So, my wife and I are expecting twins in the next couple of months.  Anxious times.

Of the hundreds of decisions that we are making, one is the choice of the pediatrician taking care of our children.  Choosing one shouldn't be any different than choosing an employee, right?  All, I assume, meet the basic qualifications of the position - knowledge, education, abilities, etc, or they wouldn't be already hired and hanging out their shingle.  So, it comes down to word-of-mouth referrals, and the interview.

We are going through a series of "meet and greets" to find the "right" one, much like a manager would interview a potential applicant.   We went through our first one yesterday.  Questions were posed, such as:

"How many years have you been at this clinic?"
"How many children have you served?"
"What's your perspective on medicating kids with behavioral problems?"
"Have you rejected any patients?"
"Have any patients rejected you?"
"At what age do you stop seeing the patient?"

For the most part, I tend to take a distant view of my health care employees.  They have the proper certification, education, knowledge, skills, and abilities, and are still employed.  In terms of cost, if they are in network, what's the difference?  One doctor is as good as the next.  So, the interview process really is a search for some piece of negative information that would turn us away.  For my wife, it does come down to "fit;" does the pediatrician make her feel "comfortable," and does he/she come across as a "know-it-all."

So, parents in the know....what am I missing?

That's right, ladies and gentlemen.  The 8 Man Rotation e-book is back for another year....and its our biggest edition ever!!!

You admired the inaugural season covering the year in sports and HR for 2010.  You loved the 2nd season covering 2011.

Now, be in awe of the 3rd edition of the best sports and HR writing from the minds of Steve Boese, Kris Dunn, Lance Haun, Tim Sackett, and myself.

Over 60 posts!!!

Over 150 pages!!!

With gracious forewords from China Gorman and Dwane Lay.

And, a special thanks to Lizzie Maldonado for putting together the 8 Man Rotation logo seen above.

So, what are you waiting for?!?!?  Check out the 2012 Season of the 8 Man Rotation here.

Take the rest of the day off....you're going to need it.

At 3:00 P.M./2:00 P.M. Central, I'll be the featured Twitterati on #nextchat focusing on the transition into a career in HR.  The questions will be:

Q1. If you are currently practicing HR, would you encourage others to join the HR profession? Why?
Q2. Is a specific HR degree or certification necessary to get into HR? Does it depend on the specialty? Why?
Q3. What professions (Legal, Sales, PR, Marketing?) can most easily transition into HR and why?
Q4. What is the biggest obstacle to breaking into a career in HR and what are ways to get around it?
Q5. How can you get experience in HR when you can’t get a job in HR until you have experience?
Q6. Can building a personal brand on social media help someone more quickly break into the HR field? How?
Q7. Can attending a popular HR conference like SHRM Annual help you transition into a career in HR? How?

More details can be found here

Please join and share your thoughts.

There were lots of mediocre ads during the Super Bowl.

However, the ad of the night, for me, was the Dodge Ram Farmer ad, featuring some brilliant still photography, and the iconic voice of Paul Harvey.  Check it out below:

 

I anticipate that SHRM is rapidly working on a "So God Made A HR Professional" ad, perhaps in time for the Annual Conference in June.

So, if you were SHRM...

What should the ad say?

Who should do the voice over?

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

On the drive into work this morning, I happened to tune into an all-male panel discussion on Morning Joe of the recent change in military policy to allow women in combat.  

Joe Scarborough was skeptical that women should be put on the front line given physical differences, and if lives were lost as a result of the policy it would by on the hand of the Pentagon.

Joe, Joe, Joe....

Ignoring the fact that military warfare is much different from the days of trench fighting where the need to drag heavy bodies has lessened, let's look at another similar, physically demanding job where the need to move bodies is present.

Firefighting.

To become a firefighter, many municipalities have adopted the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT), which consists of eight separate events across a predetermined path.  It is a timed event (candidates must complete the events in 10 minutes and 20 seconds) and candidates must wear a 50-pound vest to simulate the equipment they would wear in the event of the an actual fire.  The CPAT includes:

1. Stair climb - candidates are required to wear additional weight (two 12.5-pound weights on the shoulders) and to walk on a StepMill, which is situated between a wall and an elevated platform, at a stepping rate of 60 steps per minute for three minutes. The handrail of the StepMill opposite the wall is removed. Prior to beginning the timed event, each candidate performs a 20-second warm-up at a rate of 50 steps per minute. There is no break between this warm-up period and the actual timed test event. If the candidate falls or dismounts the StepMill three times during the warm-up period, he or she fails the test. If the candidate falls, grasps any of the test equipment, or steps off the StepMill during the timed event, the test is concluded and the candidate fails the test.
2. Hose Drag - the candidate grasps a six-pound nozzle attached to four lengths (200 feet) of attack hose (1 1/2 inch diameter), places the hose over the shoulder and across the chest (maximum 8 feet), and drags the hose 75 feet along a marked path (cones) to two pre-positioned 55-gallon drums that are secured together and weighted. The candidate makes a 90-degree turn around the drums, continues an additional 25 feet, and then drops to at least one knee at the finish line.
3. Equipment Carry - the candidate removes two 32-pound saws from a tool cabinet, one at a time, and places them on the ground. The candidate then picks up both saws, one in each hand, and carries them 75 feet around a drum and then back to the starting point. The candidate then places the saws on the ground, picks up each saw one at a time, and replaces them in the designated space inside the cabinet.
4. Ladder Raise and Extension - This event uses two portable 24-foot aluminum extension ladders, one ladder is lying on the ground and hinged at one end to a wall and the other ladder is secured in a vertical position. During the event, the candidate lifts the ladder on the ground by the unhinged end and walks underneath the ladder while raising it to a stationary position against a wall. The candidate then proceeds to the other ladder and stands in front of it with both feet inside a marked-off area and extends the fly section of the ladder hand-over-hand until it hits the stop.
5. Forcible Entry - the candidate uses a 10-pound sledgehammer to strike a forcible entry machine calibrated to measure the cumulative force of 300 pounds of pressure based on the effort required to force open a door. The candidate's feet must remain outside a toe box assembly. The forcible entry machine is mounted 39 inches on center from the ground (typical location of a standard exterior door knob).
6. Search - the candidate crawls on hands and knees through a dark tunnel maze that is approximately 3 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 64 feet long, with two 90-degree turns. At various locations in the tunnel, the candidate must maneuver around, over, and under obstacles. At two additional locations, the candidate is required to crawl through a narrowed space where the dimensions of the tunnel are reduced.
7. Rescue - he candidate grasps a 165-pound mannequin (the minimum weight a firefighter must be able to drag to meet the physical demands of the job) by one or both of the harness shoulder handles (simulating the shoulder straps of a firefighter's SCBA) and drags it 35 feet to a pre-positioned drum. The candidate then makes a 180-degree turn around the drum and continues to drag the mannequin an additional 35 feet totally across the finish line.
8. Ceiling Breach - the candidate removes a pike pole from a bracket and stands within an area inside the framework of the equipment. The candidate places the tip of the pike pole on the target area (a ceiling assembly eight feet above the ground containing a hinged door and handle) and pushes up (breaching action) on the hinged door with the pike pole three times. The candidate then hooks the pike pole onto the handle of the ceiling assembly and pulls downward five times. The candidate repeats the set (three pushes and five pulls) four times. The standard ceiling height of a residential structure is eight feet. The force required to breach the ceiling is 60 pounds and the force required to pull the ceiling is 80 pounds. Three breaches followed by five pulls will provide a four-foot by eight-foot examination opening within a structure.

Again, candidates must be able to complete the above tasks in sequence in a short amount of time.  If they are not able to complete all tasks as demonstrated with only occasional room for error (for example, in event 4, if a candidate misses any rung during the ladder raise, one warning is given; the second infraction constitutes a failure. If the ladder is allowed to fall to the ground or the safety lanyard is activated because the candidate completely releases the grip on the ladder, the test time is concluded and the candidate fails the test).  

Many women will fail this test.  So will many men.  But, many women will succeed.  

Today, the U.S. Fire Administration estimates that there are nearly 11,000 women firefighters in the country.

If 11,000 women can pass the CPAT, many military women can pass whatever physical test the Pentagon throws at them, and should be given the opportunity to do so.

So, please Joe...leave the HR talk to the professionals.

Last year on this day, the HR community came together to celebrate one of its own - the unheralded, unlistable Tim Sackett.  Some highlights can be found here, here, here, here, and my own contribution here. 

But, that was last year....

Today, it is all about the great Paul Hebert.

If you do a Google image search of the man, you get a lot of pretenders who have the name "Paul Hebert...." but there is only one who carries the influence and weight of the HR community on his shoulders.

When Commissioner Gordon summons Bruce Wayne to Gotham Police HQ, he sends out something like this:

Like Billy Batson shouts "Shazam" to transform into Captain Marvel, Paul utters "Cialdini" to transform from the mild-mannered Greenville, SC native into HR influence superhero.

So, if you know what is good for you, you'll need no incentive to follow Paul on Twitter at @incentintel, or check out his wonderful blog here (for now).

Happy #timsackettday, Paul! Cialdini!