Un blogger la interviu

Persoanele:

Un recruiter

Un blogger

O asistentă HR-istă

Faptele. Negăsind candidatul potrivit pe site-urile de recrutare, alea mari, un manager (destupat la minte zicem noi) a făcut companiei nişte conturi pe social media. A început să twitterească, să mai dea şi pe Facebook ceva, iar în loc de rubrica feedback pe site-ul mare, a inclus rubrica ,,Blog’’. Cu rubrica de poziţii libere bine actualizată, candidaturile spontane au început să crească. Cu millennials, desigur ! Dar totuşi, sunt de încredere aştia care au în cap numai internetul şi o mulţime de pretenţii ?! Era cam împărţit…candidaturi multe, resurse noi, diferite…dar nici nu putea risca prea mult.

Dar… E Luni, orele 12 trecute fix, 35 de grade la umbră…

Asistenta HR-istă conduce bloggerul în Biroul Oval.

Bloggerul: Bună ziua! Sunt X-man, candidez pe poziţia de junior în departamentul de marketing. Pe promovare produse nonfood.

Recruiterul: Bună ziua! Ia loc te rog!

(întrebarea magică) De ce ai aplicat la job-ul acesta?

Bloggerul: pentru a mă dezvolta într-o echipă de profesionişti Pentru că îmi place domeniul, ştiu să comunic şi să îmi valorific cunoştinţele în domeniu.

Recruiterul: Ai experienţă pe o poziţie similară sau complementară?

Bloggerul: Nu am. Am mai lucrat, dar nu în domeniu.

Recruiterul: Atunci de ce crezi că eşti potrivit pe poziţia pe care ai candidat?

Bloggerul: Păi blogul personal mă recomandă…

Recruiterul: În ce sens? Aplici pentru un post într-un departament de marketing, pe promovare produse nonfood şi spui că te recomandă blogul personal…Explică te rog…

Bloggerul: Păi blogul meu e ca orice alt produs. Eu muncesc la el, cred în el, vreau ce e mai bun pentru el. Un blog trebuie crescut, trebuie promovat, trebuie adaptat trendurilor, are un public ţintă. Toate acestea exercită o presiune asupra mea…trebuie să ţin cont şi de inspiraţia şi stilul meu, dar şi de percepţia altora asupra calităţii muncii mele. Dacă sunt sincer cu mine însumi, conştientizând cele două aspecte, devin cu siguranţă mai bun. Prin urmare, trebuie să fiu propriul meu PR-ist, agent de publicitate, propriul meu mentor, critic, strateg. Apropo, nu se cuprind acestea în calităţile cerute în anunţul de recrutare de pe site-ul Dvs.?!

Recruiterul: Recunosc, nu mă aşteptam la răspunsul acesta. Am o singură obiecţie: cum ai operaţionalizat cele spuse mai sus? Aşa în teorie sună bine…

Bloggerul: În primul rând mi-am dezvoltat reţelele de prieteni şi persoane posibil interesate de profilul blogului meu. Am scris unor persoane avizate rugându-le să îmi evalueze articolele, layout-ul blogului şi să îmi sugereze direcţii noi. Apoi, în conţinutul articolelor foloseam unele tag-uri mai generale pentru a fi mai vizibil motoarelor de căutare. Ca strategie, am făcut o listă de priorităţi pe termene mici şi am încercat să le îndeplinesc. De exemplu, într-o săptămână, urmăream bloguri asemănătoare şi comentam articolele de acolo, semnând cu userul de wordpress. Asta îmi aducea vizite sau prezenţe în alte blogroll-uri. Concomitent, foloseam alte platforme sociale pentru a posta link-uri spre blog: Facebook, Twitter, hi5, Faces.md sau pe reţele profesionale: LinkedIn, Google profile.

Astfel, am un blog în creştere, ce primeşte feedback pozitiv, un blog care mă antrenează şi mă valorifică. Aş putea lejer să fac acelaşi lucru pentru promovarea produselor companiei Dvs. Ar fi o provocare prin care aş deveni mai bun, folosirea optimă a abilităţilor şi competenţelor mele rămânând în sarcina job-description-ului pe care aveţi sarcina să mi-l faceţi.

