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HR Meet Marketing

Published at: 12:02 pm - Tuesday February 21 2012

I talk with a lot of different people about HR, what it is, what HR should be doing and not being and so on.  One of the more enlighten persons that I talk shop with is my Project Social Partner Laura Schroeder.  We talk about things that are “in the news” or that are getting a lot of attention within the HR space.  I particularly enjoy these conversations with Laura, because she works for a large global public concern, while I work at a mid-size privately held company. I think we enlighten and compliment each other.

Our most recent discussion touched on some opportunities for the field of HR to improve collectively.   Laura summed up HR’s ills by suggesting  an introduction was in order;  that being HR meet Marketing.  Why this?  Well if HR would learn to embrace some concepts that Marketing has long held near and dear, some huge collective improvements could be had.

One concept is HR needs to be better at is tracking indicators with bottom line impact (Metrics and ROI).  This still seems taboo to some folks and organization. We want to hide behind the fact that what we do is a soft skill, it’s squishy and is difficult to measure.  Well it is indeed all of that, but bright clever people need to adapt measurement methods that fit their organizations and operations so that HR can prove that we are adding value to the bottom line.  If you don’t,you are just going through the motions.   It is like this, we have then go through this training program because OSHA requires it.  Well even though it is required, what are you going to do to gain value for your organization, and then measure it. It can’t simply be a check box that needs to be checked off.  Where is the ROI?

Many years ago I was at a wedding. A friend of mine who worked for a state agency was there, as well at the mother of one of our collective friends. My friend’s job was developing and writing test for state government.  Recently my buddy had sent a form with a number of questions, to our friend’s mother. She told my buddy, ” You know those question you sent me about my job, they don’t have anything to do with my job.” His response was,  ”Well that’s my job to send you those questions.”  There was seemingly no relationship between one and the other. There should be. And in HR everything needs to relate to ROI.

Another concept Laura and I discussed was how well does HR socialize the things it’s doing. Marketing does! They let the whole world know what they are doing; internally, externally, via new releases, web sites, social media and the list goes on.  By and large HR efforts pale in comparison to those of the Marketing inside many organizations.   It is easy to say we need to to better, but hard to do.  Communicate, communicate, communicate – you can not over do it.

A third concept we discussed was this; is HR truly arming our staffs with the proper tools that our people need to be successful?  This too is difficult to measure, however it is paramount that it is measured to define and understand the success of our employees, managers and leaders.  For this to take place the organization has to have clearly defined goals, with the expectations of each employee known and communicated, so that they may know they are or aren’t doing their part to move the organization forward.

These three ideas are just a few takeaways that HR should get from Marketing. There probably are many more, but this would be a great trio to begin the process.   So if you are in HR around at some other organizations and see what their marketing departments are doing. You might get  some new ideas!

Posted in: Business, Project Social by Dave Ryan 3 Comments , , , , ,

Black History from An Old White Guy

Published at: 11:02 am - Thursday February 16 2012

I am going to stretch my comfort zone today. I am going to write a post that speaks to and honors Black History Month – February.  I was inspired to do so in light of two events which occurred in my life recently. The first is another post, by my friend Buzz Rooney. Buzz too wrote a post for Black History month, If you have not read it I suggest you read it. The other thing that got me thinking about Black History month was this.

My employer is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. In trying to come up with some clever things to help us celebrate the occasion I searched for what was the popular music of 1932. The top four songs were

  • Night & Day – Fred Astaire & Leo Reisman
  • It don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got that swing – Duke Ellington
  • I’ve got the world on a string – Cab Calloway
  • All of Me – Louis Armstrong

To recap these were the top four song in 1932. In case you don’t know three of these artists are black, and one is not. Oddly enough the songs by Duke, Cab and Louie are still going strong today.

This got me to thinking about music and 1932, I took a class in college called Jazz Roots and American Culture. This class really made an impact on me (it was also an easy “A”). What I learned is that so much of what we consider American Music, Jazz, the Blues and Rock and Roll is all based on music from predominately black artists.

