I'm 100% in on HBO's "The Leftovers." 

The basic premise is that three years ago, 2% of the world's population simply vanished without a trace.  Three years later, there are no answers for what happened, and much of society is still coping and grieving over the loss of friends and loved ones.  A hierarchy of sorts develops (as well as a hidden backlash) based on the number of people one lost.  It is grim, but fascinating viewing (aside: I haven't yet read Tom Perrotta's novel for which the show is based).

Of course, I couldn't resist putting on my HR hat and imagining what the world of work looks like in the aftermath of the event.

The world's economy continues unabated (or does it?)

No mention is made of the initial economic impact of such an event.  Was GDP disrupted?  Three years later, grocery stores are still stocked with the usual array of cereals and other durable goods.  Pharmacies are still stocked to address appropriate medical needs.  People are still working and earning an income.

Of course, we see the rise of new businesses that attempt to profit from the situation.  There are conferences that host discussions on the possible causes of the event.  One company produces lifesize replicas of the departed for up to $40,000 (depending on how detailed you want the body to resemble the person you lost) that can be used as substitute body in a casket for a funeral.

Is it a recruiting boon or bust?
If 2% of the world's population disappeared, it is likely that, on average, organizations lost 2% of their employees.  Some may have lost more than others.  How do organizations replace that lost talent?  Does it thus lead to a war on talent?  Does it give recruiters a little more job security?  There are also many more individuals who decide to drop out of working altogther, but more on that later.

How are bereavement and leave policies applied?

With so many now "gone," how do organization deal with people taking time off from work to deal with the loss(es) they are grieving?  Do they apply sick leave?  Are EAP investments increasing?

How are survivors benefits handled?

The show noted that insurance companies are refusing to pay as there is no evidence the individuals actually died.  The government has stepped in and created "departure" benefits.  Bureaucrats go to the survivors homes and ask them a detailed 150+ question survey (in part to see if there is some commonality or correlation among those who left) to sift out frauds.

Is there career planning?

It doesn't appear to be a major concern for Generation Z, as there has been little to no discussion of career plans or college.


Your most engaged individuals will not necessarily be working for your organization

Perhaps the most fascinating part of the show is a group created in the aftermath of the departure called the Guilty Remnant.  They are comprised of individuals who essentially have dropped out of family and societal obligations; who feel guilty for not being chosen to be one of those who departed.  They do not speak.  They dress in all white (to set them apart).  They chain smoke (ostensibly because they believe the world ended on that fateful day three years ago, and so, why not smoke, since they believe they are likely to be raptured long before the smoking kills them).  They are 100% committed to their cause (though I em not sure where there economic support comes from).

What are your HR thoughts if 2% of the population disappeared?


 

Like most 8-12 year old boys growing up in the 1970s, I was an avid reader of Mad Magazine.  From Alfred E. Newman to Spy vs. Spy, Don Martin, and the Fold-In Back Cover, I looked forward to every issue.

One of my favorite regular features was Al Jaffee's "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions."  For a shy boy, I always wished I had the audacity to have the snarky comeback that Al Jaffee provided.

Like most professions, HR is not immune to receiving some ridiculous queries.  In that vein, here is the first edition of "Snappy Answers to Stupid HR Questions:"

Q: (after the company had a poor year)  Will I be getting a raise this year?

A1:  Yes, when you get back to your desk, your chair will be raised two inches higher

A2: Yes, we raise our glasses to you to celebrate your departure.  You've been laid-off.

A3: Raise?  We prefer to call it a zero adjustment approach.

A4.  The whole company is...we're razing the building next week.

A5. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Given my weak responses, what would be your answer? 

If you have other ridiculous questions, send them to me at mstollak@gmail.com.   I'll try to provide some snappy answers in the future.

(Spoiler alert - if you haven't watched the season finale of Sons of Anarchy, you may not want to read on).

