 23rd Carnival will be hosted by Deb at HR Thoughts.

The February 6th Carnival will be hosted by Susan Heathfield at About Human Resources.
We're always accepting new hosts--and old hosts to host again. So send me an e-mail at evilhrlady at hotmail dot com if you are interested.

Carnival of HR #14

Is now up over at Three Star Leadership. Hope on over and read.

The September 5th Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The September 19th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at, well, Evil HR Lady.

The October 3rd Carnival will be hosted by Natalie Cooper at Personnel Today.

The October 17th Carnival will be hosted by Kris Dunn at HR Capitalist

The Spooky October 31st Carnival will be hosted by HRO Manager at HRO Manager

The November 14th Carnival will be hosted by Patrick Williams at Guerilla HR

The November 28th Carnival will be hosted by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace

The December 12th Carnival will be hosted by Wayne Turmel at The Cranky Middle Manager

The December 26th Carnival will be hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The January 9th Carnival will be hosted by Ask a Manager at Ask a Manager.

The January 23rd Carnival will be hosted by Deb at 8 Hours & a Lunch.

The February 6th Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The February 20th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts

The March 5th Carnival will be hosted by Gautam Ghosh at Gautam Ghosh - Management Consultant

We're always looking for new participants and new hosts. Send me an e-mail if you'd like to host and make sure to submit your posts to Rowan Manahan for the next carnival.

Carnival Reminder

Get your submissions in to Gautam Ghosh as soon as possible for this week's fabulous carnival. Send them to gautam dot ghosh at gmail dot com
.
The June 27th Carnival will be hosted by Kris Dunn at The HR Capitalist.

The July 11th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts.

The July 25th Carnival will be hosted by the Manager at Ask a Manager.

The August 8th Carnival will by hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The August 22nd Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The September 5th Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The September 19th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at, well, Evil HR Lady.

The October 3rd Carnival will be hosted by Deb Owens at 8 Hours & a Lunch.

The October 17th Carnival will be hosted by Gautam Ghosh at Gautam Ghosh--Management Consultant.

Let me know if any of the rest of you wish to host. We're starting to recycle through previous hosts, so if you want to host again, let me know as well. The carnival is a huge success. Let's keep it going!

Carnival of HR--Update

First of all, a friendly reminder. The next Carnival of Human Resources will be held Wednesday, April 18. Send your HR, business, training or similar post to evilhrlady at hotmail dot com.

And our little carnival is branching out! I've gotten seven volunteers to host and, of course, I've said absolutely.

The May 2nd Carnival will be hosted by Susan Heathfield at About: Human Resources.

The May 16th Carnival will be hosted by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace.

The May 30th Carnival will be hosted by Deb Owens at 8 Hours & a Lunch.

The June 13th Carnvial will be hosted by Gautam Ghosh at A Management Consultant's Blog.

The June 27th Carnival will be hosted by Kris Dunn at The HR Capitalist.

The July 11th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts.

The August 22nd Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

Let me know if any of the rest of you wish to host. Think of the fame and glory that will come your way! You can even put it on your resume: Hosted Carnival of Human Resources. Think of the number of job offers you can get with that!

Carnival of HR # 8

Is now up over at 8 Hours & a Lunch. Hop on over and find the big top.

The June 13th Carnvial will be hosted by Gautam Ghosh at A Management Consultant's Blog.

The June 27th Carnival will be hosted by Kris Dunn at The HR Capitalist.

The July 11th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts.

The July 25th Carnival will be hosted by the Manager at Ask a Manager.

The August 8th Carnival will by hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The August 22nd Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The September 5th Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The September 19th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at, well, Evil HR Lady.

Let me know if any of the rest of you wish to host. Think of the fame and glory that will come your way! You can even put it on your resume: Hosted Carnival of Human Resources. Think of the number of job offers you can get with that!

Carnival of HR #10

Is up at The HR Capitalist. Appropriately it is a top 10 list of the reasons to be in HR.

Hop on over and take a look at the list.

The July 11th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts.

The July 25th Carnival will be hosted by the Manager at Ask a Manager.

The August 8th Carnival will by hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The August 22nd Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The September 5th Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The September 19th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at, well, Evil HR Lady.