They made music in a time when, black musicians or black entertainers, at the clubs, were not allowed to come in the front door. They were made to come in through the kitchen or freight entrances. They were not allow to use the restrooms at the facilities where they performed. But through all of this they continued to practice their craft and make music. This music  has endured well and passed the test of time.

So unless you exclusively listen to Mozart or Beethoven, you owe a tip of the hat to all of the Black Musicians/recording artisits who helped shaped music as we know it today.

Perhaps not a great tribute for Black History month, but not bad for an old white guy whose dad was a racists.   And God Bless Whitney Houston.

Posted in: Dave Says by Dave Ryan 1 Comment , , , , ,

Networking Now and Then

Published at: 11:01 am - Tuesday January 31 2012

I will start this post by posing the question, have you ever heard of a piece of software called Sidekick from Borland? Well this was the first application that I used to keep track of contact information. It helped me to keep track of my network. I am not sure those people were even called a network at the time. I also know that I did not work at meeting new people and trying to maintain a real relationship with them. In my early days in business you did business with people in your community, people that you could summon to your place of business. The internet did not exist as we know it today. Networking has changed! Now we network with people around the world, without a second thought. We can communicate with others who do not speak our language through translation software and smart phones.

Today I really work hard at growing my network, and very much enjoy doing it. Today my network  grows through face to face meetings, on line meetings, phone interactions and via referrals from those already in my network. Then after we meet, it is off to LinkedIn to see if they are out there. If yes, then off goes the connection request. Then there may be a look at twitter and facebook. If I do connect with someone via social media it seems to ramp up the connection faster. Back in the ’80′s I simply did not meet at the same rate that I do today. Life has accelerated.

Now here is another and new angle on networking, If you are out here in the HR space you may have seen a post from my friend Jay Kuhns – Jay was looking for a key employee. so he wrote a post saying so, and then he found some damn good talent. So this networking can take many paths today. Now, I would like to copy from Jay’s post and do something similar via my network.

My oldest son Danny’s girlfriend is graduating from Missouri University of Science & Technology with a degree in Business and Management Systems. She wants to move from Rolla, MO to Memphis, TN so that she can be near man Dan. So I thought this would be a new way to use networking, just like Jay had done. Rather than trying to find an employee for an organization, I would try to find an organization for a person. She has done internships and understand processes, logistics and information systems. If you know of something looking for a sharp young graduate in this area; let’s talk.

I will let you know if I am as good as Jay, in using a blog post to network and create a new employee/employer relationship. Wish me luck,

Posted in: Dave Says by Dave Ryan 5 Comments , , ,

People Clues Dashboard ATS – My Experience

Published at: 06:01 am - Thursday January 19 2012
This post was originally written to be published in a magazine, but was viewed as an advertisement, and summarily rejected.  I had this nice 1500 word essay on my removal of one ATS and the installation of a new one.  The essay is very favorable toward People Clues.  I like their product very much and don’t mind telling the rest of the world that.  So if you would like to learn about People Clues and their new Dashboard super-light ATS have a go at this post.
 

I have been in Human Resources for a number of years now.  One thing I have a firm grasp on now is this concept.  There is a software application for any task that you want to perform.  These days, most of them exist in the cloud. Depending upon the size or type of business that you are in, you may already have all of these bases covered.

You may think that you do have all of your bases covered, but do you?  Are you getting the best value for your dollar?  Does each of your applications do what you want it to?  Does it do more than you need it to do? Does the application truly fit your needs?  To know the answer to these questions, you need to look at all of your software applications objectively and see if they fit your needs.  The level of integration between the package or packages is also an important consideration.

About 18 months ago, I found myself needing to re-evaluate my Company’s software needs in regards to several applications. At the time, we were using an integrated Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Performance Management System. To be specific, the application was Taleo Business Edition.  My Company had used the ATS for nearly two years and the Performance Management for about a year.

Over time, what we learned about the product was the software was very feature rich and robust and hugely customizable. However, said another way, the software was complicated, not very intuitive and somewhat difficult to navigate.  This made user adoption most difficult. That combined with what I will call sub-standard customer service, collectively drove me to look for other applications to accomplish the tasks at hand.

