C-SuiteSkimm

Know, Watch, Ponder

“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”

Anna Quindlen 

Know

Not your grandmother's HR

Strategy, Supply, and Demand, Marketing and Design: HRs New Role

If you're a CEO, your number one job is to get the right people on your bus. Ergo, HR is the second most important role in your company, right? OK, don't answer that. But consider some of the things "new" HR is responsible for. Here's the short list: using data analytics to report on trends with implications for staffing, building a workforce using the best mix of FT, PT, contingent workers and even volunteers, recommending attractive benefits like student loan pay-offs instead of 401Ks, designing career paths and succession plans and opening on the financial impacts of talent-related decisions. The talent war is not going away. Competitive companies make sure this stuff gets done, by HR, by the CEO, or by an outsourced PEO a.k.a. Professional Employment Organization.

"We're looking at the HR department as its own entity, kind of like a business inside of a business, Our employees are our customers, and HR has to market programs, processes, and training to them." So says Juli Weber, Organization Development Manager at Business News Daily. Here's that paper's HR perspective in more detail. Learn more here...

Watch

Something Big's Happening Here - Yes, we need to know this for the exam

HBR Whiteboard Session: How does blockchain work?

Blockchain is a new form of ledger-based record keeping. Why do you want to know about it?

1. What started with Bitcoin at $40B market cap, now has over $1B invested in over 300 other blockchain companies.

2. Banks are investing in blockchain as an operational necessity

3. There is an explosion of blockchain applications and uses

4. This new form of transactional record keeping is going to reduce transaction costs significantly

5. Implementing blockchain will propel major organization change. Think ERP and CRM all over again. Ohhhhh noooo...Oh Yes!

Special Bonus: Ready to go deeper? Head over to MIT for Blockchain Explained.

Ponder

What's up with this?

The Troubling Clash Between VCs and Female Founders

Despite the fact that women make up 38% of new business owners in the United States, only about 4% get any sort of VC funding. This may seem like a cut-and-dried case of sexism. But it's not...

Facing Your Inner Critic? Invite them in for a chat; So says Seth Godin. He even provides a TEDTalk with more advice on calming that voice that can derail your success.

The C-SuiteSkimm is a weekly brief for CEOs and business owners delivering essential news, trends, tips and the occasional "ya-can't-make-this-*!@$#!"-up" story. Go here to get this fun, fast, high-value read delivered to your inbox every Sunday.