The October 3rd Carnival will be hosted by Natalie Cooper at Personnel Today.

Let me know if any of the rest of you wish to host. Think of the fame and glory that will come your way! You can even put it on your resume: Hosted Carnival of Human Resources. Think of the number of job offers you can get with that! If you've previously hosted and would like to host again, let me know.

Carnival of HR Reminder

Next Wednesday is Carnival time. Get your submissions to humanresources.guide at about dot com!

The May 2nd Carnival will be hosted by Susan Heathfield at About: Human Resources.

The May 16th Carnival will be hosted by Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace.

The May 30th Carnival will be hosted by Deb Owens at 8 Hours & a Lunch.

The June 13th Carnvial will be hosted by Gautam Ghosh at A Management Consultant's Blog.

The June 27th Carnival will be hosted by Kris Dunn at The HR Capitalist.

The July 11th Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts.

The August 22nd Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

Let me know if any of the rest of you wish to host. Think of the fame and glory that will come your way! You can even put it on your resume: Hosted Carnival of Human Resources. Think of the number of job offers you can get with that!

Carnival of HR #11

The latest and greatest Carnival of HR is up over at HR Thoughts, hosted by Lisa.

Hop on over!

The July 25th Carnival will be hosted by the Manager at Ask a Manager.

The August 8th Carnival will by hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The August 22nd Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The September 5th Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The September 19th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at, well, Evil HR Lady.

The October 3rd Carnival will be hosted by Natalie Cooper at Personnel Today.

Let me know if any of the rest of you wish to host. Think of the fame and glory that will come your way! You can even put it on your resume: Hosted Carnival of Human Resources. Think of the number of job offers you can get with that! If you've previously hosted and would like to host again, let me know.

Carnival of Human Resources #5

Welcome to the 5th Carnival of Human Resources. Word has gotten out about our thrilling rides and freak show! We welcome all HR, Business, Training and related blog posts. The next Carnival will be May 2 and will be hosted by Susan Heathfield at About Human Resources.

Send your submissions directly to her (humanresources dot guide at about dot com) and put “Carnival” in the subject so she doesn’t miss it. One submission per blogger please.

First up is The New Business World with Tips for Preventing Workplace Violence. Unfortunately, this is something we all need.

Deb Owens at 8 Hours & a Lunch writes about the importance of knowing your business in Being There. It’s amazing how things change when you understand what is going on.

Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis tells us about a Corporate Creed/Mission Statement/Value Statement and in so doing humorously warns us about misplaced creed priorities.

Life Coach Hueina Su at Intensive Care for the Nuturer’s Soul gives us 7 Keys to Avoid Burnout. Our jobs are just one part of our—and our employees—lives.

Charles H. Green at Trusted Advisor takes us over to the animal pavilion with The Sacred Cow of Retention. “Lets take on a sacred cow. Or at least a venerated goat.” Heh.

Jack Yoest at Reasoned Audacity talks about Looking for a Job With Tattoos. That is, he does not have a tattoo, nor does a job he’s offering have one, but you may not get one (a job, that is) if you do (have a tattoo). Or at least the job you want.

Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership talks (surprisingly!) about Leadership Can be Learned—but Not in the Classroom. Well, that is not great news for those of us who aspire to teach leadership with a power point presentation.

And on the leadership theme, Susan M. Heathfield at About: Human Resources, tells us about Delegation as a Leadership Style. An excellent approach to leadership, which is why I have delegated the next Carnival to her.

Wayne Turmel at Management Issues confesses that after taking every personality known to mankind that he is an ENFP-Lion-Otter-Hybrid. At least he is secure in knowing that he at least has a personality. I’ve met a few people without them.

Gautam Ghosh at A Management Consultant’s Blog tells us that SHRM Has Come Calling in India. Cool.

Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace writes about a conversation that was just wrong in As All American as Apple Pie. Mmm, pie.

Apu at Cubically Challenged reminds us about the Cost of Order Servicing. Everything seems to have its costs and we would be wise to remember that.

Finally, the Evil HR Lady speaks about severance costs at Why Severance. Some days, I’d really like to take a package.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of the HR Carnival. See you next time at Susan's!