This put me in the market for an ATS system and a Performance Management System. I don’t really know how this task works in other organizations, only mine.  Within our Company, the process does not involve consultants or outsiders who are paid well to come in and share their knowledge.  The way it goes is, I spend a bunch of time with Google finding out what applications are out there, figuring out which ones are market leaders and then learning which applications are affordable.

After figuring out which applications I wanted to take a serious look at, I contacted the vendors and set up on-line demonstrations.  Some companies are willing to show up at your door, or send a re-seller, but almost all of them will deal direct with a customer and do the on-line demonstration. I opted for the on-line demonstration.  Each of the demonstrations took only an hour or two.  Following the demonstrations, all (they were all cloud based) of the vendors I reviewed gave me access to their live application for one week to a month.  This is a great way to get a real understanding for the feel and ease of use of each of the applications.  Furthermore, if you set things up in the application, when you make a purchase and go live, you will keep any of the work that you have done.

In total, I looked at four (each) ATS Systems and Performance Management systems.  Integration of the two was not hugely important to me. At the outset, I felt, given the size of our organization, I could easily use them independently, and did not perceive a great deal of value in integration.

So, to cut to the chase, here is what happened: For the performance management side of the equation, I did not end up purchasing any applications.  Everything I liked was either too feature rich or cost too much. Our Company is not as advanced in terms of performance management as we should be (in my opinion), so I did not see the need to buy anything. Instead, I built a series of Google Docs spreadsheet forms and templates to use to gather this information.  While this solution is not the be all end all, minimally, I am getting the task of gathering data and doing performance reviews completed. Additionally, I am getting some great analysis from Google on the back side that I did not even know existed.  In the graph pictured here, the spreadsheet looks at your data and then creates counts, percentages and graphs visually presenting your information, with no set up. It is most intuitive.

That is how I solved my Performance Management issue.  In terms of Applicant Tracking Systems, I went a little different direction.  Again, after looking at various cloud ATS Systems, I went for a relatively new player in the game, for a different reason.  As I mentioned, I did not buy a performance management application.  In not doing so, I guess you could say I left a little money in the bank.  While looking at ATS system, I did learn of a software integration that is fairly important.  This one had to do with behavioral assessments, job placement testing and the ATS.   If you want to do any type of any assessments, it is nice to integrate them with your other applicant data.  You don’t have to, but it cuts way down on the sorting and searching.  Ultimately, I chose this option.

When I set out to look for a new ATS, I was not necessarily looking to do behavioral assessments and job placement testing.  But when I found out I could get this for a reasonable fee (in my opinion), I was thrilled to give this a try.  The Company I ended up selecting is called PeopleClues.

PeopleClues has a relatively new super-lite ATS system they simply called the Dashboard.  It allows employers to collect behavioral assessment data, employee engagement data, and job criteria about an applicant and store it with the applicant’s online profile.   I did not see that feature simply or well-executed in other applications.  Like all of the others, I was allowed to test drive PeopleClues for a reasonable period of time. Any software vendor should let you do this or they do not believe in their product (in my opinion).  Not only did I like the application, so did my co-workers.  If you recall in my earlier efforts, I learned this lesson. Easy to use software equals easy adoption and easier implementation.

While the PeopleClues Dashboard is a simple to use product, some might argue that it almost lacks in features.  Personally, I can think of a number of things I would like to see the package do that it currently does not do.   However, none of those are deal-breakers for me.  The PeopleClues staff has listened to my wish list.  They have reported back to me that my suggestions have been offered up by others, and that most of them are in the works and will be out with the next major revision of the product.

Probably the best thing about the product is that there is virtually no set-up or implementation.  Everything that you need to use it is online.  I literally had it up and running in about 15 minutes.  The phone support is great as well. While I am reasonably talented with software and internet services, I am not a programmer, coder or IT guy, but I was also able to integrate PeopleClues with our website without much thought or worry.

