Lighting a Path with The Carnival of HR

It’s official:  the leaves have turned, the scarves and coats are out, and daylight savings is over. It’s fall, and 6 p.m. in New Jersey looks something like midnight, much to The Devon Group’s dismay. We’re hoping the flashing lights from this Carnival of HR cut through the darkness and help you find your way.

While this Carnival stop had no particular theme, The Devon Group received a lot of great blogs on leadership in particular, as well as conflict resolution, employee development and engagement, and recruiting.  Step right up and take a look!

The Leadership Express
Practice makes perfect. Karin Hurt uncovers the lackluster underbelly of great leadership in Let’s Grow Leaders. 50 Shades of Boring: When Leaders are Bores explores the part of successful leaders’ stories before they earn rights to a private jet.

“People do not just listen to your words.” Susan Mazza at Random Acts of Leadership discusses the unspoken elements of great leadership in Leading Can Be Silent.

Also musing on leadership and the delicate balance between practice and strategy, John Hunter of The Curious Cat suggests that Managers are Not Non-Leaders: Managers Need to Practice Things We Classify as Leadership Traits.

What were your HR Challenges in 2013? Katie Richard shares retrospective insight from some of the industry’s HR leaders on what issues they faced over the past year.  Hop over to the Changeboard blog to read more.

If culture comes from the top down, how can HR help manage, develop and foster a positive and effective culture at their organizations? HireVue’s Chip Luman shares his thoughts on HR’s Role in Developing a Positive Corporate Culture on Next from We Know Next.

And on a similar note, Linda Fisher Thornton shares thoughts on how ethical leadership fosters an ethical corporate culture in Ten Ways Leading with Ethics is Transformational on Leading in Context.

Recruiting Ring Toss
Slightly deviating from our unintended leadership theme is Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership (yeah, it’s a little funny) who dips his toe in to talk recruiting. He shares 10 Tips for Hiring Great Employees that cover the spectrum from sourcing to onboarding.

Talent acquisition and management expert, Elaine Orler helps recruiters stay positive and productive, with the end-game in mind in her latest contribution to TalentMgt.com, Why Do We Recruiters Do It?

Ben Eubanks of upstartHR suggests ways in which to develop talent pools for hard-to-fill skilled trade workers in How to Find a Talent Pool.

HR Bumper Cars
Rethink the way your organization’s approach to temporary and contract employees. Ian Welsh of HR Toolbox asks How Can We Inspire Employee Engagement from Contract Employees?

Whether you’re a hyper-cynical Gen-Xer, a lazy Millennial, or a dinosaur of a Baby Boomer, you can appreciate this post from Blake McCammon of Blogging4Jobs.  Blake fights the good fight against stereotypes in Treating People Like People Instead of Generations.

In Full Bloom says that knowing the right questions is the first important step toward getting good answers in HRM and HRMDS strategy and planning. Naomi Bloom offers insight on common issues in Do You Know How to Answer These HR Technology Questions?

Play nice, clean up your mess and take a nap. Nancy Saperstone of Insight Performance encourages readers to Follow the Rules of the Playground for Exceptional Workplaces.

Melissa Fairman at HR reMix tells of bureaucracy frustrations at work. Bureaucrats gives the ABCs and identifies questions to ask to limit meaningless paperwork.

An employment law blog from Stuart Rudner at HR Reporter explores Just Causes for Dismissal in some truly complicated and, just plan gross situations.

Looking for tips on avoiding workplace gossip and dealing with company bullies? Young HR Manager, Amit Bhageria offers 5 Tips for Dealing with Difficult People at the Workplace.

Natalie O’Neal at Hogan Assessments tells a tale of the importance of reputation in the workplace in How Important is Reputation?

Could giving the thumbs up get you in trouble at work? Omega HR Solutions’ Michael Haberman asks Is a LIKE on Facebook Protected Speech?

Transforming While Performing from Julie Winkle Giulioni offers strategies for helping maxed out, over-burdened and under-resourced employees get the training and development they need despite time and resource limitations.

Cliff Stevenson at TrendWatcher reveals i4cp’s latest performance management research in Performance Management: Sticking With What Doesn’t Work.

Thanks for joining The Devon Group for this installment of the Carnival of HR! Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for the latest updates and blogs from our experts.