KnowHR Plus

Open Enrollment Communication in 2013 Will Be a Rodeo

April 9, 2013

Hold onto your hat, this one’s gonna get bumpy. Your open enrollment communication for 2013 and 2014 is going to be like nothing your employees have ever seen. They’ll get ads for healthcare plans saying, “Pick me.” They’ll get official-looking papers with government seals talking about insurance exchanges. And they’ll get your open enrollment materials. […]

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Pause. Between. Words.

April 7, 2013

Youseethatguyuptherethatscolehamelsheisprobablyourbestplayeryouseehesthe pitcherandheneedstogetthisbatteroutbythrowingstikesohmythatsnotastrikethat wasaballitllbeverybadofrusifthisguygetsonbaseletmeholdthatdonthitthenice peoplewithyourbatwannasitonmylapcomeoverhereminadontrunaroundtherecomes thepitchohnothatcantbegoodthatslongohlookthatsadoubletheygotthreeruns waitwhyisthatguygoingtoscoretoowhathappenedididntseeitsitstillsonwait aminutethatwasahomerunnowayididntevenseeitsitstillsonputthebatdownstop kickingtheseatwaitformommytocomebacktellmeaboutyourideadontdontdont dontkickputthebatdownpleasechillcoolitcoolitchiilitrelaxrelaxrelax ifyourelaxillbuyuanicecreamnnoyouneedtoeatthestraberriesfirstsitdown putthebatdowndonthitthepeopledoyouwantositonmylapsitonmylappleasesit lookmommyiscomingbacktherecolehamelsispitchingagainyouwanticecreamillgetyou icecreamgoodpitchlooksoncolehamelsmadeastikestrikesaregood letsgogetsomeicecream. I sat in front of a guy at the Phillies game today who never shut up for the entire game. He spent 3 hours talking without pausing to his 5-year-old son, who managed to hit Sheryl and me with his Whiffle […]

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Pause. Between. Words.

April 7, 2013

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Hop on

April 5, 2013

[Image source] The best words anyone can say are hop on. There’s a freedom in that phrase. It’s what separates big ideas from teensy little ones. Hop on is the concept that gets us working together. How many people say hop on at your shop? And if they don’t, why not?

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Engagement Starts with Caring

April 4, 2013

You want employee engagement? Care about people. I’m not talking about caring as in the perfunctory “How are you?” questions. Or having a monthly birthday cake. I’m talking about caring deeply. Like friends. For life. You want to see what caring looks like? It involves someone I admire beyond words — the performance artist Marina […]

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Irrational Behavior and Employee Communications

April 4, 2013

I’m taking Dan Ariely’s A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior on Coursera. The course is about the craziness in behavioral economics. Quick summary: You think you make rational choices about choices and purchases. You don’t. Here’s the short link between irrational behavior and employee communications: Behavioral economics applies in scores of HR decisions that employees […]

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10 Things You Need to Know About Building Your HR Technology and Managing Coders

April 3, 2013

I’ve had quite a bit of experience managing coders. Here are 10 things you need to know about building your HR technology and how to manage the people who create it. Anything you can describe can be built. If a coder tells you it can’t, get rid of him and hire someone who can. You’re […]

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Life Throws Us Curves

April 2, 2013

Okay, I decided to keep on writing KnowHR®. Today is post #1,314. Yesterday was April Fools. Today is curveballs. Not that kind. Not the Babe Ruth kind. This is about life’s curveballs. The first major league curveball in my life started with a phone call at school. “Your father is dying. You need to get […]

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The End

April 1, 2013

You know there’s a moment when you should retire at the top of your game? That’s today. It’s time to hang it up at KnowHR. I had a good run…with this post I have written 1313 articles since that first one on August 20, 2006. Seven years. Thirteen hundred articles. Thousands of comments. Let’s end […]

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