Carnival of HR #12

Is now up over at Ask a Manager.

I haven't read it all yet, but so far, I'm still laughing at this post about Ask a Manager reading her employee's blog. Heh.

The August 8th Carnival will by hosted by Ann Bares at Compensation Force.

The August 22nd Carnival will be hosted by Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

The September 5th Carnival will be hosted by Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis.

The September 19th Carnival will be hosted by Evil HR Lady at, well, Evil HR Lady.

The October 3rd Carnival will be hosted by Natalie Cooper at Personnel Today.

Carnival of Human Resources

Welcome to the first Carnival of Human Resources! Many people have submitted fabulous posts about this lovely world of HR. The next Carnival will be in two weeks (March 7), so please submit your posts by March 6, and you can join the carnival. Submissions can be sent to evilhrlady at hotmail.com or by clicking on the e-mail me link on the side.

And, now, let the Carnival begin!

Because this is the Evil HR Lady's blog, it makes sense that our first post would be Satan's Training Brochure. I always suspected that it existed, but now I know. Wayne Turmel braved fire and brimstone to bring us back this brochure. Here are some sample headers:

God Only Wishes He Was in Sales: getting the rest of the organization to appreciate your brilliance

Getting To Maybe:- Delayed Decision Making For the Budget-Constrained

Mastering PowerlessPoint: Perfecting the Defensive Presentation

The Seven Habits of Not-Completely-Useless People: Working Just Hard Enough To Keep Your Job

Clearly Lisa Rosendahl didn't take any of the above classes. She deals with decision making and makes it pretty clear that she recognizes the issues around the decisions. Sometimes there is more than one way to see things:

I have a Human Resource Specialist who made a decision a few weeks ago. Without getting into the HR details of it, this was a pure matter of interpretation. The service line does not agree with the decision. For me, this decision comes down to value. The decision made placed the value differently than where the service line is placing it. Is one value judgment right and one wrong? Absolutely not. May the decision change? Maybe and maybe not.

Deb over at 8 Hours and a Lunch talks about taking employee suggestions seriously. She writes :

who better knows how to improve a process than the people using it? sure. management and leadership are an important component in making improvements work. but sometimes the elegant solutions come from the factory floor, the person answering the phones, the programming gurus, those on the front lines.

but listening to employees and implementing improvements they’ve recommended can be an opportunity for something sometimes less obvious. it can be key to helping you develop them as well.

Development and business improvement in one easy step. What more could an HR department want?

And finally, from me, a post about workplace bullies. I've encountered them. I think you have too. I think they took Satan's training classes. Hmmm, maybe I'll look at that brochure again.

Carnival of Human Resources #2

You go to carnivals at night, right? So, it's acceptable that I'm not posting this until 8:00 at night. Don't say otherwise or I won't host another carnival for two weeks. Or say otherwise and I won't host another carnival for two weeks. Next carnival is Wednesday, March 21--the first day of Spring!

And so welcome to the festivities!

First up is Deb at 8 Hours & a Lunch tells us about the importance of putting people first, not just process. She uses Toyota as an example and writes:

we tend to be great at the continuous improvement part. start a new program, start problem solving with a vengence, and make grand strides. but toyota spends a lot of time and effort on people. they don't just talk about people being their greatest asset. they invest in training programs for all of their employees, extensively developing their skills, building teams, developing future leaders, and even provide training and support to their suppliers.

Next is Wally at Three Star Leadership. He asks "why so many managers do such an awful job of management." It's a problem we HR types are always trying to fix. He gives three reasons:

Reason number one. We promote the wrong people.
Reason number two that we have so many managers doing lousy management work is that managers get little to no training in how to be good managers.
Reason number three that we have so many managers doing lousy management work is that we think you learn leadership and supervisory skills from a book or a class.

It sounds like if Deb and Wally got together they could take over the world. I'll just take a finders fee for suggesting it.

