Growing up in East Lansing, MI and the Michigan State campus, one of the more polarizing figures was one Mark Grebner.

Thirty years before the advent of sites such as "Rate My Professors," he was self publishing "Rating the Profs," a short paperback that was available for purchase at the MSU Student Book Store to assist students in avoiding the "harder" professors (several were rated as "A Real Bastard!").

He has also ran successfully for  County Commissioner for many years under the slogan, "No Worse Than The Rest."  Which made me think...

Is this a winning slogan for HR as well?

Our HR strategy?...no worse than the rest
Our time to fill?...no worse than the rest
Our candidate pool? ....no worse than the rest
How do we train and develop our employees? ...no worse than the rest
How do we keep our employees safe? ....no worse than the rest
Our recognition program? ...no worse than the rest
Our compensation system?...no worse than the rest
Where do you rate the employees? ....no worse than the rest

Does it work?

Facing personnel problems (in this case, the star RB of the Detroit Lions, Jahvid Best, was suffering from a concussion), the Lions and Philadelphia Eagles engaged in a common practice - the trading of employees.  However, the trade had an uncommon result.  According to ESPN,

Detroit's trade with Philadelphia that exchanged seldom-used veteran running backs Ronnie Brown and Jerome Harrison has been voided.

Two league sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the trade was voided because Harrison has previously undisclosed health issues.

Brown arrived in Detroit but never got to practice.

Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said the team would have no further comment.

The Eagles announced Tuesday they dealt Brown to Detroit for Harrison and an undisclosed pick in the 2013 draft. Detroit wouldn't confirm the move because the franchise doesn't until deals are done.

The Lions were looking forward to adding Brown to a backfield that might be without starting running back Jahvid Best for a while. He had his third concussion Sunday in a loss to San Francisco.

Certainly, it was unlikely Detroit was trying to pull a fast one on the Eagles, particularly since most trades of this nature are contingent on the results of a physical.

However, it got me wondering why we don't see trades among employees more often outside of the sporting arena?  Could Ford make a play for a senior accountant at Chrysler?  Could Amazon be angling for an up and coming software engineer at Google?

Certainly, a number of things limit the possibility of such trades in the business world, such as:
1) Size of organizations - the sporting arena have limits on the number of employees to possibly cover.  There are only 30 Major League Baseball teams, with roster limits during the season of 26 players.  There are only 32 NFL teams, with roster limits of 53 players.  Organizations with 1,000+ employees were make such scouting very difficult

2) Transparency of performance - Pro athletes performance are on display on a regular basis.   Turn on the television on Sunday afternoons in the Fall (particularly on DirecTV) and you can see how an employee with another organization is performing.   It is tough to see how Bill in accounting is doing at another organization.

However, what would the business world look like if such trading became commonplace?  Would workers be more anxious knowing they could possibly be moving to another organization at a moment's notice?  Would that increase or decrease performance levels?  Would it create a whole new cadre of performance scouts evaluating talent at other employers?  Could it address potential staffing imbalances, as one organization may be flush with sales professionals while another could have extra HR managers?  Who would create the Trade Value Chart  that would assess comparable value of different charts?

And, would we see trades like we've seen in Major League baseball where players have been traded for a set of bats or a turkey?

I'm not sure I want to wake up tomorrow knowing that I've been traded to Lawrence University for a fax machine and a set of Bic pens.

Working at a liberal arts college, it is hard not to escape discussion of the liberal arts or Western canon.  Also sometimes described as Great Books, Mortimer Adler put together three criteria for a tome to be part of the group:

1.  The book must have contemporary significance - is it relevant to today's times
2.  The book is inexhaustible - one could always pick it up and derive new meaning and benefits from it
3.  The book is relevant is to a large number of the great ideas and great issues that have occupied the minds of thinking individuals for a significant period of time.

With that in mind, is there a "Human Resource Canon"comprised of great writings that all HR professionals should read or have read.  What HR book is significant, inexhaustible, and relevant to a large number of the great HR issues that PHRs grapple with on a daily basis?  Or, is the HR field simply too young or too ephemeral to contain such a library?

Is the HR Capitalist, the HRRingleader, or The Cynical Girl the best we have?

In the Fall of 2009, I went to the first HREvolution in Louisville, KY not sure of what to expect.  I had met only one attendee in person prior to the event.   I had read many of the attendees blogs or seen them on Twitter, but my interaction was minimal.   However, as an educator, I wanted to be sure that the information my students were receiving was as current and cutting edge as possible before they entered the workplace.

