Q: Every year around this time, I sit down to write goals for the following year. Because the economy is improving and more companies are hiring, for the first time in a while I’m considering leaving my job. It’s not a bad job -good benefits, pays the bills- but it’s something I’ve held onto because there were few choices. How do I know if it’s the right time to leave?
Archive
December 2015
In 2015, the SHRM Foundation awarded over 140 scholarships to deserving HR practitioners. New for 2016, the Foundation will award over 200 scholarships! The SHRM Foundation provides scholarship funding for rising HR professionals seeking certifications and degrees.
Meet Melissa:
The title of this post is kind of a no-brainer right? You would think. Yet, companies all over the world put up a smoke and mirrors show through the interview process only for an excited candidate to take the job and find a very different reality.
So here’s my plea. Stop lying about your company culture.
While shopping for a book for his granddaughter one holiday season, Eric Harvey pondered the leadership abilities of Santa Claus–whose global toy manufacturing and distribution business enjoys legendary status. What are the secrets to his success?
An employer’s guide to establishing or maintaining profitable traditions
I know this may sound presumptuous, but I have one of the best HR jobs ever !! It has definitely been the best of my career. One of the highlights is that I meet weekly with my boss who is part of the C-Suite. Now, don’t start to shudder thinking this is going to be another one of those “seat at the . . . ” posts.
In 2015, the SHRM Foundation awarded SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition scholarships to HR professionals from each of the five regions of the U.S.—the Northeast, Southeast, North Central, Southwest Central and the Pacific West.
Edna Lugo was one of the five scholarship recipients—this is her SHRM Foundation story.
Meet Edna:
“We are chameleons, and our partialities and prejudices change place with an easy and blesses facility, and we are soon wonted to the change and happy in it.” ~Mark Twain
For as long as I’ve been working, and I know much longer than that, there has been talk of how to change and evolve the workplace. I guess it is human nature to find flaws in things and think we can make it better. How then is the actual act of changing something so challenging? In the face of change, why do many of us balk and cling to the less-than-perfect current state?
During the 2015 SHRM Volunteer Leaders’ Summit, one of the activities I participated in was a visit to Capitol Hill. I’ve visited the Hill before but it had been a long time so I wanted to do it again.
I gave a presentation the other day, on behalf of ComplyRight on how companies can incorrectly classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Many companies think that using independent contractors is a prudent way of doing business. It reduces an employer’s liabilities, keeps costs down and provides greater flexibility than might be achieved by hiring an employee. It is indeed a great option AS LONG AS YOU DO IT CORRECTLY.
At the end of the year most American employees are gearing up for the holidays, shopping, attending social gatherings and scheduling vacations. Meanwhile, you may find many HR professionals working diligently to prepare for the year ahead. In December, HR professionals are finalizing year-end payroll, annual reviews, open enrollment, year-end audits and other forward thinking strategic initiatives to support business operations.
Metro of the Month: Houston
The recent decline in oil prices has slowed growth in the energy-heavy Houston region, but unemployment in the area remains low as other industries have expanded.
Human resources professionals are going to be busy in 2016.
As 2015 comes to a close, it’s time to focus on what we think are the hot topics for 2016. Whether you call them predictions, prognostications, or whatever, senior management wants to know where human resources should be spending their time. It drives strategy, goals and budgets.
Here are three areas that I believe HR will be focused on in the year to come.
It’s almost 2016.
Mobile job search and candidate experience go hand in hand. But some employers are slow to recognize this. Take Facebook for example. Many Human Resources and recruiting professionals still think of Facebook as just personal. But job seekers report Facebook is their top social network.
In 2015, the SHRM Foundation awarded over 140 scholarships to deserving HR students and practitioners. New for 2016, the SHRM Foundation will award over 200 scholarships! Applications for certification scholarships are now being accepted, deadline for submissions is December 21, 2015.
Beverly is one of the 140 SHRM Foundation scholarship recipients. She is a seasoned HR professional who is passionate about the profession and thankful for the support of her family.
