There is a case to be heard by the Supreme Court involving a police officer and his use of a pager for personal messages. The pager was issued to him by his employer, a police department. This officer was terminated for sending explicit texts on the pager, but the case isn’t about [...]]]>

Courtesy of http://riskman.typepad.com/peerflow/privacy/

There is a case to be heard by the Supreme Court involving a police officer and his use of a pager for personal messages. The pager was issued to him by his employer, a police department. This officer was terminated for sending explicit texts on the pager, but the case isn’t about the explicity of the texts, its about a reasonable expectation of privacy, because he was only found out when the texts went over the allowed limit. See the legal details here.

The true legal issue will rest on the idea that as work and personal time blurs, so blurs the idea that the company controls all data that is sent or received from its equipment – if you carry a blackberry, you may be like me, and receive email from the boss at 11pm on a Saturday night, needing an answer, or requiring some of your time. As companies encroach on their employees personal time, it makes sense that some of those personal communications will encroach on the company equipment.

I actually carry two phones in order to keep my personal and business life as separate as possible, but I know that I am an exception to this rule. While the prevailing law has maintained that companies do in fact own the data, more recent legal opinions are shifting the wind toward some level of privacy for employees.

Another recent case is a lawsuit filed by parents of a Pennsylvania student where the School District supplied laptops and then activated the websam on the laptop remotely – for monitoring purposes. Webcam screenshots were being taken of students, under the age of 18, in whatever location the laptop happens to be. (bedrooms, living quarters, other people’s houses?) The student at the heart of the lawsuit was accused of “improper behavior in his home” (The specific behavior hasn’t been made public) at which time his parents were made aware that the webcam had remote functionality. See more details here and here.

If I discovered my home was being monitored by the school district simply because the school had issued my child (or another child, not my own) a computer, I think I’d be filing a lawsuit as well. My company issued me a laptop for use in the course of my work – I’m a consenting adult – what right would they have to monitor my behavior via webcam while not on company premises?

Technology is presenting privacy challenges. Just because we have the ability to do something, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. Fire an employee for sending sexually explicit texts, fine. But fire him for sending any sort of personal text? Not so much. Track locations of laptops with full disclosure to students, parents or employees, and prior notification before actual tracking takes place, sure. Monitor an individual through remote access of webcams with no notification that its even possible that this could happen, or in the privacy of one’s own home? That borders on voyeuristic (I’m being generous here) and I’ll wager will be upheld as a 4th amendment violation, not to mention an Electronic Communications Privacy Act violation.

Lawsuits like these are going to have far reaching implications on work, work/life balance, and how intrusive employers and government entities have the right to be in our lives. Its time for the tide to turn on technology law to protect our privacy. My employer, my child’s school district and the government do not own my life. And those who give up essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither. (to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin)

What say you? Does the employer have the right to monitor all communications, and terminate for personal use? What if that personal use happens at 10pm on a Thursday night, when you aren’t usually working, but you just happen to be finishing that big project due next week? Should webcams on laptops be able to be remotely accessed for monitoring purposes? Where should we draw the line?

Here’s Kimberly:

I live at [...]]]>

This profiles a great Senior level HR Generalist, Kimberly Roden – currently living in the Northeast. She’s seeking a full time gig with a progressive company. I’ll let her tell her story. And you should go read her new blog here, where she’s rocking HR, empty nesting, and the topic du jour.

Here’s Kimberly:

I live at the beach in New Jersey – Barnegat Light to be specific. I’m a Human Resources Director with 23 years of Generalist experience. I’ve been planning to relocate to NJ from Philadelphia, PA so I have had 2 recent interim positions. I’m now in NJ and looking for a senior level HR gig. Simply put, I would like is to settle in with a progressive and forward-thinking organization for the long haul.

I’m a recent “empty nester” with twins in college so I’m flexible and will gladly relocate for the right gig. I don’t know how I survived raising them and getting them as far as I did and I wouldn’t do it again for a million bucks (no, I really would not!) but this is an exciting and new journey for me. When I’m in a job interview and am asked, “What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?” I want to say, “My kids! Do you have any idea of what it’s like having twins?”

