CRITICAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I have started another HR in Maine blog titled the Maine HR Cafe

Several factors drove this decision.

1. I discovered that I can have multiple blogs under one wordpress account. Before I figured this out, I was toggling between this professional blog and my personal blog. To get to one, I had to exit the other, log back in again, rinse, and repeat. I was also using a separate gmail account. Needless to say, the excessive keystroking became tedious.

2. I discovered that there may be a dearth of HR blogs in Maine and wanted a more appropriate name to fill this available niche and apparent void. There is Maine HR relevant content on the web. I promise that this will be the last change until the next change.

3. This blog will remain up and available, the content will not be censured, erased or deleted.

4. The blog’s url was available and fit within the theme of my personal blog Maine Forest Cafe and now the Maine HR Cafe. Stop by for a cup sometime. Be forewarned, I drink my coffee dark and black, the availability of fancy condiments like sugar, cream et al, may be limited.

Thank you to all who have been visiting, viewing, commenting and complimenting. You have each guided me along my quest to find my voice.

HR Blog Quest 365.9 the break room

Hosted by Michelle Sterling of building b: solutions, I got to the break room via Michelle’s post on HRM Today.

The word and concept of resilience holds unique power. Michelle’s writing on the topic is a timely entry into 2009. (Yes, we are still entering 2009 and will continue entering 2009 until we stop writing 2008.) Michelle tells us how to get Our Bounce Back through four phases with four core questions.

Clicking through the older entries leads to this first entry, How Are You Connected? which closes with these words of wisdom, “To find your true connections, start truly connecting to things that matter to you.” My take, Expand your connections to find the ones that truly matter to you, then stay focused on these.

In between these two entries, Michelle’s writing adds poignancy to her selected topics.

Michelle, welcome to my HR Blog Quest.

The Dismal Science

The big buzz in Maine right now is Charles Colgan’s annual state and forecast of the economy address.

Forbes via Associated Press

A fragile state economy skating on thin ice plunged into the frigid water at the end of 2008, and there will be another 18 months of job losses before the recession bottoms out in Maine, a prominent economist predicted Wednesday.

I first learned of this address while meeting with my group insurnace broker. Then at lunch time, this story brok on the daily Maine Biz news update.

Since then, I downloaded his slides and listened to the audio of his presentation, available at the USM Muskie School of Public Service website.

The bottom line for Maine HR is that the job loss bleeding and oozing will continue for sometime. We have the obligation to keep ourselves and our employees engaged and aware of our shared risks.

What’s my motivation?

Bizdirector says, Be careful what you ask for. I just posted today, mentioning the dearth of cutting edge HR (ala Punk Rock HR) in Maine, and HR bloggers in general. As happens so often, ask, and you shall receive–I just discovered your blog.

I hadn’t given it much thought. Well maybe I have. Is there really a dearth of HR blogs in Maine. Is this one, one of the few or only? If so, and apparently so, there is a void to fill.

I’ll see what I can do about that. There certainly is enough to look at on a local basis. The legislature is back in session, business are going out of business, lay offs are occuring and shovel ready is the buzz word in Washington. Just this past week, I wrote the 2009 pay freeze announcement at work.

I have thoughts as well as some of the yet to be realized or revealed another root cause of the decline in consumer spending. The baby boom is retiring. Along with fixed incomes comes reduced and more deliberate spending. Discretionary spending supports the consumer economy. Fixed income narrows discretionary spending. This is not to say that all of the other known root causes are moot. I’m just adding another to the mix.

Stay tuned.

365.9 Blogging For Jobs

Jessica’s blog is a must read for all job seekers. I visit off an on, usually as the result of tripping through a link to it on other blogs being tripped through.

She speaks to what needs to be known in her subtitle/preamble;

“tips and tricks for those on the job hunt. how to get noticed!! learn the unwritten rules of the job search.”

  This is really what it’s all about, not cold calling on the phone, not blindly flinging resumes and hope that one sticks somewhere or another, not walking through the door, asking for an application, then asking, “What do you guys do here?”

Jessica’s effort started on September 17, 200y with this introductory posting,  Blogging for Jobs. 

Since then, and this is just from scanning through her blogroll, she has written worthy words and thoughts needed for job and career seeking success.

