An Ounce Of HR Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure, Part 2

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In Part 1, we started examining several points from  Emma Quackenbush’s article in the 3/16/2022 edition of Van-Magainze.com about how the lack of adequate Human Resources (HR) practices has hobbled the internal culture inside professional orchestras. Today’s installment will continue where we left off as well as considering options for making things better. I was especially glad to see Quackenbush highlight how the large donor-driven revenue model impacts workplace culture and satisfaction. While I …

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An Ounce Of HR Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure, Part 1

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For the past two decades, I’ve written about how the lack of adequate Human Resources (HR) practices has hobbled the internal culture inside professional orchestras. As a result, workplace satisfaction, the one thing nonprofit organizations supposedly offer to offset competitive pay, is so bad it continues to be one of the few third-rail topic neither employers nor musicians’ unions want to touch. So you can imagine how gratifying it was to …

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Employers Behaving Badly

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Just a short, but poignant, rant to round out the week. Recently, I hired a new contract worker and after their first onboard meeting with one of the software engineers they reached out in Slack with the following query: “I wanted to ask if meetings should also be recorded on my timesheet.” I get it. And at the same time just hearing the question is heartbreaking. What’s worse is contract workers …

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Getting Back Into The Conference Swing

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It’s been so long since I’ve had a conference appearance on the schedule, I complete forgot to promote it with my usual schedule. But better late than never so if you’re planning on attending the Ohio Museums Association annual conference in Cincinnati, OH be sure to add Click.Click.Done. Developing Your Google Analytics Skills session I’m presenting along with Ceci Dadisman to your schedule. When: 9:15am-10:15am, Monday, April 4, 2022 Where: Room …

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In All But A Few Circumstances, I’ll Take A Solid Skills/Certifications List Over A Degree

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When it comes to job requirements, I find degrees have less value than they did a decade ago. Certainly, some positions the demand specific degrees but they don’t comprise the majority of openings. Instead, placing higher value on demonstrated skill sets and platform certifications are where you’ll find job candidate gold. Joe Patti beat me to the punch on this topic by a full day with a post that wonders if …

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