Back to HR… I can do “everything generalist” but my passion lies in working with the complex minds and behaviors of human beings in the workplace. I enjoy unconventional thinking when approaching problem solving along with employee relations and performance management issues. Bring on the “grey” areas of HR – everything that most folks want to run away from. There are no two days alike – every situation and every single person is different and it’s exciting! We can’t predict how each individual will react to the same exact statement so there are no blanket solutions to issues when human beings are involved. I pride myself in the ability to coach managers and employees on how to speak to one another and solve their own interpersonal and performance issues. There are ways this can be done respectfully and without breaking anyone’s morale or spirit.

Yes, HR steps in when necessary to be the tough guy, but I enjoy teaching and have had enormous job satisfaction when I hear, “Thank you, that was really helpful.”

In summary, I love HR — I have a sense of humor and a strong business acumen. One of the most important traits that I posses is the ability to be tough but empathetic. Empathy is critical in HR — the ability to understand someone while remaining objective is necessary. My dream gig would be with an organization who values HR — I can add value to a small to mid-sized organization and my experience with diverse industries attests to my versatility.

Best regards,
Kimberly A. Roden

Where you can reach her:
http://www.visualcv.com/karoden
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karoden
k (dot) roden (at) comcast (dot) net

Why? Because I don’t want to do this all over [...]]]>

The HR Manager at the company you just applied for isn’t the gatekeeper. That manager is your friend. Not in a “lets get coffee” sort of way, but rather a “if you are the right candidate, this person will kill themselves to get you hired”sort of way.

Why?
Because I don’t want to do this all over again.

Its taken a lot of time to make everything happen when I am looking for great talent, time I can’t get back, so why would I want to interview or hire the wrong person, and have to start over?

If you’ve submitted your resume, wait 2 weeks. If you haven’t heard from me, send one follow-up email, or make one phone call. I’ll tell you what’s going on, and where in the process your resume is sitting. I’ll give you the straightest skinny I have. I won’t lie about this.

Why?
Because there are 100 reasons I might not have called you in the first place. And if you turn out to be the right candidate, I’m not starting our business relationship off with a lie. And because its bad for business to have a customer hate me. (Logically, if you would work for me, you could potentially be our customer)

But.
If I tell you you are not in the running for the position. Believe me.
Again, I have no reason to lie to you.
Calling every day/week won’t help. It doesn’t make you “assertive”, it makes you seem desperate. And I ask myself “Why is this person hanging their career on my one job opening?”

Companies hire great candidates every day. If your resume seems lost in an abyss, or if the managers are unresponsive, you want to look at the company with a critical eye. Those processes in the “before hire” are the same ones you’ll work with in the “after hire”.

Great matches are tough to make, and usually there are many stakeholders involved. HR is the manager of that process. We aren’t someone to “get around”. Hiring you makes my job easier, and if you are the rockstar we’re looking for, I’m going to do everything I can to get you in the door. You can bank on it.

Sometimes even when you love your job, you have to make a decision between doing what you have been asked to do, and doing the right thing.

Going back to the Avatar movie, there one character who is a fighter pilot, she’s a rock hard chick who is VERY good at what she [...]]]>

Career Ending Choices

Sometimes even when you love your job, you have to make a decision between doing what you have been asked to do, and doing the right thing.

Going back to the Avatar movie, there one character who is a fighter pilot, she’s a rock hard chick who is VERY good at what she does. Most people, at some point in their lives, have encountered a moment where you do/say/agree with things because you will be perceived as weak for not doing so. And at that moment, or perhaps later, you regret the decision to cave to the pressure.

This pilot character, after participating in a brutal bombing of the native inhabitants of the planet, changes her mind about which side of this war she’s on. She knows this military maneuver wasn’t the right thing to do. She abandons the corporate militia to assist the Na’vi in their battle. She makes a career ending decision because it is exactly the right thing to do.

Over the years I’ve worked in environments where bullying and peer pressure were not uncommon leadership strategies. One of the things I learned along the way is that it is never right to go along with something your gut tells you is wrong. If a management decision requires those types of tactics to get everyone “on the same page” – something is fishy.

