Spring is here.  After a long Minnesota winter it is very welcome.  But that isn’t the season I am most excited about.

Nope.  I am ready for Conference Season!  The next few months will see associations and corporate teams gather in multiples.  From the annual event to the impromptu off site, busy professionals will be getting together to connect, communicate, collaborate and set the course for forward progress in their business.  I assume a little fun will be had along the way.

I recall a couple years ago hearing about the conference model dying.  The premise being that with emerging technology there would simply be increasingly less need to have a conference style event.  That premise didn’t deliver on the promise and as someone who attends 30+ conferences a year there is increasing interest the live event.  No doubt, expectations around the experience are on the rise.  Quality content and connections are a baseline requirement.  But today, people have a real need and desire to come together and share with like minded people.  I am fortunate to have two such opportunities this week.

Today, I’ll be in Little Rock talking about Passion & Purpose at the CUPA Southern Region Conference.  Then it’s immediately off to the SHRM Talent & Staffing Conference to spend a couple days with a Rock Star community in San Diego.  I simply cannot wait to be part of the conversation about the most critical issue facing just about every business as we emerge from this recession:  TALENT!

I had an opportunity to have a pre-conference conversation with SHRM about the event.  Part of that conversation included some thoughts about how to get the most out of the conference experience as an attendee.  My key thought is opt in and participate! Online.  Offline.  Tweet Up.  At breakfast.  In the evening.  Take it all in!  If you leave with 3 key ideas to take action on in the next 100 days (TAN PLAN) and 3 new, meaningful connections then the experience will have been very worthwhile.

If you aren’t able to join in the fun this week our intention is to continue the conversation online (we think it is important).  I’ll be teaming up with Don MacPherson of Modern Survey later this month for the Engage – Inspire – Empower webinar event.  We’ll explore the latest research and mega trends on Employee Engagement and provide some specific, actionable take away for business leaders.  The data alone is worth the price of admission (FREE)!  Plan to join us on Tuesday, April 26 at 11:00 am central time (register here). Don’s latest post on the value of values is also well worth the read.

Looking forward to a great season!  Hope we connect along the way!

Posted in Communications, Employee Engagement, Recruiting, Social Media

Tags: CUPA, HR, Keynote, Leadership, Recruiting, SHRM, Talent

I was complaining about time recently.  Not having enough.  Feels busy.  Perhaps distracted might be a better word.  I was definitely jumping on the bandwagon.  Everyone is too busy.

As I was feeling sorry for myself a friend dropped this beautiful H. Jackson Brown Jr. quote on me:

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”

What a wonderful reminder of the equality of time and our personal ownership.

We each decide. We are accountable for what gets done. The key is to direct our focus and invest our time where it matters most. Such an important choice.

Posted in Leadership, Recruiting, Sales, Uncategorized

Tags: Time, Time Management

I grew up in a world of measurement.

Activity reports. Dials. Connects. Appointments. Conversions. Revenue.

Every aspect of the process tracked, recorded and reported. The impact and outcome of any and every communication intended to yield conversion analyzed. Individual contributor contribution benchmarking reports made available to everyone else. A public review of both production and progress.

Sales is a numbers game. The sales pro knows his or her numbers cold. They can quickly relay peak activity periods. A process map. They know exactly when to increase call volume or hit send. Closers spend more time on high yield/outcome activity (conversely many salespeople who struggle are mired in a myriad of low yield, non essential activity & administration).

I love the performance oriented nature of professional sales. It drives the business. The competition. The quota. The plan. You either make it or you don’t. Results or excuses. Black and white.

Except it never really was so black and white. You want to measure what matters. Except so many things mattered we didn’t measure. The data set drives decisions. As it should. But so often it doesn’t tell the whole story.

We couldn’t quite get our arms around likability. Influence. Trust. Confidence. Commitment. Loyalty. So those drivers don’t make their way on to the scorecard.

Most companies don’t connect the dots between a customer that is happy to do business with you and one that evangelizes your work to anyone and everyone they know. One who wants to help. One who is really invested in your success and happiness. One who becomes a fan of the business.

That gap is usually about a relationship. An emotional connection. Someone who cares. So often not captured in the reporting cycle. Yet, so essential to success.

I also see this trend in the other business functions. HR. Management. The conversation at every conference I attend around metrics. The notion you cannot improve what you don’t measure. The science does matter and the numbers don’t lie. I also suppose, on some level, we all do have a need to validate our value.

While the science matters, so does the art. The human element.

Work is an emotional experience. Some of the most influential drivers toward the measured result may not find their way on to the scorecard.

The delicate balance between the art and the science.

