Category Archives: Strategy and Development

How Social Media Is Changing HR

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(This is the third and final in a series of three blog posts that recap learning sessions offered at the recently concluded annual SHRM conference. Social Media Director Joan Ginsberg gave HRAGD members the opportunity to choose a session for Joan to attend and blog about. This session was chosen by Darla Schlact, who has been an HRAGD member since October 2011.)

Social media, according to presenter Jessica Miller-Merrill, SPHR, represents “the biggest shift in business thinking since the industrial revolution.” It is that shift that should make HR rethink social media, because the way we live and do business is shifting with it.

Jessica made it clear that social media really doesn’t represent changing business norms. Social media is the current pause in the evolution of business norms.

The way we do business is changed – or evolved – through social media because the prevalence of communication through social networks requires each business to be

  • Fast
  • In the moment
  • Able to provide answers immediately

So what are the problems that prevent business – and HR – from adopting social media in a broader way?

Fear of risk – the idea that social media is fraught with risk is prevalent, fueled in part by employment lawyers who don’t even use or understand social media themselves. Jessica made sure the audience understood that there are risks, but that there are also tools that can help minimize or mitigate those risks. She also explained that it was very difficult to understand and minimize risks when there is no basic understanding or use of social media. Finally, Jessica cautioned that not having a social media plan is probably a greater risk than using social media wisely.

Fear of unproductivity – According to Jessica, during any given work day there are 64 minutes of unproductive work attributable to smoking, and only 7.2 minutes that are from people on Facebook. In fact, with mobile access rising rapidly, use of mobile applications can actually help employers reach employees more effectively. In fact, Jessica claimed that 70% of the people in the bathroom are also on their phones. Using mobile to reach this employees can actually increase productivity.

Social media is pushing boundaries, and it is important for employees to know what those boundaries are. With Google logging 223 million searches for the word “jobs” every month, isn’t it important for employers to find where their candidates and employees are and use those numbers to “be where the people are”?

In order for HR to get social, they need to

  • LEARN (about social media)
  • PLAN (their social media usage)
  • ACT (just do it)

Condoleeza Rice at SHRM 12

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 (Social Media Director Joan Ginsberg is blogging from the annual SHRM conference. She asked HRAGD members to choose sessions for her to attend and blog about. The first was requested by member Christine Krumins, SPHR. She has been with HRAGD since August 2002.)

The author watching Condoleeza Rice from the press room at SHRM12

Condoleeza Rice was the opening keynote speaker at the annual SHRM conference in Atlanta. Some attendees were concerned about her political leanings before her speech; afraid she would be hawkish.

They should not have worried.

As a speaker, she was nearly perfect. Her talk was intelligent, thoughtful, reasoned, and ultimately poignant. Here are some highlights.

THREE BIG SHOCKS

Condi – as she said she is happy to be called – first discussed several big shocks that rocked the foundations of the global community. The first was the shock to our personal security, called into question by 9/11. The second shock was to our financial security, as evidenced by the great recession that began in 2008, causing the loss of homes and retirement funds. The third was the toppling of governments in the Middle East, proving that lack of reform creates revolution and that authoritarianism isn’t stable

WHO WILL LEAD US FORWARD?

The world needs to recover from these shocks, and the country to lead should and will be the United States. But people in the US are tired and are pulling back, according to Condi.

But development of human potential has always been our greatest strength, and our nation   grew because of attention to a fundamental principle: it doesn’t matter where you came from, it matters where you are going.

But the US has two issues which pose a serious risk to that principle, and that jeopardize our ability to lead.

One is the crisis in K-12 education. As Condi stated, it is difficult to say it doesn’t matter where you came from when you can determine if a child will, or will not, be educated by their zip code.

The second risk is the notion that immigrants somehow became our enemy. For a country that grew strong and prosperous on the ambition of immigrants, the US will need to see real immigration reform at the federal level to prevent the loss of our identity and ideals.

“I’M AN OPTIMIST”

Condi believes that the US will ultimately get it right and move forward. She closed with her personal story of how a black girl from Titusville, Alabama, whose parents could not take her to the Woolworth’s lunch counter because of their color, became the Secretary of State, because

“what seems impossible becomes inevitable.”

