An outstanding week followed by a miserable weekend offered some interesting considerations for the work I do.

I attended HR Connect, a networking event co-sponsored by SHRM, SmartBrief and RecruitingBlogs.  The event and a few meetings around it provided an outstanding opportunity to catch up with clients, colleagues and friends who are passionate about HR and Recruiting.  The ‘Tweet-Up’ (my 2nd official happy hour focused on people connected on Twitter meeting up) affirmed the real desire that people have to connect face to face, with other people, who share a passion for their profession (I wasn’t the only one who got on a plane and flew in for the event).  Using social media makes events like this more rewarding for me and strengthens my network.  But the secret to social media is really all about the relationship.  And its clear to me the conference/event model is far from dead.  To the contrary, people have a deep need and desire to connect live, in person and learn, share and grow.  So, while formats may evolve, good conferences with progressive content aren’t going to be extinct anytime soon.  Social media is simply an accelerator.

I attend a lot of HR conferences.  Often, I am speaking.  Always, I am interested in meeting new people and having meaningful conversations. And while so many of the conferences provide valuable content and connections the HR event circuit can be a bit insular.  And its valuable to gain outside perspective specific to the work you do.  I attended a non HR workshop/event in my hometown a couple weeks ago.  The focus was on social media for business and the audience was comprised of mostly business professionals.  Marketers, Entrepreneurs, Consultants etc. looking to learn more about leveraging new tools/technology.  And part of the workshop general discussion the topic of recruiting and social media was raised.  I was a bit surprised by what happened next.

A gentleman in the audience stood up (not required as part of the discussion format), looked around at the 200 or so people in the room, and in an elevated tone suggested that, “Recruiting is absolutely the most disrespectful business process…..ever.”  He had my attention now. And went on to explain how it was simply unconscionable for companies to treat candidates the way they do during the job search.  Some of it was what you might expect.  Lack of communication.  No feedback.  Minimal, if any human contact.  Horrendous turnaround time.  He was angry to be certain.  And had it stopped there, you could write it off as one disgruntled person having a hard time with a job search.  But it didn’t.  What it did was open the dialogue, all affirming stories acknowledging the problem.  The snowball could have turned into an avalanche had we not had facilitation and the discussion was closed on the story from the candidate, who 30 days after he was hired and started working for his new employer, received an automated email from the recruiting organization updating him on the status of his resume.  Oops.

Sometimes it pays to get perspective outside of your profession.  And it was clear to me this snapshot of dialogue offered some indication that companies have a long way to go with respect to how they respect candidates during the recruiting process.  Some of it comes right down to bedside manner.  And I think some recruiting organizations could learn a lot from Dr. Black.

Dr. Black was my personal weekend Physician.  Heading back from DC Thursday evening I had slight pains in my chest and side.  Writing it off to bad airport pizza I gutted out Friday’s work day with the pain worsening a bit.  By Friday night I knew something was definitely wrong and I ended up in the ER.  EKG, discussion of blod clots, fluid in my chest and lungs, worsening pain and an escalating fever.  No fun. No diagnosis.  Nobody quite sure what exactly is wrong.  Enter Dr. Black.

She offered clear and concise communication with a personal touch.  She explained herself.  Her thoughts about what might be wrong.  What they wanted to rule out and why.  She patiently answered questions.  And stopped back an hour later just to see if I had any more.  And under the circumstances I actually felt so much better having her around.  It wasn’t so much what she said, as the way she said it.  I trusted her.  And because of her I felt good (and still do) about the entire hospital/organization. Dr. Black circled back around and amid my ailment we chatted a bit about work, passion and bedside manner.  I learned that although she had been practicing in this very ER for 11 years she didn’t necessarily think medicine was her true calling.  She is a full time mother and very part time artist.  And would love to have more time to create. We talked about the danger/trap of getting really good at the wrong thing…..and she knew she was good at her job.  Real good.  And her confidence and charisma carried over into a bedside manner that absolutely elevated the patient experience.  Although this might not have been her true passion, her sense of purpose to serve never wavered.  I’ve been to the ER before.  And I have never had a Doctor follow up with 2 phone calls to me personally the next day.  Of course, I wasn’t in the care of Dr. Black.  People make the business.  And the brand.

When you are in the business of saving lives (or starting careers) its easy to put the human element on auto pilot.  But the best in the business don’t.  They remember that it isn’t just what you do, but the way you do it that often makes the difference.  And doing it with elevated communication, care, compassion and consideration make all the difference in the world.

Antibiotics and rest will get me better.  Likely pneumonia or a really bad infection.

Dr. Black’s bedside manner made me feel better when it really mattered.  A great lesson.

Posted in Communications, Leadership, Recruiting

Tags: Human Resources

I am putting the finishing touches on my preso for Mega Session Monday – where I’ll have an opportunity to speak about the trend line and evolution in HR Communications and branding for talent  (Employment Branding 2.0) at the Garden State SHRM Annual Conference.  It should a great event.