Recruiterul: (se ridică în picioare, strânge mâna Bloggerului): eşti angajat. Nu mai e necesar interviul cu şeful de dapartament, doar îl voi invita să vă cunoaşteţi şi să îţi prezinte compania şi colegii…

FINISH

It’s almost the end of November and I just can’t wait to hit the holiday season. But, before that, there are issues to work on, chapters to close and of course, Read Up!

So, here are a few things that I found to be very interesting:

• Want to increase your effectiveness at work? Check out the 3 mindsets that are going to support you in getting there.
• I stumbled on the “Who Needs Employees Anyway?” blog, which has some great data on engagement. Always a good read.
• If you are not doing it already, I recommend following Gurprriet Siingh’s blog. He always comes up with thought-provoking, insightful posts. Some of his recent ones are on Choices, Do Nothing and Engaging Today’s Employees.
• Are there any bright sides of the underutilized (but over-capable) employee you have in your team? Find out here.

Finally, I once again had a conversation on employee satisfaction vs. employee engagement. I could go on and on about it. But, out of impulse, I ran a Google Trends on these two terms. the graph below shows the search volume index for these two terms. At the bottom, you also see a mini chart on the “news reference” for these two terms.

What’s happening here?

This holiday season is a welcome distraction to our personal financial woes.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner with Christmas nipping at its heels.  As the news stations warn about expected flight delays and record breaking traffic, the prospect of spending time with friends and family trumps the certain headaches of getting to our destinations.  Who cares about the Dow Jones Industrial Average when Santa is coming down the chimney?   Across the country, companies are seeing a dip in job inquiries.  Could it be that HR departments and Hiring Managers are experiencing the same holiday anticipation as the general population?  A lack of focus is systemic around the workplace this time of year, but the hiring departments are only partially to blame.  When it comes to the holidays, job hunters have a tendency to slide into home plate; and who can blame them.

Examining the search trends for major keywords like “jobs” shows a clear yearly drop off in volume.  This year’s decline is actually part of a consistent yearly trend of decreasing search traffic for job related terms during the holiday season.  As job searches taper off, searches related to toys reveal a major spike in traffic.  Of course we all expect the demand for toys to build into the Holiday season, but with so many folks out of work the decline in job searches is revealing of the average person’s psychology.  When it comes down to it, after being beat up during the last year, maybe we just need a break in the action.  Maybe seeing Grandma is just more important than hitting the jobs boards one last time.

Search Trends 2008: Jobs vs Toys

Companies need to prepare themselves for the dip in interest.  Despite the fact that there are more job hunters than jobs lately, the best prospects are still subject to the whims of the holiday season.  Even the hotshot, rock star employees of this world are subject to the “after the holidays” mentality.  How can companies hang on to those prospects that have real potential?  In any situation subject to distraction, organization is the key to success.  This axiom holds true for the layout of fighter jet cockpits as well as it applies to your HR department.  Stay on the ball, force your key players to follow up and hold people accountable.   New applicant tracking software provides a simple solution to clearly track the recruiting process and highlight any bottlenecks.  Not that Sandy the hiring manager doesn’t deserve a piece of holiday cheer, but if she takes 4 days to follow up with your potential new VP of Marketing, then someone in HR should know.  These new programs can provide in depth statistics and h
elp simplify communication within the company and between the company and the candidates.

Some people will make the decision to wait until after the holidays.  For those people there is nothing an HR department can really do.  Every once in a while people deserve a truly stress free break in the action.  For the rock stars on the fence, an aggressive recruiting program can make the difference between a White Christmas and a White Christmas with a job offer.  Given the current economy, a new job might be the best gift you can offer.

sursa: Slideshare

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Rem koolhaas kommer gående på en byggeplads. Han møder en mand i hvidt arbejdstøj og spørger: “hvad laver du?”, og manden svarer: “Jeg lægger sten på sten på sten.” (opgave)

Koolhaas går lidt videre og møder så endnu en mand i hvidt tøj og stiller ham samme spørgsmål, og manden svarer: “Jeg bygger en mur, der skal være X meter høj og Y meter lang”. (mål)