It might end a job, or even a career – but I’d much rather be able to look myself in the mirror in the morning, than hide behind the excuse that someone “made me” violate my principles, because frankly, no one can make me do anything of the sort.

Its a choice.
So toss the excuse in the junkyard.
And just do the right thing.

Michael VanDervort over at The Human Racehorses is hosting another HR Carnival . This one calls on us to identify and research a charity that is supporting Haitian relief.

Three Rotary organizations and the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC – where I currently live, fund the Pwoje Espwa orphanage in les Cayes, [...]]]>

Michael VanDervort over at The Human Racehorses is hosting another HR Carnival . This one calls on us to identify and research a charity that is supporting Haitian relief.

Three Rotary organizations and the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC – where I currently live, fund the Pwoje Espwa orphanage in les Cayes, Haiti. The business manager of Theo’s Work, Inc, Jack Reynolds, lives here in Greensboro and I’ve heard him on local talk radio recently discussing the problems the orphanage is facing. His brother in law, Father Marc is the director of the orphanage in Haiti.

They house on average 680 kids and employ 180 workers, and they are in dire straights for funds to purchase supplies. I can also imagine that their numbers will increase as so many orphans are discovered throughout the earthquake ravaged areas. With the number of people relying on them, their continuation is vital to recovery of this area. One of their main reasons for their existence is to provide refuge for the children whose families cannot afford them, and who farm the kids out to extended families where they more often than not become slaves.

Photo courtesy of freethekids.org

You can discover more about this orphanage at their organizations page.

There are links on the website for donations and notes on some of the most critical long term needs as well.

I have to give kudos to Jordon Green (@jordongreenyes) for bringing more information to my attention through his article in Yes Weekly, a local Greensboro paper.

Jake Sully: Former Marine, twin brother to a scientist trained in the Na’vi language, and hired to go to Pandora for the Avatar mission. The corporation has grown an avatar specifically for the brother, at the cost of millions of dollars and months of time.

Jake Sully has buried his brother, and becomes [...]]]>

Looking beyond the Resume

Jake Sully: Former Marine, twin brother to a scientist trained in the Na’vi language, and hired to go to Pandora for the Avatar mission. The corporation has grown an avatar specifically for the brother, at the cost of millions of dollars and months of time.

Jake Sully has buried his brother, and becomes his replacement on the mission. Why?

Because they share the same DNA, and he’ll “fit” in the Avatar. And he’s a trained Marine, so at least there’s that bonus. Another warrior. With no training, no real knowledge of what he’s about to do… he heads to Pandora.

Oh, did I mention Jake is a disabled Marine, not the sharpest tool in the shed, in a wheelchair, with absolutely no use of his legs and carrying a rather heavy chip on his shoulder? He’s now least likely to succeed on a hostile alien planet in a highly scientific environment, right?

Jake may have been picked for this mission solely because he shared his brother’s DNA, and because the corporation really didn’t want to grow another Avatar on short notice, but he becomes an integral part of the program. He is the guiding force behind the plot, because once he reaches Pandora, his superiors are able to look past his resume. Some to exploit, but others because they recognized skills. He becomes a leader.

In HR, as talent managers, we’ve all had rough resumes cross our desks, or met someone, immediately sized them up, and pigeonholed them into a job because this is what their background was… and we’ve all had to change our minds, because people are more than their resumes, more than our initial assumptions.

In my career I’ve met several people like this, People whom I initially put in a box because I’d seen their file, because I listened to their supervisors, or because somehow there’d been a bad first impression. Once I got to know these people, once I saw their talents, and a few of them, wow, did they have some talent, I had to change my mind, I had to look beyond the resume.

Skill, expertise, leadership, motivation. All of these traits can be masked by communication problems, leadership failures, or a lack of proper job fit. And all of them can be resolved if we, as astute HR practitioners, look at employees or candidates for who they are, if we have honest conversations with them, and their leaders, and at least for me, if I listen to my gut.

Do you have examples of people for whom you looked past the resume?
Or maybe a failure for the Junkyard?