2009 Personal Assessment

If 2008 was the “fall from grace” year, 2009 is the bridge to end the miserable moments, but having hope for the next decade.  That’s how I feel about 2009.

Professionally for 2009, think of it as it parallels to the current job market.  In the first half of the year, there was little to no business on my end.  The market was still in shambles and people were still seeking for their next job.  The second half of the year started to kick in a bit as I was called by one organization to help on their staffing, but later on, help in their HR department (since everyone in that HR department left).  Overall in the business end, everything is starting to be in place and hopefully, those are signs of jobs coming in the next year in the nonprofit, associations, and small businesses.  Although my family is not happy I’m not making a “fortune” or getting a job, I feel comfortable where my business is going and where I am at right now.

Personally, the words that describe 2009 to me: making connections.  Since nearly everyone had a bad year, it was important everyone to have a strong network.  Luckily, social networking made it’s move and now anyone knows one another (or close to it).  If it wasn’t for Twitter, I would have not met almost 2,000 of you and 1/3 face-to-face.  I have met a variety of people from HR/Recruiters, nonprofiteers, the social media littles, Caps fans, and many others.  I hope to continue that relationship for many years to come.

Which leads to 2010.  You got your basics: losing weight (I’ll make an announcement again on Lent) and growing a beard (although it looks like a goatee.  I’ll have to wait when I’m 30 to grow a beard).  There are a few things I am hoping to anticipate for:

1. Go to Southern California at the end of June for a doubleheader: NHL Entry Draft and the Annual SHRM Conference.  Signed up for media credentials for SHRM and I hope it gets approved.  The only place I traveled this year: Fredericksburg, VA for my brother’s wedding.
2. Another reason to attend the SHRM Conference: it will be 5 years since my first SHRM Conference.  Back then, it only cost me $200.  Sadly, I have to pay $1,100 if I want to attend (hence, the media credentials application)
3. Another 5-year anniversary: the NPR Summer Interns of 2005.  You will be hearing stories from about this group.
4. More business
5. Meeting people on Twitter, who I have not met face-to-face and hopefully travel (That is very unlikely, but worth a shot if I have resources).
6. The Winter Olympics and the World Cup
7. (Not anticipating) My college card expires in August. So, no more free trips on the CUE Bus in Fairfax
8. Finally…I’m going to be a first-time Uncle.

See You On The Flip Side.

2010 Predictions

Now the time of year where I look like a doofus and make some bold predictions. Just look at my predictions last year (although one was affected by Yanni, which no one saw it coming).  So, let me get my psychic gear:

And here we go:

• Republicans will recapture the House and gain a 4 seats in the Senate on Election Day
• Obama’s Approval Rating will still hover 50% and probably will be in the next 2 years
• The jobs market will improve since 2010 will be a rebound year.  2011 will be the most interesting year with government contracts ending.
• There will be more consultants/contractors because they want to do more than one thing, hence…
• Companies will start to talk about human billboards
• Verizon will have a huge year with their “rumored” iPhone 4G.
• If Facebook was 2007, YouTube in 2008, Twitter in 2009, 2010 has a few candidates. My top 3: Foursquare, Square, and Formspring.me
• Major gifts to nonprofits will stay the same in 2010 as people will start getting to the flow of things.
• More violence arises in Iran, but more and more, Iranians will switch to the green Revolution.
• Out: Personal Branding /5 minutes ago: Candidate Pipeline/ In: Execution
• Average Conference attendance will improve 3% from the previous year.
• The Washington Capitals will make the Stanley Cup Final…and be part of the 2011 Winter Classic against the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium.
• The Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys will have the two biggest payrolls in the NFL in 2010 since this is an uncapped year.  The Redskins will not go to the playoffs.
• The Nationals (or Natinals) will not lose 100 games.
• The Wizards…you know.
• Rupert Murdoch will attempt to buy the Washington Post since half the editors used to work with the Wall Street Journal.
• There will be more independent musicians in the market
• The new term of 2010: Urban Farming
• More people will declare themselves independents (although, in technicality, everyone is an independent)
• For the hell of it, The TV Show, Ed, will be released on DVD.
• The Winter Olympics will have higher ratings than american idol at times since it’s in Vancouver.
• Since the World Cup is in South Africa, Brazil will win the World Cup and USA will make it to the Round of 16.
• Tiger Woods will be athlete of the year after winning in majors in Pebble Beach and St. Andrews
• While social media usage is still going to grow, it will not overtake emails and texting.  That will take 3-5 years
• The new home/office accessory everyone will ask: the Tablet
• Finally…The Animal Revolution will still reign supreme in 2010 and there is no one can contain or stop it.