The jobs postings are created in PeopleClues, and that is where the center of the operations for the job postings and assessments is located.  So when applicants go to my Company’s website, all I need to do is point them to the PeopleClues site, via a URL that is generated when you create the job posting. So what I is create the message on my Company’s website and put the link under the text “click here to apply”.  The same thing applies for other sites like Monster or Career Builder.  The big job boards give you a place to put an email address or a URL.  I just paste the PeopleClues URL in the appropriate box and my Company’s job posting is done.  I don’t need an HTML programmer or an IT guy.  It is that simple. I would highly recommend the PeopleClues system to anyone who is looking for a super-lite ATS system.  Compared to other products on the market, the pricing is at the mid to low end of the spectrum.

So, you get that I am a fan of this product.  I am also a huge fan of cloud applications in general.  When you use a cloud-based application, whether for applicant tracking, of performance management, or any other application, I see the advantages being huge.

  • No Server Space Needed
  • No installations/Server or workstation
  • No upgrades
  • The systems are accessible anywhere
  • Security issues are handled by the vendor

I would be happy to share what I have learned with any my fellow HR folks.  Please get in touch with me and we can talk further.

Posted in: Business, Software by Dave Ryan 2 Comments , , , ,

The HR Official Recycled

Published at: 02:01 pm - Sunday January 15 2012

Earlier this week, my ProjectSocial partner, Laura Schroeder and I were talking about what we might want to post about.  After some banter back and forth, Laura and I settled on doing something almost cheesy, but it is fun and easy.  We decided to re-post  some of what we thought were some of our best post during last year.  Our other partner Lyn Hoyt was agreeable to our notion, and was going dig up her best post, which you can find on her site HR Bacon Hut.  And you  can see what Laura has recycled over at her blog Working Girl.

After looking over my body of work for the year there were really only a few that stuck out.  If you saw these before I appreciate your loyal following.  If you missed these, here is what I think are some of my best posts for 2011.

So that is the best from 2011 in my opinion. Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in: Officials Corner by Dave Ryan 4 Comments

A Czar’s Christmas

Published at: 03:12 pm - Sunday December 18 2011

My Project Social partners and me are at it again.  We like to share in each others story-telling (blog posting) call it what you like.  I have written a bit about Christmas around my house.  I am sure that both Laura Schroder and Lyn Hoyt have cooked-up much more interesting holiday stories than have I.  So after you check out Laura’s Christmas Post at Working Girl  and Lynn’s Christmas Post at the HR Bacon Hut, come back and see my intriguing story I will call A Czar’s Christmas.

 

My life seems to be falling into somewhat of an annual routine at this stage of my being. For the last time, this year in the late summer I sent a son off to college.  Then it was Labor Day, Birthdays (mine is 10/16 and my wife’s is the next day).  Somewhere in there is a USA Hockey Officials Clinic, the hockey season begins, then there is SHRM Leadership, Thanksgiving and then boom Christmas.  It seems to have rolled this way for about the last 7 years of my life.  It’s not bad; it is just the way it is.

But the Christmas Holiday is always special, both in what it represents and the family time that it brings.   Only since my sons have left home and gone to college, do I know understand why my dearly departed Father-In-Law so much loved the holiday season.  For many of us it is a chance to gather with family and friends that we seem to see less and less. It’s no ones fault it just happens this way.

In my time of having children (25 and 22 now) we have done many different things on Christmas, but in the last seven years some of our traditions have begun to develop a little staying power.

Getting ready to make some juice

The Chairman of the Board of our Company is an active Rotarian at 80 years +. One of the things they do to raise funds is sell Fresh Florida Citrus (oranges and grapefruits) at the first part of December.  I have always purchased a case or two.  For the last several years the tree-ripened fruit ends up being squeezed into fresh orange juice.  Whatever of that juice is left come Christmas morning is used to make Mimosas after the presents are opened

Another thing our family does is this. As a family unit, usually on Christmas Eve, we watch Christmas Vacation. You know the show, with Chevy Chaseand Beverly D’Angelo. We all know nearly all of the lines in the movie, yet we still laugh when Clarksays “Eddie if I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpeting I wouldn’t be more surprised than I am right now!”

Christmas Day we always manage to catch A Christmas Story at least once or twice on TBS, where we hear a rousing version of Deck the Halls.