The worst HR job in America might be the HR Director at Teller Motors.  Here's why:

*The job is located in Charming, CA, a town with a death rate that rivals Cabot Cove, ME

*It's family-owned, with a highly unstable family.  The current owner, Jax Teller,  shot and killed the former owner, his stepdad, Clay Morrow.   And the owner's mom, Gemma, just killed the owner's wife, Tara, with a carving fork.

*The owner is involved with many illegal activities, including guns, drug-running, and prostitution.

*Recruiting employees is tougher than a union closed shop in 1939.

*Employees are more likely to get killed by a member of the IRA than receive a company-sponsored IRA.

*Health care premiums are likely to skyrocket in the next year.  Given than Tara was a physician and provided care to the company employees gratis as well as stole supplies from the hospital in which she worked, the employees are likely in the market for a new doctor.

*Teller Motors has a very stringent orientation procedure.

*Most common reason for turnover?  Death.

*Most useless taxes paid?  FUTA and FICA. Most employees are unlikely to be fired and few are around long enough to collect Social Security.

*Forget about the AFT...the latest concern may be OSHA, who may put Teller Motors on their watch list for imminent danger after the company clubhouse was firebombed.

At least the company parties are off the hook.

We're rapidly approaching the 6th iteration of the HRevolution conference sponsored by Sumtotal, October 6th at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.

Steve Boese and Ben Eubanks have already shared their reasons for attending the event.

While all the sessions will likely be fantastic, for me, the session I am most looking forward to seeing is "What HR Can Learn from the Television Industry" with Kelly Kahl and Phil Gonzales.

Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime, oversees the planning and scheduling of all primetime programming for the CBS Television Network.  He also supervises coordination between CBS programming divisions and the network’s respective operations in sales, marketing, affiliate relations, news, sports and research, as well as with the CBS Television Station Group.

 Joining Mr. Kahl will be Phil Gonzales, Senior Vice President, Communications, for CBS, who oversees the network's publicity campaigns on behalf of primetime series, specials, longform, as well as late night and daytime programming.  He also serves as the media liaison for network activities in program development, casting and scheduling.

So, why should those in HR listen to these two?

To focus on promotion, public relations, and crisis management.  

Whether it is the firing of an employee at AOL or the recent issue with Applebee's firing a waitress over a tip, the importance of crisis management once again rears its head.  The TV industry deals with crises all the time (think Charlie Sheen's outburst and quitting over "Two and a Half Men)".  

Similarly, HR could always do a better job with promoting what it does. What would they suggest HR do to better improve its often battered image?  What is HR's pitch?  Does being in HR make, perhaps, good TV?

Find out the answer to these questions, and more, by attending the HRevolution event in October.  Click here for more information and to register.

Laurie Ruettimann and I love Human Resources in very different ways.  She is a consultant and disaffected practitioner.  I am a professor.  We have very different  messages for our chosen profession.

The HREvolution unconference will be taking place on October 6th at the Mandalay Bay in  Las Vegas (you can buy tickets here.  In the previous five years, the conference has been incredibly successful, growing from a small uenknown conference of 50 attendees in Louisville, KY in 2009 to its 6th iteration with 200+ attendees in October.  To explore why it has been so successful, I drew inspiration from Jonah Berger's book, "Contagious: Why Things Catch On."  

In Contagious, Berger identifies six key components (with the acronym STEPPS) that allow messages or ideas to go viral:

1.  Social Currency

To Berger, social currency allows to share things that make us look good.   "Knowing cool things....make people seem sharp and in the know."   One has to break the pattern people have come to expect.

The unconference experience of HREvolution challenges the typical HR event in that instead of being passive observers, attendees are encouraged to participate and take the discussion in a different direction  than the presenter may have originally intended....this is a good thing.  

Further, social currency makes people feel like insiders, due to the scarcity and exclusivity of the idea or event. The limited number of people that attended the first iteration of HREvolution in Louisville generated quite the stir and excitement that others wanted to belong.

