#6things: Hate You Can’t Ignore, How Teams Work, and Old White Dudes

I could start out this #6things with a bunch of healthcare stories about who supports the ACA repeal and how our government’s decisions are and will affect HR for a long time to come (business owners like myself as well). I could rail against the attacks on transgendered people serving to save my sorry butt so I can agonize over my wrinkles and stuff. All of these things are far more important than what appears below. However, I believe so many have said such smart things about them, I’d just be adding to the news. Here are links to some smart thinkers who say what I want to say better than I can.

On Ignoring Hate and Turning Back Equal Rights
SHRM’s measured and good response to White House Hate
On why we’re all frightened

Tale as Old as Time

Are we human or are we cancer and ALSO…do we own LinkedIn or does LinkedIn own us (our data)? Basically, we won’t know until this latest lawsuit brought by hiQ is decided (and then there will be another one…later). From the WSJ:

The social network for professionals faces a lawsuit brought by hiQ Labs, a San Francisco company that scrapes and analyzes personal data on LinkedIn to predict whether individual employees are likely to leave their jobs.

So hiQ is accessing publicly available profiles to grab data they think will tell folks if an employee is about to jet (I feel like lots of other companies do this but whatever, it’s Silicon Valley let’s make 12,000 copies of a feature of already established products). But LinkedIn says no thank you and tries to block little hiQ with an IP block. But hiQ gets around it and LinkedIn slaps them with federal anti-hacking threats. But hiQ was quicker on the draw due to them have literally no business model if they get shut down. Read the whole article which basically lists all the tiny little nuggets who tried to get away with scraping (frequent appearances of the word “defunct”). We all know hiQ should have just waited for LI to buy them. (WSJ)

Hate you can't ignore and old white dudes? See what @marenhogan says in this week's #6Things! Click To Tweet

Back to Basics

RecruitingHeadlines reports that Indeed has added automated phone screening to its offering, allowing 4 pre-written questions that act as an initial screen from applicants. They just record their answers and those are added to their application. Boom. Not sure what this means to video and audio interviewing players. What are you thoughts? (RH)

Is it just me, or is this starting to feel like The Circle?

Google has once again upended traditional thinking around a subject. Namely, that the very best teams are not the ones who are made up of all the best people. Counterintuitive, I know. It actually has zippo to do with that or anything else they could pinpoint after studying over 180 teams. What they DID find was that successful teams have this in common:

Through Google’s Re:Work website, a resource that shares Google’s research, ideas, and practices on people operations, Rozovsky outlined the five key characteristics of enhanced teams.

1. Dependability.
Team members get things done on time and meet expectations.

2. Structure and clarity.
High-performing teams have clear goals, and have well-defined roles within the group.

3. Meaning.
The work has personal significance to each member.

4. Impact.
The group believes their work is purposeful and positively impacts the greater good.

There’s a whole lot more (including the 5th item on this list) in the article. Definitely read it and start bookmarking Google’s Re:Work site for inspiration. (Inc)

You can have whatever you want…as long as you don’t require food or heat

So sayeth HR lowest common denominator, McDonald’s. If you don’t want to gouge out your eyeballs by looking at their actual suggested budget (which is Jimmy Fallon laughable), check this Alternet breakdown:

Workers at McDonalds make an average of $8.25 an hour. The suggested budget, published by the company on a website, leaves room open for a second job. And it also says that employees could spend $20 a month for health care, which is an extremely low estimate; $0 for heating; and $600 for rent, another low-ball estimate, particularly for those who live in expensive cities.

McDonald’s insisted it was simply a suggested budget to “show what a budget would look like”. Well we’re suggesting a higher minimum wage and tons of advocates have suggested budgets and cities like Seattle have even shown it can work, not impact business negatively AND EVEN in a city with higher than average cost of living. Well, I’ll be damned. (Alternet)

Which Job Descriptions Work Best?

Chris Russell interviewed someone who took the time to commission a study to find out. While the transcript is a touch tough to wade through I think some innovative little agency should make an infographic out of it, because the results span tech and non-tech positions and offers solutions that even a cash-strapped TPR or corporate HR person could manage. Check out the podcast and transcript here. (RecTechMedia)

Of course Google

I swear on my grave that Google waits until I am out of town trying to be on vacation before they post any news of note. It happened when I was flooded in NOLA and it happened again while I was enjoying lake life in Arkansas. Just as everyone was hitting Submit on their Google Jobs articles, they come out with an ATS. According to some HR pros, it’s a bit underwhelming but I suppose if we were to look at them, all ATS are at first. However, I am still stuck in the past and often work with companies with a limited budget so for now, here are instructions by Google themselves. (Google Search)

Bonus Links:
Notice your social draining? Here’s why. Dur
Because what is blogging if NOT narrative non-fiction?
How long before this totally creates MORE bias in the workplace?
Jackye compares the top chrome extensions (for recruiting nerds)
Are you a discriminated against white dude? Tim explains it all.
What do you think he’d do is she was on her exclamation point?