My wife comes from a large family, so many of her siblings end up at our house for an early afternoon Christmas Dinner and gift exchange. I am usually knee deep in cooking by this time and about waste deep in some sort of Christmas Cheer.  I end up being the last to eat, and then start the clean up.  It is noisy there are a lot of people – sometimes near 40.  There is always a lot of trash, following the orgy of gifts. And then – they all leave. Everyone seems to have at least two or three stops on Christmas Day.

We wind it down at the Ryan house and then we head out for a very special early evening.   The Chairman of the Board of our Company (the Fruit Rotarian) and his wife have for many years now had an open house on Christmas Day.  It is always wonderful. I see people I work with; I see old friends and make new ones, and share great food and Christmas Cheer. We have missed this a few times, when I took the family and bolted to see my relatives who all live in warmer climates.

So depending upon whether or not the 26th is a work day, kind of drives what time we depart the open house.   But at some point we get back in the car for the five minute ride home, and it’s all over.  The excitement, the expectations, the craziness is all done for another year.

Next year the Christmas build-up cycle will not begin with sending a kid off to college. Hopefully he will be working.  So if you are in HR and are looking for a sharp young man with a B.A. from SIU in Video/Cinema Mass Communication Major for your organization,(check him out here) just leave me a comment – we’ll talk.

Merry Christmas!

Posted in: Dave Says, Project Social by Dave Ryan 4 Comments , , , ,

TNL Chicago Wrap-Up

Published at: 12:12 pm - Monday December 12 2011

Last week (12/5/11) I had the pleasure of attending the Talent Net Live (TNL) Recruiting Conference in Chicago (Aurora to be specific).  This was a most interesting experience for me personally.  While I am a well travel HR/SHRM conference attendee, this was actually the first full-blown recruiting conference that I have ever attended.

In most if not all  organizations, Recruiting is part of HR.  Part of what I do in my day job is recruiting, but I do not do it exclusively. Most of the people in attendance are recruiters and that i s all they do.  So suffice it to say I was somewhat out of my element, a little uncomfortalbe , because they all swam in the same pond and I don’t swim there.  I was on the inside but still felt like I was an outsider looking in from the outside. To be clear, all of the problem was in my head.  I was treated really well by conference organizaer Craig Fisher and his entire TNL Crew.

The entire event was about recruiting, how to do it better, tricks from pros in the field, the latest and greatest tech tools as well as several sessions on Talent Communities.  Do you really know what this is?  I had a cursory idea before attending this event.  Now I have good handle on the concept – and I think it is a most interesting concept.  My grotesque oversimplification is this.  Find people that want to be in your organization,  engage them through any means, stay in touch follow-up with them and place them in your Company when you find a match (an open position they want and one the Company feels they are capable of performing).  To me it sounds –  a little wacky – but I get it and could easily see how it works.  All of the costs are up front and your time to fill goes way down if you have people cued up waiting for a vacancy.

Joel Cheeseman talking mobile at TNL Chicago

Another matter that got a lot of attention at the conference was mobile.  The whole world is going mobile. And if you are in the business of recruiting employees, you had better have an app for that – and it better be mobile.  Not just a klunky phone sized version of your web page.  The recruiting app needs to be taylored, tweeked and tuned in for mobile.   I attended an excellent session on this with Mobile Social Media Guru Joel Cheeseman.  Joel taught me this; mobile apps go up and down not side to side and they have big buttons.  That is great information.

Another thing I learned is recruiting is moving heavily toward video.  The fact that the even was at JSTN speaks volumes.  JSTN is going to revolutionize the way video is used in recruiting.  Take that to the bank folks.

There were a couple more concepts coming out of the conference that were new to me.  The first was metrics.  Recruiter have a whole set of their very own metrics.  No Voodoo or anything here, just serious straight up definable, measurable metrics.  I am a better HR person for learning more about the metrics this gang uses.

One more thing I got out of the event was some great software tool tips.  There were session titled Cool Tools and Pimp My Profile.  There were probably two dozen software applications I heard discussed.  Most of them are on the internet and have a free version available on the internet.  Most of them also have a super-charged pay version/upgrade that is available.  But I learned these recruiters are a frugal lot and are not interested in paying for things they can get for free.