Lidt længere fremme møder han en tredje mand i hvidt arbejdstøj og stiller ham det samme spørgsmål, og manden svarer: “Jeg bygger et hus, hvor jeg lige nu er ved at finde ud af, hvor mange vi skal være om at bygge huset for at blive færdige til tiden”. (strategi)

Koolhaas forsætter og møder en fjerde man i hvidt arbejdstøj og stiller ham samme spørgsmål, og han svarer: “Jeg bygger en kirke, og når jeg engang får et barnebarn, vil jeg vise den frem og fortælle, at den har bedstefar bygget”. (mission)

Til sidst møder Koolhaas en sidste mand i hvidt arbejdstøj og stiller ham det samme spørgsmål som de fire foregående, og manden svarer: “jeg bygger et rum for ånd og sjæl”. (værdier)

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Når man læser den let pimpede historie ovenfor, så er det jo super let at forstå. Men alligevel er det svært for rigtig mange ansatte arkitekter at forklare hvad deres arbejdsplads bygger på, og arbejder henimod…eller hvordan de så lige selv skal planlægge deres fremtidige karriereudvikling. Det nytter jo ikke at det er ledelsen der fortæller hvordan de skal udvikle sig (hver gang). Oftest finder man tegnestuens værdigrundlag og egentlige mission på første side i personalehåndbogen…og undtagelsesvis på websitet. Det hele kan ofte lyde meget  meget rigtigt…men alt for ofte er der ikke den store forskel tegnestuerne imellem. Og hvis der endelig er beskrevet noget virkelig unikt, så er det mere reglen end undtagelsen, at det ikke er indarbejdet i tegnestuens organisation!

Her til morgen kan vi fx se, at CF. Møller er valgt til FN´s klimakampagne (se filmen “CF Moller – Designing the buildings of tomorrow, today”)- Ingen tvivl om at det forstærker medarbejdernes selvopfattelse. Bæredygtighed er også i CF. Møller blevet en del af grundværdierne, og der følger en lang proces før at værdigrundlaget bevæger sig ned gennem organisationen til mission, strategi, målsætning, og endeligt, den enkelte opgave….Men men, man kan sige at processen er endnu længere før at man kan vende hele remsen på hovedet og medarbejderen virkelig kan se og forstå sine egne opgaver i forhold til målsætning, strategi, mission, og endeligt, tegnestuens grundlæggende værdier!! Det kræver gennemsigtighed og medindflydelse – og det er ikke noget vi ser meget af i branchen! (og nej, det er ikke nok at det hedder sig, at vi har “fladt hieraki” på tegnestuen!!)

Tegnestuerne efter en krise
En af de ting som den såkaldte krise har sat fokus på, er hvor vigtigt det er for en tegnestue at have de rigtige medarbejdere og især dem med de rigtige kompetencer (Rette medarbejder på rette plads på rette tid) – man kan sige at firmaerne lige nu trækker vejret gennem et sugerør alt imens de prøver at løbe hurtigere for at få nogle opgaver i hus. Og der er vist ingen tvivl om at medarbejderne (også) betaler deres del af prisen!

De fleste arkitektfirmaer har i de sidste 4 år – de såkaldte “gode tider” – investeret i nye lokaler, nye maskiner, der var arbejde til alle og overskud til at satse på nye markeder. I top tempo har vi optjent flere mdrs afspadsering hvert år…men MUS (MedarbejderUdviklingsSamtalerne) havde stadig en tendens til at ryge i svinget! Hvorfor virker denne del af arkitektfaget så sindsygt dårligt? Hvorfor er det stadig svært at få en velkomponeret stillingsbeskrivelse, som kan sammenholdes med dine videre udviklingsmuligheder. Hvorfor er det svært gennemskueligt hvordan man kan avancere i virksomheden – gøre sig uundværlig. Nytter jo ikke noget hvis over halvdelen af de ansatte er enten sagsarkitekter eller associerede partnere! Og stadigt flere føler sig på glat is når prikkerunden går igang – er de købt eller solgt? eller fyres der kun ud fra hvem der ingen opgaver har pt? For mange er det dybt umotiverende og med en følelse af at arbejde i blinde. Og jeg er sikker på at der en forbindelse mellem denne situation og det resultat jeg for få måneder siden fik på spørgsmålet: “Arkitekt: ansat eller selvstændig” (75% går faktisk efter at blive selvstændig!?)

