I named this blog

We had a contest and the winner got a $25 gift card from Starbucks.  I am easily motivated.

I would love to say I had a moment of inspiration or genius but I can’t because, well, yelling “Take it Up HR!” when things don’t go your way has been an inside joke at NEHRA for a long time. 

Like many small organizations (there are only 8 of us) we do not have an HR Department, or even an HR person.  Most of the  HR administrative duties at NEHRA are handled by our Accounting Manager.  Working for an HR Association, it became a bit of joke to tell each other to ‘take it up with HR’ if we felt we should have 6 days off for Arbor Day, or if someone was chewing too loudly during a staff meeting, etc… (We are hilarious.)

You could make the case that we are all ‘in’ HR—Tracy Burns is our Executive Director for Pete’s sake!—But it also alludes to the way HR can be treated out in the big wide world—as a bit of a joke—‘people’ people, that do little more than handle petty squabbles, call in payroll and plan parties.

And yet—every company, every organization, no matter how big, no matter how small, has human resources.  No, not a Human Resources department, but actual humans—that are resources for the company.  And any company worth its salt realizes that HR is not and cannot be a just a complaint center, but a  center for strategic thinking to drive the business, to engage employees.

Those of us in HR know the truth-business does not exist without the people.  And the better the people…

It is also true that people are complicated.  (Some more than others J) And hence, that is why the intersection of business and humans is so fascinating—at least to us HR nerds. 

Welcome to our blog—where we will explore people, business and a bit of everything in between.

If you don’t like it, I suggest you take it up with HR.