systematicHR

The intersection between HR strategy and HR technology

Branding

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    The Permanent Record

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    Perhaps it was because I’m Chinese American and my Chinese parents were rather crazed about education.  I did graduate high school with a 4.2 GPA and considered myself an academic failure (still do in fact).  My parents used to threaten us that our grades and other bad things we did would go on our permanent…

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    Infographics Suck

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    I was riding my bike around Marin (north of San Francisco) this fall, it was a bit cloudy, grey and not as bright as usual.  Just the week before, I had purchased a new pair of lenses for my sunglasses, just for this occasion, and I was absolutely stunned at the difference it made to…

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    Dysfunctional Self Service

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    So I’ve been away for a year and I’ve let this website go a little bit.  (I just started back up in September) I mean, if you click on any number of links, you’ll find error pages, pages that don’t load, or just pages that don’t display correctly.  Basically, letting go for a year while…

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    Social Trust, Authority and Contributorship

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    There are three people who are pretty commonly in my car.  They will go unnamed.  One of them is pretty similar to me.  She always knows where she is, which way is north, and can get around pretty well.  The second has an idea, but has a tendency to say “left” when she really means…

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    Please Don’t Do It

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    I have to admit that I spend more time in airports than I would like to admit.  This means that I spend some time in airport bathrooms where a very disturbing event happens with unbelievable frequency.  I’d say that about every other trip to the bathroom, someone is in there talking on the phone.  I…

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    Behavioral Non-Interviews

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    Remembering back to college admissions days (which many of you might have kids going through that right now), one of the best parts of the whole process is doing the college tour thing and doing interviews at the various prospective schools. For 4 year degrees, the risk of not performing well on the interview is probably minimal, but it’s a…

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    Enterprise Web 2.0 and Personal Brands

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    I started systematicHR something like 5 years ago as a true weblog – a place where I could record my thoughts as I went through my daily reading and research.  More than 5 years after my first blog post that I never thought anyone would read but myself, systematicHR has really become my own personal…

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    Screen Flicker and End User Annoyances

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    There has been so much publicity around e-readers and the Apple iPad lately. In truth, I’m totally captivated by both of these technologies, but have not jumped in the market yet. The iPad seems wonderful since it is basically the next evolution of the net book, or mini-laptop. It has a great user interface, is…

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    Employee Blogging for Recruiting

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    I’m not sure how many of you noticed the NYT article a few months ago on MIT student bloggers. M.I.T.’s bloggers, who are paid $10 an hour for up to four hours a week, offer thoughts on anything that might interest a prospective student. Some offer advice on the application process and the institute’s intense…

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    Users First, Company Second

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    I feel like I always talk about change management and adoption.  When implementing a new system, I can definitely say that over the last few years I’ve seen a marked improvement in the diligence of internal implementation project managers in stressing the importance of behavioral change and end user adoption.  It is honestly so easy…

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    The Shift to Engagement

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    I was reading a post on 2010 (originally attributed to Joyce Gioia, but without a link).  ((Quick note to my fellow bloggers, Even though I don’t always link, I do almost always footnote.  It’s a pain, but we live in an age where viral communications threaten the attribution of thought generation and innovative thinking.  People…

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    David Zinger 3 Words Follow-up

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    3 Words Follow-up to yesterday’s post written by David Zinger. I am so pleased you took so much away from 3 little words. It makes me feel stronger than the 3 little pigs and I know some wolf can blow my 3 word structure down. The words are all important to me and my work.…

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    Branding and the 3-word Theme

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    I was checking out David Zinger’s twitter page and noticed his 2009 3-word theme.  They are “Authentic, Connections, Engage.”  A part of me wants a 5 page manifesto on his choice of these words and why they are important to him this year.  (he probably wrote a blog post on this, but I missed it).…

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    HR Metrics: Offer Accept Rate

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    Last time I looked for a job, I had three offers.  Each of these offers were with very similar organizations, with very similar offer packages, and with exactly the same type of work.  What actually made the difference?  It was all about the value proposition.  In retrospect, whether I made the right decision will never…

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    Cover-ups

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    Up through the Beijing Olympics, I’d been reading stories almost on a daily basis about how China was trying to present a public image of itself that was not necessarily the truth. ­Limited access for journalists (to protect the athletes?):  Really there was concern that the political environment that surrounds the country would be exposed.…

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    The CEO and Company Culture

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    The other systematic asks: In a recent interview with one of our analysts, a Fortune 500 company’s HR director said (not verbatim) “It’s not HR’s job to define our culture. It’s the CEO’s job. It’s our job to communicate that culture.” While I understand the position I have to say it doesn’t sit fully well…

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    “Talent” as Marketing?

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    Seth Godin’s recent post on Talent and marketing HR hit home on may fronts.  What if you started acting like the VP of Talent? Understanding that talent is hard to find and not obvious to manage. The VP of Talent would have to reorganize the department and do things differently all day long (small example:…

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    Rejected Applicants and External Brand

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    Say you are Google.  You have a few hundred thousand people sending you applications and resumes on a weekly basis.  Therefore, you have to reject a few hundred thousand people on a weekly basis.  Even is this is the nice postcard that says “thanks, we’ll keep you on file for 6 months” everyone realizes this…

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    The Top Role of Brand in Recruitment

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    A recent Tom Peters entry criticizes the characterization of the “war for talent” as a competitive endeavor as opposed to an internal problem.  He’s right, but this is nothing new.  The HR world including systematicHR has long been talking about the importance of the EVP or employer brand in attracting and retaining employees.  It’s true…

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    Building the Employer Brand

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    When we think about the employer brand, we often think about it from the recruiting perspective. A healthy employer brand does indeed make it much easier to attract potential employees, and it saves a business significant dollars in other ways as well. Great brands allow you to hire employees at a lower cost premium than…