2.  Triggers

Triggers are things that are at the top of our mind or on the tip of the tongue.  According to Berger, "give people a product they enjoy, and they'll be happy to spread the word."  One creates ongoing word of mouth, where people talk about it weeks later.

HREvolution certainly has brought a strong response from others.  Excitement is shared on Twitter, Facebook or a blog about the experience.   When each event is over, people want to know when it will be occurring again.  Check out at some of the HREvolution experiences people have shared in the past, and actively recruit others to attend.


3.  Emotion

An idea becomes contagious when we care enough to share it with others.  It creates what Berger describes as the "power of awe."  For an idea to become contagious, it must focus on feelings.

HREvolution concentrates on conversations that haven't or aren't this taking place.  Whether it focuses on eliminating of keeping the performance review or the intersection of politics, pop culture and HR, HREvolution creates high arousal emotions that drive people to action and inspire attendees by showing how they can make a difference.


4.  Public

Berger argues that "when we can see other people doing something, we're more likely to imitate it."  This is the power of observability.  When one follows the HREvolution hashtag, the conference advertises itself when one sees the passion and excitement that is being tweeted by the attendees, and those not in attendance.  Just ask Steve Browne how he felt about missing it.

 5.  Practical Value



Does the idea help people help others? Does it provide news one can use.  

Not only do people take back to the workplace ideas from HRevolution that can create actionable change, it is incredibly cheap to attend.  Thanks to the kind people at SumTotal Systems, the premier sponsor of the event, 50 tickets are available at an early bird discount of $125.  In addition, registering for HRevolution gets you a code for $600 off the registration fee (most promotional codes you'll see in the coming months will be in the $500 range) for the HR Technology Conference.  It's almost like you get to attend HRevolution for $25.

6.  Stories

"Is the idea embedded in a broader narrative that people want to share?  Is the story not only viral, but also valuable?"

"Bifurcation." "Creepers."  "Cinco De Wempen."  People who have attended HREvolution soon develop their own jargon and stories of their shared experience.  See, for yet another example, the HR Improv session was particularly popular. 

In sum, I hope you see how exciting the HREvolution conference can be.  I was one of the 50 original attendees in Louisville and moved from simple acolyte to co-planner for the past three years.

I hope to see you in Las Vegas in October.

© Rex Features / Chaz Gerretsen

It was with great sadness that I read this week about the passing of Ray Harryhausen, one of the icons of my youth. 

If the name is not familiar to you, you might at least be familiar with his special effects work in such films as Mighty Joe Young, It Came From the Sea, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Mysterious Island, One Million Years BC, and Clash of the Titans.  My personal favorites that I cherished as a youth were Jason & the Argonauts and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. 

And what makes him the most engaged employee ever?  He was a pioneer of stop-motion filmmaking.  Unlike the CGI work today, stop-motion filmmaking was a painstaking process requiring you to stage a scene and take a picture.  Then, you move an arm, and/or a leg, and/or a sword, and take another picture.  Repeat.  Given that the typical film speed is 24 frames per second, the ability to turn those micromovements into the illusion of motion is extremely time-consuming.

Take, for example, his work in the aforementioned Jason & the Argonauts.  To create the battle with the skeleton army, it took Harryhausen nearly four months, working seven days a week, mostly alone, to create the scenes.  Some days, he was only able to get 13 entire frames, less than a second of film, completed.


So, the next time an employee is complaining about the difficulty of their job.  Point him or her to the work of Mr. Harryhausen, and see if he/she will continue to be upset about his or her work.

Rest in peace.

Are you ready for a HR gameshow?

With unemployment hovering above 7%, and millions of people looking for a new opportunity, it was inevitable that someone would create a show focusing on the job search.  Premiering on CBS on Friday, February 8 at 8/7 Central,, Mark Burnett of "Survivor" fame and Michael Davies, the Executive Producer of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" have created "The Job," which centers on five qualified applicants who compete to land their dream job.

