Continuing our summer focus on recruitment and HR issues, how many times has your group tried to hire someone, only to end up arguing over candidates because you don’t all agree about what the new person is there to do? Hiring smart means doing some work on the front end to make sure you have a good understanding of your open ...

Most people have to check references in some shape or form, whether it’s for a candidate or a babysitter.  I don’t know about you, but until I wrote Success for Hire I never really knew how to do it. Here's what I learned:While you can e-mail a reference initially, connect either in person or by phone with at least one reference for ...

Following up on last week’s interview post based on my new book Success for Hire, here’s what not to do if you want your interviewing exercises to result in strong and lasting hires! DON’T let first impressions get the better of you.  Sometimes, you might meet a candidate whom you decide you want to hire immediately, and will ...

There are a lot of books out there on how to achieve job satisfaction and get ahead in the business world, but few are from the viewpoint of someone with a front row seat in the always-elusive entertainment industry.  That’s what I found interesting about Danielle Weinstock’s Can This Elephant Curtsy on Cue?. A Hollywood producer, ...

I love the show Jon and Kate Plus 8.  For those of you who might not be familiar with it, it’s a reality program on TLC that follows thirtysomething Pennsylvania parents Jon and Kate as they raise seven year-old twins and four year-old sextuplets.  I like watching it because it provides harmless entertainment while I’m feeding the ...

My friend Pam Slim over at Escape from Cubicle Nation has a great post on how to tread the fine line between expressing admiration for someone and fan worship.  Straight from the ECN blog are 4 “fan traps” to avoid.  I’ve been known to do some of these things in my interactions with bestselling authors, and people who haven’t yet ...

Last week, I gave a talk on twenty-first century recruitment and retention at the American Society of Training and Development’s annual conference in San Diego.  While I was there, I attended a few “train the trainer” sessions on improving your technique for delivering educational content in the workplace.  The guys (they were ...

Although 2008 has been pretty good so far, 2007 was a doozy, and it has taken me a little while to recover.  I’ve experienced a crisis of confidence, and only recently started talking to my friends about it.  My radio show co-hosts, Christine Hassler and Lindsey Pollak, have been especially helpful. Christine visited me in ...

Out of sight, out of mind is one of my least favorite qualities of human nature.  I can’t tell you the number of relationships, which I thought were real and lasting, that went bust because I used to see the person every day at school or work and then circumstances changed.   Though I’ve had this happen over and over again, it still ...

Last week, I participated on a T&D Magazine webcast with Bill Byham, the CEO of Development Dimensions International,  a leading human resources consulting firm.  It got me thinking about a great DDI white paper I saw recently written a white paper on the qualities that predict leadership success.  According to DDI, effective ...