Patrick at Guerilla HR reminds us that it's not blogging that gets people fired. It's the content:

While a quick Google of the web will bring up lots of examples of people claiming they got fired for blogging, the truth is that people dont get fired for blogging; they get fired for what they blog! Now, let me put my HR Wizard hat on - If your company has a policy about blogging, follow it! I know that sounds terribly HRish of me, but believe me - even if the blogging policy is a rag and infringes on your first ammendment rights, you are better off to swallow hard and live with it, because while the ACLU might defend you if you get canned, they won't pay your rent while you are between jobs! In fact, I'll stake my HR secret decoder ring that you won't be fired for blogging about your hobbies (PG-13 or better), your cat, or even something as potentially tricky as management IF you leave out questionable, objectionable, or confidential information. But if you go off on a blog-rant about what an idiot your boss is, the ingredients for your company's new "secret sauce", or how you and the VP of Sales are shaggging..... you will end up on the bad end of the situation - start practicing this pharse in prep for your next job - "Would you like fries with that?"

And speaking of French Fries, they are not healthy. And unhealthy employees are bad for your business. Kris at HR Capitalist tells us about the future of business provided healthcare.

Ever fired anyone for smoking? Scotts Miracle-Gro has. In an effort to push a progressive Wellness Program to the limit, Scotts recently termed its first employee for failing a nicotine test during his probationary period. It's all just a part of the Scotts mentality pushing a Wellness Program to the max to push employees to live healthier lives, and of course, to control the rising costs of providing medical coverage. To be fair, the program cuts both ways - the pressure on employees to live healthier lives has resulted in terminations, but has also saved lives like Joe Pellegrini:

Ha! Now I have you interested and you'll have to go check Kris out.

Finally, since we've talked about employees, managers, blogging and healthcare, we'll focus on something really important: Money. Especially how I am underpaid. Or overpaid. It's hard to tell:

I went to Payscale.com and had my salary evaluated.

You put in your title and it asks questions about your company size, what titles are comparable, your benefits and education, along with your current salary. Then it comes back with a salary range for your job along with where you sit.

Now, go forth and develope your employees and write great posts for the next carnival! And send those posts to evilhrlady at hotmail dot com. And if any of you HR blogging types are interested in hosting, let me know! I'm always willing to spread the joy around.

Carnival of Human Resources

Welcome to the 4th Carnival of HR! We're traveling far and wide this time around, with all sorts of exotic,HR advice and insight.

First up, Ishita Bardhan talks about emotions in the workplace.

Then my manager told me to be professional in whatever you do. "Don’t bring emotions into the workplace”. I asked .. How? He told me: “When you are angry and want to respond to the nasty emails, write back a note with all the feelings you want but don’t send it. Save it in your draft and go have a cup of coffee. Come back, reopen the draft item, re read the mail and then send it”

Rowan Manahan identifies insanity in the workplace:

“And you keep doing this?”
“Yes.”
“Even though it’s, let's see, what's the word? ... Moronic? Cretinous? ... and ultimately may hamper your future success and security?”
(very small voice) “Yes”
“I’m sorry - I couldn’t hear you there …”
“YES!”
“Well then you’re crazy, aren’t you?”

Deb Owen disagrees and argues:

people aren't stupid.

let's stop assuming they are and begin with the assumption that they can see more clearly than we think they can. that's one of the first mistakes i see management make. it's much better to admit problems and start attacking them, than to try to tell people something is blue when they can see very well that it is red.

Fortunately, Abhilasha Krishnan can help resolve this conflict (which doesn't really exist, I just made it up):

HR can be seen as playing much the same role as a psychologist/ counselor in a society. As society evolves and becomes more complex, the human issues involved also become more convoluted and individuals find it harder to deal with these complexities on their own.

And if counseling doesn't work, Wally Bock is here to identify another problem.

This kind of "sell the idiot on our company" approach is doomed to frustrating and expensive failure. A third of the candidates polled said they were looking for a new job within six months of landing the last one. That could be because they were "sold" on joining the company.

If your "selling" generates that kind of turnover, it's going to cost you big time. Various estimates put the cost of replacing a person at two to three times annual salary.

And to keep your costs down, and keep your best people Kris Dunn writes about a novel paying for performance approach:

If you are in a Fortune 500 company or simply have standardized your comp plan, you likely have a Merit Matrix to reinforce this type of reward system. If so, does your plan include taking money away from those who don't meet the performance goals you have outlined? I didn't think so - but Publix (yes, the service-oriented supermarket) has.

