In grade school we are taught about the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as they would do unto you.”  And throughout my life, I have taken these strategies to heart.  It’s why I started Blogging4Jobs by providing resources to HR and job seekers because in turn I would hope they’d do the same for me.  It didn’t always work.

When you work in the field in human resources, you spend much of your time in a customer service or information services role.  My door was always open.  Depending on the location, I worked in a cube or set up a temporary office in public spaces to better engage my customer base — employee, candidates, and managers.

Attrition, Engagement — Just Be Enchanting

Engagement matters.  Making things real and being open.  Personal relationships are the foundation of business.  That’s why since I started in HR in 2001, I have always provided every employee a copy of my personal cell phone number.  And then my company asked me to stop.

Naive they called me, but I didn’t listen.  And even still I provide everyone an opportunity to connect and contact me directly even though I am no longer a HR professional within an organization. I often call or schedule meetings with people that intrigue me whether on social media or not with no agenda.  To get to know them, learn from them, and help them in any way I can.  And it freaks people out.  It’s different.  It’s magical.  And most importantly it makes me happy.

Being enchanting in the field of human resources is more than just hiring and firing.  Being authentic means establishing relationships, making meaningful connections with all these personal relationships affecting your HR metrics including turnover or retention, employee engagement, and recruiting statistics like time to fill.

Guy Kawasaki calls this process Enchantment and is the title of his new book.  I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Guy for a few minutes at SXSW about his book and how enchantment works.  He talked about the importance of being personal, and an individual and how personal relationships can drive your business.  Much like Kawasaki’s experience at Apple.  Imagine a world without iPads, Macbooks, or iPhones.  They have developed a culture, a following, and a foundation based on being real, being enchanted.

Take a look at my video interview with Guy below.  He was open, interesting, and someone I admire in so many ways.  Please enjoy his video interview.  I know I did.

Hat tip to Rayanne Thorn for videoing.

Engagement, Attrition, & Enchantment with Guy Kawasaki from Jessica Miller-Merrell on Vimeo.