You might be too fat to work here

Tonight on the HR Happy Hour Show the topic is 'Wellness'.

First the specifics:

HR Happy Hour - 'Wrestling with Wellness' - 8PM ET - listen live on the show page, using the player below, or by calling in to  646-378-1086.

Wellness programs seem to have exploded in corporate America in the last few years.  Who hasn't been handed a pedometer (handy when many of sit at a desk all day), been hit up with propaganda about the 'pyramid of nutrition' (Cheetos fit where?), or been cajoled, convinced, or coerced to get more 'well' by our caring employer?

But 'Wellness' initiatives are not stopping there, at good natured advice to exercise more, eat better, and get more rest. Many organizations are setting up tiered employee benefit contribution rates to penalize or punish smokers, or to reward employees that agree to undergo health screenings.

For the companies that enact these programs the motivation seems clear - healthier employee are more productive, are absent less, and reduce the companies cost of providing health benefits and insurance. And who could argue from the employee perspective that getting 'more well' (whatever that means) isn't better?

But do companies have a right/obligation/fiduciary responsibility to promote, or even require 'wellness' at work? Do employees have to be subjected to what can seem like a barrage of 'get off your fat butt and eat some veggies' messaging from their employer? Can this whole 'wellness' thing go too far, even reaching into hiring processes and become a factor in retention decisions? Can someone be 'too fat to work here?'

And once the organization makes the decision to pursue a 'wellness' agenda, what design, execution, and communication strategies can they employ to try and accomplish their goals, while not seeming to come off like Big Brother, or that one nasty babysitter that would not let you eat cookies for dinnner.

Joining us on the show tonight will be Fran Melmed, Tanya Barham, and Greg Mathews, folks with expertise and a point of view from all sides of the wellness equation, communications, design, and organizational.  It should be an interesting and fun show - I hope you can join us.

Tomorrow's HR Today - Tonight

Wow, that is a confusing title for a post. Tomorrow. Today. Tonight. 

What the heck am I talking about?

Since it is Thursday, it's time for a new episode of the often imitated, but never surpassed HR Happy Hour show.  Let's get the particulars out of the way.

HR Happy Hour - Thursday September 16, 2010 - 8PM EDT.  Listen live on the show page here, using the player widget below, or calling in on the listener line at 646-378-1086.

Have you ever listened in to a webinar given by some high profile executives or attended a conference session presented by one of the top thought leaders in the HR, Management, or Technology space and thought - 'Boy that was an awesome session, but I really wish I could ask a few more questions'. 

Well tonight on the show, you will get your chance. 

Joining us on the show to talk about the future of HR, and what tomorrow's HR leader will need to succeed, will be Leighanne Levensaler, Vice President of HCM Strategy at Workday, and Jennifer Fitzpatrick, Director HR & Talent Management at Chiquita Brands International.

These are the kind of experts that normally you'd be lucky to dial in to a webcast and maybe ask a question via the chat box, or you would have to queue up with another 38 people to try and have a quick moment with them after a presentation at a Conference Board or HR Executive event.

But tonight, Leighanne and Jennifer will be live on the Happy Hour, talking with you about the future of HR and talent and technology and whatever else is on your mind.

I hope you can join us!

No one asked me but...

Tonight on the HR Happy Hour Show, we will welcome Alison Green, the creator of the fantastic 'Ask a Manager' blog.  

The show is live at 8PM EDT tonight, September 9, and can be listened to from the show page here, using the widget below, or by calling in on 646-378-1086.

On the show Alison will take calls and field questions live much in the spirit of the 'Ask a Manager' blog, and listeners are encouraged to call in or Tweet their questions (use the #HRHappyHour tag).

To try and make my 'show preview' post a bit less boring, I asked Alison to forward to me a random reader question from the 'Ask a Manager' files so I could take a shot at giving the answer. 

So here goes - and in the way of disclaimer, I am totally unqualified to give serious advice, please follow my guidelines at your own risk:

A reader writes:

I've been invited to an interview for a senior-level job by a potential employer who is only willing to cover part of my travel costs to the interview. Because the invitation was silent on this topic, I had to raise the reimbursement issue. I was surprised about this based on my prior experiences as a job seeker and on my own HR experience. Based on my application materials, it should have been clear that I would have to fly to the the interview.

I initially responded asking about whether they wanted me to make travel arrangements and submit receipts or have them make the airfare purchase directly. They responded that I should make arrangements directly, and that I should send them the cost so they could decide what portion they could cover. I submitted my projected costs and asked if I could interview two days later in order to obtain a lower price. They replied that they could cover 60%.

