Three Very Good Reads for a Wednesday

Here are three blog posts that are informative and thought provoking that would be well worth your time reading.

1. The first comes from Jon Hyman. Do You Know? ABA/DOL's Bridge to Justice (or Bridge Over Troubled Referrals) I have written about the link between the USDOL and plaintiffs attorneys, but Jon treats it in greater detail. Be afraid, be very afraid.
2. The second comes from Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership. His post, Great Employees Trump Perfect Processes , deals with the premise that you can't expect that great process are going to make great employees, regardless of what they bring to the table. They have to have the potential.
3. The third comes from Margaret O'Hanlon at Compensation Cafe. Her post,    Do You Hear What I Hear?, discusses the in-and-outs of employee surveys. They are not as easy as just asking questions. And if  you have ever screwed one up, or you ar considering doing one, you need to read her advice.

That is probably enough for a Wednesday, after all you have other things to do I am sure. But this stuff will make you better at your job, so don't skip it.

Five Great Blog Posts to Read for MidWeek

If you are like me you get a ton of things to read. Sometimes it is just INFORMATION OVERLOAD! That is why I like to have colleagues point me to great posts and articles to read. (A good use for Twitter, btw.) So I figured I would do the same for you. Here are five great blog posts that I think you will find useful and informative.

1. Margaret O'Hanlon, over at Compensation Cafe writes on You've Got Lemons...Time for Lemonade. This is a great take on learning and growing and employee engagement.
2. Ann Bares, at Compensation Force gives us a reminder lesson on The Perils of Setting Incentive Plan Targets: Revisiting Some Rules of Thumb. In these turbulent times having some guidance on what to do in the compensation arena is always a good thing.
3. Jon Hyman, at The Ohio Employer's Law Blog, provides us with some advice on what to do when the boss is the sexual harasser in What do you do when the boss is accused of harassment?
   Don't try to pretend you haven't thought of it... so take this advice.
4. Sharlyn Lauby, The HR Bartender, talks about how Being Selfish is Good for Your Career. Tell me that doesn't grab your attention.
5. David Zinger, at David Zinger Employee Engagement, has a great formula for employee engagement, Just Add Spinach

Ok, there you go. I have given you 5 great reads that will make you a much better HR professional or business manager than you were before you started reading this. Get to it!

Required Reading for the Week

There are several blog posts this week that are essential reading for anyone who calls themselves an HR Pro. These include:

1. Kris Dunn at the HR Capitalist writing on What's That Smell? Self Assessments & Performance Management. This is about performance management and the use of self assessment. In addition to his post you MUST READ ALL THE COMMENTS. There is true value in this feedback.
2. Margaret O'Hanlon at Compensation Cafe, writing on 10 Tools for Communicating a Teeny, Tiny Merit Increase Budget. She talks about clear communication and management training.
3. Ann Bares at Compensation Force writing on Think Twice Before Calling It a Cost of Living Increase. Read this to keep from making a major mistake.
4. Jon Hyman at the Ohio Employment Law Blog writing on Is “fat” the new protected class? Jon provides some important information to go along with my post on Fatism.
5. Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership, writing on MBA 2.0: Trading in Textbooks for Blogs? This post explains how blog posts have become a vital source for keeping yourself educated. 

So read away. Be educated. Be a pro!