In the months and years since the 1st HREvolution, the dividends I've earned from attending would make an Apple investor green with envy.  I could wax poetic about the content that has been provided year in and year out.   But, its the people and the connections made that have been the real payoff, both professionally and personally.  Since attending the 1st HREvolution:

• I've been asked to contribute to an e-book on training
• I've collaborated on the first of a hoped-to-be annual volume on the intersection of sports and HR called "The 8 Man Rotation"
• I've appeared on both the HR Happy Hour and Drive Thru HR several times
• I've collaborated with an attendee on an incentive compensation research project
• I've been invited to attend the NBA Summer League (which both family considerations, and the NBA lockout have prevented me from going)
• I've been asked to help organize HREvolution - Las Vegas

In addition, I have shared many meals, laughs, and conversation both on and offline with many of the attendees.  I know that if I had a HR question, I could pick up the phone and any number of the people I have met would be more than willing to provide the advice and guidance  I needed.

The cost of registration was (and is) small and I would gladly pay three times its listed cost as the results have been priceless.

If the above hasn't convinced you to attend, please note the special deal that is being offered in conjunction with the HR Technology Conference.  While there are a lot of $500 discounts being floated out in the Twitterverse, by registering for BOTH  HR Tech AND HREvolution, you get the biggest discount available...$600 off the registration for HR Tech.   That means attending HREvolution will only cost you an additional $50.  I am so confident that you will find HREvolution worthwhile, that if you register for both events and find yourself dissatisfied with HREvolution, I will personally refund you that extra $50.  So, register for HREvolution here and I hope to see you in Las Vegas

Soon, the glossy brochure with the great HR stock photos will arrive from SHRM HQ on Duke Street promoting the SHRM Leadership Conference to take place in Arlington, VA, November 17-19.   Often cited by the SHRM C-Suite as "their favorite" SHRM Conference, the Leadership Conference is designed for SHRM volunteer leaders to gain professional development as well as share best practices across chapters and state councils.

To SHRM's credit, they provide free registration as well as two-plus nights of housing for many volunteer roles, including Chapter Presidents, Chapter Management Professionals, State Council Directors, State Council District Directors and State Council Core Leadership Area Membership Directors.

However, left to fend for themselves are State Council Social Media Directors.   So, here are a few reasons SHRM should include Social Media Directors to the above group:

1.   Social Media Directors volunteer work is significant.
I've served as a SHRM volunteer leader for over 12 years in a wide range of roles (Area/Regional College Relations Director, State College Relations Director, State Foundation Director, Chapter President, State Conference Co-Chair), and I can say without hesitation that the volunteer work performed is on par, if not exceeds, many of those roles.  Such work includes, but is not limited to:
*Setting up and blogging on a regular basis
*Posting on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn on a regular basis
*Visiting and speaking to chapters about how they can utilize social media for their chapters as well as their own personal development
*Speaking about social media at the state leadership as well as the state SHRM conference
*Helping and mentoring volunteer leaders and chapters set up LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook accounts

Given the immediacy of social media, the Director role necessitates vigilance on a daily basis.

2.  It would legitimize the role
Kudos must go out to the concerted efforts of SHRM's own Curtis Midkiff in his capacity as the social media guru for the organization.  From the Bloggers' lounge at the SHRM Annual Conference to the Tweetups and blogtour at various state conferences, Curtis has demonstrated SHRM's dedication and support for the role social media can play for SHRM chapters.   Supporting State Council Social Media Directors would serve to continue the legitimization of this volunteer role.


3.  Social Media Directors are the voice of SHRM and the profession
Social Media Directors provide the PR for the chapters, the state council, and by extension, SHRM itself.   We are the ones trumpeting the latest efforts of the SHRM Foundation on Twitter.   We are the ones highlighting the latest piece of legislation impacting HR from Governmental Affairs on our blog.  We are the ones providing on-the-ground coverage of the state legislative conference or state HR conference.  We are the ones promoting the Pinnacle Award to members and non-members alike.   In the end, SHRM is shown in the most positive light.


So, SHRM, support you Social Media Directors at the SHRM Leadership Conference in November.

As mentioned in the last post, I spent last weekend in San Antonio at the Academy of Management meetings.  I left the cozy confines of my cushy desk in my ivory academic tower to enter the rough and tumble world of professor recruiting.  In one of the conference hotels, some 15 rooms were set up with an array of 12 tables in each.  Candidates waited out in the hall, as if it were some casting director's dream, and it was not uncommon to have candidates with whom you just interviewed return to the room a few minutes later to interview with another college or university.   So, after interviewing some 30 candidates, what lessons were learned over the course of three days?

