It has been a couple weeks since I published my last article.
To get back in the flow, I wanted to return with a Valentine's Day tribute to a variety of HR topics that involve "love".
There is some artistic license being taken on this so please forgive me in advance.
Pursuing Your Passion
The famous quote attributed to Confucius goes something like this:
“choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in
your
life.”
Truth or fiction?
This is a difficult question to answer because we now have a whole new reality of “alternate truths” to everything. My simple way of looking at this is that work always has an element of hardship to it – no matter what pursuit you are in. No one rises to the top of any profession or avocation without practice, perseverance, and working your way through the natural progressions to achieve mastery. It takes work.
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement has been and will continue to be one the organizational priorities when it comes to human capital management. IMHO (in my humble opinion for those who eschew text shorthand), engagement is one of those intangibles that cannot be simply measured with an annual survey.
I also believe engagement starts with having everyone feel they are truly part of the team and that his or her contribution matters. Opaque management, inconsistent communication flows, and disappointing results are always going to be barriers to get over.
Employee Appreciation Day
Employee Appreciation Day this year falls on Friday, March 02. I am sure you want to know more about this day. Glad you asked:
Employee Appreciation Day is a secular holiday in the USA and Canada, that is annually celebrated on the first Friday in March. This holiday was established in 1995 by Bob Nelson, a board member of the Recognition Professionals International, previously National Association for Employee Recognition.
Employee Appreciation Day was created for all companies as the day, when bosses can thank their employees for their hard work and effort throughout the year. Really good people are very hard to find, that’s why using all manners and techniques to boost the staff is more efficient, than spending money on constant training of new people.
Big question – how many employees will be recognized by having a long weekend that includes taking Friday off? Note: cynics please refrain from answering.
Workplace Romances
The future of workplace romances looks bleak, to say the least:
Suzanne Lucas, the always quotable Evil HR Lady, describes the current environment this way:
I've stated before that
sexual harassment isn't a dating problem
,
it's a power problem
. This power problem is why you should have
strict rules about managers dating subordinates
.
And by strict rules, I mean it should be absolutely, positively forbidden. But, romance between peers or people in departments that don't interact and don't have hire/fire authority over each other has been something the company should allow. -
Maybe not.
She goes on further to explain how even peer to peer romances can blow up a workplace when the relationship sours. Chances are good that some organizations are going to take this to the extreme, some are going to blissfully ignore it at their own peril, and everybody else will be trying to find a common ground that makes sense
Love The One You’re With
It is hard to believe that the Stephen Stills song “Love The One You’re With” is 47 years old. Interesting tidbit from Wikipedia:
Stills wrote the song after being inspired by the tagline — "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with" which was a frequent remark by musician
Billy Preston
. Stills asked him for permission to use the line in a song and Preston agreed.
It was a much simpler time back then. Imagine the royalty battle that would take place today under the same circumstances.