If a job candidate looks perfect on paper, HR professionals, recruiters and hiring managers should be wary. Sometimes in an attempt to stand out, an applicant makes an unforgivable misstep—lying or exaggerating on his or her resume.
You’ve probably just wrapped up your plans for 2016 and would like to focus on executing for a successful year. Instead of waiting until late next year to begin the planning process once again, I want to challenge HR leaders to plan now for the next several years.
By Erica Keswin. Compiled by Desda Moss.
Here are five books that changed the way I think about working relationships:
1. Are You Fully Charged? The 3 Keys to Energizing Are You Fully Charged? by Tom Rath (Silicon Guild, 2015).
We have seen the “power” of video increase over the last few years. YouTube has over a billion viewers and YouTube on mobile alone reaches more 18-49 year olds than any cable network. Additionally, 80% of YouTube viewers are outside the US. Given those numbers will video technology become a powerful tool for HR?
Recruiting
On December 9, @shrmnextchat chatted with SHRM experts Dr.
Marcus Buckingham chats with Craig Fisher at the 2015 SHRM annual conference about his research that shows performance management is broken and that we determine promotions and raises in the workplace based on bad data. He also discusses how he rebuilt his company, TMBC, to better address these issues at a team leader level by strategically combining technology and coaching to help organizations know and grow.
As the demand for talent intensifies, 2016 will see new challenges as organizations race to innovate and refine their human capital management strategies to remain competitive in the new world of work.
Several factors are influencing the massive revolution that’s occurring in the global workforce and workplace, and HR professionals will require new competencies to strategically evolve their organizations to keep up with all this change.
The SHRM Foundation provides certification scholarships for HR professionals seeking SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP certifications. Applications for certification scholarships are now being accepted for the spring testing window.
The U.S. labor market has continued to add jobs this year, and in recent months the unemployment rate has fallen to levels not seen since 2008. And yet, there is plenty of evidence that hiring could be even stronger: Job openings in our country’s labor force remain at near-record levels, and many HR professionals have cited challenges with finding qualified applicants for their vacancies.
I am sad that I have to publish such a post, but given the recent events in Paris and now Southern California I think it is prudent to pay attention to such situations. A very timely article appeared in the blog The Art of Manliness written by Brett and Kate McKay. I am going to summarize some of the points they made in their blog and will then refer you to their writing for further explanation.
These days, it seems like Google just about runs the universe. Many of us use Google ubiquitously, including Gmail for communication, Google Maps to figure out where we're heading and seek answers to life's quandaries through that familiar search page.
Yet, there's another reason to talk about Google: the workplace.
It's the firm's company culture and army of talent that fuels the innovative, revolutionary developments we've come to love. Indeed, the organization has a skilled, creative workforce, and it understands how to bring out the best in its team.
Thanksgiving has come and gone. That time of year when family is so extremely important....
We gather our brood, put on our worst sweater and head over to Grandma's for the world's finest home cooking.... we have a few too many classes of wine, say what's really on our mind and storm off before the pumpkin pie is served.
On December 2, @shrmnextchat chatted with Jonathan Segal (@jonathan_hr_law) about The Holidays: Maximizing the Joy and Minimizing the Risk.
In case you missed this helpful (and amusing!) chat about how HR can handle the holidays, you can read all the great tweets here:
Women aren’t to blame for their own lack of advancement at work. Failure to lean in and greater responsibility for child care don’t fully explain why women aren’t reaching the top levels of many corporations.
The difficulty women experience networking with male colleagues and senior male executives is a major culprit behind women’s lack of advancement.
Today is #GivingTuesday, a globally recognized day to celebrate and encourage charitable giving. We ask you to choose today, #GivingTuesday, to give back to your profession through a tax-deductible gift to the SHRM Foundation. And please encourage others to do the same.

You are a beleaguered HR professional charged with making the holidays lively without inviting lawsuits. On the day of your company’s holiday party, you walk into the lobby of your building and see the elegant Christmas pine that you helped decorate. As you behold it in its twinkling glory, a co-worker says, “That tree is inappropriate in the workplace.”