Career News 24/7: The Cynical Girl: Tis The Season To Hire Someone

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Cynical Girl: Tis The Season To Hire Someone

Posted: 28 Nov 2011 06:45 AM PST

I don’t know if you caught last night’s episode of 60 Minutes. There was a segment on homeless families in Florida. Apparently, the situation is getting worse as the recession lingers. Families who were living in motels are now living in cars.

I have a family member who lived in his car during a phase of unemployment. At one point, he was admitted to the emergency room with chest pains. Turns out it wasn’t a heart attack, but rather, an anxiety attack.

It wasn’t death. It just felt like the end.

So when I heard about kids living in cars, I had to share this video with you. The kids in the 60 Minutes segment were really stoic and mature.

I don’t know how they do it.

I am sharing this video to remind my Human Resources colleagues that there is no HR or recruiting without labor. When we hire someone, we change lives. When we say that there’s a war for talent and we keep a position open and unfilled for months, we are part of an unfortunate system that condemns children (& adults) to poverty and homelessness.

It’s the season to start doing the right thing. Hire someone. If you can’t find a candidate who is a good fit, hire a person for his character and integrity — and then train him to do that job.

And if you can’t hire anyone because your company would rather play a productivity game and inflate earnings by keeping labor costs artificially low, it’s time for you to find a new job. You’re not really doing HR. You are just occupying space until they can find a reason to fire you, too.