HR Archives - The Grassy Road

It’s time for Tone at the Top on Diversity – or Why Uber is Yet Another Wakeup Call for Boards and CEOs in Tech

Uber is just the latest company caught in the act of discriminating against women in it's workforce. Sadly for many minorities in tech this is an old story. As Ellen Pao writes in today's Time article it is an indication of "tech's existential rot". In a world that "started off seemingly harmlessly by white men funding white men with few exceptions. When only white men were given opportunities, only white men were successful. White men went on hiring only white men, because it seemed to be a common trait of [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-09T19:56:37-08:00February 24, 2017|Boards|0 Comments

Stop Sh****ing on me!

There's a word in the English language that, when you hear it, is likely to either make you feel guilty, or make you turn off. Do you say it? What do you do when you hear it? What's your reaction when someone says "you should" to you? It's a turnoff, isn't it? And yet it's pervasive in the way many people speak in business. There's the person who thinks they're a coach and you can benefit from their wisdom. Instead of listening and carefully reflecting ideas for you to figure [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T09:51:27-08:00November 8, 2013|Career Advice|0 Comments

Ask the provocative question in a job interview: Do you have kids?

I love to ask the question "do you have children?" in a job interview. What!? you think to yourself - didn't she go to training on what questions not to ask??? Well there's a method to my madness... If you've been through interview training then you know there are a set of questions you are told not to ask like are you married? do you have children? are you thinking of having children? how old are you? etc. You may have been told that it is illegal to ask these [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T09:51:48-08:00October 14, 2013|Career Advice|0 Comments

Employee Ranking is an Innovation Killer in Tech

You've been in that meeting. HR's leading the annual performance review process and you're being asked to rank your team members with their peers. In larger companies you're probably being asked to force your team into a bell curve of the top 20%, middle 60% and bottom 20%, or your HR person is talking about "the lifeboat test" (what order would you throw your employees out of the boat), or if you work for Intel maybe you're being asked to do a literal forced ranking. It's a tried and tested [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T16:56:42-08:00July 11, 2012|Career Advice|0 Comments

Should you tell the whole truth on your resume?

I interviewed a sales candidate yesterday who presented me with an interesting question - about whether he should have put an aspect of his life on his resume.The "aspect" in question is that he is a nationally ranked triathlete. If this was you - would you have put it on your resume?This came up in the interview when the candidate and I were discussing the culture at FirstRain and what it's like to work here. We work hard, but we also play hard and some of us like to find [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-03T02:44:44-08:00July 27, 2010|Career Advice|0 Comments

How to write a performance review

We are in the final stages of our annual performance review process here at FirstRain and it's a great time to visit what really matters when writing a performance review.My first principle is that everyone deserves a performance review - it's a benefit and a right. I believe we owe it to every employee to listen to how they see their own performance, listen to their ambitions and what they want to learn next, and share our observations, advice and encouragement at least once a year. In reality it is [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:16:46-08:00October 1, 2009|Career Advice|2 Comments