10 Reasons You Should Be Thankful for HR

If you’re not in HR, here are 10 reasons you should be happy that you know your friendly human resources professional.

  1. Paychecks. You didn’t think that your pay was determined by little elves who then magically printed your check right month in and month out, did you?
  2. Fairness. Sure, you complain about HR, but who’s the first one you run to when things don’t seem fair? You know.
  3. Training. There are people you never even heard of in your company who work in Learning and Development. Know what they do? They design those training classes that help you advance your career.
  4. Benefits. They “owe” you benefits, right? I don’t think so. A lot of HR pros spend countless hours toiling to make sure that your benefits go for the greater good. And, surprise, they haggle with insurance companies on your behalf.
  5. Vacation. You might be surprised to find out that a company doesn’t have to offer vacation or pay you for it. HR pros work for you to make your time off policies be competitive, the best for you, and the most financially responsible for the company.
  6. Disability. Sure, there are government mandates for disability, but there’s also HR in your corner helping you through your disability. You don’t call your manager when you have to go on long-term disability, do you?
  7. Coworkers. Look left; look right. See those people working alongside you? Thank HR. They’re the ones who have to plan staffing and recruit candidates. Then they prepare the offer letter. Onboard the new people. Exit the bad ones.
  8. Reviews. I know, you hate performance reviews. I do too. But guess what? If HR weren’t there to move performance reviews along, that schmuck that you’d been working next to for the last three years would still be there. Keep the goods ones and dump the bad ones. Who do you call? HR.
  9. Increases. Sure, your manager makes decisions about your merit increase. But where did that money come from? HR compensation spends a lot of time making sure that money and headcount match. And they watch the market to make sure it’s fair. Result: More money in your pocket.
  10. Bonuses. Hello, Bonus. Hey, isn’t that the most beautiful of seasons? Here’s the broken record, but guess who’s behind that glorious bonus check? You know it. Your friends in HR, who are watching competitive pay practices across the world and are talking about the business effects with managers. (Those of you who got huge stock option grants in the late 1990s should hit your knees every day and be thankful.)

Well, it’s Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S. If you’re working tomorrow, how about giving a little thanks to HR? They deserve it. They’re not all turkeys, no matter what you might think.

Scientific Web Design

I was recently asked about the scientific basis for web design. Here it is.

Virtual Web Hosting just summarized a set of scientific studies on web usage in a post they titled Scientific Web Design: 23 Actionable Lessons from Eye-Tracking Studies. There you go.

Billion Dollar Idea for HR: Cut Meetings in Half

SawIf you’re an HR leader and want to do something that will significantly impact the bottom line at your company, here it is: Cut meetings in half.

Cut Meetings in Half; Save a Billion Dollars
HR can develop a staffing plan to save mountains of cash and small cities worth of headcount. Here’s how: Create a Cut it in Half campaign. Sell the idea to the CFO and CEO. Look like a hero.

Cut it in Half: The Mantra
Half the people.
Half the time.

Imagine how much more productivity you could get from your white collar employees if you challenged (okay, I mean “demanded”) meeting organizers to cut the number of attendees in half. Then cut the meeting time in half. If all meetings in your place are scheduled for an hour, make 30 minutes the rule. If eight people are deemed “necessary,” invite them, then when the group arrives at the meeting, make four of them leave. Half the people; half the time.

This isn’t nuts. It’s reality. Managers become senior managers when their calendars are fully booked. How does that make any sense? I’m not saying that all meetings are a waste, just half of each of those meetings. So get on with it. Half the people; half the time. How hard would that be? Hey, recruiters, want to cut down on your workload and look for qualified candidates rather than warm bodies to fill seats at meetings? Half the people; half the time.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Credit: Image source]

Unique Isn’t Always What It’s Cracked Up to Be

Unique

In case anyone confuses “unique” with valuable.

NB: I’m sorry I don’t know the original source of this. Is it Despair, Inc? If anyone knows, please send me a note or leave a comment and I’ll do a proper citation. I didn’t come up with this myself.

Social Service Idea for HR: One Laptop Per Child

Girl LaptopI just clicked my order for the Give One, Get One promotion for One Laptop Per Child. Here’s how it works:

One learning child. One connected child. One laptop at a time.

The mission of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege. Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. During this time, you can donate the revolutionary XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution.

I’ve been following Nicholas Negroponte’s idea for a while now. And now it’s come into being.

We’re going to give away the one we get to a child in Philadelphia. Wouldn’t it be a great idea to get people in your organization to participate? If you’re in HR, you can send out a quick note to let everyone know about the promotion. One laptop goes to a developing nation, and one goes to the employee. Imagine the possibilities if those laptops were given away, too. Laptops and learning are a heckuva lot better than guns and ammo. Four hundred dollars seems like a small price to pay to change two lives.

OLPC

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