I hope these predictions hit the mark (or close to it). See you in 2010.

If I Was Running A Company…Pop Culture HR Award #7

For the next recipient of the Pop Culture HR Award and the last one to give out in 2009, I’m going to the HR Buzzword for the year: Branding.  Personal, Employee, Employer Branding has been the second hottest topic (behind social media) in HR.  In honor of that, I present to you the Seventh Pop Culture HR Award Winner:

MARIAH CAREY

Let me get this out of the way: She has a wonderful voice, but made made terrible decisions from Glitter to the marriage of Tommy Mottola.  Now, why I give her an HR award?  There are two main reasons:

Trends

Mariah was part of the music industry and one of a few who broke out.  She had the voice and image that people want to die for.  You hear in most of the 2000s that Mariah was crazy and has her breakdown.  Could it be the demand from her record company to do everything?  At that time, she was an employee for Virgin and the executives can do whatever they want to do for her.  Now with record labels fumbling to handle technology, Mariah took it to her own hands and is doing the dirty work for herself and it is paying dividends.  She admits she hates doing it, but it is the only way of survival in the music business, which leads me to…

Personal Branding

Mariah understands now that selling music doesn’t cut it.  You have to promote products you like and people would buy.  Mariah had her own line of clothes and makeup.  However, if fans want to “truly” know Mariah, they buy her most recent album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, but if you live in a selected market, not only you get the album, but an Elle Magazine dedicated to Mariah.  Not the cover story, not 10 pages of ads…A whole magazine including Mariah articles, ads supporting Mariah, and free samples by Mariah.  Also, the Elle deal cover the costs of making the album, so if they only sell one album, it makes the profit.  In addition, her PR are leaking press releases to bloggers and real fans to know where Mariah will be next.

You may or may not like her music, and Mariah was not the first person to have this approach, but is she is doing it the best and thus the 7th recipient of the Pop Culture HR Award.

The Roxette Holiday Story

This is a fan fiction of personally the most under-appreciated and best musical groups of all-time…in Sweden.

Per Gessle was signing for one of the top bands in Sweden, while Marie Fredriksson was a struggling singer in the Blonde Bar.  In the early 1980s, Per saw Marie’s talents and put her in her band as a backup vocalist for Gyllene Tider.  After a few attempts at stardom on their own in the mid 80s, the both decided that as a group, they will become a strong musical group. They would call themselves… Roxette.

Roxette had intermediate success with Pearls of Passion in Sweden, their first full-length album.  They were the group that succeeds ABBA as the new hot Swedish group and they were on their way.  In 1988, Roxette made their breakthrough album, Look Sharp!. All of Sweden got the album and made Roxette country heroes…but that was the start.  Dean Cushman, an American exchange student in Sweden, grab Sweden’s treasure and gave it to a Minneapolis radio station and told them to play Roxette over the airwaves.  When Roxette hit the airwaves, all of Minnesota were dancing, and then all of the United States was dancing to “The Look”.  Roxette became international stars.  Roxette traveled the world from 1988-1990 to play for their new fans outside of Sweden.  When Roxette came back home, they saw something unexpected: despair.

In the early 90s, Sweden was in the middle of an country-wide financial crash and there was little to no hope. Roxette release Joyride to uplift the Swedes, but it had modest success in Sweden because of the economy and did not carry internationally with the rise of rap, grunge, and alternative music.  Roxette was losing their voice and would be overthrown.

Roxette’s fellow Swedish musicians, Ace of Base, debut in 1993 with a rousing start and what you expect.  Roxette were on the downswing, while Ace of Base were the rising stars.  Roxette decided they wanted to create an album for Sweden.

In 1994, Roxette went back to the studio and released Crash! Boom! Bang! The album correspond to the end of the Sweden financial crisis and a start of new hope in Sweden.  At first, sales were slow because people still view Roxette as over the top, but when they heard the music and message, people drove to the stores to buy the album.  Crash! Boom! Bang! signified two things: Roxette return as Swedish heroes and sparked the beginning of Sweden’s financial recovery.  It was the last time they reach platinum status.

