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I'm a bit embarrassed to say, but I always thought the expression "work smarter, not harder" was invented by Scott Adams since I first read it in a Dilbert comic.Now I learned in Drucker's "The Essential Drucker" that it was first coined by Frederick Taylor, the father of Scientific Management.Oh well, at least I learned something ;-).
This is my rant about SHRM (Society For Human Resource Management).Laurie Ruettimann wrote about "Where In The World Is SHRM"? The answer is very simple: it's in the US, baby!I'm following dozens of HR blogs and sites dedicated to HR and I have to admit that they're mostly originating from the US. So from time to time I read about SHRM.Whenever I visit their homepage I realize that you get zilch unless you're a member. So here's my beef with SHRM:1) Be a paying memberSurf the Internet, read blogs, google for cool keywords, but whenever you land on the SHRM page, all the interesting articles are only for members.2) SHRM is internationalLaurie quoted in her post from the SHRM homepage: "individual members in over 125 countries". My guess is that it's people who joined SHRM in the US and then moved to another country. Lucky for SHRM that they both continued to pay their membership fees and sent in their address changes.3) SHRM is international (again)After reading Laurie's post I checked out their homepage (again) for 10 minutes trying to find out how I could become a member of this international organization (on a good day, I usually give a site 90 seconds to convince me they're worth my time...).There are chapters in plenty of US states, but how can I subscribe as a non-US resident? This is supposed to be an international HR organization (again: "individual members in over 125 countries")! I'm hard-core HR, I have an international attitude, but where can I register?Conclusion: SHRM is an organization for yankees. Period..
A quote from Starship Troopers by Heinlein:
Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. [..] All the wealthy, unhappy people you've ever met take sleeping pills.
(Johnnie Rico)
Sometimes we look too hard for happiness!
Tim Ferriss goes one step further in The 4-Hour Workweek:
Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse. [..] The opposite of love is indifference, and the opposite of happiness is - here's the clincher - boredom. Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase.
And to finish with a quote from a Def Leppard song:
Are you excitable?
.
This is the final message I sent abusing the "send to all" mailing list of my now former employer to introduce my very own brand of the "Casual Day Program".
For the previous Casual Day posts please click here and start reading in reverse order. The idea for this prank was stolen / borrowed from a post on the Career Encouragement Blog.
Week 4, Friday
Following my last email and the threats I received from Senior Management, please accept my apologies for the somewhat harsh tone of the previous announcement ("Why can't you people understand that NO MEANS NO!").
Management also asked me to mention that if you really, really want to restart the Casual Day Program, you can send a formal Project Request to [name] (Chief Projects Officer). The official request form can probably be found somewhere on the Intranet.
PS:
And for those who still have doubts... yes, it was all a joke!
meh ;-)
Final Comments
- This was published on the last day with my now former employer. The farewell apero was awesome. Thanks guys! And don't worry, I'll put the vouchers to good use. I already bought a 8 GB USB stick.
- The after party dinnner was great as well and I'll never forget the after-after-party. Thanks to the Stupid Kid, I'll take good care of La Nera!
- For Laurie: when I say former, I don't mean pformer but sformer ;-)
.
I'm publishing all 10 messages introducing the "Casual Day Program" I started just before leaving my now former employer.
For the previous Casual Day posts please click here and start reading from the bottom.
Week 4, Thursday
Please note: As we already told you, HR is no longer managing the Casual Day.
Even if you send us 5 emails per day (you know who you are!), we won't restart the Casual Day Program.
Why can't you people understand that NO MEANS NO!
True Story
On Thursday of week 3 an employee called me on his day off and said:
Hi, right now I'm dressed like a hobo. But since tomorrow is a public holiday, the Casual Day is today, right?
I really miss my former Head of A&C ;-) .
How to deal with annoying employees (or job applicants) politely but firmly? A nice after hours party? Why HR professionals shouldn't pack heat?I just read this excellent post called Iron at Waiter Rant.The owner sits next to me, places the holstered gun near my right elbow, and extends his glass.
“What caliber is that thing?” I ask, pouring out three fingers of grain alcohol.
“It’s a forty-five.”
“Well,” I say. “That’s one way to keep the staff in line.”
“Work wonders with the vendors too.”
Here's a little Casual Day Special. The HR Specialist (who hated me for at least 3 minutes after Casual Day 7) received the following email from a former employee:
As a [name of company] ex-employee I regret to see that a “casual day” scheme has been setup just after I left the company. It was my wish indeed during my entire time with the company, that such system was implemented though unfortunately my requests were blatantly ignored; in all truth, I find it quite aggravating the fact that HR waited until my resignation to take action on this respect. As a result of this entire ordeal I feel it is within reason that I be compensated for the obvious psychological and physical stress I have just been put through.
Should you have any questions or require any further information, please do not hesitate to let me know.
I have no idea which idiot forwarded the Casual Day announcements to this former employee ;-)
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