What’s the Next Best Thing to Being at SHRM 12?

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By Joan Ginsberg, Director of Social Media

Back in the 1960′s, Bell Telephone introduced a tag line to advertise its long distance phone service: “Long distance – it’s the next best thing to being there.” For baby boomers like me, that phrase became an enduring part of the language, and, when faced with a challenge, always evokes a positive search for alternatives.

We know that not everyone has the time, money, or ability to travel to Atlanta for the national SHRM12 conference. Sometimes life gets in the way. Last year I missed SHRM11 at the last minute due to a family medical emergency.

So what’s the next best thing to being at SHRM12?

BLOGS

Reading blogs is an excellent way to capture everything a conference like SHRM12 has to offer. You will see blogs about food, clothes, swag and all kinds of topics that give the reader an idea of what the conference experience is like.

You will also find plenty of blogs that take a particular educational topic and analyze it in depth. You will see blogs about the keynote speakers – what they said and what they didn’t.

In short, you will see blogs about everything!  Even though I wasn’t at SHRM11, I read plenty of blogs, and even blogged myself about some of my favorites.

This year, SHRM has gone the extra mile and given bloggers a dedicated website so that all of the blogs and other information can be aggregated in the same space. It’s called Buzz, and you can find it right here! Bloggers have already started posting, so bookmark that site and check back frequently.

TWITTER

Twitter takes a little time and effort to master, but the rewards of following a Twitter stream are huge. The hashtag #SHRM12 is already busy, and when the conference actually starts, there is nothing better for feeling that you are in the room, hearing the same thing everyone else is. Most of the bloggers attending SHRM12 are also prolific tweeters, so be prepared for a barrage of non-stop information. If you know how to use Twitter, you can direct questions to and ask for clarification from the person tweeting.

If you don’t know Twitter and don’t want to learn, you can still reap the benefits that Twitter offers. Look on the right side of the Buzz home screen and you will see the #SHRM12 tweet stream! Just follow along.

The next best thing to being at SHRM12 is to use the web to become a virtual attendee. Visit  http://buzz.annual.shrm.org/.

(You can also follow me on Twitter at @JoanGinsberg, or @DetroitSHRM. My blog is Just Joan, and I will also post here on the HRAGD blog.)

It’s a lot better than the 60′s. Trust me.

 

Ultimate Software Hosts Interactive HR Workshop

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Ultimate Software, one of HRAGD’s Resource Partners, will be hosting an interactive HR Workshop on April 26, 2012 at The Westin Southfield-Detroit. Titled “Strategies From Industry Leaders in an Era of Change”, it offers breakfast, lunch, and a full day of ground breaking speakers. Best of all – there is no charge to register, and the workshop is approved for 4.5 HRCI credits!

Here is a detailed look at the session led by Jennifer McClure, president of Unbridled Talent. Jennifer recently gave this presentation to the New Mexico SHRM conference, and will present it again at the Illinois SHRM conference.

TITLE OF SESSION:

“3 Keys for Success in the New Normal—Recruitment, Retention & Leadership Development”  

SUMMARY OF SESSION:

As the economy crawls out of recession and businesses begin to focus on growth and opportunity, human resources professionals and business leaders are faced with new challenges in regards to their employees and potential employees.

In this session, we’ll discuss several new and innovative strategies for attracting and recruiting the talent your organization needs, critical components of employee engagement and retention and how to identify and develop the future leaders your organization needs for success.

THREE KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1.     Traditional and new/innovative strategies for attracting & recruiting the Talent an organization needs.

2.     Engagement & retention drivers that organizations need to focus on to keep critical employees.

3.     Identifying future Leaders and the importance of Succession Planning throughout the organization.

 

So don’t delay and register for this exciting event today!

 

 

 

 

Diversity Disrupts

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Author and Keynote Speaker

(Our guest blogger is Joe Gerstandt, who is also our speaker at the April 2012 Chapter Meeting, co-sponsored with Michigan Diversity Council. Please see our events calendar to the right for more information, or visit our website  to register. You will not be disappointed!)

Diversity disrupts.

