Subterranean HR Blues

Can I brag for just a second?

Subterranean HR Blues (embedded video) makes me want to pop my buttons I’m so proud. It’s not about the product, which I think is terrific. It’s about my colleagues at IFRACTAL.

We talked about making a variation on Bob Dylan’s iconic Subterranean Homesick Blues in our shop. Because we’re the the HR communication business, we thought we could boil down everything we needed to say about it and how we do it into two minutes. It worked.

Here’s how it happened. We talked about it on a Friday. By the following Monday, Agent 94 (Bethany Marzewksi) wrote the lyrics. We test drove them during the week (we’ll show some outtakes soon). Everyone at our shop pitched in to make the signs you see in the video. From there, Andy Schulz recorded the vocals and guitar tracks. Furley (Dan Kruse) laid down the tambourine line while he worked as the audio engineer. Shawn Hileman made the sound file pop. Jessica Chappell, Agent 94, Furley and Shawn Hileman stood outside in the freezing cold yesterday to make a movie of Andy flipping the cards. Then, Andy came inside and edited the film you see here. Furley posted it on our IFRACTAL site. It was a great day.

The really cool part is this that every one of those people has a day job. They’re writers, graphic designers and UX specialists. And they’re whiz kids. We’re really lucky.

HR lesson of the day: Hire superstars. You’ll never be disappointed.

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If you like the video, would you mind rating it on YouTube? That would be a big favor to me and I’d really appreciate it. Leave a comment if you have time — our guys would love to hear from you.

Subterranean HR Blues
Johnny gets his payment,
Ratin’ all his fellow men.
We’re here to prevent,
All his micromanagement.
The man’s called “career coach”
Here’s his approach:
“Incentivize” the big folks,
Drive all the others broke.
Look out kid,
It’s somethin’ you did.
Bad HR
Won’t get you very far.
You’re better off as a salesman
Tryin’ to sell a used car.
The gang at iFractal calls things
What they are:
Cut out yearly reviews,
To get your superstars.

Maggie works Theory X:
“Sell facts, not sex.”
Addin’ up the paychecks,
Finds no friends with benefits.
Overuses cliché,
On her two-page resume.
Dreads commuting every day,
Wishes that her work was play.
Look out kid,
Don’t matter what you did.
If you’re the next Van Gogh,
You belong at Zappos.
Better stay away from those
That think in terms of quid pro quo.
Not one, “Hello!”
From the CEO.
Drop a line to us sometime,
‘Cuz HR’s something we know.

Ah, raise the bar, raise hell
Tell the pattern, “Farewell!”
Rethink, rebel,
Go in for the hard sell.
Take dares, play fair.
Work hard, tell tales.
Set sail, derail.
Never be afraid to fail.
Look out kid.
At what we all did
We’re leaders, readers,
Cupcake eaters,
Nothin’ like Wall Streeters.
We spend Fridays
Out at Parc café.
Follow our careers
We’re HR pioneers.

Ah guitars, rock stars,
New rules, old school, keep it cool.
No shame, nicknames,
Play the most dangerous game.
Repeat, retweet, respect,
No debt, no sweat.
Schfifty high fives
On the day we broke the Internet.
Look out kid
We’re made to stick.
We’re short and we’re sweet.
We’ll knock you off your feet.
Our work’s concrete.
That’s the word on the street.
We wanna make a change,
In communication exchange.
You’ll have more fun,
With the real HR elite.

About the Author

Frank Roche

Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.

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