First Comment

We don't hide our baseball loyalty very well here at the Astron Solutions blog. We're (Myself, Jennifer and Mike) big Yankees fans and we're gloating today after the Yankees took home #27! They were able to overcome controversy, weak areas and past failures to finally capture the biggest prize.

Love or hate the Yankees, you have to respect how well-run their organization is, regardless of the money. They put the right people in the right situations to succeed and pushed guys when they could be pushed. They stuck behind guys like Alex Rodriguez who had trouble outside the workplace and allowed him to succeed at the workplace. It's a good model for HR to replicate.

A few HR articles for you as I get ready to head to the Canyon of Heroes tomorrow:

• The Wall Street Journal gives some advice of what to do if you dislike your assigned mentor

• Wired has an awful story about a woman losing her job because of an error in the FBI criminal database. Ouch.

• Lastly, word today from The New York Times on the House of Representatives extending the jobless benefits.
  

Learning vacations are one of the hottest trends in time off. Instead of sitting poolside for a week, participants in learning vacations try their hand at a variety of activities, running the gamut from archaeology to yoga.

Vocationvacation.com takes the adult learning experience a step further by allowing participants to get a preview of what it’s like to have that “dream job.” Want to test drive being an alpaca rancher? How about a sword maker? Or a country music singer? Here’s your opportunity to try something new in a relatively risk free environment. According to vocationvacation.com, 20% of participants switched their careers as a result of their experiences.

I’ve always been a fan of learning new things, so the idea of a “working vacation” appeals to me. Reading about vocationvacation.com got me thinking about 2 broader possibilities for the HR space:

1. What can we as HR professionals offer through the vocationvacation.com process to others who might think of our organization as a dream job?

2. How can we capture the excitement a learning vacation offers in our own organizations? Mentoring is a start as we look to even broader experiences.

Given the choices on vocationvacation.com, it’s a tossup between Forensics and Meteorology for me. Something to think about for starting that second career after retirement.