Medarbejderne er vist nok stadig det vigtigste
De større tegnestuer har efterhånden fået sig en HR- Human Resources ansvarlig – en der på ledelsesniveau skal rådgive ledelsen til at tænke medarbejdernes kompetencer ind i tegnestuens mål, visioner og strategier…og omvendt!. Som udgangspunkt er det vigtigt at tegnestuens mission og værdier synliggøres for medarbejderne! Hvis du ikke selv har den opfattelse af HR, så er det fordi at netop denne stilling ofte indskrænkes til en administrativ rolle der kun sørger for rekrutering og opsigelse. Flere tegnestuer har for tiden obs på videndeling (eller mangel på samme), men det kunne være fint at starte med en videndeling af hvad tegnestuen egentlig er, gør og vil – læs fx Lars Kolinds idé liste til hvordan nye medier kan tages i brug: “HR og Blogging”. Det er nu engang vigtigere at den famøse tegnestuehåndbog bliver kommunikeret og løbende opdateret, end at hver tegnestue har et eget in-house Byg-Erfa!…jeg vil gå så langt, som til at sige, at det rent faktisk ikke kan lade sig gøre før ledelse og medarbejder har fuld forståelse for hinanden!

Den bedste arbejdsplads
Idag kom 2009 resultatet for hvad der er Danmarks bedste arbejdsplads - Great Place to Work. Desværre har vi endnu ikke set nogle arkitektfirmaer heriblandt. Går man lidt tættere på metoden bag undersøgelsen, så er den delt i to dele: 1. Kulturprofil (spørgeskema til ledelsen), 2. Trust Index (et medarbejdsspørgeskema, der måler niveauet af troværdighed, respekt, retfærdighed, stolthed og fællesskab). Altsammen det der skal til for at du kan yde dit bedste (og er motiveret til at yde dit bedste).

Dans la feuille de style, ajouter le code css suivant :

hr {
height: 1px;
border: 0px;
background-color:#000;
}

Human beings – especially the English – seem programmed to use the weather as a metaphor, and the recession has been no exception. You’re probably as tired of hearing about stormy weather and ill winds as you are of travelling in the real thing. Although there are no bonus points for collecting the set, the missing cliché is the one about battening down the hatches.

But it’s not one to dismiss. Last week’s news coverage included updates from the OECD on growth forecasts. The anticipated growth rate for the UK for 2010 has risen to 1.2% – recession is ending, at least by its dictionary definition. The OECD expects unemployment to continue to rise throughout 2010 and possibly into 2011, albeit at a slower rate. Here are the opening words of the OECD’s Economic Outlook No 86:

The economy is set for recovery, supported by improving financial conditions, an expansionary monetary policy and stronger international growth. However, the pick-up will be slow with GDP projected to grow by slightly more than 1% in 2010 reflecting strong headwinds from balance sheet adjustments, a still weakening labour market and fiscal tightening. In 2011 the recovery will gain momentum, but resource utilisation will remain low and the unemployment rate is projected to reach 9.5%.”

Canadian cult novelist William Gibson may not pack the same workplace kudos as the OECD, but a quote from him is worth citing here:

The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.”

The OECD figures are general forecasts, not industry or region specific ones. A simple lack of demand won’t be the only reason that some companies continue to shed staff: shareholder pressure, cost-cutting, access to capital and servicing a legacy of debt will account for many lost positions. As an employer, there is another important message: some companies will be turning the corner, growing and recruiting. Possibly from you.

