HR Happy Hour - Episode 7 - Tattooed HR Pros Unite!

It is that time again, time for the next installment of the HR Happy Hour!

We are up to Episode 7 - 'Funky Hair, Tattoos, and HR Diversity', starting at 6PM EDT, Friday August 14, 2009.

Shauna Moerke, the HR Minion and I will welcome Kelly Mitton, Jen Wojcik, Lynne Ellsberry, and more in a fun discussion on a wide range of topics:

Is HR is truly welcoming as a profession to those folks that look and act a bit 'different'?

Are tattoos and purple hair welcome in HR? Does HR need to do more to embrace individuality and creativity in the workplace?

Do visible tattoos give you a bad impression of a job candidate?

This is shaping up to be the most free-wheeling and fun shows yet, and I hope you can listen in, or better still call in and share your 'Tattoo' stories.

The logisitics:

The show can be foung on Blog Talk Radio here, and you can also listen live using the widget below. The show can also be heard via the listener line, that number is 646-378-1086.  If you call in and want to come on the air and participate, be sure to press '1' on your handset when prompted, and I will get you on as quickly as I can.

See you at Happy Hour!

Update on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 7:37AM by Steve

Wow, a really fun show once again, and as the HR Minion has said, it was a barely contained 'Anarchy of Awesome'.  I will try my best to capture the high points, and I apologize if I leave anything or anyone out.

Kelly Mitton joined us fresh off her first skydiving trip, and I am pretty sure she called in right from the airfield.  Kelly shared some great insights on appearance, culture, and customer relations.  Check out Kelly's blog at www.kellymitton.blogspot.com and consider supporting her charity work for cancer research.

Lynne Ellsberry had some excellent perspective on the whole 'Tattoo and Funky Hair' discussion from a number of different angles.  Lynne very clearly articulated the importance of cultural fit with an organization and without it, the employee/employer relationship is not really all the sustainable.

Deirdre Honner, the HR Maven and 'Friend of the Show' called in and was fantastic as usual. Dee has a great ability to distill the discussion to its essential elements, and help us all understand what is really important.

Victorio Milian called in from the angle of an HR organization and company that is much more accepting and welcoming of 'alternative' looks and new perspectives.  It was great to have Victorio on the show and I hope he calls in again in the future. And be sure to check out the Creative Chaos Consultant blog.

Jessica Miller-Merrell from blogging4jobs.com called in and talked about the recruiter's perspective in this debate. Jessica also has a new career themed TV show coming up that you can learn more about on her site.

Lastly thanks (I think) to Nora Burns, Trish McFarlane, Traci Deveau and Franny Oxford for calling in at the start of the show and playing along with Shauna in a little sing-a-long.  It was very funny!

See everyone the next time, August 28, 2009 for the 'HR and Sports' show.

HR Happy Hour - Episode 6 - Viva la Revolution!

Shauna Moerke, the HR Minion and I are back with the latest Episode of the HR Happy Hour show on Blog Talk Radio, tonight, Friday July 31 at 8PM EDT, 5PM PDT.

Here is what is coming up on the the HR Happy Hour:

Episode 6 - July 31, 2009 - 8 PM EDT, 5 PM PDT  'The HRevolution' - An open forum to chat about ideas for the very first HR Blog Conference.  Where should the conference be held?  What topics and sessions are you interested in?  Would you actually attend?  Set to appear are conference founders Trish McFarlane, Ben Eubanks and more.

A reminder, you can listen to the show live at the Blog Talk Radio page, you can use the widget embedded here, or you can use the listener line, 646-378-1086, to hear the show via the phone, and you can come on the air by calling in to that number and pressing '1' on your phone and I will get you on the air.

I hope you can join Shauna and I for the show!

Update on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 9:56PM by Steve

Wow - another great show.  First, I apologize that my audio was a bit spotty at times, I had to do the show using the VOIP service and I did notice some choppiness in my feed.

Thanks to everyone who participated tonight.

Trish McFarlane - creator or mastermind of the HRevolution and the first ever HR Blog Conference.  Trish blogs at the HR Ringleader blog, and the conference information can be found at www.hrevolution.wetpaint.com.

Deidre Honner - the HR Maven - came on to say hi and it was great to hear from her.  Please check out her blog for details on the events that she is holding for job seekers in Michigan

Lois Melbourne - Thanks Lois and Aquire Software for being the first official show sponsor!  The Aquire beer koozie did the job for sure!

Michael Krupa - Michael called in primarily to defend the Mini I think.

Traci Deveau - Traci offered some great insight on conference planning from her experience planning major HR conferences in Florida.

Jessica Miller-Merrill - From Blogging4Jobs.  Jessica made some great suggestions about planning around events and being mindful of competing events.

Michael VanDervort - Mike made an unusual but welcome repeat appearance on the HR Happy Hour show. Check out Mike's blog at Human Race Horses.

All told, I thought it was an excellent show and I hope it helped get more publicity for the HRevolution and the HR Blogger Conference.

Thanks Shauna, and everyone else who called in to participate.

Upcoming HR Happy Hour Shows

Shauna Moerke, the HR Minion and I are getting back into the ring, with more HR Happy Hour shows on Blog Talk Radio.

We have decided an 'every other week' schedule seems to work out the best for everyone, so look for the HR Happy Hour shows every second Friday.  We are mixing up the start times a bit, still trying to figure out the best one, so keep an eye out for the scheduled start time for that particular show.

