Have You Checked Out The Women Of HR Blog?

by Chris Frede on July 12, 2010

Women of HR - the beginning

One cool night in Chicago, a group of women representing various ages and backgrounds gathered in a room filled with laughter and great conversation over pomegranate martinis.  From this gathering, an idea to create the Women of HR website was created.  The goal of this website was to create a place where women can go to get information, discuss the issues that impact their lives, and find the sense of community and collaboration that the founders felt that fateful night in Chicago.  

Trish McFarlane discussed the Women of HR site on her blog May 21, 2010.  The Women of HR founders include a group of fun and smart social media and HR professionals -  Lisa Rosendahl, Trish McFarlane, Shauna Moerke, Charee Klimek, Sarah White, Jennifer Payne, Byron Abramowitz, and Lance Haun

The website also has content from contributors who include Andrea Ballard, Meghan Biro, Debbie Brown, Tammy Colson, Traci Deveau, April Dowling, Krista Francis, Deirdre Honner, Cindy Janovitz, Jennifer Miller, Lois Melbourne, Franny Oxford, Diane Prince, Becky Robinson, Kimberly Roden, Laurie Ruettimann, Rachel Salley, Robin SchoolingMike VanDervort and myself. 

Today is my first post on the Women of HR and I am excited and a little nervous.  This post is a bit more personal than the ones typically written on this site.  I am very excited about the future of the Women of HR and look forward to continued contribution. 

Thank you to the founders for this great idea.

{ 3 comments }

From Intern, To Secret Weapon

by Chris Frede on June 24, 2010

Interns can be an asset to any HR department.  About six months ago, Ben Eubanks wrote this post in response  to a post about interns written by Matt Cholerton.  I agree with Matt that interns can make your department more efficient while providing the intern with a great HR experience.  This also gives you an opportunity to see their work in the event you would consider them for employment.

One area interns can make an impact is the talent acquisition team.  Can interns be the talent acquisition secret weapon?  I think so and here are a few examples:

Research Support 

  • Interns can conduct research on competitors.  Who they are, capabilities, employee lists, alumni and contact information.
  • Conduct key word searches on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Boolean searches to surface contacts for the recruiter to network with.
  • Identify local job boards, social networks and professional organizations applicable to the area you are researching.
  • Capturing this data will create a good call and networking list for the recruiter.  The intern can even help schedule calls for the recruiter.

Monitoring

  • Join applicable online groups and monitor the activity in the groups.  
  • Hash tag monitoring on Twitter.  This is a great way to get participant lists.
  • Competitive intelligence to monitor competitor activity.  Follow competitors on Twitter and Facebook.

When having an intern support you:

  • Give them as much information as possible.  Remember the support the intern provides you is only as good as the investment you make.
  • Provide background on the project and insight into the goal.  Afterwards, it is also good to let the intern know the end result and the role they played. 
  • Have regular update meetings to check progress.  This is also a good opportunity to discuss any challenges the intern has run into.
  • Listen and be open to the interns thoughts and ideas.

Remember, interns are hungry for information – so give it to them.  A little investment will go a long way, as well as make the talent acquisition team more productive.  Do you have interns support your HR department?  What are they working on?  If you do not currently have intern support – try it.

{ 5 comments }

What’s On Your Dry Erase Board?

June 15, 2010

I love dry erase boards.  Every time I see one I want to write and draw on it.  Maybe it is the teacher in me.  Saying that, the dry erase board in my office is relatively blank.  Currently, I have pictures of my dog and nieces taped to the board.  My dry erase board is used more like a [...]

Read the full article →

A Visit To Captiva Island & The Oil Waiting Game

June 13, 2010

A personal rant about my vacation and the fear of oil approaching… I just returned from a family vacation to Captiva Island.   Captiva is a small island just north of Sanibel on the Gulf of Mexico.  Although I have been here before, this is my first time staying on the Island.  Having planned this trip a year ago, I [...]

Read the full article →

Goal Setting

June 2, 2010

 Goal setting is an important tool for career development.  Since it is so important, why do we shy away from setting goals?   Or if we do set goals, do we provide input or contribute to setting our goals?  Setting strong, measurable goals can be challenging but rewarding.  Some things to keep in mind when setting goals: One Size Does Not Fit [...]

Read the full article →

Finding The Hot Spot

May 27, 2010

Employee engagement is an area where companies are always looking to improve.  To evaluate  the level of employee engagement, many companies implement surveys, programs, activities and even perform analysis on generational differences.  All this in an effort to uncover what motivates our employees, but do these programs really give us that information?   As managers, we may feel we have an idea of what our employees hot [...]

Read the full article →

My Unconference Experience – HRevolution

May 20, 2010

In the beginning of May I attended my first unconference in Chicago, HRevolution.  This being my first unconference, I was not sure what to expect.  What exactly is an unconference?  According to Wikipedia, an unconference is a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered on a theme or purpose.  Sounds interesting, right?  It was not only interesting, but the most incredible [...]

Read the full article →

Anticipating The SHRM Staffing Management Conference & Expo

April 23, 2010

The SHRM Staffing Management Conference & Expo begins on April 26 and I am excited to be attending.  There will be sessions on retention tactics, change management skills, workforce planning strategies, performance management tips and tools, talent acquisition for specific needs, and networking by industry and topic. What I most look forward to is: Networking with many smart [...]

Read the full article →

Remote Control – Managing A Remote Reporting Relationship

April 5, 2010

photo credit: Chris Isherwood  With the increase of flexible work arrangements and companies growing globally, more reporting relationships are remote.  Whether the remote employee sits 30 miles away or across the pond, the relationship can be challenging for the employee and the supervisor.  Something as simple as an email exchange can be misinterpreted and create problems.  With a bit [...]

Read the full article →

Extreme HR In The Bering Sea

March 29, 2010

I have to admit it, I am a fan of Deadliest Catch.  Deadliest Catch is a documentary on the Discovery channel that captures events aboard fishing boats in the Bering Sea during the Opilio crab season.  The Opilio crab season runs about one month or until each boat catches their quota of crab.  This show has all the elements [...]

Read the full article →