Difference is a part of any and all social interactions.  You may pay attention to it, you may ignore it, but it is there.  All groups, all conversations, all interactions, all relationships contain difference…it is one of the basic building blocks of everything social.  How the people involved deal with their shared difference is a key relational determinant.

Difference is also a natural social catalyst…it changes social groups.  Whether the social group is a family or a neighborhood or an organization, when you introduce additional diversity into that group (or pay more attention to existing diversity) you are going to change that group in some way.

Diversity disrupts because it always brings tension with it. Tension activates human emotions, demands different relational skills and informs patterns of behavior. Whether a social group is moved towards realizing better outcomes or lesser outcomes depends on its willingness and ability to deal with the tension in a healthy functional way or not.

In some relationships, difference is avoided.  Close friends sometime avoid issues that they disagree on.  I have worked with senior leadership teams that are not willing or able to really disagree with each other.  My family used to have big and long conversations about politics…it was easy and fun for us to do this as we mostly agreed politically.  We do not agree politically any longer…and now we pretty consistently avoid political conversations. Our desire to avoid that conflict has disrupted this aspect of our relationship, and our ability to be whole and real with each other.

Sometimes difference is not avoided, but rather becomes the central focus and a source of conflict and dysfunction.  These groups silo and segregate and are disrupted in a different way.

Sometimes groups have the skills and maturity to hold on to the tension of difference and use it. They are able to explore the intersection.  These groups are innovative, they learn and adapt and they become greater than the sum of their parts.  These groups are able to synthesize and recombine the variety of knowledge, perspectives, narratives, heuristics and experiences that they have access to; all of which is wasted in the other groups.

Diversity disrupts…it pushes groups in new directions.

Diversity work also has to be disruptive.

And here is the catch.

We have a lot of organizational and community leaders that say really, really nice things about diversity and inclusion today.  I think that they sincerely like the idea of diverse and inclusive places to work and live.

But.

They are not crazy about disruption.

Lots of people really like the ideas of creativity and innovation; but lots of people do not like the tension, uncertainty and risk that actually feed innovation.  Lots of people like the idea of being physically fit; but lots of people do not like the work involved in actually making that happen.

If you are doing diversity and inclusion work in your organization or your community it is going to be disruptive.  If you are not rocking the boat in some way you are likely not doing anything.

When did you last ruffle feathers?

2+2=5, or Why your Bias Matters

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(This post was written by guest  Victorio Milian . Thank you! One of the subjects in the picture, Joe Gerstandt, is our April speaker. Check out our events on this page for details.)

Pop quiz: Can you spot the diversity expert in this photo?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a hint: he’s the good looking one. The really good looking one.

Okay, so it’s obvious that the diversity expert is the gentleman to my right. Joe Gerstandt is a speaker, blogger, and consultant in the diversity and inclusion space. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him and seeing his work. He’s good at what he does, so if you’re looking for someone in this arena, please check him out.

Now the reason I’m poking fun is that I’m sure some may have thought that I was the diversity expert. Don’t laugh; I’ve been approached by several well meaning people in the past who’ve thought that I was a subject matter expert in this area. I wonder why? Perhaps the person’s thinking went something along the lines of this pseudo-mathematical equation:

HR practitioner + effective communication skills + brown skin + dreadlocks  = diversity thought leader

And while I certainly have opinions on the topics of race, diversity, and inclusion, they are just that–opinions. Those that work in the D&I arena are (for the most part) very good at what they do, so while I’m flattered, I always politely decline offers. Joe and others like him don’t need me giving their profession a bad name.

We all make assumptions. I’ll share one of my own, which involves a job candidate I was working with. I was vetting this person over the phone and we spoke for a long time. We had a great conversation and I was wrapping things up by going over the company’s benefits package. I was reviewing health care coverage, focusing on specific items for women. At that point the candidate interrupted me and, barely suppressing their laughter, made it clear to me that they wouldn’t need them–as they were a man, not a woman.

Oops.