I learned more at this one day event than I have at many multi-day events.  This event was the first thing that TNL has done outside of their own backyard in Texas.  My understanding is that there will be more of these one day recruiting events around the country.  I HIGHLY recommend that you attend if you have the chance.  The conference fees are most reasonable (remember I told you these recruiters are a frugal lot).  Conference organizer Craig Fisher is well known in the HR and Recruiting space, accordingly his speaker line up will consist of thought leaders  and well known names in the industry.  And given the size of the event you can meet, connect and network with all of these folks.

If TNL gets back here to the Mid-West look for me to help them promote their events.  They have good stuff to offer. Also look for me to attend – because the content is guaranteed to be  good stuff  - and it doesn’t cost an arm and leg to attend.

Posted in: Dave Says by Dave Ryan No Comments , , ,

Leading HR What’s In Store

Published at: 04:12 pm - Friday December 02 2011

My youngest child is a senior in college, and even though I want to think I am a young man, but all the signs in my life tell me I am

moving into the autumn of my career.  As someone who is passionate about the Human Resource profession I sometimes wonder where will this field of HR be in twenty years and how will it get there.  Will we end up there because that is where the collective mind of HR thought we should be, or will we end up where we are because simply by happenstance?

My instincts tell me that we will end up where we desire to be, because the leaders of the the collective mind will help lead us there.  Mahatma Gandhi said, “We must become the change we wish to see in the world. ”  So what will change with HR in the future?  Although I am not a futurist, I see big changes on the horizon for HR of the Future.  It will not be for the faint of heart. We need to be preparing tomorrows leaders today.  They are going to be forced to deal with many issues.  I really got on this train of thought following a conversation about leadership with my blogging buddy and #ProjectSocial partner Laura Schroeder.   See what Laura has to say non the matter over at  her blog Working Girl.  Then take a look at what follows.  These are some of the issue I see confronting the HR Leaders of  tomorrow.

Work and Mobility  In many instances it would appear today’s employer is all about bricks and mortar, but I feel that is a concept that will continue to fade into the past.  Work teams will be diverse and dispersed.  A work team can already be located around the world.  Right now societies and employees are struggling to adapt to this concept.  You may report to someone that you see face to face on very infrequent basis.  This will also continue to cut away at the concept of long-term employment.

I see work teams of the future more like talent that is assembled for a project, for a finite period of time.  You will work together and then disband,  perhaps to work together again, or not.  The concept is very similar to making a movie, or drilling for oil.  You assemble your talent, perform this project and move on to the next, call them mercenary employees.  Some of the folks will be on site, some off site and all will move on at the completion of the project.

The Definition Work  As technology becomes more and more pervasive and more and more intrusive,  it appears that the lines between work and non-work is going to become seriously blurred.  At least in the country our labor laws are going to have to change if we wish to compete on the world stage. What we will know as work in the future does not exist today.  It will be different.

Productivity  How will work output be measures and evaluated. In many instances it will not be measured in any way shape or form that we are doing so today.  I see output and productivity being measured over longer periods of time – say during the duration of a project.  In some pursuits there will be certifications or endorsements to tell the world you are competent or qualified and perform work properly and in a prescribed time frame.  I see this coming more from independent agencies or not for profits.

 Health Care as an Employee Benefit This will no longer be what we know it as today.  The employee benefit will sit on top of some type of care that is provided to everyone.  Given the direction of health care and health care costs it appears that some level of care will be afforded to everyone. Employers will still sweeten the pot if you will.  Things like better funding for this, access to more exclusive providers or a greater degree of on-site or close by care, perhaps delivered by a CVS, Walgreen’s of (God Forbid) WalMart.

Workplace Diversity  This too will change as the workplace changes most likely leading to a redefining of what it means.  What we know a s the workplace will not be the same.   And diversity – well I see us moving into one big melting pot that continues to become more and more homogeneous.  I think we will still have some classes, such as gender, age and religion.  Some of the other classes will become more of a challenge to define and I think will just go away.

