Jason's Blog

When we think about what an ideal employee population would look like within an organization, the words loyal and engaged would probably be amongst the adjectives you'd chose to describe them.  But, what if you had to chose just one of the two?  Which is...

Today's post is a guest post written by Kevin Eikenberry.  I'm posting it for a couple of reasons.  First, I like the topic of innovation and I enjoyed Kevin's take on it.  Second, Kevin is launching a new book today titled From Bud to Boss and I'm...

Last Friday, I helped to facilitate a social media "boot camp" for HR leaders in our area.  When we hosted the HR Reinvention Experiment last fall, one topic that seemed to be of paramount interest to that crowd was social media.  It seemed that most HR...

As my thirteen-year-old son prepared for his basketball game this past weekend, I asked if he was ready to play.  He said, "I'm going to take my anger out on the game."  You see, he has become a die hard Duke basketball fan like I am and our beloved Blue...

A few weeks ago, my friend William Tincup contacted me to ask if I would be a part of a series on the DriveThruHR show called "Convenient Conversations."  Essentially, they are inviting HR pros to come on for a 30 minute discussion about a topic that is on...

I've given my blog a face lift.  Nothing major, just needed to make some tweaks so that it felt more like me. I've also dropped "Practicing HR" from the title.  That title seemed like a great idea when I originally created the blog, but it never quite fit....

Over the weekend, as my wife and I were making dinner (actually she was making dinner and I was doing whatever else she told me to do), she made a comment about how sad it is that so many people seem to living miserable lives and don't appear to think that they have...

Yesterday, I shared my list of 8 Secrets to Career Success from a presentation I prepared for a young professinoals group at the bank.  At the end of the presentation, I offer one more recommendation, a "bonus secret" of sorts.  I call it the Turbo Charger...

About a year ago, a young professionals group within my organization asked if I would come and speak to their group about the key lessons I've learned through my career to this point.  In particular, they were interested in the kind of tips or rules of thumb that...

This past week, we hosted an event called The HR Reinvention Experiment in Omaha.  It was a group of HR leaders from around the state of Nebraska who came together to talk about the current and future of HR.  The topics and discussions were very rich and I...

This Thursday, October 28, something really cool is happening in Omaha, Nebraska.  Sixty or so corporate HR managers and executives are coming together to participate in an event called The HR Reinvention Experiment.  I'm thankful to have had...

Human resources can be a confusing place to work, particularly if you are trying to make things happen within your organization.  On the one hand, you are the employee advocate.  Employees need to know you and trust that you will help them through issues,...

Throughout my corporate HR career, I’ve always liked to attend conferences. Generally, I find them to be a good way to pick up new ideas and make new industry contacts. I genuinely like conferences.But, there are a few issues I’ve always had with conferences. The...

As I shared in a previous post, I spoke to a group of HR/OD professionals recently about how to both embrace and take advantage of politics to do the good work we are all called to do.  The main point I was trying to make to that group was that whether we like it...

Yesterday, I had the privilege to be a part of the agenda for a funky little conference in Omaha called the Hip and Sage Consultant Conference.  It was hosted by the Omaha Chapter of the ODN and was largely attended by people who carry a title with Organizational...

I feel as though I owe you an apology.  It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted here to my blog.  And for some reason, I feel guilty about it, even though there are about 8,000 other HR blogs there for the reading.  While I've felt as though I...

Last week, I was interviewing a woman for a position on my HR team.  During the course of the interview, she said something that was really profound and important.  Here's what she said:"I like to know why I am doing everything that I do.  If I am just...

If you spend enough time in HR, eventually you'll have a situation where you will be tasked with finding an executive coach for one or more of the leaders within your organization.  As you evaluate coaches, there is a big issue that inevitably comes up in the...

I had the good fortune yesterday to spend a few hours with some really smart folks talking about organizational culture.  The conversation reinforced for me how complex the topic of culture really is.  While I'd love to report that I walked away from that...

Much has been written about email etiquette, but people still get it wrong everyday.  The biggest mistake people make with email is deciding when an email is appropriate and when it is not.  Because writing an email is a one way communication and...

One of the things that plagues our organizations are bad hiring decisions.  This had led to an entire industry dedicated to selling us tests, evaluations, and services that promise to help us hire better people. In my experience, there are two main causes for bad...

In my last post, I shared my thoughts about why I think Wellness programs are becoming an increasingly important part of our work in HR.  I'm relatively new to the field.  It wasn't until I joined my current organization that I become really familiar with...

Today, I attended a seminar.  My schedule is busy, so I try to chose wisely how I spend my time.  The topic was of interest to me.  The speaker was flown in and touted as an expert.  I had high expectations.  My mistake. Here's a short summary...