The candidate’s voice and name led me to the wrong conclusions about this person. In this case my gaffe didn’t harm anyone. We laughed it off and moved on. Like I mentioned before, we all make assumptions. And while the examples I highlighted were more comedic than tragic, it’s important that we keep this thought front and center in our minds as we move through the world. As leaders, we should remain especially diligent, as our assumptions can have repercussions beyond mere embarrassment. Not to overstate what should be obvious, but your conscious and unconscious biases must stay out of your employment decisions.

Just like 2+2 doesn’t equal 5, make sure that your business processes and decision-making mechanisms add up correctly. It’ll save you and your organization some embarrassment, and potentially worse things.

Victorio is a creative and versatile Human Resources practitioner operating in the retail industry. Along with working for some of the most dynamic fashion and retail brands, he has been an active blogger for the past 3 years, and was recently named as one of the top 5 talent management bloggers by the illustrious Fistful of Talent.  In his words:  “My career path demonstrates an ability to take on new and greater challenges, successfully manage multiple agendas, as well as work across divisions and with diverse populations. This is Human Resources at its best-to maximize the people potential of an organization in order to create and sustain value. In short, I like working with smart people to do smart things.”

Consensus Decision Making

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Making decisions by consensus is far and away the most desirable approach, but achieving it is much easier said than done.

The reason for its desirability is that consensus can lead to full digestion of the facts and arrive at sound, evidence based solutions.  Unfortunately, there is one major stumbling block: humans are social creatures and readily influenced by the views of others. Kurt Lewin , a pioneer in social psychology, demonstrated in his studies that the need to conform can lead individuals to distort or revise initially accurate perceptions.

How, then, do we take the social interplay out of consensus decision making?  Having chaired hundreds of management team meetings, I think it starts with the group leader. As the group leader, I could not sidestep the fact of my authority and people’s concern about displeasing an authority figure. To overcome that obstacle, I used many approaches to make disagreement “safe.”

I started by making it clear that this was a brainstorming decision, not a social niceties session.  Our job was to test ideas, regardless of source, fully digest them and come up with well-informed solutions. Unfortunately, what many consider “consensus” is not consensus at all.  It’s compromise in which some win, some gain. Compromise isn’t all bad, but it isn’t the best of approaches. First, some members will feel they yielded their judgment in order to reach agreement. Second, the group will not have fully vetted the data at hand.  Our political process is based on compromise, which often leads to the “least worst” solution.

When dealing with thorny issues within the management team, I sometimes opened the meeting with a teaser, like saying: “ I have this great idea that I know is too good to be true. Tell me what’s wrong with it.”   At first, there would invariably be cautious silence.  Eventually, as my team became thoroughly assured that when I asked an honest question I was seeking an honest answer, the awkwardness gave way to quick engagement.

Treat the idea as something laid out in the middle of the table for all to see and examine. That tends to reduce social fears and more readily gets down to constructive problem solving.  As I earned trust, team members quickly told me something I overlooked. I always thanked them for affirming my suspicion of “too good to be true” and went on to “now let’s look at what will work.”  The hunt was on for the best idea the team could find. Team members became fully engaged in the brainstorming effort and had only one focus: good solutions.

This enthusiastic engagement and determination to come up with good solutions led to laughter, and fearless presentation of “what-if” thinking.  This is when breakthroughs happen.

When we hit, everyone knew it.  Faces glowed with pride of ownership. A great solution somehow emerged from the middle of the table. I could never trace the idea’s origin, but that was unimportant. Most important was the feeling of jubilation over having reached our solution.  That is what consensus looks like. When it’s impossible, or no one cares, to trace sources of an idea, that’s your signal that a true consensus decision was achieved.

Sometimes people can be incredibly timid.  Here’s a technique to deal with that. Lay out the problem and ask individuals to write their ideas in a sentence or two.  Then post the ideas on a board and examine them as a group.  Allowing people to lay out their thinking anonymously is a great icebreaker.  When everyone is scanning the results on the board, the focus of discussion bypasses political correctness and yields results. Typically, you will find multiple clusters of similar ideas. That’s the place to start. Start with the highest area of agreement and work downward. The resulting discussion typically tries to assimilate all the perspectives listed. Again, the issue is well-considered and yields evidence-based solutions.  I’ve done this many times. It works.