In the first episode, five individuals with varied restaurant experience vie for the Assistant Manager position at a legendary Palm Restaurant.  With a panel of three high-ranking Palm employees observing the candidates, a number of selection exercises are employed to cull the field:

• A work sample test - At a Palm Restaurant, the candidates are asked to carry several of the tasks that an Assistant Manager would be expected to perform
• A knowledge test - candidates are quizzed by the panel of three on their knowledge of the restaurant and the type of food served (for example, "Littleneck and Cherrystone are types of what food item?")
• Co-worker familiarity - Given the Palm's emphasis on a family work environment, 7-8 employees from the Palm are brought forward and the candidates are asked to give the name of three of the employees as well as their position at the Palm
• Final Interview - the panel asks the candidates typical questions about their fit for the job

Hey restaurants owners.

We get you're unhappy about some of the regulations in Obamacare that require you to provide basic health care to your employees who work over 30 hours a week.

How about you Taco Bell?

Johnna Davis has worked at the Taco Bell in Guthrie since September. She's seen a 200 dollar cut in her paycheck since a new store policy went into effect.

"What we were being told was one thing, and that was, ‘we're going to offer benefits, we'll just keep all of our full time employees and then come December, their whole story changed," Johnna Davis said.

She says her manager held a meeting before Christmas, saying employees' hours would be cut in the new year.

"They informed everybody that nobody was considered full-time any longer, that everybody was now considered part-time, and [they] would be cutting hours back to 28 hours or less due to Obamacare," Davis said.

Under the Affordable Care Act, companies are required to provide insurance to its full-time employees, or face fines. Davis would've qualified for an insurance plan.

What about you, Wendy's?

A fast-food chain is slashing employee hours so franchise owners don't have to pay health benefits. Around 100 local Wendy’s workers have learned their hours are being cut. A spokesperson says a new health care law is to blame.

“Thirty-six to 37 hours a week.” That's how many hours T.J. Growbeck works at the 84th and Giles Wendy's restaurant. The money he earns helps him pay for the basics, but that’s not the case for all his co-workers. “There are some people doing it trying to get by.”

The company has announced that all non-management positions will have their hours reduced to 28 a week. Gary Burdette, Vice President of Operations for the local franchise, says the cuts are coming because the new Affordable Health Care Act requires employers to offer health insurance to employees working 32-38 hours a week. Under the current law they are not considered full time and that as a small business owner, he can't afford to stay in operation and pay for everyone's health insurance.

A Denny's franchise owner threatened to put a 5% Obamacare surcharge on the menu, noting customers can take it out of the waitstaff tip

An Applebee's franchise owner threatened a hiring and building freeze. 

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter threatened that he has to raise the price of pizza $.14 to cover the costs (even though the company can afford to give away 2 million pizzas and the actual cost would be no more than $.10 a pie to provide health care to his employees).

Here's the thing...

1.  Costs go up all the time for restaurants, particularly when it comes to changes in the cost of ingredients to make the meals.  Just ask Buffalo Wild Wings, who've had to raise the cost of their chicken wings to offset the soaring price of chicken.  We as consumers are not happy about it...but we understand, particularly if you are transparent about the cost increase.

2.  When I, and other consumers, go to restaurants, not only do we hope for a delicious meal, we also hope that we don't get sick from it.   When 90% of employees in the food service industry are not provided sick leave, and you are now making it known that you are cutting hours to avoid providing health insurance to your employees, it lowers my confidence in the quality and care of what you are offering.  

If employees do not have health insurance, they are also not seeking health care when ill, and, with reduced hours, they are coming to work and handling the food that we all eat.

So, enjoy that pizza from Papa John's during the Super Bowl.  Just remember, you don't know who's been touching the cheese and whether they are healthy or not.