HR in Government  This is my mind is an emerging area. So many governement bodies have done such a poor job of meeting their employees’ needs employee will drive government agencies to professionalize  call it Government HR. (Hey SHRM a new certification GHR.)  As long as we continue to have growth in public sector unions and politicians making ill conceived and poorly planned government operation and staffing decisions based upon budgetary constraints, both government employees and voters will demand accountability and it will require professionals to deliver that accountability. HR in government is minimally existent today, but won’t be in the future.

All of this talk of the future makes me think of the Jetson’s.  As a child of the ’60′s. I grew up watching  George and Jane and their family.  So much of what seemed literally outrageous has come to fruition.  The Jetson’s cooked with their fingers (microwaves),  talked on video phones (Skype) and had a robot (Rosie) to clean their house (Roomba).

I can’t help but wonder how Human Resources will look In the Year 2525.

 

Posted in: Business, Trench HR by Dave Ryan 2 Comments , ,

Meet Chester and Amanda – I Did

Published at: 02:11 pm - Sunday November 27 2011

Me. Chester Elton and Amanda Hogue

While it has been in the bag for more than a week, I am still referring back to the recently completed SHRM Leadership Conference to talk about things that went on at the event.  I was particularly looking forward to the last breakout session of the day.   I was attending a session put on by Chester Elton on Team Building.  I had just met Chester at lunch and found out he was the writing partner of another author I had seen speak a couple of years earlier. Chester and his partner Adrian are the Carrot Culture – Think Orange guys.  I highly recommend their books.

In waiting to hear Chester get underway, I sat in obscurity along the wall (close to an outlet) so I could cabbage on to some electricity for

John Jorgensen, Amanda Hogue and Steve Browne

my gadgets.  A  young man and young lady walked into the room  and sat down in the row in front of me.  The young lady turned around and smiled at me and said hello, then turned forward.  In about 5 seconds she turned back around and said in a confirmatory fashion – “You’re the HR Czar?”  I smiled and said “Yes.”    She told me her name was Amanda Hougue  and that she was HRAmanda on Twitter.  Bingo, the twitter handle gave her away, and then I made the connection.

She was so cute, funny and energetic, she was genuinely excited to meet me.  So to some degree, or at least in this instance I had reached the status of micro-celebrity stardom, for a day, or an hour, or a minute perhaps.  I look3d at her profile to see that she had not been on twitter too long and so I understood the way she was feeling.    I too have met folks in real life, that I had first met on line and I was truly jazzed to do so. It’ s fun!

Now the rest of the session was just an enjoyable.  Chester killed it talking about Teams.  After the session, people were coming in from the next room and asked what went on in here, it sounds like you guys had a blast – we did.  Amanda and I tweeted each other from row to row.  We tweeted to the conference and the world that #ChesterElton was rocking the house at #SHRMLead.  When the session wrapped up Amanda and I were lucky enough to get a picture with Chester, before he had to run off and sign books.

I ran into Amanda later and she got to meet a couple of my buddies and now her new friends John Jorgensen and Steve Browne. Us folks in Human Resources are a pretty cool bunch – don’t ya think?

Posted in: Dave Says, ILSHRM by Dave Ryan 2 Comments , , , , ,

Count Your Blessings and Help Someone

Published at: 12:11 pm - Friday November 25 2011

The holiday season is official starting today – Thanksgiving.  As I enjoy the holiday with my family I can’t help but think how lucky I truly am.   There are so many things I could list that might demostrate my happiness, my fulfillment or sucess, but let’s think about feeling lucky and blessed in a different way.

  • Chances are if you are reading this you have a place to stay – to sleep that is safe, warm and dry.  
  • You probably are not worried about where your next meal is going to come from.
  • I would hope if you have aches and pains you get them checked by a medical professional.
  • You probably have family members, friends, co-workers who have got your back, and cover you – in whatever way you need

Heading into this holiday season my fear is there are many folks who do not meet any of the criteria above.  Let’s not forget about these people this holiday season.  If we all did something to try and help out some one who is less forturnate than those of us who are doing ok, just maybe we could make the world a little more compassionate place.

Best wishes for a happy holiday season!

 

Posted in: Social Media by Dave Ryan No Comments
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