Only when ideas – regardless of origin – are thoroughly vetted does a group arrive at true consensus.

This post was written and submitted by John Macek, a CEO for 17 years. He is the publisher of Bosshandbooks (www.bosshandbooks.com) and  creator of My Life Preferences (www.mylifepreferences.com.) 

Top Performers Boost Your Bottom Line

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By Stacey Carroll, CCP, SPHR, PayScale.com

As many HR professionals and business owners know, your top performers can be the difference between a company that is successful and a company that is not. And, that holding on to your best team members often requires strategic compensation planning, beyond the basics. But, you may not be able to convince your fellow leaders that you need these compensation policies. Hopefully, the following information will help.

Risks Associated with Losing Top Performers

Most of you already know the importance of retaining top performers. Nearly any HR person can speak to this concept. But, a lot of times, what we are looking for are ways to explain this or have conversations internally with our business leaders.

I believe that a lot of organizations give lip service to people being their most important asset. But, we don’t see those ideas trickle down into some of the policies or practices of organizations. As HR professionals, we need to make sure that the risks associated with losing top performers are not just based in theory. We can show that attracting and retaining top performers is truly is the differentiator between good and great companies.

Top Performers Are Always Looking

There was some research from a SHRM whitepaper that said, “Did you know that 40-50 percent of top performers are actively looking for a job? This percentage is significantly higher than middle or low performers.” 

The whitepaper was specifically about the economic recovery. And, while the worst of the economic downfall caused people to hunker down and stay where they are, many people are now looking for new jobs. And, as this whitepaper showed, it is really your top performers who are doing most of the looking. I hope that this information incites some fear in you. I know that many HR people know that without our top performers, the company would be in worse shape.

What Are the Risks Associated with Losing Top Performers?

Top performers contribute most to the bottom line. I had an opportunity recently to attend a seminar and the
presenter did a fascinating talk about ROI on labor dollars. There were calculations on revenue per employee. And, what the research was looking at was, “Which are the companies that drive more revenue per employee than others?” 

As you can imagine, many of the companies at the top of the list were companies that we admire and that have a really strong business model. For example, Google was one of those top companies. Their return for every dollar spent on labor costs was 13x. This number was significantly higher than similar organizations, like HP or Dell and others.

Labor ROI Matters

That achievement is a big deal. As we all know, labor dollars are a huge spend for any company so getting a good return on that investment is crucial. I think that, as an organization, we need to benchmark ourselves to those numbers; take a look at what our return is on our human capital investment. What is even more interesting is that this presenter went into even more detail about top performers. The stats on top performers are off the charts. If you think about those folks that have those innovations in their head or they really contribute to the competitive advantage of your organization, those folks are contributing even more to your bottom line.

Get a Great Reputation with Top Performers

This isn’t lip service to supporting top performers. This is real, hard data about companies that are successful and companies that are not. And, top performers are a pretty key part of that. The beautiful thing is, once you establish a reputation of being a high performance culture, you attract more top performers to you.
Google does a lot with their recruiting but, at the same time, a lot of people want to work there simply because of their reputation as an employer. It ends up having a very positive effect that builds on itself. The element of reputation is one of the biggest reasons to work on retaining top performers and get them boosting your bottom line.

 

Stacey Carroll, M.B.A., CCP, SPHR, is the director of professional services and education at PayScale.com. She is an adjunct professor in the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University, as well as a highly-regarded presenter and educator at major HR conferences and in PayScale’s online HR webinar series. Ms. Carroll earned her Professional in Human Resources (PHR) in 1999, her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) in 2006 and her Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) in 2011. She has worked in human resources for the last 12 years at companies such as Nordstrom, Trendwest Resorts, CH2M Hill and Western Washington University. Ms. Carroll has held numerous roles with increasing responsibility within human resources and has expertise in benefits and compensation administration, as well as employee relations.

 

With more than 2,100 corporate customers and the largest database of individual compensation profiles in the world, PayScale is the leading provider of compensation management Web software for employers, as well as tools to help employees better understand their value in the market. Products include PayScale MarketRate™ and PayScale Insight™.

 

 

Do You Have A Paul Revere Or A William Dawes Network?