Kudos to Jessica, check her out.

365.8 Working in Maine

The Central/Western Maine Workforce Investment Board coordinates, develops and maintains an effective and responsive system of programs and services, integrating the needs of businesses and employers. Our focus is on creating a world class workforce for our region, which encompasses five counties in the central/western Maine area.

Near and dear to ME. I live in one of the five counties serviced - Androscoggin, barely. However, I work in Cumberland County with my life being Portland centric.

This blog has been around for one year. First posting is January 18, 2008. Topics were:
Aging workforce a concern for Maine; and
Maine’s jobless rate increases; and
WorkReady set for January 28

All postings are well researched and written.

The blogroll has some entries beyond the five-county service area. The Freeport one caught my eye, it’s my hometown. They should consider adding the Manufacturer’s Assocation of Maine to their blogroll.

The only downside is the dearth of comments that always enhanced dialogue.

I’ll be back to this one frequently.

365.7 HR Carnival

This is a shared revolving effort to identify and share the top HR Blogs.  Makes my efforts even less significant than ever, but that’s okay with me.

Keep an eye out for future Carnivals.

Here is the better link with the schedule of HR Carnivals along with guidance.

A Day in the life of Hi Def HR

It is the day after Christmas, much of corporate America is enjoying a long holiday weekend. Retail is in for return and recovery. I am here.

5 AM – up

5:30 AM – out the door

6:15 AM @ Becky’s on the working waterfront for breakfast. Sit at the counter, read the Portland Phoenix. $10 for an egg omelot, home fries, wheat toast and a comfortable casual atmosphere. I haven’t been in here since the renovation.

0713 – arrival at the office. No coffee service required for today. Sort into the day, read my daily agenda (always prepared as the last thing from the business day before), add one item – the weekly 401k process. Crank up the MPBN/NPR

0751 – Tuesday’s data variance review complete. Spend a few moments here on this b/log entry.

0800 data variance entry

0824 data variance entry complete, now back to Monday’s for final review and posting. That is if all supervisor’s returned their reviewed and revised reports on Tuesday. Yeah, Good Luck with that.

0900 Not unexpectedly disappointed, some things are what they are and will never change. Picking the battles that deserve to be picked. This lame excuse sounds like enabled acceptance of mediocrity. Time for the weekly 401k and daily Writer’s Almanac.

0930 Well, the 401k tpa website is off-line, both channels, so that process is stalled and incomplete until later on. Let the file archiving commence. (are you excited as I am not?)

0945 401tpa website restored, weekly process completed. Took the time to download the active participant list to reconcile against the designated beneficiary records. Some to many will be archived for retention as needed.

1025 Beneficiary record reconciliation now in progress.

1100 With MPBN’s Sara Willis’s In Tune By Ten adding the right amount of contemporary culture, it’s time to start the archiving.

1230 Done through Benefits/Workers Compensation. Break for lunch.

1250 Abbreviated lunch consumed while clicking, streaming, surfing and reading through the world of cHybeR.

365.6 Sky’s The Limit

This blog is authored by a friend of mine. We met on line, probably via SHRM HRTalk, migrated through other boards and venues, until now we are both neophyte bloggers. Five years ago, we met for the first time in real life at the SHRM national convention in New Orleans.

Sandra started blogging in September 2008 – according to her site’s archives. (Note to self, see if I have activated the archive widget on my blogs.) Her style of writing is always very hits the high C notes, concise, clear with clarity, and conversational.

I always look forward to reading more from my friend Sky in Tucson. For her, the sky is truly the limit without boundaries.

365.5 Compensation Force

Practical news, information, tips and musings about employee performance and compensation

Anne Bare’s blog is a great resource for all things about employee performance and compensation. The writing is clear and lucid with a great conversational tone.

This post Rewarding Investment Bankers with Mortgage Backed Securities & Junk Bonds: Justice? made me chuckle. A great nugget of accountability for performance.

For reading on Forced Ranking, check this posting and read through the embedded link to the source blog.

And finally, Anne’s words and work are a featured blog at Workforce Management. Her blog has been around since May of 2006 (according to the online archives.) Useful links are embedded giving credit when credit is due to her sources.

Nicely done Anne.