Friday, October 7, 2022

Friday Free for All- Where is Everyone?

      Blogland has been quiet lately. I think many of you are taking breaks. I think many others of you have to be bored with what I prattle on about, but it's so nice to chat with you via comments. I know Kim, Sluggy, and Anne are out having joys and making memories with Kim's Sissy. Enjoy ladies and please share your exploits. What's going on in my head since I and a few others are still here, typing away most every day?

 On Grandpup 

     Things went well for the most part this week.  He's very food motivated, and pup seems to just ignore him when he eats or gets treats. The opposite is not true, so I make sure my pup gets fed or treated in complete solitude. I'm also finding we need to take his tired cues. The crate is not a punishment, but provides a safe and cozy space when he's just so tired and over stimulated. By Wednesday, he was telling us when it was time for quiet. Never underestimate a good supply and variety of playthings. Mismatched colorful socks was better than any $10 toy from Chewy. He also settles in to cozy worn old tshirts. 

    You'd think we never had a dog before, or one from puppyhood, but I keep learning more and more things to help us out as we help our daughter balance her schedule. Did you know the slow meandering, sniffing walks are really very mentally and physically tiring for dogs? Here I always thought that it had to be a vigorous walk to do real good. Reasons Why You Should Let Your Dog Sniff On Walks.I'm incorporating both. Pup is a sniffer. When I walk both together, they both are. I give grandpup a faster paced, stretch his legs and get energy out kind of walk alone. The mix seems to be working to meet my and their needs. 

     I also have learned our situation is not that unique. Dogs come into people's lives at inopportune times a lot. Things change in life very quickly, some for good, some for sad, and sometimes a plan just might not have been fully baked. Sometimes a team approach to get through puppy stage (or kitty) and settled into adulthood is needed. There's so many pets in shelters that just need love and care. As a trio, daughter, DH, and I, we got this. 

Frustrations with HR 

     No offense to any of you in HR but I'm locked in a battle of wills. I lost a good team member last spring because she felt her position was under classified for the work. I agreed. My director agreed. Our executive sponsor agreed. Our HR consultant did not. We've since rewritten, revamped, found market comparisons, and she still low balled it to the same exact classification! I won't be able to attract the caliber of applicants the position needs. Myself and another have been doing the bare minimum to keep work afloat in that area, but the list of untouched work is growing. I'm in HR hell and do not understand why this consultant just does not understand the position needs. Picture me with smoke coming out my ear when the audit came back. And can I add, it's been 10 weeks since we requested to post the submitted position. To fight this might be another 10. What stage of your career were you in when you learned that Human Resources is not there to support the employees?

Fall Colors and Morning Sunrise 

     I don't have to repeat that colors are getting gorgeous out. We definitely need to get out of the house/ yard/ park this weekend and see different hues. My daughter drove fine with her dog. She has to work Saturday so I'll have him. As pup can't really take long walks, I might test out the young guy on the river walk, downtown, maybe  grab a seltzer and see if he is good hanging out at the brewery. If he is, he might come along for trivia one of these Wednesdays. It should be gorgeous, even if chilly. I miss our beautiful red maple from the front yard. I did get to see the sun come up yesterday. I'll settle for that. 

    What's on your mind today? Are you feeling glad it's the weekend? 




22 comments:

  1. A long time lurker here - (no blog of my own) and just wanted to say I enjoy reading your blog. I live in the UK and like comparing recipes and prices etc. Best wishes Kaye

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    1. That's the same for me on reading and watching UK blogs and vlogs. I'm glad you stopped by. I hope you join in comments whenever you like.

