‘Future’ Articles at Everyday People

A Touch of Gray

The calendar has turned another page. Usually, when that happens, people express a series of resolutions they genuinely want to hold to. They rarely do. That doesn’t stop people from making them, though. A New Year always gives people a chance for a reset. A chance to pause, reflect, and decide what they’d like the next twelve months to be.

Once the year begins anew, I also turn another year older. My birthday is on January 3rd, and this year took a new turn. It’s wonderful when your friends and family send you birthday wishes. I’m humbled every time I receive them. My 87-year-old Mom called me early in the morning to sign “Happy Birthday” to me. It’s a tradition she and my dad, when he was alive, have done every year since I left the house 40 years ago. It warms my heart every time, and I look forward to hearing her sing it.

It’s intriguing to me when people ask what your plans are for your birthday. The intent is positive, and people want you to enjoy your day. Having a birthday so close to the holiday season makes it harder to plan something massive. And, honestly, I’m grateful to cross the age line once more as the most significant accomplishment. I didn’t have anything “planned,” but I did hope to have a great day.

My wife and I decided to really live on the edge and get our haircuts together. I know – truly adventurous !! We enjoy seeing Heather at her salon. We’ve known her for 29 years, so it’s like visiting family. Debbie went first because she needs more time than I do. When I took my place in the chair, I donned the black cape over my clothes and placed my glasses on the counter. Heather is always good for a rich conversation. We talk about countless topics, give updates about our kids, and make sure to laugh a lot.

As my hair became shorter once again, I looked down at the cape, and it was glistening !! You see, I’ve crossed over to the time in my life when my hair has grayed. This doesn’t bother me, and I don’t feel my age. My appearance is supposed to change. Now that I’m 62, I’d be surprised if I didn’t have a full head of gray locks.

Along with my shifting hair color, my body reminds me daily that time is moving forward. There’s more stiffness and the unexpected appearance of aches and pains throughout my body. Thankfully, my mind is sharp, and I don’t take it for granted. I don’t know if I ever thought about what it would be like if I reached this age, which is closer to my career ending than starting. I’ve never been concerned with whatever “age” is supposed to be.

Another year means an opportunity to remain curious. Another year is a chance to learn something new, meet people I’ve never met, encourage others to be their best, and take in as much life as possible. I’m not sure what will happen, and that doesn’t make me in the least bit anxious. I don’t have resolutions and never have. I believe in enjoying the present and being hopeful for the future, for whatever that may be. Please don’t mistake that for being naive or Utopian.

I’ve chosen (for most of my life) to be someone who sees the best in others and the situations I find myself in. Sure, there are challenges and times of disappointment. I will experience personal failures, and others will fail me. In the end, though, life is grand !! Now that I have more than a touch of gray, I want to do all I can to live each day to its fullest. I’m far from discouraged about aging another year; I’m fortunate.

How are you looking at this coming year? Are you seeing the best in yourself and in others? I know this may seem contrary to how most people view life, but trust me, it’s well worth it. I encourage you to move forward. Who knows? The best part of what’s to come could be lurking just over the horizon !!

To ease you into the future, here’s a tune that is an absolute fave of mine from an all-time legendary band. It just fits . . .

Next Year !!

As 2016 winds down, it’s a great time to reflect on what has transpired over the last twelve months. It’s easy to step back and take sides to argue your point. What I was aiming at was broader and more holistic. I’m sure people had a mix of successes and setbacks. All of those experiences made up where you are today ready to jump into 2017.

So, if you had to reflect where you are as an HR professional, what would you say? Have you moved ahead, taken a step backwards or sideways, or are you stuck in a pattern you’d like to see change? I can’t speak for others, but I’m encouraged about what has happened this year and I’m eager to see what 2017 brings.

I know that one of the standard questions we ask when we interview folks is what they’d like to have as goals in five years. It’s great to be wishful and have aspirations, but we get discouraged when things don’t pan out as we had hoped. I think there’s always value in looking ahead as long as it’s paired with taking in the experiences we have along the way. We have a chance to make and impact throughout the year as well as have strategies that have a longer cycle.

Too often we keep our head down and crank out endless amounts of work. Have you stepped back to evaluate if those efforts are adding value, or just making sure that we’re “busy”? We need to be more cognizant of the work we’re doing, how it’s affecting our employees and if it has merit. Those things that are redundant or inefficient need to be evaluated and hopefully either eliminated or changed to become worthwhile.

Let’s do something different next year. I’m not talking about setting resolutions or lofty goals because we know those have little chances of sticking and actually resulting in change. No, I want to suggest that we dive into our field fully and unabashedly with excitement and passion !! Not some sense of false and forced niceties, but a real shift in owning HR.

This will look different for everyone, so I won’t presuppose that you should take any prescribed number of steps like many models that are often proposed. I think there is a more fundamental and basic approach we can adopt. I would like to see 2017 be the year where we are confident personally and as a profession in who we are and what we do in human resources. I want to see us quit apologizing, or downplaying, our field. No other profession does this, and neither should we.