And just what type of employee do you want to put into this pay for performance scene? Anna Farmery tells us about the ideal employee:

One brain that is beautifully balanced between logic, futuristic, empathy and rational. Even more it chooses automatically the right part of the brain to use.

A small mouth and 27 ears to listen to customers without butting in.

One soul that lives and breaths the values in everything it does.

Telescopic eyes that sees right into the future

Ummm, she's got high expections. And speaking of high, let's go to Tibet, with Mabel and Harry's 10 Lessons from Tibetan Monks:

1. When you lose, don't lose the lesson
2. Follow the 3 R's: Respect for self, respect for others, responsibility for all your actions.
3. Spend some time alone each day.

Gautam Ghosh reminds us that even as we're trying to help others manage, we need to manage HR--especially our own career ladders.

A career ladder for HR professionals that zig and zag through the various functions would also go a long way in sensiting them that there are no "more important" and "less important" functions within HR. In fact there should be two or three mandatory stints for HR professionals out of HR too, in functions that are client facing (like marketing and sales), vendor facing (like procurement and supply chain) and operations.

And finally, to round out the carnival, a bit of satire from well, me:

[Mexican Restaurant] admits that they do not monitor the gender of everyone who walks in their door. This is unacceptable. How do we know if we are not discriminating if we don't count and categorize everyone who walks in?

I hope everyone has a blast at this week's carnival. Next one is in 2 weeks, April 18. Send your submissions to EvilHRLady at hotmail dot com! Any HR, business, training or similar submission is welcome! Remember, we're a family friendly carnival (lots of kids rides, after all), so no bad words!

Carnival of HR: Food Edition

Welcome to the Carnival of Human Resources. It's a good thing it isn't performance appraisal time because none of you sent me brownies. Or any food, for that matter. But, the truly high achievers managed to incorporate food into this carnival, which makes me happy and hungry.

It seems like most of you were too busy writing about the stuff you actually do, and I realize why it's so difficult to answer the question "Just What Does HR Do?" because if you look at the topics, you'll realize it's a smorgesboard of HR Delights. But still, no brownies.

First, the people who win gold stars and will be given an above average performance rating, which will mean they'll get twice as many humorous e-mails from Shauna Moerke, who runs this fabulous carnival. (Okay, I didn't run that statement by Shauna, but I'm sure she'd love to do twice the amount of work, right? Oh dear, I may get myself deleted from her list and then I'd be sad.)

First the Food Posts

Food in the office: Robin Schooling from HR Schoolhouse writes Feasting with the Masses. Helpful hits about food at work. And remember, HR doesn't plan company picnics.

photo by blmurch

Correcting our Focus: The HR Introvert writes My Name is Remington and I Am Your HR Resource This Evening. Are we highlighting the bad and downplaying the good?

Decision Making: Dwane Lay at Lean HR writes Weighted Decision Matrix. Now, what is anything lean doing in my carnival? Where's the Funnel Cake HR?

Assumptions: Judith Lindenberger at Women of HR writes Legacy, Assumptions and Ginger Nut Biscuits. Yes, I realize Judith has two posts and it's not just because she's fabulous, it's that Lisa Rosendahl, who edits Women of HR, submitted this post. Plus, someday I want to work for Judith.

Photo by Cameron Cassan

Workplace Relationships: Ben at Upstart HR writes Working with Nuts, Fruits and M and Ms. I think we all know where I stand on this post.

Food and, well, Eating: Paul Smith at Welcome to the Occupation writes I'm Hungry. Me too Paul. Me too.

Change: John Jorgensen at HR Tailgate writes Are You Expecting Steak or BBQ?

Whining: Jennifer Miller at The People Equation writes Want Some Cheese with that Whine?

Breastfeeding laws: Michael Haberman at Omega HR Solutions writes Boobs and Babes in the Workplace which isn't what you think, but it will still give me strange hits off Google. But it also gives me an excuse to post my favorite baby picture.

And now for the rest of you who write fabulous and informative posts, but should think about this: Last night I had a women tell me about her recipe for Stinging Nettle Soup. If you don't do what I say in the future, I'll send you the ingredients.

