There’s a lot of really great people in this world, then there are some who are so full of self interest, that it completely turns me off.

This post is really just more of a rant to get something off my mind, but if it leaves you in the mood to do what you can to help others, then it has also accomplished something great. This story is relevent to HR.

Recently, I was asked by a friend and freely offered my time to help fill a permanent paid position for a not-for-profit foundation that supports a wonderful cause. The administrative and overhead part of the foundation basically runs on corporate sponsorships and such, so that every dollar donated to the cause makes it to the cause. I was happy to help them keep this mandate.

Among other sourcing tactics (all of which need to be free to eliminate overhead costs to the foundation), I posted an update on my LinkedIn profile to solicit referrals. While, out of the blue I got a note from a recruiting agency vendor (headhunter) who I had not had contact with in some time, who offered in her email to assist to help with the position. As this point, my short dstatus update on the LinkedIn site had not indicated the situation around the not-for-profit. So, I returned an email indicating that I would love the help, explaining the situation, and indicating that if she could provide referrals of candidates (free of charge) who perhaps they have not been able to place at paid clients, I would likely be able to get her a tax receipt for the value a placement if the foundation was able to hire one of her people. I figured this would be a win-win. A client of theirs gets a job placement, they place a candidate that they otherwise had no paying clients for, they get a receipt for the value of the placement as a business expense, and the foundation gets a quality hire quickly.

Well, guess what? It’s been over a week now, and not only did that vendor not send me an email indicating that they were not willing to help, but has not even responded by email or phone, period. The response to help came within hours of my posting, I responded back immediately, then this person has just broken off contact. Next question… Guess who will not be getting any more paid placements from me? And no, not because she would not work on the search, but because when asked, she just disappeared because no fee would be attached.

My point today is to think about what you do, who you are, and why you do what you do. Think about how you live with youself based on how you respond to certain situations. Obviously this person I am writing about has no scruples about turning a blind eye to a great cause. I could not bring myself to do that. As it turns out, I’ve found some other great sources, and we’re well on our way to hiring a great candidate.

Those of us in HR got here various ways and for various reasons, but I think one of the core foundations of this profession, whether an initial driving principle for you or not, is helping others – and there are so many different ways we do it. I am just simply appalled that someone who makes a profession out of finding work for others can place a small amount of personal profit above the well being of so many other people who could have been impacted by a simple act of kindness on her part.

Wow! I continue to be amazed at how much less “HR” I do these days, and how much more “business” I am involved in. Any really, the line is blurred anyways – but, what I mean is less of the academic HR that I spent years of my young adulthood extracting from textbooks and now more of the value-add HR stuff. Or at least in a more recent case, jumping feet first into the mystic wonderland of where HR and Finance collide.

Some insight… The past couple days has been spent working through stock plans and tax law to determine the applicable rules and regulations governing the reporting of employee stock Options. I’ve been working on the ins and outs of treatment of Options when they are disposed to shares, then again on the impact of those shares liquidating into cash. Furthermore, as an organization that qualifies as a CCPC (Canadian Controlled Private Corporation), there are additional rules and treatments that affect how reporting happens. The net result? Well, if you are run a payroll department at a public company, then you probably already know. For those who don’t – it’s been alterations to the payroll system to allow functionality for new reporting within the system itself and to reflect on employee T4′s. Specifically, additions to earnings related to Security Options and deductions related to Stock Option and Share Deductions. I won’t go into the gory details, but I have pages of notes, formulas, tax law and examples as proof to my relentless hours of research.

Suffice to say, many of my perceptions of the old traditional HR continue to be shattered. The new world sees me spending my days in the Finance office or executive boardrooms. Reviewing contracts, share plans, options agreements and schedule after schedule has become the norm recently. And guess what. I love it! A whole new section in the mental filing cabinet – as they say… nothing ventured, nothing gained. Well, I’ve ventured to the other side, and gained a lot!

You should probably belong to Facebook and LinkedIn HR groups by now, and be actively network and sharing with your peers. Yes, not just collecting a list of names, but actively sharing and exchanging knowledge.

Here’s a new group that is national, but based out of Toronto and concentrates primarity in the Canadian marketplace – it’s got articles, blogs and forums for you to interact with your peers or to ask questions of others. It is the Human Resources Networking Group and it just launched this week. Membership is free (the site generates revenue through ads, sponsorships and events) and you can get there by going to www.hrng.ca

Once again, happy networing!

I had the pleasure just recently of hearing Eric Meerkamper of DECODE speak about some of their research from a recent study conducted across college and university students about to enter the workforce. There was a lot of great information, but one idea really resonated with me.

The over-hyped concept of work-life balance is now dead. In my days, I have been part of organizations that offered all sorts of work-life balance workshops, seminars, lunch-n-learns and so on. Although popular at the time, like all good things, the idea has come to an end – RIP work-life balance.

Enter “work-life blend”. I don’t think DECODE coined the term, but they are definitely one of the few organizations with the empirical research to talk about and demonstrate the trend. Yup. Gone are the days where one part of life competes for the other – where we flip the proverbial switch as we pass through the door at the office or at home. (On a side note, I’m not quite sure what commute time is considered – whether it’s more work or more personal?) In any case, the lines are becoming more and more blurred as technologies advance, expectations & demands increase and priorities change.

Why is this important?

Well – think about this. Do you work in an environment where employees are blocked from certain websites or technologies (Facebook, MySPace, LinkedIn, instant messengers, personal e-mail, etc)? Doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Making sure that employees are productive on the job? Perfect solution as a company isn’t it, let’s keep aspects of personal time sucking aspects of life out of the workplace. Expect, no wait… mandate that employees be at the office on time, and stay at least until the end of the 8 hour work day.

OK, not so fast though, are there occasions where you or your employees are expected to log on at home to check e-mail, or to get a report done. Perhaps to catch up on some reading, complete a performance appraisal or even use the phone to follow up with a client? Imagine walking up to your employer and saying “I’m sorry, my spouse has blocked all access to work applications at home”. Employers often expect us to stay at work late often, but is staying “home” late in the mornings on a regular basis acceptable – probably an offence subject to a write up in your permanent file. I think you get my point by now – that work is entering the home more and more, and where allowed by employers, that the home is entering the workplace. What about encouraging it? Do you do anything to promote this behaviour as acceptable to employees?

This is not such a bad thing. According to Eric and DECODE, this is what those now entering the workforce want. They don’t want to choose between a personal life and a home life. They don’t want to sacrifice a great job for a family or vice versa. They want to balance both, to blend them, to be happy at all levels. It may be through flex time or technology or other means.

It’s not going to work for every employer though. Perhaps there are privacy or regulatory issues in opening up applications a work, or perhaps your client base requires certain hours to be worked. Point is, the new idea of work-life blend is something to look at in context of your overall recruitment and retention strategy. How you treat your employees is going to continue to become increasingly important in the minds of those choosing to work for you – yes, choosing to work for you! (remember that “war for talent” that you keep hearing about?)

We are definitely at a crossroad ripe for a paradigm shift. Are you in an environment ready to make the leap? Or, as Sarah Palin might put it, “are you ready to be a cultural maverick”?