With 2012 coming to a close, its time to look back on the year in movies, TV, books, music, videogames, and food.  Over the course of the year, I viewed 107 movies, read 55 books, watched countless hours of TV, played countless hours of Angry Birds, listened to a lot of music, and ate a lot of food.  So, what tops the list in 2012?

Sight
The Best Things I Saw In 2012

1. Sherlock: Season 2, Episode 1 - A Scandal in Belgravia - The most exhilarating hour and a half of viewing this year.  Well-acted, great script.  Well-worth your time
2. Key & Peele: East/West College Bowl - I've seen it well over 30 times and it never fails to make me laugh out loud each time.
3. Bill Clinton, Democratic National Convention - One of the best speeches I have ever seen.

The Best Movies I Saw In 2012

1. Argo - Excellent effort from Ben Affleck
2. Moonrise Kingdom - A return to form from Wes Anderson
3. Cabin in the Woods - Forget "The Avengers," this was the better Joss Whedon film

"You're Not That Great" by Dr. Daniel Crosby

 In "That's Interesting: Towards a Phenomenology of Sociology and a Sociology of Phenomenology (1971)," Murray Davis distinguishes between two types of theories: "Interesting theories deny certain assumptions of their audience, while non-interesting theories affirm certain assumptions of their audience."

Building off his well-received TEDxHunstville talk (see below), Crosby takes the former approach to theory-building by taking on traditional assumptions about our daily lives with catchy chapter titles such as "You Are Not That Special," and "Your Ideas Aren't All That Original."  Similarly, Crosby discusses many psychological biases with well-placed examples and anecdotes that make the often abstract material accessible.  Highly recommended before you make your New Year's resolutions.


"Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality" by Jacob Tomsky


I always enjoy a peek into other people's jobs, and Jacob Tomsky's memoir provides an interesting look at the job of a hotel employee.  In "Heads in Beds," Tomsky describes what it is like to be a hotel valet, and a front line check-in clerk, as well as the inevitable run-ins with management figures, both the good and bad.  While he does give some pretty unethical advice about getting out of paying for your hotel movies and that minibar raid, the bottom-line, as with most service employees, is treat them well, and you will be treated well in return.

"The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever" by Alan Sepinwall

I'm an avid TV watcher....enough so that I often like reading recaps/reviews of the episodes soon after they appear.  The one TV critic I turn to most frequently is Alan Sepinwall, who posts his reviews at Hitfix.com.  So, when I read he had published a book, I knew it was a must grab...and it doesn't disappoint.  In "The Revolution Was Televised," Sepinwall examines 12  shows, such as "The Wire," The Sopranos," "Breaking Bad," and " "Battlestar Galactica," that have transformed television over the past 15 or so years.  What makes the book stand out is the behind-the-scenes look at the origins and evolution of each of the shows.  Check out this excerpt about the origins of "Lost."

The library is now closed.

Imagine, if you will, your sales and marketing team making broad claims of success for your organization - gaining significant market share, increasing sales volume, what have you.  However, at the end of the year, not only were they wrong, the were widely off the mark.  

What do you do?  Fire them?  Pat them on the back and say better luck next time?  What is their responsibility for their inaccurate claims?  Do they remain credible?

With that in mind, its been interesting to see the fallout from the 2012 election of a similar group of claim makers - the political pundit.  Think about it - their one job during an election year is to analyze the race.  They have the inside connections, the ear to the ground, the background that should be able to make more accurate predictions than simply throwing a dart at a dartboard.

On the one hand, you have Nate Silver, whose fivethirtyeight.com blog at the New York Times. Using statistical analyses and poll averaging on a daily basis, he laid out the likelihood of the outcome of the Presidential outcome as well as who would win the electoral votes in each state.  He was pilloried, particularly in the last few weeks of the race.  Joe Scarborough, on the Morning Joe show on MSNBC, took particular offense, stating on October 29, “Anybody that thinks that this race is anything but a tossup right now is such an ideologue, they should be kept away from typewriters, computers, laptops and microphones for the next 10 days, because they’re jokes.”

