This is my very first blog post...ever...

To me HR is all about one thing – optimizing the performance of people in organizations which rely heavily on human capital for their success. All this talk over the years about “getting a seat at the table” becoming a “strategic partner of the business” is great…it’s helped move the needle for sure. But I would argue that getting to the table is the easy part...staying there is the real test. Forget all this lofty strategic thinking for a second; get back to focusing on the fundamentals of serving your customers – the operative core to any business. HR’s clients are many, but above all else they are the employees. Does it matter what the “Average Joe” is saying about HR? If Joe is my client, damn right it matters…even if he has a completely warped sense of who we are and how things work. HR Fishbowl is dedicated to surfacing and socializing what others are saying about HR - primarily to heighten our awareness. Most of it probably shouldn’t be taken too seriously. All of it, I hope, will cause us to pause. There will likely be a contrarian slant to the matters we bring to a simmer…we don’t need another blog devoted to patting ourselves on the back. So buckle up, strap on the chin-strap, and get ready to take your lumps…but do it with the understanding that knowing our clients better – just knowing how they may be thinking about us – only helps us to serve our purpose with distinction.