Author Archives: Mark Stelzner

5 Career Lessons From The Road

By Mark Stelzner | Published: January 12, 2012
During a flight last week I overheard a tearful conversation between a husband and wife. Both were shocked by news received just prior to their departure, namely that the wife’s position had been eliminated and her severance, although generous, would not support them for long. The husband had lost his manufacturing job eighteen months prior [...]
Posted in General Thoughts | Tagged | 9 Comments

Are You A Corporate Hoarder?

By Mark Stelzner | Published: November 30, 2011
A close friend recently transitioned from an extremely large organization to a small, fast-paced and entrepreneurial startup. We met shortly after he completed his first all-hands meeting, during which the CEO said something that got his (and my) attention. Namely, that the difference between the new firm and their much larger competition was based on [...]
Posted in General Thoughts, Human Resources, Research | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Getting HR Practitioners To The Podium

By Mark Stelzner | Published: November 15, 2011
In December of 2009 I made an HR New Year’s resolution to listen more and speak less, stating that: “I believe that there is an answer to every question our HR industry faces. It’s out there. It already exists. That’s not to say that innovation is dead, but instead that HR has done a historically [...]
Posted in Human Resources | Tagged , , | 32 Comments

Two Easy (And Legal) Ways to Gather Competitive Intel

By Mark Stelzner | Published: November 1, 2011
According to a February, 2011 Financial Times article, US intelligence sources estimate that industrial espionage will cost American businesses between $100-250 billion dollars annually. Increased global competition, pressure to rapidly and persistently innovate and pure profiteering are oft-cited motives for both physical and electronic means of securing proprietary information. Even the seemingly benign HR industry [...]
Posted in Finance & Strategy, General Thoughts, Human Resources, Public Sector, Research | Tagged , | 6 Comments

6 Tips for Stress Free Business Travel

By Mark Stelzner | Published: October 17, 2011
Erin Palmer wrote me in the midst of some of the most horrific business travel I’ve experienced in my career. Cancelled flights. Broken luggage. Stinky rental cars. Overbooked hotels. Terrible food. In other words, I needed some advice. So when she pitched me on the idea of tips for stress free business travel, I jumped [...]
Posted in General Thoughts, Human Resources | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

HR Technology 2011 – Observations and Conclusions

By Mark Stelzner | Published: October 5, 2011
After attending hundreds of industry events I’ve come to rely on a single meaningful measure of a conference’s success or failure – the attendee. Although that seems obvious, I’m not speaking to the post-event survey or paper-based ranking of a given session. Instead I walk the floor, listen to what folks are discussing, join in [...]
Posted in Human Resources | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

HR Technology 2011 – It’s Personal

By Mark Stelzner | Published: August 25, 2011
It’s my third week in France and I’m writing you from Inflexion’s temporary HQ, a fourth story Bordeaux walk-up with windows overlooking an ancient square. Last night musicians played while couples laughed, danced, clapped and drank. This has been an amazing respite and I have droves of content for future posts, but today I write [...]
Posted in Human Resources | Tagged , | 6 Comments

How To Talk To A CEO

By Mark Stelzner | Published: July 21, 2011
My first meeting with the CEO of a Fortune 1000 firm was a complete disaster. It was fifteen years ago and despite the cool breeze that was blowing outside, I was sweating bullets. This guy was a titan of industry so my mind jumped frantically between the thrill of the opportunity and the terror of [...]
Posted in General Thoughts | Tagged , | 27 Comments

Orbiting the HR Hairball

By Mark Stelzner | Published: June 30, 2011
On a recent flight to Chicago I happened to be seated next to the CHRO of a large manufacturing firm. After a few pleasantries, he pulled out Gordon MacKenzie’s now legendary management book, Orbiting The Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace. Asking if I’ve read it, I said I had and suggested [...]
Posted in Human Resources | 6 Comments

7 Ways You’re Ruining My Business Travel

By Mark Stelzner | Published: June 3, 2011
Remember that (not so great) movie several years ago which featured Tom Hanks living in an airport terminal? For the bulk of 2011, that has been me. And although I’m not exactly setting up camp at O’Hare or living out of a vending machine at Logan, I’m rapidly approaching 100,000 miles of domestic business travel [...]
Posted in General Thoughts | Tagged , | 101 Comments