Unlike some European countries, the UK has not intervened to subside short-time working to avoid redundancies. This is a lesson that could have been learned – certainly Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman believes it could help the US – but ‘what might have been’ is a parlour-game, not an employment practice. Nonetheless, two contrasting stories (fictional or fictionalised case studies) – one from Germany and one from the US – are interesting reading. Taking government responses to economic crisis out of the equation, there is a sharp difference in attitudes to talent retention and in company practice. If talent retention is key to your company – and to its future competitiveness as recovery takes hold – the stories should provide a wake-up call. But as recovery does begin to take hold – or is more clearly on its way – there are issues both for talent retention and for recruitment.

Twist or stick?
Staff who are actively looking to move on don’t, by and large, announce their intention. Some who have keep their individual hatch well battened through the storm may now be tunnelling vigorously beneath it, making a decision as to whether ‘holding on’ will pay personal dividends or whether moving on may produce a greater return. Their work experience during the downturn will be a major factor in their private calculations.

If your employer brand honestly reflects their actual experience, their calculation might be weighted in your favour (provided both brand and experience are of a reasonable quality). Brands that have previously oversold their company and built idealistic views, by comparison, may struggle.

Unlike your product or service brand, employees experience your employer brand – your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – unmediated, firsthand and for a large proportion of their week. It’s not an occasional purchase – it’s a big part of their life. (Why probably explains why no-one talks about a product/life or a service/life balance.) If the gap between the brand’s proclaimed view of itself and their experience of it is too wide, you might start seeing other gaps. In your workforce and your capacity – your human capital.

Staff who have suffered in silence may now decide to move on – and may even decide suffering slightly less somewhere else is preferable. If you’re not sure how realistic your employer brand has been, now is the time to act before the recovery gains strength – for your competitors.

Following best practice in building your EVP – involving staff and gathering their honest experiences, building on your values and mission, reviewing policies, processes and practices – will come at a cost, but so will replacing your existing talent, bedding in new staff (and losing others who carry the weight during the interim). But if staff are making their calculations, shouldn’t you be making yours? How much human capital can you afford to lose before you make a decision?

Here comes the flood …
As the economy moves out of recession, the labour market will initially lag – recession may have different causes, but this aspect is relatively constant. As you increase (or re-start) recruitment, a larger pool of applicants will be available.

As Jared Woods points out in his Professional Heretic blog, you don’t actually want to become everybody’s Employer of Choice:

Your brand needs to be relevant, targeted and honest. Otherwise, you end up having to manage a lot of expectations, and you create promises so meaningless and vague that it’s impossible to meet them to the satisfaction of your staff. You brand can’t be open to interpretation. It must be specific about the kind of people it is geared to attract, and the kind of people it wants to repel.”

Faced with an abundance, you don’t actually want to appeal to all of it. You will want to bag the best of what’s on offer, but using your EVP to encourage candidates to self-select will ease the toll on your HR department. As HR Zone recently reported:

In normal times people look for a career move when they are ready. In other words, they are in control and have a choice. Today, that choice element has disappeared for many and we are seeing an increase in the ‘serial’ job hunters as people apply for roles that under normal circumstances they would not consider. In fact, new research from Changeworknow, Online Recruitment – its all about the candidate, reveals 70% of applicants would consider taking a job even if it wasn’t the ideal job for them.”

If your EVP is clear, strong and direct enough, you may filter out a good share of that 70%. We assume that your aim in recruiting is to find the right people, rather than just as many possible people as you can? If you already know you have round holes, why attempt to appeal to square pegs?

But is your recruitment advertising defining the hole, or digging one? As Ross Clennett so wittily skewers them, there are innumerable Clichés, tautologies, vagueness and other rubbish found in recruitment advertising – and none of them help. (You might want to look at the London School of Economics’ recruitment guidelines for potential employers too.) It’s an advert: you’re selling your organisation and the experience of working for it. Most of us can assume we need to be ‘dynamic, flexible, self-motivating individuals’ (and so – interminably and unhelpfully – on). We want to know what the job entails (can I/do I want to do it?), what the culture is like (do I want to do it with them?) and the opportunity it can offer us (I know having the post filled successfully helps you – what’s in it for me?). Get your EVP and your recruitment processes wrong, and you either lose great applicants, drown in mediocre or inappropriate ones – or both.

