Archive for January, 2009
Creating Efficiency – Rypple and ActiveWords
Posted by Dan Hall in Creating Efficiency, Startups on January 31, 2009
I had the pleasure of interviewing the co-CEO, Daniel Debow, of a Toronto based startup, Rypple. He reached out to me after I had posted my initial thoughts about them in a previous blog post, Making Rypples in Performance Management. He took 45 minutes talking to me about Rypple, what they are doing and where they are going with their Company. I got chills. The full write up of that conversation is forthcoming.
Meanwhile, check out ActiveWords. If you are like me and do a lot of organization of files into folders or a lot of repeative actions (like sourcing candidates from LinkedIn), this simple program is a must have.
Dan Hall
Making Rypples in Performance Management
Posted by Dan Hall in Generational Management, Performance Reviews, social media on January 12, 2009
I read a good article in The Economist about a company called Rypple, that undoubtedly will be making some splashes about how Companies think about Performance Management.
Rypple has created an anonymous, twitteresque like concept around the constant feedback that Gen Y’ers crave. You can ping your boss or co-workers to death by asking for feedback. While it may not actually prompt traditionally minded supervisors to respond with any more vigor than before, it may start making headway into more social web conscious companies like creative agencies.
I am actually a big proponent of constant feedback. I think anonymous feedback works well for peer networks. I think the challenge around Rypple is on where the feedback starts, while it could be used by managers to solicit feedback, it seems more focused on the employee soliciting feedback by others. We will see how it all plays out.
Dan Hall
Seattle Human Resources Manager
Reinforcing Leadership (Yes, Leadership)
Posted by Dan Hall in Adding Value, Human Resource Practices on January 6, 2009
All good things and all bad things must come from the employee’s first line supervisor. This is called leadership, to do anything else is shirking responsibility and undermining the supervisor’s authority. Oh yeah, and don’t make HR do it.
Dan Hall
Seattle Human Resources Manager
Solicitations and Contractors
Posted by Dan Hall in recruiting on January 3, 2009
With the downturn in the economy, I have noticed a distinct increase in recruiting solitications as well as the number of hardcore contractors looking for work. About six months ago, I would receive one maybe two calls at most from a recruiting agency (I have my calls screened and don’t call back). Now, the same recruiter is calling half a dozen times, the total number of different agencies cold calling are increasing as well.
I have also noticed an increase in applicants who have normally only done contract work. In my experience, a good portion of the people who find the contracting lifestyle attractive usually stay on that career path. I am finding more and more applicants who have contracted steadily for the last five to ten years applying for full time positions.
Of course we have all read (and felt) how the economic crisis is affecting businesses but sometimes it is interesting to see some of the second or third order effects.
Dan Hall
Seattle Human Resources Manager
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