After Crash! Boom! Bang!, Roxette made many compilation albums and side projects.  In 2002,  Marie Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  The Swedish media were so in the story, that someone put a rumor that Marie had a second tumor.  The doctors held a press conference stating that Marie didn’t have a second tumor.  A few months later, Marie was tumor free, and sue the Express.  Roxette were still popular, but were heading to paparazzi puppets, so the group took a long break.

In 2006, Per and Marie reunited for the 20th Anniversary of their first album, Pearls of Passion.  It was another collection of their greatest hits setup by their record company, but it had one new song, “One Wish”.  The song was not as popular, but that one song had a feeling that Per and Marie really missed each other.  For months, Per and Marie discuss and chat about a comeback album and other things.

In 2008, the global economic crisis hit and talks of a Roxette reuniting started to heat up.  In April 2009, Per had a conversation with the BBC stating Roxette would be coming back if Marie wants to be in.  In May 6th, 2009, Per was on his Night of the Proms tour and played solo.  After several songs, Per said on stage (translated in English), “Ladies and Gentleman, for this next song, let me introduce a friend I met and want her to come on stage.”  It was Marie.  The duo played a few songs and everyone took notice…Roxette is back.

Currently, Roxette is in studio for their comeback album with Marie having losing her sight a bit from the brain tumor several years ago and the world has change with mp3s, social media, and a diverse music talent pool battling for audiences.  However, the world called on Roxette because the economy is tanking.  Roxette had this challenge in 1994 with their own country’s crisis.  When Roxette came back in the Summer of 2009, the economy is starting to recover worldwide.  Everyone is thankful Roxette reunited and Per and Marie are thankful to have been together to help the economy.  The second Joyride has begun.

Trevlig Helg Roxette!

If I Was Running A Company…Greetings

When I go to an event, I always do the proper thing and shake the person’s hands.  I’ve done it since I was born and it is in the general business handbook.  However, it seems passe that I’m doing the handshake now, but can’t resist.  According to the HR Bartender, the fist bump is the new business greeting and I’m at a young age that I’m not hip anymore.  The Obamas do it, HR is doing it, even doctors recommend do the fist bump to prevent spreading the flu and I’m a dope of not doing the fist bump.

The reason I bring this up is because people have their own opinion on how to greet.  There are people who are accepting to greet, some are cautious, and there are people who thinks a certain type of greeting symbolizes surrendering.  Personally, I don’t care how you greet others;  just be respectful, courteous and don’t make people sick, although I need to get in a habit of doing the fist bump or an occasional hug.

However, for a few who want to say hello to me, I prefer this greeting:

Wine, Cheese, and HR Young Professionals Review

If you’re reading this, I apparently snuck in and out of SHRM Headquarters and no one caught me.  That is why people call me the Jackal.

Anyway, I attended the 1st Wine, Cheese, and HR YP Networking Event, provided by SHRM.  The event was in short notice as it started advertising for the event two weeks ago.  SHRM said around 90 RSVP for the event…around 30-40 actually came.  This is no knock on SHRM since they had a short time organizing the event, plus their were other events that was ahead of time: weather, holiday parties, local SHRM Chapter meetings, Caps game.  For that, SHRM did a marvelous job.

It was a formal networking event, like any typical networking event with food, bar, a few minutes of the sponsor, music (minus the loudness, which is a plus), and…networking.  A few observations I want to make:

• Almost everyone I asked heard about the event through email.  How did I know about the event?  Not by seeing an email or through social media.  I learn the event from crashing the SHRM Leadership Conference a few weeks ago and saw China Gorman, who mention the event to me there.  Social media is great and I am a big advocate of using social media in any aspect, but this still proves you need to attract people on a personal level first and email still works best. Then again, it was on short notice.
• SHRM employees have read my blog.  This is the second organization that is watching my move (the first is NPR for reasons I can’t discuss on this blog).
• SHRM unveiled their 2010 video.  This was the second time I saw the video and I’m starting to like it more and more.  “Next” will be a big word for next year for many organizations since we’re starting a new decade (new decade actually starts on 2011, but who’s counting?), but SHRM really define next.  I won’t go into details, but this was an effective ad that answers my question: “What is HR.” 