I want to encourage you to not only enjoy HR, but thrive in it. You can do things like intentionally connect with more HR peers, go to HR conferences and events or even start your own HR blog. It’s imperative that you step out and be part of the greater HR community. Next year make the move to no longer be isolated. Once you do that, the next step will reveal itself to see how you can improve what you do within your organization.

I’m geeked about HR more than I’ve ever been as we enter 2017. I hope you share my enthusiasm and make moves to make that happen. It’s going to be a phenomenal year and I look forward to seeing it come.

Our Future

I never thought I’d be the type of person who reminisces as he got older. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t yearn for the past when things were better and people had a stronger work ethic, etc. Trust me, I am doing what I can to debunk the continued effort to separate, isolate and categorize generations. I think it’s short-sighted and runs contrary to what HR should emulate – the bringing together of all of our differences to make us even stronger !!

I’m wondering what the future of HR will be. I still plan to be a big part of it’s present and future for some time to come, but I also know that the field needs to evolve, be disruptive and stay relevant. This will happen primarily with one group of HR folks . . . students.

The “reminiscing” mention I noted before was thinking back to when I was a student. I graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Interpersonal Communications. I happened to go into HR as a recruiter, but I was taking a leap of faith because people were just starting to use the term “Human Resources.” The working environment was still very much in the world, and practice, of Personnel. No one came to campus to look for HR practitioners. The career services office was polite, but students had to do most of the leg work to find jobs.

Looking back, I don’t want to see that happen to students anymore.

One of the highlights of my career so far is working with HR students. I have had the opportunity to speak to classes at universities, serve as a judge at SHRM Student competitions and also speak at SHRM student chapters. It’s something that can give students encouragement and a reassurance that they’re entering a great industry.

I take a different approach than most because I don’t meet with them to regale them with my HR conquests and successes. It isn’t a chance for them to meet an “expert”. Ick.

Instead, I ask them questions and then answer whatever they ask. Everything is allowed because I want to clear up any misconceptions about HR as well as what it’s like to join an organization. You see, they are my future, and they’re yours as well. We have a chance to share our knowledge as well as our challenges. We can help them avoid some of the struggles we’ve experienced professionally. There’s no need for them to sink or swim like many experienced when they entered the HR field.

There are only two things you need to have to make this investment in our future – Your willingness and your time.

You don’t have to have all of the answers. In fact, it’s better that you don’t. Students are just like every other person in that they want to have you get to know them, not just preach to them. It’s a fantastic opportunity that I’d love to see those who are “seasoned” step up and give back.

Just so you know this isn’t some theoretical practice, I’m trying to help an HR student attending St. Norbert University with her Senior research project. Her name is Kalli Seglund and you can see what she’s doing on the HRPositive Linked In Group. Why don’t you join me in helping Kalli to get started helping students yourself?

Help me turn the tide. Stop separating generations and start investing in them !! Make a difference in other’s careers that you may not of had yourself. We can intentionally leave our mark on HR now and into the future. It’s worth it !!

The Future Looks Bright !!

This past week I had a very cool experience !! I was one of the judges for the SHRM Student Case Study competition. I sat with two other great HR pros from the area as we heard graduate students from various schools give their take on an HR scenario. It was very cool to hear their approaches which ranged from a traditional HR viewpoint to some that were extremely creative.

I was so geeked to see so many students come in and share. It helped to continue to dispel the stereotype that the most recent generation is so “different” and just doesn’t “get it” like other generations. I wasn’t surprised because this isn’t new. There have always been generations in the workplace. The stigma that has been assigned to younger people is from older generations. We have fallen into the same trap that we said we would never fall into when older generations made broad generalizations about us. We hated it, but it hasn’t stopped us from doing the same thing.

I think we need to have a serious change of heart and be the generation that encourages and lifts up the newest folks. Let me ask you a question . . .

Do you remember when you got into HR?

Most people don’t start in HR, they fall into it. I’m one of those outliers who has been in HR for my entire career (on purpose). When I started though, I was pretty much on my own. I taught myself what I thought was correct, but to be honest, my efforts had to be limited because I didn’t look outside of what was within my reach. I must have missed areas. I did what I had to, but I could have done better.

I didn’t know having someone who was also in HR as a mentor was needed. The truth is, I didn’t think someone like that even existed. I was wrong on this account as well. When I finally reached out and connected with other HR pros, I found some great people who are still mentoring me to this day several years later.

Now, back to these students.

We can be the ones who reach out to them now to be their connections and mentors. They don’t have to “earn their stripes” in order to struggle as they enter HR. We can be the ones to share our experiences with them and make sure that they are not left to try and figure out this industry on their own.

We have the chance to help shape not only the future of these great young people, but we can help shape the future of our profession !!

Wouldn’t it be great to help these kids who are interested in joining our field have a great experience coming into HR? How would they see our generation, and how would we see theirs, if we did more to build each other up instead of trying to focus on generational differences?