Mr. Silver was more than willing to back up his claims, offering Mr. Scarborough a bet on Twitter of $1000 on the outcome of the race.  

On the other hand, take Peggy Noonan, for example.  In her Wall Street Journal blog on November 5, she wrote:

Who knows what to make of the weighting of the polls and the assumptions as to who will vote? Who knows the depth and breadth of each party’s turnout efforts? Among the wisest words spoken this cycle were by John Dickerson of CBS News and Slate, who said, in a conversation the night before the last presidential debate, that he thought maybe the American people were quietly cooking something up, something we don’t know about.

I think they are and I think it’s this: a Romney win.....All the vibrations are right.....

And, what did these not-so-good vibrations cost Noonan?  Was she taken off the Wall Street Journal beat?  Did she take a two-week humility break to contemplate how she could be so wrong?

No...she was on "Face the Nation" the Sunday immediately following the election.  Yesterday, she was a panel member of This Week with George Stephanopoulos on ABC.  

In essence, the political and professional price paid was...NONE.

One of the more interesting creations in the aftermath of the elections is this tumblr: Pundit Shaming.

Review the list....speak to me about the importance of credibility in business, and I'll point you to this list, and ask why should I care.

Most people are familiar with stories about a performer making outrageous demands in their contract, such as having only certain kinds of food and/or drink back stage.  The most famous of these stories involve Van Halen and removal of brown M&M's from the candy bowl.

According to the latest issue of Mental Floss magazine, there was a more practical reason for this request:

Far from a diva demand, the candy clause was a brilliant safety feature.  Van Halen shows required tons of gear that required specific fixtures to run safely.  One look at the M&Ms told the band's manager whether the venue had read the whole contract: Brown candy meant potentially deadly working conditions.

So, what's the lesson?  Check your assumptions.  Could the person you are working with truly be a diva?  Sure.  But, there might be some method to his or her madness....or you could be like Nigel Tufnel:

Welcome to the latest edition of the Carnival of HR.  There is a veritable cavalcade of HR knowledge provided from a bevy of HR Subject Matter Experts ready for your perusal.  Cue the Deer.

Some Questions

Mervyn Dinnen at T Recs wonders "Is Success Overrated?"  Check out the link to find out his perspective.

Chris Young at the Rainmaker Group asks "Employee Engagement: Just How Screwed Up Is Your Team?" 

Ian Welsh at Toolbox.com wonders "Could We Improve Recruiting Quality By Recording Interviews?"

Our own HR Minion, Shauna Moerke, examines career transitions and queries "Who Do You Want To be Tomorrow?"

At Lean HR, Dwane Lay asks "The Santa Claus Question."

Some Answers

At Envisia Learning, Wally Bock gives us "Two Simple Ways to Help Managers"
  
At the HR Schoolhouse, Robin Schooling gives us the skinny on "What the 'HR Community' is REALLY Talking About."

At the HR reMix, Melissa Fairman provides some life lessons in "Everyone Should Get Laid Off Once."

At Insight, Nancy Saperstone looks at "Office Politics that Work - Improve Employee Productivity."

With the 2012 American football season in full swing, Tim Gardner, in his The HR Introvert blog, looks at "One Employee's Passion is Another's Loss of Inclusion."

At Upstart HR, Ben Eubanks examines the "Benefits of Team Building."

At Julie WG, Julie Winkle Giuloni gives us the lowdown on "Creative Crossings: Where Employee Development and Career Development Converge."

At Canadian HR Reporter, Stuart Rudner warns us to "Beware the Dangers of Templates."

At Everyday People, the Godfather Steve Browne tells us to ditch the labels and "Go Tagless!!"