The event brought to attention that HR has come a long way from just being an administrative function.  HR is still evolving, but that will depend on how executives uses HR and what each HR professional feels comfortable doing.  Bill Maroni, Chief External Affairs Officer at SHRM,  made the an excellent point that 20 years ago, HR was an administrative function, but HR has been changing definitions each year and 10 years from now, the definition of HR will be different from today. 

This is where structure and philosophy has become an important role to HR because it has an open definition.  Employees knows what finance, communications, and business development because they are defined and people know what to expect.  HR can play many roles and thus causing a wide variety of emotions to employees either like or dislike HR (re: Tony Kornheiser, Dan Froomkin, and the Washington Post) . 

What employees outside of HR need to know is HR is the vision of the executive(s).  If they want a stiff workplace, HR will find stiff people.  If they want a creative staff, HR will find creative people.  If they want chaos, HR will create chaos, and so forth.  However, HR can question or alter the executive’s vision for the betterment of the organization, but it is up to the executive if they are open to change.  Collaboration between HR and executives is the key to establish the organization’s workplace culture.

As for the networking event, I do see a lot of promise for the SHRM YP group and it should start at the Annual SHRM Conference or the weekend of the HRGames (I missed those days) to expand the YP group since college students and graduates have their sessions Saturday, the day before the actual conference.  I also hope there’s a two-day summit or unconference on the state of HR YPs so people can discuss HR issues and bounce off ideas and how YPs can improve HR. 

Overall, SHRM did a great job of running this event on short notice.  If they had more time, I would expect more people to attend these events and from the looks of it, SHRM is serious of being forward-thinking  to the workplace for the next decade.  Looks like 2010 could be a start of big things to come.

If I Was Running A Company…Abe Pollin

I never met or saw Abe Pollin.  The closest thing I came to Abe Pollin is Abe Pollin Way.  However, there was a reason DC name a street after him.

Before owning the Washington Bullets/Wizards and Capitals, Abe was in the construction business.  Abe made tons of money and decided that he (and a bunch of investors) want to buy the Baltimore Bullets in 1964.  He wanted to move the team to the DC area, so in the 1970s, Abe put up $200+ million of his own money and build the Capital Centre.  At that time, it was state of art arena with a big screen TV and box suites.  It was home of the Bullets only championship in 1978 and the first and only championship Abe won.  When the arena was outdated in the mid 90s, Abe wanted an arena in downtown DC to build traffic and swarms of people.  He wanted funding from the DC government, but since DC had no funding at all to pay for Abe’s arena, Abe had a choice of moving his team somewhere or spend another $200 Million plus on a new arena in downtown DC.  He chose the latter and it is paying dividends.

The MCI (now Verizon) Center revitalized downtown DC since people can go to the “Phone Booth” to be entertained and go to numerous bars and restaurants surrounding Penn Quarter and Chinatown.  It open new business and job opportunities and an additional 3 hours to stay in DC.

Why I am mentioning Abe Pollin in the workplace blog post is because he was a rare businessman whose decisions not only effect  his organization, but the whole city.  

One of Abe’s strengths was his charisma and straight forward attitude.  When seeing and hearing Abe, you want to help him out and volunteer for the guy.  Abe wanted to see the big picture and his vision trickle down to his employees.  A great example was in 1982 when the Washington Capitals were struggling and thoughts of relocation were in play.  Abe created the “Save the Caps“ Campaign to keep hockey in Washington.  Ken Delinger and Dave Kindred scoffed at the campaign and when Abe read that, he pulled out a full-page ad in the Washington Post calling the writers untruthful and that the campaign was real.  A year later in 1983, the Caps made to the playoffs for the first time.  Another example was the “firing” of Michael Jordan in 2003, where Jordan was supposed to bring the Wizards to the playoffs either as player or President and didn’t get the job done.  People want Jordan to stay, but Abe realize this was not going to work and fired him instead.  It caused an uproar in DC, even calling Abe “racist.” In hindsight, it was the best direction for both parties.

Another of Abe’s strengths is that he gave back.  As a philanthropist, Abe gave money to Jewish Centers, cancer research, and various charities in DC.  As a businessman, Abe made two sacrifices to help rebuild DC.  The first attempt was to show DC was a sports town beyond the Redskins.  The second attempt was a calling to rejuvenate DC.   He succeeded in both.  Also, he was very loyal to his friends and employees.  If you screw up, Abe will guide you and be your mentor.  Abe made you feel you can’t do no wrong, unless you screw up big time.

