My Christmas Wish !!

One of the best things about Christmas time is that people come together.  Whether it be families or friends, people make time out of their hectic lives to be with each other.  I know that I’m looking forward to our family’s “Big Christmas” where all of my
Aunts, Uncles and cousins gather in tiny Luckey, Ohio at the American Legion Hall.

We’ve been gathering as a family for over 50 years now and it is something that I treasure.  When all of us are in the same room, it is quite like a company.  Four generations are gathered, and the interests, skills and talents are all very diverse.  There are white collar, blue collar, small business, corporate, urban and rural representations.

The key to all of it is that we have the common bond of being family.  This brings me to my “Christmas Wish.”

Our profession of HR is like my family.  We come from all generations, from all walks of life, from all types of industries and from all areas of Human Resources.  The gigantic difference is that we aren’t all together.  I honestly don’t understand that !!  There isn’t a good reason for us to be separated, isolated or divergent !!

So, help me by being a part of this wish.  I have this crazy, hairy goal to truly connect all HR pros from around the globe.  You may ask why someone would even desire something like this.

I see it this way . . .

We are only better if we’re together.  We can learn from each other.  We can come together on issues to make the workplace better for both employers and employees.  We can make our professional associations stronger and relevant.  Instead of rallying against them, let’s work together to make them better !!

With technology especially, we can be more and more connected.  I cherish the times to see and meet HR pros in real life because then the connection really takes on a new life of its own.

We can’t keep trying to improve HR being isolated.  It has never worked, and it won’t work in the future.  I also hear from friends who are stating that even HR blogs are lacking “new” ideas, or things that are fresh.

Let’s take our cue from my favorite Christmas song ever because of who did the duet.  It’s the Little Drummer Boy sung by Bing Crosby and David Bowie.  It happened on a 70’s Christmas special and I remember watching it live with my family.  My Dad asked who the “freak” was and I said, “Dad, you know that’s Bing Crosby !!”  After running away from him, we both sat down to listen and it was beautiful.

Here’s my challenge . . . Join in !!

Threre are great new efforts by Charlie Judy on HR Fishbowl and Paul Smith on Welcome to the Occupation for HR folks to share their voices. There are also great collaborative groups you can learn from like: XPertHR, Women of HR, Fistful of Talent, Performance I Create, The EO List and Talent Culture.

Instead of nodding at this post and saying that you’re in or supporting this effort to be more intentional and connect with other HR pros, write a comment on the blog to let me know it.

Seriously.  Step out (including you uber social folks who RT, but rarely comment) and join in.  If this was on Facebook, people would rally.  This takes a bit more of an effort.  Join in.  Be intentional and starting now and through 2013 – connect !!!