Après le deluge
Once you have recruited, you will – of course- need to keep your new staff retained. A third aspect of a strong, effective EVP is employee engagement. The labour market will undergo significant change as recovery begins to be felt, and your EVP needs to move with these changes. Where budgets have been withheld or tightened during the downturn, there are grounds for optimism in 2010/11 that there will scope to invest in process changes and improvements.

Involving both your new recruits and existing staff in these changes could not only help your keep your EVP strong for the ‘better years’ to follow, but also increase their motivation and sense of being valued. Not only does this increase their sense – and experience – of engagement, it increases the probability that process improvements will be successfully implemented, as there will be a sense of ownership rather than imposition.

To quote Jared Woods again:

A good employer brand lives on the continual transfer of emotion, the ongoing renewal of that psychological contract. If your communications with employees feel more like impersonal manuals and less like messages from one person to another, you’re alienating employees from the brand they identify with. And there’s no faster way to make people fall out of love with an idea than assuming that you only have to fall in love with it once.”

Good times may come and go, but work remains a relationship. As you continue to review and rebuild your EVP, remember to keep that gap between rhetoric and reality manageable: it may not be only the rhetoric you need to modify – if feedback is telling the experience is flagging, sagging or floundering, take positive steps rather than punitive ones to improve the reality too. As anyone in a long and successful relationship will tell you, relationships depend on work just as much as work depends on relationships.

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… was a great success! I’m very happy with how the event went and loved the Science Gallery as a venue. If you’ve just stopped by here today for the first time, hello and thank you!

I’m off to the ERA campaign conference today, so notes from last night won’t go up until tonight/ tomorrow, but please do feel free to leave any feedback or further comments from last night below, and do come back and let me know if I’ve summarised the discussion properly!

If you’re interested in a copy of the publication (“Demystifying Disability in the Workplace”) that was launched last night by the very entertaining Senator David Norris, please drop me an email at getahead AT ahead.ie with your contact details.

Article published in HR Leader magazine: A new lease on company car life.

HR plays a pivotal role in novated leasing programs. Craig Donaldson looks at the pros and cons of such programs and examines how some companies have gone about successfully putting them in place. See the full article here …

This is a very important step back toward economic liberty.  More than half of the congress has co-sponsored the bill (including 80 democrats – so truly bi-partisan) and it asks for one simple thing.  Transparency.  After all, it’s our money, and our government… shouldn’t we have a right to know where all of the money the fed prints out of thin air goes?  This clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUreWxKGOkY) seems to indicate not even they know where it goes!

Update – the hypocrisy – government promises transparency… but does not take opportunities to deliver on that promise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tRQHsXujpo

More information on auditing the Fed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx-UYvtSqeI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGAQIJWUJVU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpbW64vRrMc

Update – Freedom Watch – Judge Andrew Napolitano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGAQIJWUJVU – the Fed’s response (besides hiring the Enron lobbyist)

Congressional report admits economic collapse was government’s fault:

http://americaswatchtower.com/2009/07/09/congressional-report-blames-the-governement-for-the-mortgage-crisis/

You can’t fairly blame the free market anymore – after all we have not had a true free market in this country for decades.  You can try to blame lack of regulators, but some of the big organizations that they say need regulation had literally hundreds of regulators already… and the answer can’t possibly be to give the federal reserve the power to regulate the banks.  Did you know the federal reserve is a private organization?  It’s a bank… for the banks.  Giving it the power to regulate – isn’t that like allowing banks to regulate themselves?  Actually reading the plan, one learns that many of the ‘regulations’ become optional anyway (so it’s a big bank regulating (in many ways) itself… but only if it wants to).  You can read the entire plan here: http://thehill.com/images/stories/news/2009/june/white%20paper.pdf – and a critique of it here: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=20147

If I’m wrong about any of this I’d love to hear about it so I can continue the learning process.  If you agree, contact your government here – https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml and tell them to support HR 1207 and government transparency.  Also, feel free naturally to forward this to others if you want.

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!  I wish the best to you.