Learning: Tanmay Vora from QAspire Blog writes Creating a Learning Organization: 10 Actions For a Leader

Mentoring: Judy Lindenberger from Unlock Your Full Potential writes Interview with a Mentor. Ever wondered what a mentor does or doesn't do?

Talent War: Erik Samhdal from Productivity Blog writes i4cp Study: Companies are Gearing Up for the Coming Talent War

Respect for people: John Hunter from Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog writes Respect for People Doesn’t Mean Avoiding Any Hint of Criticism


Expectations: Steve Brown at Everyday People writes What Do You Expect??? He reminds to remember the 90% of great employees, instead of putting all our effort into the 10% who are whiners.

Technology: The Devon Group writes Now that you’ve made a Technology Purchase, does your Corporate Culture Support its Adoption? Good things to think about--culture and strategy need to match.

Branding: Michael Vandervort at The Human Race Horses writes The Mythology of Your Brand. It appears Michael and Gautam have been talking because

Future: Gautam Gosh at Organization 2.0 and HR writes Future of Employment is Not Employment. Turns out your brand isn't the be all end of all of existence.

Praise: Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership writes How Do I Praise Thee? With food, duh, Wally.

Sacrifice: Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership by Dan writes 10 Things Boomer Managers Shouldn't Have to Give Up. Dan also wants to remind all you young whippersnappers to GET OFF HIS LAWN.

Physical Facilities: Naomi Bloom at In Full Bloom writes Eagles, Cattle and Gators--Welcome To HQ.

Employee Engagement: Karen at The Rising Sun writes How Much are Disengaged Employees Costing You?

FMLA: Kristen Frasch at HREOnline's The Leader Board writes Your Attendance Policies Could Buy You a Lawsuit. Frankly, I'd rather buy a brownie.

When to Quit: Lynne Dessert (who didn't write about food, but should have, given her name) at Elephants at Work writes Quitting or sticking: Smart decision or competitive advantage?

And When Never to Give Up: Mark Stelzner at Inflexion Advisors writes Don't Let Them Break You.

Company Culture: Prasad Kurian at Simplicity at the Other Side of Complexity writes Placebos, Paradoxes and Parables for Culture Change.

Video Interviewing: Laurie Ruettimann at the Cynical Girl writes Video Interviewing: Only the Good Looking Need Apply which tells me that I'll never get a job if I'm up against Laurie.

Humor: Andrew Tarvin at Humor that Works writes 5 Reasons to Use Humor in an Interview.

Compassion: Eric Meyer at The Employer Handbook writes A Compassionate Employer? Why Not?

Phones and Futures: Anders Northeved at Talented Apps writes Feb 21, 2012- Are You Ready? I'm not quite sure I'm ready for Feb 21, 2011, there Anders.

Talent Management: Amit Bhagria at Young HR Manager writes Talent Management Part II--Has Your Company Got Talent?

Succession Planning: Amy Wilson at Shiny and Useful writes Get your succession plans ready--2011 Will Be a Year of Change.


Thanks everybody! If I missed your post or spelled your name wrong or something, send me an e-mail and I'll fix it.

Carnival Poll

We're having a bit of a "discussion" behind the scenes regarding the Carnival of HR. The question is, should a host be able to require submissions on a certain theme, or should they just deal with whatever gets submitted.

My opinion is that I have no opposition to an occasional theme, but I wouldn't want it to be a requirement for every carnival. Some dates just scream theme. (Well, at least, to me, they do.)

So, vote in this poll. We'll go with whatever the consensus is.

Carnival of Human Resources Reminder!

Carmen at Race in the Workplace" is hosting the next Carnival of HR, which will be next Wednesday Because Carmen is not a procrastinator like I am, she would like submissions sooner rather than later--preferrably by Monday night.

Send your submissions to team at raceintheworkplace dot com. Make sure you put Carnival in the subject line.

Important Carnival of HR Update!

The Carnival of HR has a new home! Yeah! All the updates and info you need is over there.

Ask A Manager has taken over the responsibility of tracking and guiding the carnival. She's awesome.

Party on!