HR’s Favorite Things 2008 – Oprah, iPods and BMWs are Some of HR’s Favorite Things!

We just wrapped up our holiday fun survey of HR’s favorite things. This is our fourth annual survey and we noticed lots of changes this year!

The winner of the $100 Amazon.com gift certificate is Sandi Mauro from Fuel Cell Energy!

Here are the survey results – based on responses from close to 300 HR professionals from across North America:

Favorite Leisure Activity
Yet again, for the fourth year in a row, HR’s favorite leisure activity is to escape between the covers (of a book that is!). 23% of HR pros cite reading as their favorite activity (up by 2%from last year). A distant second in this year’s survey was watching TV, movies or sports (8%), followed by shopping at 4%. Other favorites include spending time with family, gardening and swimming!

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• Reading anything but an HR magazine!
• Shopping, shopping and more shopping. If there’s an outlet mall in the vicinity, I’m there. I’m not sure it’s a leisure activity, more like a power sport.
• Dancing to REALLY loud cheesy rock from the 80s. Long live Poison!

Favorite Food
Pizza holds the top spot again this year, with 13% of HR pros saying it was their favorite food. While the cheesy goodness of pizza continues to reign supreme, steak bumps Italian food to take the number two spot at 5%. At number three is a tie between chocolate, Mexican and Italian all at 4%.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• Comfort food of any kind – the unhealthier the better.
• Burn your face off super spicy Indian food.
• How could I pick just one? Food and I have a long term love affair!

Favorite Beverage
For the second year running, soda of all kinds is the favorite beverage with 30% of HR pros saying it’s their favorite drink, up by 5% from last year. Interestingly enough, Diet Coke seems to be the beverage of choice for the soda swilling crowd, followed by Coke. It seems HR likes to cut loose outside of the office, as wine and spirits take the number two spot (12%). Coming in at number three is always refreshing iced tea at 9%.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• Extra hot non-fat double shot toffee nut latte with no foam.
• Right now, it is cocoa, because it’s COLD!
• Vodka Martini – dry with olive – is this considered a beverage?

Favorite Sports Team
Baseball bumps out football this year as HR’s favorite sport, but when it comes to actual teams, HR is loyal to the Dallas Cowboys (with 3% of votes – down by 3% from last year). Also at 3% is a new favorite football team, the Seattle Seahawks. Football fans aside, there’s a lot of love for too many baseball teams to count. Both the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox scored high with 2.5% of HR pros saying they were their favorite team. College sports remain popular, with teams from Purdue, University of Arizona and UCONN receiving votes from their fans.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• I don’t care for team sports.
• My daughter’s school, the BEARS.
• Whatever team my kids are playing for!

Favorite TV Show
HR’s favorite TV show continues to be Grey’s Anatomy with the always dramatic lives and loves of the doctors of Seattle Grace. For the third year in a row, Grey’s takes the top spot at 7% (notably down by 3% from last year). It’s hard to say if it is Michael’s antics or the Jim/Pam romance that keeps them coming back, but HR is ever faithful, because coming in the number two spot again this year is The Office at 6%. It seems HR can’t get enough of hospitals either, as House is another favorite with 5%. Other favorites include NCIS, CSI, Lost, Dancing with the Stars and Survivor.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• Sponge Bob Square Pants – seriously. Don’t laugh!
• The Young and the Restless
• I’m too old for it, but my guilty pleasure is Gossip Girl. That Chuck Bass gets me every time.

Favorite Travel Destination
HR is all about fun in the sun. For the third year running, Hawaii is HR’s top pick, coming in at 8%. The Caribbean was the second favorite beach destination at 5%, followed by too many beaches around the globe to count! After the beach, Vegas ranked high with HR professionals, at 5%. Let’s hope that there’s not been too much “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” going on with this crowd! Other interesting destinations from around the world include Peru, Thailand, Geneva and New Zealand.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• A trip around the world… like on the TV show The Amazing Race.
• Warm Breezes, Hot Sand, Blue Green Water. Need I say more?
• Anywhere there is a Nascar race!

Favorite Gadget
HR pros still love their iPods, with 14% saying it’s their favorite gadget (down by 8% from last year). Showing their practical side, the Blackberry comes in at number two at 12%, which is up by 3% from last year. Let’s hope everyone knows that the Blackberry does have an off button! In the number three spot is the very hot iPhone at 4%, which seems to follow given HR’s love for their iPods! Other popular gadgets this year included the remote car starter, cheese grater, wine bottle opener… and martini shaker? I guess what constitutes a gadget is open to interpretation!

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• I am a low tech gal – I have no real favorite gadgets.
• A round flat rubber thing that helps you twist those hard to open jar lids.
• Microwave – could not live without it!

Favorite TV or Movie Personality
Talk about a shake up! The top two celebrities in this year are new to the top three…with the mighty Oprah taking top favorite celebrity spot this year at 5%. Just behind Oprah is our favorite friend, Jennifer Aniston at 4%, followed by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at 3% each. It seems that HR has been following the ongoing drama in the Brad/Angie/Jen triangle, or can’t resist the cute factor of Brangelina’s growing brood! Honorable mention as favorite celebrity goes to President-elect Barack Obama.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• I don’t have one – I don’t get caught up in celebrity watching.
• Tina Fey’s version of Sarah Palin.
• William Shatner, and I don’t even like Star Trek!

Favorite Dream Car
For the fourth year running, HR’s preferred ride was again a BMW. Coming in at 8%, the beamer’s popularity continues to wane however, down from 12% last year and 15% in 2005. When it comes to a dream car, HR is all about luxury, with Jaguars taking the number two spot at 6% and Mercedes taking the number three spot at 5%. Other dream cars this year include Lamborghini, Lexus, Prius and the Bug.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• Winnebago
• One that comes with a driver.
• Red. FAST. Wide tires and oh yeah, a Lamborghini emblem on it.

Favorite Holiday – or Time of Year
Oh, how HR LOVES Christmas! For the fourth year in a row, Christmas is the overwhelming favorite with 34% of HR pros citing it as their favorite. But the popularity of the holiday has dropped by 24% since we started this survey in 2005. Fall/Thanksgiving takes the number two spot this year at 12%, followed by summer with 10% (which is up 6% from last year).

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• Halloween – the party is always more fun in costume!
• Spring to enjoy my woodland wildflowers.
• Thanksgiving… it’s like Christmas without the commercialism.

What is Your HR Team’s 2009 New Year’s Resolution?
Looking ahead to 2009, HR has a wide variety of resolutions, from becoming more efficient, to getting organized, to communicating better. Communicating better with employees was the most popular resolution for the HR department at 5%, followed by being more strategic at 4%.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• Stop feeling like the “complaints” department by gaining more respect from the other groups.
• Not to drive each other crazy!
• To have fun with everything we do!

Did You Keep Last Year’s HR Department Resolution?
It was almost a 50/50 split between those saying they did and those saying they didn’t keep their department’s 2008 resolution. Lots changed this calendar year, so HR teams shouldn’t be too hard on themselves. As one respondent said “we did our best” and as we heard from another “as much as we could in this market.” Here’s to keeping our 2009 resolutions!

Making it Personal – HR Pro’s Personal New Year’s Resolutions
When it comes to personal resolutions, an overwhelming number of HR pros indicated they are going to focus on their health in some way this coming year – from losing weight, to eating better, to getting fit! Some 20% cited health related goals as their priority for the coming year. Other resolutions included time management, traveling internationally and going back to school.

Some of our favorites from HR pros:

• Stop swearing
• Actually fix stuff around the house I said I would fix.
• To mind my own business!

Happy Holidays from Your Friends at Halogen Software!