Posted in Brand, Employee Engagement, Recruiting, Sales, Uncategorized

Tags: Measurment, Metrics

I was fortunate to spend a couple days this week working with a world class talent acquisition team.

The group at CDW is lead by Melissa McMahon, SMA Chicago’s 2010 Staffing Professional of the Year.  This team knows talent.  The business recognizes that talent will be the disruptive competitive advantage. They need to achieve growth goals and this group is going to deliver the people that deliver on the business plan.  These are People Who Get IT!

I can tell you the focus of our training and time together wasn’t spent on tactics like Boolean Search, Recruiter ready Linked In profiles or source effectiveness reporting.  Nope.  We actually spent our time on Recruiter Effectiveness.

What constitutes Recruiter Effectiveness on a world class talent acquisition team?  Have a look at the Rock Star Recruiting skill and competency list as defined by CDW in session (picture enclosed).  A pretty good self assessment for anyone concentrating on the practice of people.

Our training emphasized the competitive decision cycle – from Recruiter point of contact to conversion.  Where the real recruiting happens. This is what Team CDW had to say about the experience:

The session content resonated because they buy into a fundamental principle – Recruiting is Sales (and Marketing).  That is a conversation we’ll continue next month at the SHRM Talent & Staffing Management Conference & Exposition in my Tuesday morning keynote.

If you completely disagree with what I have to say know that Dan Pink is keynoting Monday and Susan Packard is on Wednesday.  That alone is worth the price of admission and the all star sessions and networking in San Diego is never a bad thing!  Hope to see you there.

Enclosed is a video preview of our Sales & Recruiter Effectiveness training.  Feedback is always welcome!

Posted in Communications, Recruiting, Sales, Uncategorized

Tags: Keynote Speaking, Recruiter Effectiveness, Recruiter Training, Sales Training, SHRM, Sourcing, Staffing, Talent, Training

Best relationship building question…EVER!

Flip the script at the next cocktail party you attend.  Ask this question instead of the old standard, “so, what do you do?”  Then listen.  Really listen.  You’ll be the hit of the party and walk away with more meaningful connections and shared understanding about what truly matters.

It is a powerful question for Recruiters, Sales Professionals, Managers, Leaders, Coaches and Consultants whose work depends on relationships, understanding, likability and connectedness.

So, what do you like to do when you aren’t working?

Posted in Communications, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Recruiting, Sales

Today’s work experience is fueled with emotion. The means in which you provide for your family, the community you live in, the evolution of your skills/competency and how you spend such a large percentage of your time are life essential considerations.

I believe there is an increasing desire for more meaning in the experience. If the organization can connect with candidates and employees on an emotional level, elevate the vision of the experience in both the hearts and minds of right-fit talent and deliver against those expectations consistently…you’ll have accomplished something powerful. They are the genesis for cultivating pride and commitment toward a shared purpose. Far too often that vision and values set is missing from the job description and performance review. They shouldn’t be.

Passion at work doesn’t manifest itself on auto pilot. And people aren’t ‘potentialized’ without real strategic effort and investment from both the organization and its leadership. Performance starts with people strategy.

Decisions around work style design and experience are increasingly important. So is delivery. How we connect our people to those decisions and communicate them both inside and outside the organization guide, shape, influence and develop culture.  Culture can absolutely be a competitive advantage or the one big thing that inhibits performance.

The premise behind my own organizational guiding principles is simple:

Put people first…profits follow.

Posted in Brand, Communications, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Recruiting, Sales

Tags: Career, Jobs, Work

I am lucky.

I got to spend the last 12 months traveling the country (and the one directly north) sharing my ideas, insights and experiences about business performance and the world of work. I did that over 30 times and consider each one of those moments and extraordinary privilege and awesome responsibility.

I also spent this past year consulting with two of the most recognizable companies in the world on brand strategy and communication design. These companies are category leaders whose employee collective is making the world a better place. As part of our cultural immersion research we were fortunate to interview hundreds of these high potential/performing employees about their work experience.

Those experiences combined with my own reinvention and personal/professional exploration evolved my opinion about work style design and experience in a profound way. We are living in an extraordinary time of challenge and change that I firmly believe also presents an awesome opportunity. To adjust, evolve, adapt, improve and grow.

Change isn’t easy. Often the catalyst for change is hardship. And that is true for many of us as we move through these uncertain times. Stories abound of both tragedy and triumph as we all shift to sort through the impact of the last 24 months. One such story touched me deeply following a recent conference keynote.

Post session I was approached by a woman in the audience who aligned with a few of my ideas. She inquired about my availability for career/life coaching. I told her that career transition wasn’t the kind of coaching work I did, but would be happy to make a couple recommendations that would be right fit. She appreciated my offer and said she would email me for recommendations.