At Great Leadership, Dan McCarthy gives us some history in "Managing Remote Employees: Lessons from Ancient Rome and Today."

At the Curious Cat blog, John Hunter wants us to "Manage Better By Managing Less."

At Mentoring Mullarkey, Patrick Mullarkey gleans some good HR info from the Police Academy movies in "Carey Mahoney: The L&D Professional That We All Want To Be."

Some Numbers

At her self-titled blog, Jesse Stoner gives us "The Five Steps of CRISP Decision-Making."

At Thin Difference, Jon Mertz examines "How to Navigate Life in Work - Six Considerations."


At the Inflexion Advisors blog, Mark Stelzner provides us with "7 Steps to Surviving HR Vendor Consolidation."

At Tribe HR, Paul Baribeau demonstrates no triskaidekaphobia with "13 Ways to Get Your Employees To Tune Out."

At People Equation, Jennifer Miller goes from A to Z in "26 Ways To Be A Better Boss."

******

Don't forget - there is a special Carnival of HR next Wednesday, September 19.  It is being hosted by Ann Bares at the Compensation Cafe.  So tune in next week....same time, different channel.

At the beginning of the year, Laurie Ruettimann argued the word of 2012 was Manifesto.

However, it took Todd Akin's specious understanding of science to make me realize the word of the year was "legitimate."

Much of the 2012 election is really about the legitimacy of the Obama administration, as well as those who vote.

Akin's poor choice of words try to differentiate a word that should not be parsed - rape.  Whether he meant forcible or legitimate, he was trying to diminish certain situations resulting in pregnancy as not worthy of abortion coverage.

We see legitimacy as well in the significant number of voter ID laws being passed across the country.  Despite the virtual absence of voter fraud in elections, those individuals without an ID will not be seen as legitimate voters in the eyes of the their local polling place (even though most have been able to vote in several previous elections without a problem).

 “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place where both of us were born and raised,” is the latest salvo by Mitt Romney to delegitimize the Obama presidency by enlisting the birther movement and insinuating that Obama was not born in the United States.  Therefore, he is not a natural-born citizen and does not have the legitimate right to be President.

We see this in human resources as well.

The continued use (10+ years running) of the phrase "seat at the table" concerns HR's legitimacy as a prime business function.

Recruiting and the search for the elusive "purple squirrel" of candidates is an attempt to identify legitimate candidates that many not exist.


What's legitimate in your world?

I like Aaron Sorkin shows and movies.  I watched "The West Wing" and "Sports Night" regularly.    I thought "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was an interesting mistake.  I enjoyed the script for "The Social Network."

However, in watching his latest endeavor, "The Newsroom,"  he is guilty of using a device that drives me up the wall....having private conversations in front of other co-workers.

Whether it is about relationships, or, even worse, dressing down a subordinate, these conversations are held in the audience of other friends or peers.  You can see the pained expressions in those friends and co-workers' eyes, the awkwardness that ensues, and rarely, if ever, is there a follow-up scene with an apology for the inappropriateness of the conversation.

While you think it makes for good TV or movies, it makes for bad management.

Please stop.

Yes, I'm channeling my inner Kreskin and making the prediction that employee recognition will be one of, if not THE major workplace issue in 2022.

Why?

This:

For over 30 years, Wreck-It Ralph has been doing the same job as the "bad guy" in a popular video game.  As he states, "it starts to be hard to love your job, when no one else seems to like you for doing it."  He decides to leave his own game to become a hero in another.

It features the tagline, "The story of a regular guy....just looking for a little wreck-ognition."

Not only does it feature many beloved video game characters (Q-bert, Pac-man, Bowser, Sonic), it is the 52nd animated feature from Disney, which means marketing will be through the roof.  With a release date of November 2, expect kid demand to be heavy through Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So, as the next generation of workers reach working age, don't be surprised in 2022 when you see a greater demand for recognition on the job.  They just want to be like Wreck-It Ralph.