Welcome to the Carnival of HR!

Are you Interested in the two-faced manager, the sword-swallowing succession planner, the work-sharing Siamese twins or the bearded HR lady? Well ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step right up and welcome to the Carnival of HR (*dramatic bow*)!

Your new Ringmaster HR Minion (aka Shauna Moerke) has been kind enough to let the clowns here at Inflexion host this week’s Big Top of the HR blogosphere. Be sure to wander through all the posts as we’ve assembled a terrific show. Let’s get right to it!

• Lexy Rubin of the Precept Group channels a modern apothecary in her post, “Prescriptions – Do Your Homework“. Her advice? Don’t eat the blue cotton candy. I repeat, avoid the blue cotton candy.
• Michael Homula of Bearing Fruit Consulting brings home the bacon in his post, “Avoiding Lipstick On The Pig: The Difference Between Talent Acquisition And Recruiting“. Semantics aside, that’s one breathtaking swine.
• For smaller (and less politically correct) bacon, Chris Ferdinandi of Renegade HR instructs you to, “Use your employees as guinea pigs“. Please note that no animals were actually harmed during the application of the Guinea Pig Method.
• Terri Albee of Compensation Cafe questions who owns your online brand and identity in, “What Happens When Your Social Media Brand Leaves?” I was stung by this exact scenario when the Human Pretzel took his Twitter name to Ringling Brothers (traitor!).
• Mary Ann Downey of i4cp offers, “Recruiting in interesting times“, including Chinese curses and a “gentlemen’s agreement” gone awry among Silicon Valley competitors. This is the same agreement made among clown car manufacturers in the 1920s. The result? All the clowns in one car. Tragic…
• Gautam Ghosh begins by explaining that it’s not about free lunches in, “How to Achieve Employee Engagement“. Cathy Martin of Intellectual Capital Consulting follows with her point that employees don’t leave their companies, they leave their managers, in, “Employee Engagement: In or Out?” Both posts made me realize why my elephants quit over what I clearly mistook as a peanut-related strike.
• The Young HR Manager, Amit Bhagria, thaws out his inner Jack Welch in, “Do you think a hiring freeze is the most effective strategy?” For my lowest 10% of carnies, we simply unhook their train car between towns. It’s very effective.
• Laurie Ruettimann of Punk Rock HR follows a shoulder-tapping bar encounter with, “Social Media, Recruiting & Millennials“. This reminds me of our young tightrope walkers who constantly updated their Facebook status (may they rest in peace).
• The HR Bartender, Sharlyn Lauby, pours us a cool glass of managerial kryptonite in, “Leadership Superman“. Like I explained to my less seasoned gymnasts, hold on to your unitard.
• Frank Mulligan of Recruit China announces the, “Death of Optimism“. I didn’t know I was suffering from BODS, but now I can’t shake it’s ill effects. And no, BODS does not mean Beware of Dodgy Soleil (although their “Cirque” is questionable).
• Michael Haberman of Omega HR Solutions asks, “Want to Learn How to Sell HR to Your CEO?” Boy do I! The last thing sold to my CEO came with it’s own Wolf Boy.
• April Dowling of Pseudo HR wonders who’s at the wheel in, “Driving and your career“. You know the dusty one-track road leading to our Carnival? That’s not really where you want to be.
• Amy Wilson of Talented Apps overcomes her personal introversion in, “Speak Up More“. Do you remember the name of the mute clown that silently squirts water from a plastic flower? Exactly.
• Jason Seiden tackles temptation with, “Office hook-ups: What you need to know (and what people don’t like to talk about)“. The safest Carnival hook-up? Obviously it’s the rubber-skinned man and the snake woman.
• Alice Snell of the Taleo Blog hits the bottom line in, “Recruiting: Reduce Costs and Reap Results“. We applied their methodology and saved over 85% on drifters.
• Ryan Johnston of WorldatWork agrees with, “Salaries as Sorting Mechanisms“. Another great sorting mechanism? Free pond baths.
• Michael Moore of the Pennsylvania Labor & Employment Blog believes, “Employers Should Protect Registered Trademarks and Company Names from Appropriation on Facebook“. They should, and they should also protect themselves from knife fights on the back lot. I’m just saying.
• John Ingham of Strategic HCM jumps into the HBR debate with, “How to fix Executive Pay“. Not familiar with HBR? That’s why you’re at a Carnival.
• Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership offers, “Lessons from the Rise and Fall of Delta Airlines“. As he chronicles, they eventually became “ham-handed and clumsy”. Mmm… ham-hands. Delicious.
• Ben Eubanks of UpstartHR gives us the, “Top 10 Reasons I’m NOT Attending SHRM 2009“. My favorite is that he’s terrified of the scary people that will be there. Good thing he chose a Carnival instead.
• Rowan Manahan of Fortify Services gets muddy in, “Digging up dirt on Job Applicants“. Worried about unconscious bias? Try bringing one of these looks to an interview.

Well, it’s time to take down the tents and move the HR Carnival to a new town. We hope you enjoyed the show, and be sure to join EffortlessHR on July 8th. The show must go on!

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