HR is not flashy. HR is not sexy. At times, it is rather grueling.

In fact, in her post HR: Leadership's Stunt Doubles, Franny-O writes, "Our job is invisible to most people. And it's supposed to stay that way. . . it's our job to stay fit, mind the details, do the hard stuff in the background."

Minding the details is what I'll be doing this week as I:

Prepare for midterm reviews with my staff,
Offer advice on the Intuit Small Business Blog,
Welcome an HR Consultative Review team for a 3 day review,
Talk with supervisors and about performance management, and
Noodle employee relations, administrative investigations, objectivity and HR influence.

It's not flashy, it's not sexy, and it's not Oscar worthy . . . but it is necessary.

What's your week look like?

Barometers.

Andrea Ballard wrote a wonderful post, Monday Morning Barometer, on Women of HR last summer. Monday mornings are her barometer of whether or not she is on her true path.

I have a barometer for the state of my life at any given moment.

I am a dot the "I" and cross the "T" kind of girl who can't sit down and create, who can't read a book, who can't relax and just "be" until laundry is done, dishes are clean, check book is balanced (to the nearest $100), dog hair is vaccumed, and e-mail read.

Throw in a date with the weight room at 4:30 a.m. and kid activities in the evenings and something has got to give. And give it does.

Don't let the fact that all the pillows are on the couch and the scent of coconut lemongrass Scentsy floating through the kitchen fool you. Things are not always as together as they seem.

You can judge the state of my being at any moment by the state of my Calphalon. Last night, it looked like this: