My HR Christmas List

Although I’m a cynic at times, I try to find irony and humor in a lot these days and it doesn’t take much to make me smile. If you’ve met me (and many of you have), I probably drink more than you’d expect, stay up later than I should and am a huge fan of self-deprecating humor and stories. In other words, I try not to take myself too seriously. So when others take me seriously I have a hard time reconciling their theory with my own reality.

As an example, I was recently named as numero uno among the Top 25 HR Digital Influencers of 2009. This list was compiled by John Sumser using an algorithm which assessed industry reach, resonance and relevance. And although John was pretty sure his calculations were off (since he had never heard of me), apparently he has the math to back up his process. In fact, John and I spoke for the very first time the day after his Top 25 list was released. (Not sure if I lose points on reach, resonance or relevance when the list assembler has no idea who I am! *grin*)

So here’s what happened… the rankings came out and there were three camps of emotional responses:

• Camp One: Congratulatory and genuinely happy for those who made the list.
• Camp Two: Questioning the mathematical legitimacy of the process and what role, if any, personal bias or confounding factors (“What qualifies as ‘influence’ in HR?”) may have had in skewing the results.
• Camp Three: Overtly or covertly livid by either their personal exclusion or others inclusion in the rankings.

As crazy as it sounds, I received a number of emails accusing me of “working the system” or “playing up JobAngels“ when it should have “no bearing on your HR influence“. I also witnessed countless discussions on Twitter (and heard of other phone conversations) that can only be described as perturbed eye-rolling at that thought that “Stelzner is considered some sort of influence on the industry“.

Well, at least I’m networked well enough to know when people talk smack about me. And let’s face it, were it not for the global distribution of the JobAngels story, there is no way I’d be sitting atop this list. I get it. Truly.

But let me be clear – this post is not a falsely modest attempt to gain reinforcement that I am an important cog in the online HR wheel. Instead, this experience makes me call the entire notion of lists and their value into question. In fact, many of my fellow “listees” have formed similar opinions and written some terrific posts on this topic. Be sure to check out Lance Haun and Laurie Ruettimann for two examples.

Lists make people crazy. Lists, by their very nature, are extremely exclusionary, mostly subjective (in both process and form) and highly controversial. They are often attempts to use the brand equity of others for personal gain. Whether it’s an analyst firm ranking top HR service providers or someone telling you the best places to work, they are really the lazy person’s tool for decision making. As consumers of lists, we rarely take the time to double click into the methodology or uncover any inherent bias in their creation.

Given my bizarre experience, I have a few new items on my HR industry Christmas list. The good news is that they are all free, so see how many you can afford to put into practice in 2010:

1. Be an influencer: We all have voices, experiences and learnings that are valuable. Jump into the conversation and be heard or forever hold your peace.

2. Help your peers: The temptation to be insular and secretive about what works (or doesn’t) in your organization is quite alluring. Avoid this by sharing with those around you and forming dynamic working groups to problem solve.

3. Manage the clock: Not having time is not a valid excuse. No one has time, yet some manage to make time for the betterment of our industry.

4. Do your homework: Do not remain dependent on pundits to figure out the answers. Seek selective advice and make well informed decisions.

5. Smile: If you hate HR, quit. If you don’t, find a reason to smile and stop taking yourself so seriously. Life is too short to be miserable and no one wants to be around unhappy people.

So that’s it. No big epiphany or telling conclusion. Now stop reading blogs, walk away from the computer and go visit with someone who is dear to you. And when you are done with that, come back, share your thoughts and let’s keep the conversation going.