Which leads me to his main weakness: his loyalty.  As the saying goes, “Your weakness is your reflection of your strength.”  Abe was loyal to a fault. Look at Wes Unseld: He was great friends with Abe since he was on the 1978 Championship team.  He became coach in 1987 and the team never had a winning record under Unseld.  However, Wes stayed on the job for 8 years because of Abe and admit to Abe that he was not a head coach.  Abe wanted to depend on his inner circle and didn’t want to go outside of it (re: Jordan).

Another fault of Abe is he did show favoritism towards his brands.  Basketball was his first love.  The Bullets won the championship and Abe wanted a second NBA Championship.  That never happened because of Bird and Magic and their luck in the NBA Draft Lottery, plus giving $105 million to Juwan Howard.  At the same time, the Capitals were flying high, appearing in the playoffs every year, but when free agency rolled around, Abe didn’t put out the money to future hall of famers Scott Stevens and Mike Gartner, and both had great careers after leaving the Caps.

Of all those faults, the overall point is that Abe made his decision for himself.  Abe didn’t have to stay in DC because the government rejected public funding for the arena nor he had to bring Michael Jordan.  However, he wanted to because he love DC so much that he would donate his body to DC if he wanted to.  Ted Leonsis will be a great owner for both DC franchises and from the looks of it, he will do an awesome job, but he realize he is miles behind Abe Pollin.  

Abe thought he owe his employees and the city of DC something to be proud of.  The Verizon Center was his version of saying, “Thank You” for 12 years and counting.  You can have your cake, Abe!

Wine, Cheese, and HR Young Professionals

Appearance Note:  I will be attending the SHRM’s 1st Annual Wine, Cheese, and HR Young Professionals Networking Event this Wednesday.  This is the first event the SHRM has dealt with young professionals (with the exception in the main Conference in June).  I really don’t know what to expect from the event since SHRM contacted Jessica Lee and I a couple weeks ago about the event, although the event is almost sold out, which is awesome in such short notice.

What I should expect from this event is people talk about their job searches, workplace culture, money, long-term situations, generational differences, you name it.  I have no expectations out of this, so I’m coming in with a blank canvas.

I do know is SHRM really wants everyone’s viewpoint and the past couple of weeks, have grabbed Lance Haun and Mark Stelzner to be SHRM members and ask Jessica and I to be part of the event.  You might question the overall outlook of SHRM, but you can’t question their committment of asking HR professionals of what SHRM (or HR in general) should be in the upcoming years (although I’m worried this invite to the networking event might be a trap to be stuck in a SHRM dungeon for years and years for something I’ve done that I didn’t know it was illegal in SHRM).

I hope to learn a lot from the people who are coming to the event and if anyone is reading this and is attending the networking event, a question to ask before entering the event:

To you, what is Human Resources?

Ponder that and we’ll discuss this Wednesday.

If I Was Running A Company…Gift Cards

If you being reading my blog for a long time, you know I oppose giving gift cards to anyone.  Over the few years, I have kind of soften my stance.   The only time you allow to gift cards is if you’re a boss of over 50 employees.  Other than that, BE THOUGHTFUL!

Here are gift cards really are: plastic money from any specific or general sector. 
Here’s what organizations should do with the dollar amount in those gift cards: donate money to the employee’s charity of choice or give them money as a small bonus. 

For employees who want to give something for the holidays, have the instincts and feel of what the employee wants.  If you got nothing from the employee, just Google your employee’s name.  It will prop up the many different profiles of your employees if they existed.  Now, I know what you’re thinking: is this an invasion of privacy?  Yes, but I will counter why did you create your profile and did you check your privacy settings?  In most cases, they won’t notice, but if they ask, just say you’re a psychic.

Anyway, try to get your employee’s information of their favorites and hobbies.  Accumulate from various profiles and find your gift for each employee.

There are guidelines of buying a gift to your employee:

1. The maximum budget for a gift should be $25. Anything over will show favoritism to an employee to your co-workers.
2. The more thought toward the gift, the better.

If you are really inexpensive, there are many ways to show it without spending money:

• Photoshop into a  picture
• Send a story or poem
• Video of yourself or something else.
• Holiday Mixtape

Simply put, what employees want for the holidays is a token of appreciation for the past year and how you genuinely show it.  That’s what the holidays should be about…

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in addition, employees want their holiday bonuses, but I’ll leave that to you. :)