I've already accepted the appointment, since delaying to negotiate wouldn't work in my favor as an applicant, and could make my share of the expenses go up if fares increase. But I'm concerned that if the
interview goes well, it may spell trouble down the road. (E.g. have I put myself at a disadvantage during salary negotiations by signalling desperation? Once on the job, will I be working in an institution
where reasonable expenses aren't built into budgets?) Obviously, I haven't gotten to that bridge yet, but these concerns are real.

Is this a red flag, or just par for the course in an employers' market?

Let's see what we have here - an interview in a different city, no real indication of the likelihood of landing the gig, and having to reach in to your own pocket (at least 40% of the way down), to even get the interview.  

Here is my simple answer - it sounds like a major red flag, and unless this is a dream-type job that you have been after for ages, or will set you up in your career progression or personal life, I would trust your instincts and take a pass. The fact that the employer knew that your participation in the interview would require airfare and other transportation expenses and waited for you to mention reimbursement comes off as unprepared, inconsiderate, and/or cheap. And then arriving at a seemingly arbitrary 60% reimbursement factor seems bizarre - either cover all the costs for your travel, or simply state there is not available budget to cover the costs and leave it up to you to decide.  How about a video interview for gosh sakes?

At any rate, it reads fishy, smells fishy, and quite likely is fishy.

Well - that's my answer - what do you think?

I wonder what the 'real' Ask a Manager would think?  Tune in tonight to find out.

HR Technology Talk from the Godfather

Tonight on the HR Happy Hour Show we welcome the Godfather of HR Technology, the HR Technology Conference Co-Chair Bill Kutik to the show for the 'HR Technology Conference Preview'.

You can listen live starting at 8PM EDT from the show page, using the player embedded below, or by calling in to 646-378-1086.

The world of HR Technology changes by the day, new players enter, established players try to up their game with new offerings and capabilities, and a week doesn't seem to go past without another major announcement of buyouts and consolidation in the space.

I have to think all this HR Tech Vendor consolidation can't be good for selling booth space.

Bill will be on board tonight to talk about the big event, which has become one of the key, must-attend HR conferences of the year, to share his views of the market for HR Technology from his vantage point as the leading independent analyst of the space, and to offer up many other insights and pearls of wisdom gained from a long career in journalism.

I hope you can join us tonight for the debut of the great Bill Kutik on the HR Happy Hour show - talking all things HR Technology, and the big HR Technology Conference set for September 29 - October 1.

Smarter than you

Yesterday Shauna Moerke, the HR Minion, posted a thought provoking and really interesting piece about the nature of the online HR community, and examined whether or not this community (like pretty much every community from middle school, to sports teams, to the workplace) possesses its own share of cliques or sub-communities.

It is an excellent post, and if you are at all interested in taking a closer look at this (still tiny) micro-community of Human Resources folks that travel, circle, and populate this space it is very illuminating. The many comments as well shed some light on what some of the most active and well-regarded folks in the space feel about the discussion.

The inspiration for the piece seems to be the idea that some people, especially people new to the world of blogging, tweeting, attending the seemingly limitless conferences that are in turn live-blogged and live-tweeted, can find the notion of getting involved, in participating, in contributing very intimidating.

And I guess in some ways it is.

To some of the many HR professionals just getting their feet wet in this whole online blogging/social media world it can be kind of disarming.  And I think there will be many, many more great HR pros getting involved.  Look at pretty much every HR conference from SHRM National, to state SHRM councils, to HR Technology - all of them are bringing in 'HR/social media' types to help educate and spread the message. Dive in, participate, engage, etc. - that is the gist of the message being carried far and wide.

For someone new to the space it can be easy to look at 'Blogger XYZ' and see that they have years worth of posts racked up, scores of comments, hundreds of Facebook fans and thousands of Twitter followers, and feel a bit intimidated, and even uncertain about their own ability to make an impact.

But to let fear or uncertainty, or shyness hold anyone back from diving in, adding their unique and personal perspective, and contributing to the community (such as it is), is exactly the worst possible outcome of all.  We can't have a growing, vibrant, interesting, and valuable community without a constant influx of new voices and ideas.

To anyone, seasoned pros, recent grads, or students - you know who is smarter than you?  No one.

And everyone.  

Everyone has something to offer and it would be sad to think that anyone, be design or by accident holds you back from joining in.