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35 x 28 1/2" (88.9 x 72.3 cm)

Paul Revere Image via Wikipedia

 

Back in 2009, when I was an active job seeker, I often promoted my social network on my resume, cover letter, or recruiter phone call as a valuable personal resource that I could use to aid the potential employer. Unfortunately, most HR pros and recruiters didn’t understand how my network was an asset that could be of any use to them.

My actions were validated at the HRAGD October chapter meeting, where speaker Brian Uzzi of  Nortwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management  presented “The New Science of Networks”. In this presentation, he made it very clear that it was not only important for business leaders to have a  network,  it was necessary for leaders to strategically create that network.

Brian began by discussing Paul Revere, that legendary night rider of the Revolutionary War, and how we obviously all knew who he was and what he had done. How about William Dawes? Do you know who he was? Me, either.

William Dawes, it turns out, was also a midnight rider tasked to warn colonials about British troop movements, just like Paul Revere. In fact, William Dawes road further and longer than Paul Revere did on the night of April 18, 1775.

So why have most of us never heard of William Dawes? The difference, according to Brian Uzzi, was  the composition and value of their networks.

Revere was a talented silversmith with many customers, a dentist, a Mason, and a political activist. He connected with multiple people across all walks of life. According to Malcolm Gladwell and his book The Tipping Point, Revere was a connector and Dawes a more “ordinary man.”

William Dawes

William Dawes Image via Wikipedia

 

The Dawes network was low in diversity and high in redundancy, with no brokers to move the message outside to other networks – the contacts were all familiar with each other and unable to spread the word beyond those who had already heard it. In words familiar to the online HR world: an echo chamber.

The Revere network had 3 key properties that Uzzi claimed made it “rich in social capital”:

  1. TRUST – the willingness to share private information
  2. DIVERSITY – multiple skills and backgrounds
  3. BROKERAGE – key contacts who can push information out to other networks

Most people have a Dawes echo chamber or clique because networks are created with people we trust and feel comfortable with for one or two reasons:

  • The Self-similarity Principle – picking ties that have similar training, experiences, and intellectual backgrounds.
  • The Proximity Principle – we are inclined to choose ties in the same departments, units and teams as us.

According to Uzzi, the way to build trust, diversity, and brokerage into your network is by embracing the Shared Activity Principle. Engaging in activities that require interdependence of two or more people, have something at stake, and attract people who are passionate about the activity are those that best connect you to a cross section of people and create a network with the most value. Examples of  these activities are team or partner sports, volunteer groups and associations, community service, and cross-functional work teams.

In fact, Uzzi claims if your network is more than 70% self-similar, you will have diminishing or negative returns instead of value.

So I will continue to play flyball, do community theatre, and volunteer extensively to keep my network diverse. How about you?

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Thoughts From ILSHRM – Know It, Own It, Use It

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Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Illinois SHRM state conference – that’s #ILSHRM11 to the Twitterati. This well-attended and enthusiastic gathering in the Chicago area featured 3 keynotes: Talent Anarchy (the team of Jason Laurisen and Joe Gerstandt), Ryan Estis, and China Gorman.

As I was driving back to Detroit, I spent a lot of time reflecting on these three keynotes, so I could develop and implement some real plans based on what I had heard and learned. After all, professional and personal development (Profersonal™, per Jason Seiden), is one of the main reasons I attend conferences.

I’m pretty certain the keynotes didn’t plan on this in advance, but I found it especially interesting that all of their speeches, while highly different in style and delivery, had, at their heart and soul, the same message. I call it the “Know It, Own It, Use It” message:

Know It: HR business practitioners have and bring a lot of value to their organizations. This value comes from many sources, but the value is tangible. We have to know and understand our value so we can share it with our organization.

Own It: After we recognize our value, we have to make sure we nurture and take care of it. It belongs to us, and we have to tend it like a garden, or it will not grow and thrive.

Use It: Show your organization, and the world, that value. You are unique – make sure the world knows and can see it. Fly your freak flag, as Joe Gerstandt repeatedly tells us.

Congrats to the Illinois State Council of SHRM for putting on a great conference!