Taking a Second Look at Second Life^®

Second Life rolls out Enterprise Beta Product for Corporate Clients

Linden Lab recently announced the creation of their new Second Life Enterprise Beta (SLE), a $55,000 hardware appliance that enterprises can have installed into their data centers within about 30 minutes. The product gives corporate clients the look and feel of working within an immersive environment combined with the security and control a standard intranet provides behind a corporate firewall. Since the product is stand alone and completely disconnect from Second Life’s main grid it provides all of the depth and creativity of working within a Second Life world (or “prim”) without the security concerns; so sensitive information is always protected.

The high price tag (the basic cost doesn’t include any bells and whistles like customized avatars or corporate branding) may have some CFO’s scratching their heads; yet with the continued spike in travel expenses plus wasted hours in the air, the ability to host detail-rich conferences between clients and staff from anywhere around the world from a central Enterprise hub has CEO’s taking a second look at this dynamic, virtual tool.

Conference calls will be replaced by detail-rich, online collaboration where participants can interact via their avatars and use chat or voice to workshare, discuss presentations and team build. SLE comes standard with great features such as Quicktime video streaming, 3 standard collaboration tools and the ability to support 800 concurrent users at any given time.

Companies like me-Interactive^TM, an interactive agency specializing in online development and branding, are working to bring even more customized Enterprise collaborative tools to the standard package. me-Interactive President, Steve Haak, is pleased with SLE’s dynamic design. “The companies we’ve been talking with that want SLE are blown away with what we’re now able to offer. Before the thought of building from scratch in SL was just too much for most of them to consider and it didn’t always make sense if you weren’t selling a product that required heavy brand strategy and marketing. Now they can see the use for SLE to help reduce their internal costs by saving time, money and finding out if it can co-exist with their pre-existing Enterprise resources. It’s also a great stepping stone towards launching brands on Second Life’s main grid”.

Permissible Social Networking?

Until now most corporations have had to lock out access to any form of social networking from work but SLE finally gives companies the chance to capitalize on the inherent nature of it’s employees desire to socialize. Meeting around the “water cooler” will take on new meaning as customized avatars bring employees closer together within SLE’s common areas while allowing departments to interact on a deeper level. SLE allows for a completely customized experience with virtual offices that mimic real life bringing a company’s corporate culture to the forefront. These environments become inviting, micro-cultures where employees truly become a part of company life with diversity and interaction becoming key components.

Companies like Beta Technologies, a Gold Solutions Developer of Second Life content, are working with clients to enrich their SLE experiences by providing branded content as well as virtual on-site SLE Assistants that help new users acclimate to the SLE environment, departments schedule social events and staff organize fundraisers.

Alternatives to SLE’s Steep Price Tag

On November 6th, 2009, Beta Technologies’ Beta Business Park become the first business-oriented Community Gateway providing a unique community for businesses and the people who own, operate, and work at them. This business-to-people (B2P) community offers a different way to use Second Life for companies that can’t afford the jump to SLE. B2P provides a coherent territory dedicated to businesses and their clients, allowing easy connections between people, as well as convenient shared costs of common facilities.

Jeff Bush, in Beta’s New York office, is excited for what both options have to offer. “We understand not every client is an IMB, New Media Consortium or Northrop Grumman so they might not have a budget for the SLE package”. Bush believes that, “..thankfully the Beta Business Park is a great alternative to taking on the entire cost of having your own company Second Life world built from scratch. It also provides an automatic community of like-minded business owners you can learn and draw support from. Second Life is vast, and without the right tools it can be intimidating for new business owners that know there’s a lot to gain from building community and brand recognition here but don’t know where to start. We’re here to make that transition as smooth and painless as possible.”

Cost Benefits

In the end SLE can save medium and large corporations on a few levels from staff travel expenses to retaining key staff. In Leigh Branham’s book The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, “feeling unrecognized or devalued” ranks at number 5 and it’s been found that employees will often take lower paying jobs if they feel they are being appreciated and respected more at work. A more inclusive experience at work leads to happier employees less likely to jump ship; saving time and money on training new hires. Just those reasons alone make the initial outlay seem like a small price to pay to keep your organization running more smoothly and effectively.

