You Can Fly Without ID

For all you harried HR generalists out there who are waiting in security lines at airports around the country — put away your IDs. Or at least the next time you travel, know that you can get through security lines faster without ID. Here’s how.

(Um, there’s no law that says you have to have ID to fly on U.S. airplanes. They just started asking and we complied. “Surely you can’t be serious. I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”)

How Many People Wandered In One Hour Late Today?

March Hare
It’s the first work day of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S. for 2008. I wonder how many people wandered in one hour late today with a little scambo about “Oh, I didn’t know they changed the clocks!

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]

HR Should Use Social Bookmarking: Here’s How

Here’s more brilliance from CommonCraft. This video is called Social Bookmarking in Plain English.

Video thumbnail. Click to play
Click To Play

There’s a communication lesson embedded in this video as well. Look at how the CommonCraft people mix electronics, video, and paper cutouts in a compelling and fast-paced way. In addition, they show people how to sign up for del.icio.us and use social bookmarking.

I use a TON of social bookmarking for gathering HR-related news items for KnowHR Blog. You can look at the things I save on del.icio.us here. I’ve bookmarked 587 sites there. Please add me to your del.icio.us network if you’re on or if you sign up.

I also use Google Reader as a social bookmarking site. You can see what I save on that one here.

I’m also on Facebook. You can see my profile here. Again, please add me as a friend if you’d like. It’s all about being social!

What Everybody in HR Ought to Know About RSS

Last week I wrote What Everybody in HR Ought to Know About Blogs and How To Read Them Fast. That article got a lot of airplay and it seemed like it worked. I suggested that everyone should stop reading KnowHR Blog - at least in the conventional way - and our RSS readership spiked 25% right away. Cool.

So, when I saw this video on Open Culture called RSS in Plain English, I thought it was the perfect complement to the other article. You could call this What Everybody in HR Ought to Know About RSS. If you want to keep up with the best and brightest writing in HR, here’s a simple explanation of how to do it. With RSS (really simple syndication) the news comes to you instead of you looking for something new.

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