http://www.balance-and-results.com Effectiveness in Human Resources, Leadership and Personal Success Strategies Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:12:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In January I was lucky to convince iconoclastic Henry Mintzberg to speak to the HR think tank I volunteer for (Strategic Capability Network) through a friend, David Creelman, who keeps up with a wide range of management and HR (Human Resources) guru’s. Henry’s presentation showcased a new program he’s been ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/a-year-of-trends-in-hr-coming-together.html Listening to Kevin Cashman this week on the update of his well-known leadership book offered a chance to reflect on the extent to which the climate in which HR (Human Resources) operates is changing… or isn’t. Interesting that Cashman’s writing retains its Zen flavor, something one might think wouldn’t sell ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/are-times-really-changing-for-hr.html Presenting this week to a class of MBAs taking an HR overview course, I had a chance to ask them what they were doing and why. Several mentioned they'd taken HR undergrad, but switched to marketing. I asked why. One said, "HR seemed to be all policies and rules. Marketing ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/can-human-resources-hr-be-creative.html There’s that magic word “or” again. John Haggerty was lamenting this week on Workforce Management that  most of the HR people he meets lately are “business partners” – generalists who sit in the business next to business leaders and help them implement general HR solutions. He asks whether we shouldn’t ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/hr-specialists-or-generalists.html In a surprising reversal of its own prior rulings, Canadian employees will now over time gain stronger rights to bargain and probably to strike to get their way. HR practitioners and leaders take note: this won’t happen overnight, but employees in general will slowly gain considerably more say in organizations ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/supreme-court-ruling-boosts-need-for-hr-leadership.html I must be even slower than I thought at marketing. It dawned on me today that every email pitch for a webinar, seminar or program is suddenly adding something about “in troubled economic times” to the end of their usual program titles. To wit: Talent Acquisition… in Troubled Economic Times” or ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/just-add-%e2%80%9cin-troubled-economic-times%e2%80%9d-to-all-your-projects.html Under the heading Management buy-in key to learning, the UK’s widely read Training Zone (free) newsletter reports this (which applies worldwide): Lack of line management buy-in is the key barrier to learning retention, according to 40% of people who responded to a World of Learning on-line poll. The survey also ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/getting-management-buy-in.html Maybe the title gives this away, but maybe not. With Coaching-style Leadership, there are still times when more directive leadership makes the most sense. Speaking at the HR program I mentioned a few days ago, there were a number of professional coach trainers in the audience. One who is totally ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/when-to-coach-when-to-lead.html A benefit of being invited to speak at events, albeit as a last minute fill-in, is you get to hear other presenters. At the Conference Board of Canada HR 2008 annual conference last week, it was a pleasure to hear Bill MacKinnon, CEO, KPMG Canada, discuss how he’s helped them ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/wise-words-straight-from-a-ceo.html Highly successful US retailer, Kohl’s, recently announced promotion of their President to CEO, duties until then held by their Chairman who now takes on direct responsibilities for… wait for it… HR, legal and real estate. Industry observers correctly pointed out Kohl’s strong performance hardly suggests this is punishment for anything. It ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/newsflash-chairman-trades-ceo-for-hr-duties.html HR Lacking in Accountability? A national newspaper’s management tips column picked up a dubious McKinsey finding on HR accountability I noticed a few weeks ago, but ignored. McKinsey has reasons for publishing such findings – they sell HR consulting. It doesn’t hurt them to remind clients they need to pay attention ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/hr-lacking-in-accountability.html Yes... and no. Many HR professionals believe protecting employees is one of their duties. That is true in a large sense, but it is rarely easy to protect individuals in specific situations, at least, not without their help and cooperation, which frequently is lacking. It will be interesting to see what ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/can-hr-protect-people-in-the-workplace.html Marcus sure gets mentioned a lot both by those who agree you shouldn’t waste time trying to change your weaknesses, only work on strengths and those who strongly dispute that. If you’ve followed my posts you may guess I believe in doing both! That’s the Zen answer. But which ones ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/marcus-buckingham%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cstrengths%e2%80%9d-approach-right-or-wrong.html It seems as soon as you write something like "let's not change the name of HR" as I did just a few posts ago, the idea comes back to bite you. My point was the name "HR" reflected a true step up from Personnel and the limited administrative duties that ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/change-hr-to-human-process.html A steady stream of items reflecting progress in human resources arrives every week now. Momentum is picking up. Each step takes us further on the way to full recognition that HR is, in Jack Welch's words, "the second most important job in any organization." Widely reported in the past week, major ... http://www.balance-and-results.com/good-news-on-the-horizon-for-hr.html