Years ago, I hired chemists and engineers for Monsanto. Back in the day, Monsanto was a different company and had a diverse portfolio that included hardcore chemicals products, food additives and pharmaceuticals. And it employed many different types of workers — from hippies to lobbyists to lawyers — who honestly dreamed of saving humanity and…
Two weeks ago, I spotted a lost dog. She seemed freaked out. Ran away from me and into the woods. I hopped on my neighborhood’s social networking site to send a note. I went to a conference, came home and discovered that the dog was still loose. Thankfully, a neighbor had grabbed the poor girl…
I think women can do whatever they want with themselves and their bodies. It’s your body. You make the rules. And you can break the rules, change the rules, and make new rules according to your own standards. I don’t give a shit. But my laissez-faire feminism was tested at SHRM14, the other day, when…
I am just back from SHRM14 where I spent time with HR professionals from South Dakota, Indiana and Wisconsin who developed a southern accent from spending three days in Florida. Like, uh, how does that happen? The answer is simple. It’s called accent mimicry, and it reminds me of when Hilary Clinton speaks to African American…
I need a day to recover from SHRM. Be right back.
I am am here at SHRM speaking at the Globoforce booth. We will be discussing ways to be smarter when it comes to employee recognition and appreciation. When it comes to recognition, HR professionals want to offer something more than emotion to CEOs. And business leaders are often reluctant to focus on recognition for myriad reasons. I am no…
Business travel, under the best of circumstances, is disorienting. You relinquish control when you travel. You can plan and prepare for diversions, but your destiny isn’t in your own hands. Someone is always pushing alcohol. Whether it’s a business dinner or a cocktail party, there is always an opportunity to have an extra beer or a…
As I was doing research for my new ebook, I learned some interesting statistics about how CEOs feel about human resources professionals. 42 percent of business leaders think that HR is either underperforming or just getting by 45 percent think HR isn’t ready to tackle basic tasks such as performance management, succession planning and e-learning…
I am not nostalgic. At all. It’s a good thing because I have very few pictures of myself from my childhood. My photos are all on slides. That’s right. Slides. If you are my dad and it’s 1982, you have a machine that shines a light through these slides and projects the images on your basement…
Many of you know that I was diagnosed with Ménière’s Disease in my 20s. If you don’t know, here is the story. I had balance problems in college and in my early 20s. I was constantly misdiagnosed with ear infections. I always heard a high-pitch tone in my ears, too. It was frustrating and no one…