A week later she called in direct and I answered, prepared to recommend a colleague who I was confident could assist. She inquired if I could spare a few minutes of time and upon agreeing she openly shared she was losing her job after 12 years of employment. Devastated, she immediately broke down.

I heard the pain. Fear. Stress. Anxiety. Damage. In that moment she would have done anything to have that job back. That job that made her miserable everyday. With a manager she didn’t respect and organization she no longer believed in. Anything. Anything would have been better than this.

And now, accepting her reality (she was part of the 3rd round of layoffs and could see it coming but was paralyzed by fear and did nothing to prepare herself for it happening) she wanted to answer one question. What am I going to do?

In calming her down I offered to stay on the phone for a bit and provide whatever support and counsel I could. In doing so, I felt compelled to understand her situation a bit better and asked a series of questions:

Q: Were you good at your job?
A: Yes, I think so…(probing and supporting commentary provided. She had skills).

Q: Over 12 years did you get good performance reviews?
A: Stellar. Raises and a promotion.

Q: Why did they let you go?
A: It was economics. The company is falling apart. It’s the third round. I was hoping it wouldn’t be me but I guess deep down I knew this could happen…

Q: And you wanted to continue working there?
A: I want to make sure I can pay the bills. I hated working there.

Q: Did you get severance?
A: Yes.

That helped (with some additional probing for detail) me understand her situation.

Now, a go forward plan. That needed to start with a mind shift.

Q: Were you directly responsible for the business strategy and decisions specific to its execution?
A: No. I did my part. My job. Whatever my boss asked.

Then let me be clear: what happened to you is not your fault. There were people responsible for decisions that contributed to the downward spiral. They usually sit in corner offices and have  fancy titles. They are paid to lead through challenge and change. To anticipate and adapt. To improvise and overcome. That might sound aggressive given the economic tsunami but that is the job description. And no doubt, many don’t get it right. CEO’s screw up all the time.  So, they failed you. You didn’t fail. Furthermore, you may have just been given a gift (although it’s hard to appreciate the gift in the moment). 8-10 hours a day for over a decade is far too much time to spend doing anything that makes you miserable. You have skills, competency, demonstrated commitment and many special gifts.  Lets talk about how to find an opportunity worthy of your time and talent that also will ensure you can pay the bills.

Shift.

Q: Are you ready to accelerate your career transition and embrace what is next and new?
A: Yes.

The remainder of the conversation was spent around how to architect a career transition Job Search 2.0 style. The starting point that can accelerate the outcome is usually a mind shift.  It isn’t easy.  It won’t be for a while.  But I know many stories where challenge and change were disguised as opportunity.

This conversation and others like it combined with the prompt to deliver a webinar on this very topic served as my own catalyst to add a new program to our speaking/training portfolio in 2011:  From Campus to Career:  Career Mobility & Job Search 2.0 Strategy.  Intended for both those in transition from college and mid career professionals.  I don’t know how often we’ll deliver the session…but I do know it’s a very worthwhile topic.  We all have to pay the bills.

How does the story end?  You guessed it.  3 months.  Better job.  Better boss.  Better business.  Bills paid.  More meaning and money.  Kinda cool when you end up with both.

Posted in Recruiting, Uncategorized

Tags: Career, Job, Job Search, Personal Brand

Eighteen months ago I was preparing and packing to speak at the 2009 SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition.  I had just started my new company and was excited to head to New Orleans.  And while reviewing the agenda with KJ, I recall clearly a question she posed:

KJ: Are you registered to attend the Tweet Up?

Me: The Tweet What?

KJ:  It’s a sponsored party where people on Twitter who attend the conference Meet Up to connect, converse and generally speaking, have a good time.

Me:  Really?  Sign me up and we can check it out.

Upon first being exposed to Twitter I wasn’t moved.  Did I really need to know what my friend from college had for lunch?  But being in the brand strategy & communications design space I opted in and caught on quickly.  To this day I get asked all the time:  Is Twitter a business tool or waste of time?  My answer is always the same:  It’s both.  If expanding and accelerating relationships and listening to and learning from leading experts is part of your business strategy then Twitter can be a powerful tool.  I can also tell you from personal experience that incorporating a Tweet Up into your social strategy is a very good idea.

On a rainy night in New Orleans we showed up at my first Tweet Up.  A small, private bar in the back of a restaurant.  About 100 people from the conference (which had about 8,000 attendees) attended, which wasn’t an overwhelming turn out.  But the people who showed up….well, in a word they were special.