1.  Interviewing is exhausting
After interviewing 12 candidates a day for two days straight with little to no break between candidates, major kudos must go to those who interview candidates regularly.   Keeping up the energy and positivity toward the end of the day took major effort (and a few sips of 5-hour energy)

2.  Fit, Fit, Fit is everything
We saw candidates ranging from full professors looking for their last destination to green PhD students working on their final sections of their dissertation.   However, we probably ended up spending more time talking about our school and its unique aspects than learning about the candidate him or herself.  Why?  Given the high number of candidates finishing up grad school, often from some top tier research institutions, we had to counter their advisor admonitions of the importance of high quality research as a criterion.   Given our emphasis on quality undergraduate education over "A"-level journal publication, our message had to be made clear, and the hope is we found a few candidates who realize the direction our school is going.

3.  Two heads are better than one
It was considerably easier to have two representatives from our institution doing the interview than a lone individual.  Not only was it helpful to keep one fresh, and fill in gaps about the job/organization that the other person might have failed to bring up or forgotten, but it also demonstrated the collegiality and camaraderie that we share at our place at work...which leads to....

4.  As always, you are the face of the organization
Given the importance that we place on collegial service that we stress not only in our mission, but in our tenure and promotion processes as well, this notion cannot be captured by a single one-on-one interview.   I believe the "chemistry" (for lack of a better word) that my colleague and I conveyed certainly left a much more positive view of our school (which was probably unfamiliar to those outside of Wisconsin or the Midwest) with those who interviewed with us, than those candidates who met with a single representative from another school.  Further, I believe we were the only table where laughter was heard on a regular basis.   Even if some candidates were looking at us as the equivalent of a "safety school," they have much more positive regard for us than before they entered the interview.   However, this was not necessarily the case for other schools, which leads to....

5.  Social Comparison Theory is alive and well....
Several cohorts of candidates participated and bonded in doctoral consortiums prior to the interviews taking place, so it was not uncommon to see them out in the hall huddled together discussing their interview experiences.  We had an opportunity to ask some of them about how the process was going for them, and they were more than willing to share some of their horror stories, including one common thread about one school where the interviewer was consistently demeaning the quality of her/his employer and engaging in epic acts of self-promotion.   The candidates were almost of the point of waiting outside that room just to hear from other candidates what outrageous things were said in that particular round.  Talk about bad brand management (and I hypothesize that when that school is unable to find any suitable candidates to hire, they will blame the low "quality" of the applicants).

6. ....but is competition?
One of the better parts of the process was hearing candidates talk up their fellow colleagues from the same school or group.  More than once we heard a candidate say that if you do not choose me, you should choose candidate X.  Very refreshing.

So, it is off to review the applications and on to the meet with the committee to determine second interviews.

This weekend, I am heading to San Antonio for the 2011 Academy of Management Meeting/Conference.  Over 6,000 academicians and scholars will be coming together to discuss the latest advances in management thought in some 25 subfields (HR, Technology & Innovation Management, Operations Management, Organizational Behavior....the list goes on). Put together all those Ph.Ds, the Riverwalk, and 105 degree weather, and I know you are guaranteed a good time.  It will be an excellent opportunity to catch up with old classmates and friends from other Colleges and Universities.

I have, however, not attended in a number of years.  I do enjoy getting my learning on, but, unfortunately, there is this status thing, a cult of personality if you will, going on that is rather off-putting.    Let me explain.   When I was a young academician straight out of grad school and attending the meetings, it was not uncommon to see "colleagues" look in your eyes than down to your name badge.  If your name or school affiliation was worthy, a conversation might be started up.  If you were deemed unworthy, the colleague moved on to engage in a discussion with someone else who was perceived to be more important.  Mind you, this was not an isolated incident that happened at a single conference; instead, it happened multiple times at several conferences.  Not good, and cooled me over the years from attending over the past few years.

So, why I am returning?  One of the side events of the Academy meetings is the Career Fair where in a number of big hotel ballrooms, hundreds of schools and hundreds of fresh Ph.D. graduates and professors looking to move will be looking for that "love connection."  To wit, I will be putting on my HR hat and conducting actual HR work.  I am the Chair of the Search Committee for a new Assistant Professor of Business Administration for our school.   I've been combing over curriculum vitae left and right over the past few weeks and setting up some 30+ interviews that will take place Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  The hope, of course, is that we will find a set of candidates that will be worthy of a second interview, and then a visit to our campus before the final rose ceremony.

I am looking forward, with a little trepidation, to see if things have changed as well as finding that new work colleague.