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Archive for March, 2009
Crappy Communication Makes Me Cry
Mar 31I got a press release from a company today (I won’t mention who) that included this sentence:
It also includes the only multi-channel enterprise feedback management (EFM) platform that incorporates voice-of the-customer and voice-of-the-employee to help companies capitalize on engagement to build better relationships.
Um…what? I know those are words, but Sarah Palin is Winston Churchill compared to this junk.
Communication lesson today: There are lots of words in the dictionary, but you can’t just jumble them any which way you want. That’s crazy talk.
Crazy HR Codes
Mar 31
Those of us who live in the Philadelphia have a particular love-hate (well, more of the latter than the former) feeling about SEPTA — Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Ask anyone around here and they have a train, bus or trolley horror story.
That’s why I cracked up when I read SEPTAfail Blog’s story on Twitter about a national company in the area that has an HR code for SEPTA tardiness. Yep, our public transportation system in the City of Brotherly Love is so unpredictable that there’s a special code for being Late-by-SEPTA.
That’s one of the funnier HR codes I’ve ever heard of. What crazy HR codes have you heard of that rival this one?
Twitter Power: Book Review
Mar 27
Who better to write a book that’s subtitled How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time than the fabulously-named Joel Comm? After all, Twitter is a communication device if there ever was one, even if it’s communication at 140 characters at a time.
In Twitter Power, Comm (man, I wish that were my last name. I’m in the communication business. Instead, all I’m qualified to write about, I guess, based on my last name, is the pest of the earth) writes about what Twitter can do for you and your business.
The book is really good for Twitter newbies and for people who have been using it for a while. Twitter Power outlines how to get started, how to gain followers, and how to get people to do what you want. (That’s the part I liked best — driving behaviors using Twitter.) The book is written very clearly and has nice illustrations/photos. I have to say one funny thing, though: It seems like it would be cool to write at least a chapter on Twitter. It’s kind of funny to read a whole book about something that has so few characters. It’s a small point in a book that’s really well done.
When you’re done reading Twitter Power, please add me. I’m @frankroche. (My two cents: Use your own name on twitter. The days of hiding are so 1999.)
10 Ways to Be Bold in HR Today
Mar 26Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever. — Napoleon Bonaparte
Doing something bold doesn’t always mean going crazy. Sometimes glory comes from doing little things lots of times. Here are 10 ways to be bold in HR today.
- Cut a meeting in half.
- Eat lunch with someone who isn’t in HR.
- Question what kinds of behaviors your bonus plans encourage.
- Look up the word “ombudsman.” Then, be one.
- Learn about one critical thing your company does to make money.
- Encourage all your employees to wear seatbelts — in their cars, taxis, or limos.
- Read up on EFCA.
- Think about what project you’re working on that should be spiked.
- Toss out one piece of HR jargon.
- Start with “engagement.”
What’s on your bold HR list today?
Have Your Played "Layoff"?
Mar 25
My buddy, Guillaume, sent me this note about the online game called Layoff:
Basically it is a game where you line up workers to lay them off. Each worker has a story you can read before laying them off. Businessmen cannot be laid off. I guess when you get too many businessmen remaining, you are unable to make any more layoffs. There is also a bailout button you can use. A game for the times I suppose.
Here’s what they say on the site:
Developed by members of the Tiltfactor Lab and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Game Design and Development program, LAYOFF is an examination of the current financial scandal.
LAYOFF uses a simple casual game paradigm to comment on the current state of the US financial crisis. Both friends and strangers face tough times in an unstable economy. Part dark humor, mostly grim portent, in the game players play from the side of management needing to cut jobs, and match types of workers in groups in order to lay the workers off and increase workforce efficiency.
It’s really worth checking out. It’s always worth thinking about layoffs.
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