The date was March 5, 1987. My mom was in Northbrook, Illinois beginning her training as an Allstate agent for what seemed like a never-ending three weeks. I was eleven years old and staying with my grandmother. I loved my grandmother. She was the best grandmother ever. This is mostly because she made me guava-paste-and-cream-cheese crackers every night much to my mother’s chagrin. Her greatness was cemented as she fell asleep while I sugared up. She didn’t even bat an eye when I stayed up past 1AM watching late night television. In one fell swoop I was mystified by the wonders of Carnac the Magnificent and the deadpan comedic stylings of a man from Indiana. Yes, I ended my night watching Letterman and his guests—two odd magicians in suits with the most unusual act I’d ever seen (aka Penn & Teller). 
I think my mother was upset with her mother and that’s because I was hooked. Between stupid animal tricks and Top 10 lists I would forever delight in the interplay between Letterman and his audience. I know he is an imperfect man and that he’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Love him or hate him there is one irrefutable fact—he was the prince of late night television only overshadowed by Carson himself. For many in my generation, David Letterman changed the way we look at culture by bringing an irreverent tone with acerbic wit that we now expect from others like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
For me, nothing embodied Letterman’s genius more than the Top 10 list. I pay tribute to my favorite profession and acknowledge Dave’s retirement with a Top 10 list of my own. Without further ado, I give you the Top 10 reasons you know you are in HR and love it.
You know you are in HR and love it if:
10. An employee actually thanked you for helping them pick the right health care coverage.
9. No one has threatened to harm another employee in more than 24 hours.
8. You reminded employees about the engagement survey and only half the room groaned.
7. You only had four complaints a day about the CEO's nephew being appointed to the SVP of Communications role.
6. Your boss was out of office and you solved a major problem without any interference.
5. You had six meetings today and none of them involved employee relations issues.
4. No one caught the crazy typo in the mandatory sexual harassment training--never let autocorrect change "harassment" to "healing."
3. Your strategic workforce plan for diversifying the skill set of your sales team only elicited 32 questions from leadership instead of the customary barrage of 96 questions meant to derail your plan and dampen your spirits.
2. You did not need to bring your Kevlar jacket to work on the first day of performance review meetings.
1. Your idea changed the face of the organization and resulted in recognition from your peers who previously referred to you as "Chief Party Planner" and "The Warm and Fuzzy Compliance Cop" behind your back.
I hope you enjoyed this tribute as much as I did. What are your reasons for loving your career in HR?
Alexander Alonso, PhD, SHRM-SCP is the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) Chief Knowledge Officer leading operations for SHRM's Certified Professional and Senior Certified Professional certifications, research functions, and the SHRM Knowledge Advisor service. He is responsible for all research activities, including the development of the SHRM Competency Model and SHRM credentials.
During his career, he has worked with numerous subject matter experts worldwide with the aim of identifying performance standards, developing competency models, designing organizational assessments, and conducting job analyses. He was also responsible for working on contract task orders involving the development of measurement tools for content areas such as job knowledge (like teacher knowledge of instructional processes) and organizational climates (like organizational climate forecasting in military health care).
Dr. Alonso received his doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida International University in 2003. His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world issues. They include being recognized by the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the APA; SIOP) with the 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for the development of the federal standard for medical team training, TeamSTEPPS; being awarded a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for supporting the development of competency model for team triage in emergency medicine; and receiving the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award.
Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, People and Strategy, Personality and Individual Differences, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Human Resources Management Review. He has also authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, as well as co-authoring Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice.
Dr. Alonso also served as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for The Industrial Psychologist and HR Magazine. In addition, he has served on several professional society boards including the SIOP and the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.
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