The future of HR is bright !! I was able to see this first hand. I plan to reach out to these students and connect with them now and going forward. I’d love to see them succeed now and become the leaders of HR to come. I want to break the cycle and not be the stereotype of my generation. Will you be willing to join me? I hope you will !!

Build Your Own Model !!

Now that we are getting closer to Christmas and my kids are really young adults, I miss the days when toys were exciting !! The days when you hoped and hoped for something that was truly special, and that you couldn’t get for yourself.

I have always been fascinated with models. I loved getting a kit and pulling out the one sheet plans with the miniscule drawings and instructions. I’d take the pieces out to make sure they were all there and then spread everything out on a card table. First, I started with snap together models which were fairly simple. I grew into trying easier models where you had to glue pieces together and even paint some things. I made super hero models, models of cars, planes, and my favorite . . . battleships !!

Something you may not have known, I am a huge history buff. In fact, I have a minor in History from Ohio University. So, building a model of something that had existed gave me a rush every time I even saw a kit on the shelf of the local drugstore in my hometown.

One Christmas, I got a model of the Bismarck and was physically giddy !! This was one of the most famous battleships from World War II and I couldn’t believe that it was in my hands. It took me several days and hours of concentration to bring the small, gray pieces to life. It was fantastic and I made sure it had a visible place in my bedroom.

At this time of year, there are countless blog posts that recap the year in HR and give you a set number of steps (3,5,7 or 10) that you can implement in 2015 to make your role better. I have a different suggestion. Instead of following the models that everyone else tells you to follow – build your own !!

You take the components that matter to you in your current role and build the model that works. Now, just like the toy models I built, I would encourage you to make your model come to life and also position yourself to make history !!

Too many people in HR float along with the various ebbs and flows of organizations. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great characteristic to be adaptable. But, it’s another thing to let HR be relegated to the outskirts of an organization. By having a model that works for you, that doesn’t have to be who you are.

There are some key things you’ll need in building your model. First of all, you need to build one that reflects you personally and also fits where your organization wants HR to go. Secondly, you need to be intentional. Your model will remain like pieces in the box that never come together if you don’t have a plan. Finally, picture what your model will look like and what it will do. It shouldn’t be a model like the ones I built as a child that sat on a shelf. It should be something that grows and evolves over time.

So, this year, I hope that under your HR tree is a beautifully wrapped present that you can’t wait to open and put together !! I am going to be adding to my model, and I’d love to hear from you about yours !!

Planting Seeds !!

I have been in HR forever !! Seriously, I’ve been practicing HR for 27+ years, and it’s the only field I’ve known. You see, I’m one of those rare HR folks who has been in this profession on purpose since the beginning of my career.

Even though I’ve been in HR for an extended time, I am more excited and passionate about what we do than ever !! This past Friday I had a great opportunity !! I was the keynote speaker for the Indiana University HR Association’s inaugural annual dinner. It was so cool to talk about “HR Behind the Curtain: What It’s Really Like” to a room full of eager, attentive and interesting students.

They were engaged, laughed, answered questions and were, may I say, GEEKED about HR !! Oh, by the way, none of them have HR as a major. They have HR as a minor and are active in their local student SHRM chapter. They have two incredibly supportive faculty and a local chapter that is very connected to them.

This is more than a report of an incredible event. It’s setting the stage for something I want to say, especially to Senior HR practitioners !!

I was humbled and honored to be asked to speak to these students !! Yes, it took time to do this. But, it was time well spent. I wanted to get students excited about the profession that, I hope, they will pursue and replace me some day.

I keep seeing efforts by SHRM and HR chapters to try and reach Senior HR professionals. They almost beg them to come and attend events so that others can learn from them. However, most of my peers, don’t see the value in being with folks who don’t do things as strategically as they do. Somehow, taking time to share your experience is seen as being “below” us. I absolutely and unequivocably disagree with this stance !!

In fact, how dare we look at those who are less experienced as people we shouldn’t connect with. When I was at Ohio University those 27 years ago getting ready to enter the workforce, I never heard from a businessperson about what to expect. I never understood the nuances I would need to succeed, or how to learn the values and work ethic expected from organizations. It is an absolute shame that a quarter of a century later that we still think that distancing ourselves from the people who will enter the workforce and continue HR aren’t worth our time.

So, I have a challenge for Senior HR practitioners !! The gauntlet is being thrown down. Take what you’ve learned and what you practice and share your knowledge with others. Do it willingly and do it often !! If we plant seeds in others, our future will be better than our past, or present, has ever been.

Take a student under your care. Be a mentor !! Talk to student organizations. Instead of complaining about what the newest generation does/doesn’t do, change their perspective by giving them your time and insight.

Also, don’t ignore the professional association who wants to have you involved. What is a better use of your time? Sharing with others to make HR better, or making sure the topic is lofty enough for you to expound upon ??

I am fiercely passionate about this !! This is very serious and a true opportunity for Senior HR people to shine !! I plan to plant seeds for as long as possible. Then, one day, when I’m no longer around, one of those seeds I planted will blossom, grow and continue my work and legacy. Get planting !!