You Know You’re Old in HR When…
Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2007 by Frank RocheToday is Guy Kawasaki’s birthday, and he did a fascinating post called You Know You’re Getting Old When…. It’s a fun read. I even contributed three to the mix. Go have a look. You’ll get a laugh. In that spirit, here are a few HR-related “you know you’re old when” statements.
You know you’re old in HR when…
- You remember when HR was called “personnel.”
- You remember that human capital were called people. (Soylent Green was people, too.)
- Engagement meant that people were getting married.
- You could work your way up, and it wasn’t by climbing a career ladder.
- MBOs were in vogue, and you loved them.
- Stock option scandals didn’t happen because people didn’t get stock options.
- You did what you were told to do because you were part of Generation GET-TO-WORK.
- You doled out twice annual double-digit increases in the 1980s.
- You lived through the rise of self-directed teams, the end of self-directed teams.
What other things let you know you’re old in HR when…?
UPDATE: Guy Kawasaki reads The Best of You Know You’re Old When. Some of them are really funny. Your truly even rates a mention. 
JT
Aug 30th, 2007
Wearing a tie to work meant that you had been promoted to manager and not that you work for a CEO who is younger than your dog.