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  2. My sister is a senior HR person, and we often share stories about the "other side" of each of our work. I find our HR team to generally be good partners, but we most definitely disagree with each other. At my company, HR makes a recommendation, and as long as my choice fits within the legal guidelines, I can deviate from their recommendation. But, that means I accept fully the risk for the decision. That is a weighty choice. This is most often around terminations & the like. For compensation decisions, when we have something like you describe, generally if I can bring my VP on board, they will overrule HR. We also have an exception committee that we can push something to, if we really need a one time exception to our typical pay & hiring guidelines. This has happened to me quite a bit, as I'm the only person in my mega company hiring for a very specific role profile. The more general profile that the company uses doesn't translate well to the folks I'm trying to hire.

    Hope you get good progress soon!

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    1. I'm salty now, but I do know they have a valuable job. This particular rep is a nice person and has been helpful in some fronts, but this pd classifications situation is tough.

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  3. We always called HR Human Remains! Sorry!

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    1. Oh no! I hope ours never gets to that point.

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  4. Always look forward to the weekends. We are remembering how much work a kitten is here. They go thru different stages than a full grown cat, but like you all, we are adjusting and got this. That is frustrating with the job classification at work. It will be hard to attract the right candidate the way HR set it up. I hope it can get changed.

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    1. So you feel our growing pains on the baby front. This guy is pretty good, just puppy. Plus the old one is not helpful.

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  5. I nearly went into HR after corporate management so would probably have been that annoying woman!
    The trees are starting to turn and there's been some lovely sunrises this week but the damp, the dark and the spiders don't endear me to the season.
    I barely notice weekends not having a "normal" working week but I've been to the pub for lunch, seen The Lost King at the cinema and am getting the booze ready to watch our Lionesses play the USA in the football later (and hopefully thrash 'em!) Have fun. xxx

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    1. I'm sure you'd see the big picture and wouldn't be just a box checker. I haven't seen any results of the game. I'll need to look.

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  6. I've noticed that blogland is very slow right now - it's Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada, but I'm sure that won't account for it for you, Sam! Maybe it's all the hustle and bustle of kids going back to school and most people resuming real life again? And I'm sure it doesn't help that our posts don't go out by email feed anymore to our readers!

    Oh, don't get me started on HR. My own position (a Consultant, although I'm an Admin Assistant) is the only position in the entire company that cannot get a promotion. I've been with my company for 11.5 years, I work at a Senior Consultant level, I have a massive amount of knowledge with no backfill or succession plan. I am doing 3 separate jobs (the other two - Facilities and Finance - both have promotion tracks, but I'm "not eligible" because I'm not dedicated to just those), but we have co-op students who come in who are higher than me. So frustrating. I just keep asking for raises! :)

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    1. I am frustrated for you. We first had to fight to get this position out of office support. Then, it was incorrectly classified as an education specialist, but should have been in analytics. Then it just was renamed, but same ranking. I think blogs wane. I write and talk to people whether 2 or 200 read, I guess.

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  7. I'm still reading, just been so busy I've not posted comments much. I've given up on starting my own blog. No time. It was clear from early on at my work place that HR was not there to help much. Mostly they have no authority, and upper administration makes all the decisions.

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    1. Here, HR is all about filling blanks. If they don't check a blank, there's no points. I write daily, for the most part for myself. I think a lot of people, you included, would have interesting blogs, based on your comments. I get it though. It does take time.

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  8. I am long term reader too, and enjoy your blog hugely, so please keep on typing and I'll keep reading. Thanks, Megan.

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    1. Thanks so much, Megan. I do enjoy blogging so will keep on.

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  9. Oh I can relate about taking a break from blogging. But I realized when I do it for myself, I find joy and a type of outlet for my thoughts. As for your HR woes - I can relate. Our HR, or as they call themselve, People Workforce and Workplace (lame), have way too many processes.

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    1. That's sure a creative name. I agre- everything gets scored and weighed by people who do not know the competencies needed.

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  10. I'm still around, sporadically. Will drop you an email to catch up. Scarlet x

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    1. I look forward to catching up. I hope you've been well.

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  11. I'm still here. Barely. Battling a hellacious flu bug.

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    1. I'm so sorry. Flu when it hits hard wipes people out.

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