One final note, you can listen to the show live at the Blog Talk Radio page, or you can use the listener line, 646-378-1086, to hear the show via the phone, and you can come on the air by calling in to that number and pressing '1' on your phone and I will get you on the air.

Here is what is coming up on the the HR Happy Hour:

Episode 6 - July 31, 2009 - 8 PM EDT, 5 PM PDT  'The HRevolution' - An open forum to chat about ideas for the very first HR Blog Conference.  Where should the conference be held?  What topics and sessions are you interested in?  Would you actually attend?  Set to appear are conference founders Trish McFarlane, Ben Eubanks and more.
 

Episode 7 - August 14, 2009 - 6 PM EDT, 3 PM PDT' Funky Hair, Tattoos, and HR Diversity' - This show was inspired by some Tweets with Kelly Mitton, Jen Wojcik and others. Basically, is HR truly welcoming as a profession to those folks that look and act a bit 'different'. Are tattoos and purple hair welcome in HR? Does HR need to do more to embrace individuality and creativity in the workplace?  Do visible tattoos give you a bad impression of a job candidate?  Scheduled to appear are Jen Wojcik, Kelly Mitton, Lynn Ellsberry and who knows what other funky haired HR pros.

Episode 8 - August 28, 2009 - 8 PM EDT, 5 PM PDT 'HR and Sports' - What are the connections between Sports and HR and Talent Management? Is managing superstar employees at all like managing superstar athletes?  What can coaching Little League baseball tell you about management? Are my beloved Jets going to get the Super Bowl?  Slated to appear Tracy Tran, Todd Kmiec, Lance Haun and Kris Dunn.

Episode 9 - September 11, 2009 - 6 PM EDT, 3 PM PDT 'HR Issues for the Small Business' -  We'll talk about small business and the various HR-related challenges in a small organization. How can a small business compete effectively with the giants in Talent Acquisition and in building an employer brand? Are you a 'one-person' HR organization? How do you keep it all in balance? Set to appear is Charee Kilmek and a host of other HR Professionals.

So that is the current rundown, we have some more thoughts for even more future shows, including a really fun 'HR Horror Stories' show we will do closer to Halloween.

If you have any suggestions for show topics, want to come on as a guest, or have someone you think would make a great guest, drop me a comment, send Shauna or I an e-mail, or shout it out on Twitter using the #HRHappyHour hashtag.

Thanks everyone who supports the show by listening, participating, and tweeting.  The response to these shows has been surprisingly terrific, and as long as the HR community seems interested, we will keep doing them.

HR Happy Hour - Episode 5 - Why HR?

Why HR?

Why did HR folks choose to go into HR in the first place, and why do they stay?

Any why is almost every HR department something like 75% female? (Not complaining, just saying).

These questions and more will be answered on the next Episode of the HR Happy Hour set for Friday, July 17, 2009 at a special time 8:00 PM EDT, 5:00 PM PDT.

This week Shauna Moerke (your favorite HR Minion) and I will take your calls, address these burning questions, and hopefully have a few laughs.  There are no 'official' guests booked, so plan on calling in and bringing the knowledge.

To listen to the show live go here - HR Happy Hour - Episode 5

The call-in number is 646-378-1086, if you want to come on the air, be sure to press '1' on your phone.

The show can also be listened to live using the widget below, and shortly after the live broadcast will be available for download and on iTunes.

I hope you can join us for 'Why HR'?

Update on Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 9:35AM by Steve

Wow - what a great show, thanks so much to the folllowing folks that called in and participated:

Jason Seiden - Jason advised women in HR to 'toughen up' if they truly aspire to senior leadership roles, and caused Shauna to shriek loudly when he came on the air. Check out what Jason is up to at www.jasonseiden.com.

Susan Burns - Susan shared some great insights on the evolution of the HR role and offered some ideas for ways that HR can address some of its hey challenges in the future. To see more on Susan's work go to www.futureoftalent.org and www.talentsynchronicity.com.

Michael VanDervort - Michael gave us some updates on what he has been working on, lots of social media outreach for his giant company, blogging panels, and some upcoming conferences.  Check out Michael's blog at www.humanracehorses.blogspot.com.

Kari Quaas - Kari gave us some of her views on what she would advise HR leaders to be thinking about today, which included being open to new ideas and concepts, like social media.  Take a look at Kari's site-  www.coolworks.com.

It was an excellent discussion and I look forward to the next show - stay tuned for details

Thanks to all!

HR Happy Hour Episode 4 - SHRM 2009 Recap

Well the HR Happy Hour Episode 4 - SHRM '09 Edition is in the bag and the HR Minion, Shauna Moerke and I had a blast hosting HR Bloggers Kris Dunn, Laurie Ruettimann, Lance Haun, Mark Stelzner and Jessica Lee as well as special guest SHRM COO China Gorman.

The panel talked about their session at SHRM '09, their thoughts on where SHRM is heading, the impact and influence of Social Media on SHRM and HR in general.

And to keep me on my toes we also had a couple of barking dogs and a police raid (COPS anyone?).

You can check out the show on the web here here, or also listen back to the archive using the widget below.

Thanks very, very much Shauna for coordinating the guests for this show and thanks to the superstar panel for taking the time out of your holiday weekend to come on.