The conference is appropriately titled Blueprint for a Changing Reality.  They nailed it.  The business of Human Resources is in the midst of transformation and will need to look very different coming out of this recession than it did going in.  While products, services and technology evolve at a pace that minimizes differentiation and signals more commoditization in the marketplace TALENT moves to the forefront as the key competitive business advantage.  Its heavy on the mind of any C suite exec that has his/her eye on the prize and whose vision exists beyond the next quarterly earnings report.  You can shed until your dead or game plan to win with a TALENT first strategy.  The future of HR will be about building readiness and responsiveness to meet the evolving TALENT needs of the organization.  And I look forward to hitting this topic hard Monday afternoon with the tremendous HR talent in New Jersey.

My hats off to GSCSHRM for organizing a Conference 2.0 style event.  They did it right with a strong web presence, linked in group and twitter hashtag (#gsc09) to build community around their lineup of first class content.  For the Practitioners that opt in they will have a more robust conference experience and build stronger networks faster that aid in the sharing of best practices and cultivation of relationships across industries and disciplines.   For a speaker like me it’s provided an awesome opportunity to share some of my relevant content/articles etc. in advance of the event in an effort to create some expectation around the experience I intend to deliver on Monday.    And I likely won’t have to wait for the conference evaluations to know if my experience met with audience favor.  We’ll live tweet the session and I will know real time if my message resonates.  That’s a changing reality for certain.

SHRM President & CEO Lon O’Neil kicks us off Monday morning and the legendary Simon Bailey is the closer.  It’s a privilege to serve as the middle reliever for this event.  I better bring the A game!

Posted in Brand, Communications

Tags: Human Resources, Speaking

Reading with interest that a recent survey from Adecco Group North America indicated 54% of employees plan to look for a new job when the economy turns around. This data point along with the realization that dissatisfaction is even higher among the Gen Y crowd (71% of 18-29 yr. olds plan to make a move when the economy turns) was offered in the eloquent Running of the Bulls American Style post on the Fast Company blog.  A startling consideration and clearly the kind of stuff that keeps business leaders up at night.  With talent perceived to be in plentiful supply its evident that many companies have struggled to navigate the delicate balancing act between maintaining  employee engagement and managing reductions, cost containment and a host of other short term stop gaps deemed necessary for business to survive the current economic climate.  And it would be appear to be heavy on the mind in the C suite.

The recent PwC CEO Survey indicated that ‘access to and retention of key talent’ is the #1 source of competitive advantage for sustaining long term growth.  And while many organizations remain in survival mode, its becoming increasingly clear that talent (or rather getting and keeping the right talent) is the mission critical, long term strategic business imperative.  This presents a unique challenge/opportunity for today’s HR organization but it would appear the business case for strategic planning, focus, development and eventually investment specific to talent management initiatives is clear and supported top down.

Recent global research from Employer Brand International found that only 16% of companies surveyed had a clearly defined Employer Brand Strategy.  It seems like the right time for companies to begin considering how a clearly defined value proposition, communication strategy and manager/leader competency impact the work experience and corporate culture.

Employee engagement is a leading indicator of financial performance and smart companies are investing now, so they don’t pay later.  People first, Profits follow.

Posted in Employee Engagement

Tags: Human Resources

I had the pleasure of attending two very valuable business breakfasts this week.  A Twin Cities HR Leadership Round Table sharing best practices on the evolution of Talent Management and the Twin Cities Social Media breakfast hosted by Partner Up and Deluxe Corporation HQ.  Two very different groups, agendas and turnouts.  And most of the discussion in both meetings was very focused on a common theme:  Communication.

In attending my first social media breakfast I was in awe of the turnout and how connections in social media advance much faster when you extend them offline.  Both presentations offered some thoughtful insights  including tips and tools on the evolution of communication, connecting, collaborating, consuming and creating all with a much stronger sense of being part of a new community.

How these transformative tools impact corporations and careers was certainly part of the consideration at the Round Table.  The notion of building communities of talent and leveraging technology to communicate and connect more effectively internally were offered up for discussion.  It was evident through the dialogue that even some of the most highly regarded, progressive organizations in the Twin Cities are just beginning to consider how to approach Talent Management more holistically and strategically with recognition that retaining and engaging the High Potentials/High Performers will be essential to accomplishing key business  goals.

It was obvious to me after attending both breakfast meetings that the quick and aggressive application of new tools and technology will afford more progressive organizations an advantage in their quest to build high engagement work cultures that offer mutliple connection points to our varied communities in the workplace.  And no doubt that will be a heavy focus on the agenda at next week’s Annual SHRM Conference and Exposition.  As 10,000 HR Professionals descend on New Orleans they can look forward to a new conference experience that will include an offical conference blog, a steady twitterstream and of course a variety of pods, videos, media releases, reviews and updates travelling across the web in real time.  I am looking forward to participating in the conversation, being part community and surviving the 105 degree heat in NOLA!

Posted in Communications

Tags: Human Resources, SHRM, Social Media