They were the early adopters.  Producers, creators, writers, entrepreneurs, speakers, thinkers, influencers, practitioners and doers.  That generally speaking wanted more.  Out of the conference.  Out of the work experience.  Out of their network.  They were opting in and asking questions.  Of each other.  Of an industry.  Perhaps of themselves.  A very smart and skilled collective that to me represented a shift.  Certainly in how we were going to attend and experience a conference.  Definitely in how we could expand and influence our professional network.  And for me personally, that night also represented a shift in the way I was going to approach work.

I got to meet new and interesting people like Kris Dunn, Mark Stelzner, Lance Haun, Jessica Lee, Michaeal Long, Laurie Ruettimann, Mary Ellen Slater, Josh Westover, Jennifer McClure, Peter Clayton, Mark Christensen and Michael Vandervort.  I didn’t know any of them well then.  I know most of them better now.  And that makes me better.

I didn’t blog then.  I do now.  And because I didn’t blog then I didn’t have a keynote about Leadership & Culture called Passion on Purpose.  I do now.  And those things have accelerated my business.  Twitter and specifically that Tweet Up put me in what I commonly refer to as a “state of action”.  I wanted to contribute more.  And that makes me better.

Listening and learning is perhaps the best opportunity social media affords.  It’s also important to know who to listen to and learn from.  My suggestion:  next time you attend a conference get plugged into the channels.  Be curious.  Step out of your comfort zone.  Make new connections.  Have rich, meaningful conversations with people who are contributing to what is next and new.  You might be surprised what happens next.

If you are a Meeting Planner or Association Membership Chair there is tremendous opportunity to elevate the event experience and deliver more value to your membership.  It isn’t necessarily about the technology and tools.  It’s about the trend.  That people want more opportunity to contribute and connect in a meaningful way if they invest their time and money.

I still don’t care about what my friends from college had for lunch.  I will also be at the next Tweet Up that affords me an opportunity to connect with interesting people doing relevant work.  The enclosed video recap is from the recent Twighlight Tweet Up at the SHRM National Leadership Conference. Check it out.

SHRM10Lead Official TweetUp Video from SHRMSocMedGuy on Vimeo.

Posted in Recruiting, Sales, Social Media, Uncategorized

Tags: Conference, Conventions, Events, Human Resources, Meetings, Social Media, Tweet Up, Twitter

I enjoyed spending the last few days renewing connections, expanding my community and participating in the conversation about what is next and new for SHRM Chapter Leaders across the country. The energy, optimism and intent to deliver increasingly more value to it’s membership was evident both in session and during all of the casual conversations throughout the conference. I consider it a privilege to be able to contribute in a small way.

Prior to my session I was invited to the SHRM Social Media Studio for a chat on SHRM10TV Live @ Leadership to discuss brand strategy, social media and my thoughts on what is next for HR. The clip is included and I look forward to continuing the conversation through a number of planned visits, seminars and keynotes for SHRM Chapters in 2011, including my keynote at 2011 National Talent & Staffing Management Conference & Exposition in San Diego.

Thanks SHRM for another great event! As part of our commitment in return we offering SHRM accelerated rates on both our speaking and training portfolio for the remainder of 2010. Any SHRM Chapter inquiring about either our HRCI strategic credit approved special events/workshops or annual conference keynotes should make mention when contacting our office. We look forward to supporting What is Next!

SHRM10TV “Live” @ Leadership — A conversation with Ryan Estis from SHRMSocMedGuy on Vimeo.

Posted in Brand, Employee Engagement, Recruiting, Social Media

Tags: Human Resources, SHRM, Staffing, Talent Management

I am en route to Washington DC for one of my favorite conference events of the year, SHRM Leadership.  Bottom line, for my time, SHRM delivers an outstanding conference experience by getting the following right:  Content; Channels (I’ll catch what I miss here #shrmlead10) and Community development (I will also be attending the Twilight Tweet Up and look forward to the more casual business conversation and new connections that time affords).  That is what keeps me coming back.

I get the idea that the Unconference is the trend line and talk of the twitter stream.  Right.  I’d rather have a guarantee of quality, actionable content (Marcus Buckingham this year at National and Sir Richard Branson slated for next aren’t too bad) and agenda. That’s me.

I will  offer some thoughts around brand strategy and experience design to elevate workforce productivity and accelerate association membership (we will attack both) Friday afternoon.  I am the closing session from 3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m which also means I am the last line of defense between the HR Leaders and Happy Hour!  We’ll have some fun (preview enclosed).

Posted in Brand, Communications, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Recruiting, Social Media

Tags: Associations, Conference, Human Resources, SHRM