Screen shots courtesy of Beta Technologies

Am by default o problema cu cei de la resurse umane. Cu cei de la HR din companii. Putini am intalnit sa fie cu adevarat oameni de HR. Mostly, pitzi type.

Well, am primit o frumusete de email in urma cu cateva minute astazi. Email care descrie un interviu de care sunt absolut convins ca e adevarat

Enjoy!

“Stimate domnule Director,

In 19 septembrie 2009 am participat la un interviu pentru postul de
Director de dezvoltare in cadrul companiei dvs. Conform spuselor doamnei
de la Resurse Umane ce m-a intervievat, pe 25 septembrie ar fi trebuit
sa primesc un raspuns, raspuns ce nu a sosit pina astazi dar este
predictibil.

Duminica, facind o tetracapilarotomie – adica despicarea firului in
patru, am ajuns la concluzia ca nu am fost decit un pion in economia
unui interviu cu castigator aprioric cunoscut, interviul avind rolul de
a justifica activitatea doamnei de la resurse umane si de a va oferi dvs
un simulacru de testare a candidatilor.

Iata cum stau faptele.

Cu citeva zile inainte de 19 septembrie doamna de la Resurse Umane din
firma dvs. m-a contactat telefonic intrebindu-ma daca eu din xxxxxxxx
sint dispus sa ma relochez in yyyyy si sa merg in deplasari dese in
interesul serviciului. Am raspuns afirmativ si de comun acord am
stabilit interviul pentru simbata 19 septembrie, urmind ca respectiva
doamna sa imi comunice prin e-mail locul adresa la care va avea loc
interviul deoarece in momentul discutie telefonice nu aveam
posibilitatea sa o notez. Probabil ca raspunsurile mele au fost
neasteptate si au emotionat-o pe distinsa doamna incit a uitat sa imi
trimita e-mailul, desi am mai sunat de 2-3 ori cerind acest lucru. In
cele din urma, telefonic, am aflat adresa la care sa ma prezint pentru
interviu.

Avind in vedere dezinteresul si lipsa de respecta doamnei respective ce
reprezinta firma dvs, pentru un raspuns la interviul la care am venit de
la xxxxxx presupun ca nu corespund postului. Principalul motiv pentru
acest insucces al meu este, cred eu, faptul ca nu am stiu sa ma comport
la un interviu inedit.

Doamna de la resurse umane, al carei nume nu il retin si nu avea o carte
de vizita, mi-a testat rezistenta la stress si capacitatea de
concentrare aducind si pe fiul dansei, un baietel de altfel foarte
reusit si simpatic,in varsta de 3-4 ani, deoarece nu avea cu cine sa il
lase. Recunosc ca este prima data cind mi se intimpla sa fiu supus unui
astfel de interviu, motiv pentru care va felicit pentru metoda aleasa de
doamna si tolerata de dvs. ca director.

Va mai felicit de asemeni si pentru permisivitatea pe care o acordati
salariatilor dvs de a-si aduce membrii familie la serviciu si implicare
lor in jobul salariatului. Cred ca ar trebui sa faceti un minim efort si
sa brevetati metodele la OSIM, mai ales ca in materie de resurse umane,
recruiterii inventeaza metode de testare nebanuite iar imaginea si
awarnessul brandului dvs – ceea ce, teoretic, se reflecta si in
vanzarile directe – ar atinge inaltimi abisale, daca ma pot exprima asa
si iata ca pot.

Am mai participat la interviuri unde mai erau si alte persoane in
incapere dar scopul acestei situatii era sa verifice capacitatea mea de
a ma focusa asupra subiectului discutat in prezenta factorilor
perturbatori normali intr-un birou. Ori la dvs nu am aplicat pentru
postul de Director de dezvoltare – Divizia Gradinita.

Interviul s-a desfasurat aproximativ astfel:

- Imi puteti spune care au fost realizarile dvs ca director comer…
Stefanita, te rog sa stai cuminte!
- Am crescut vanzarile cu …
- Stefanita, nu o mai musca pe mama!
- … 8% in in 5 luni ca urmare a politicii mele de…
- Stefanita, vrei sa desenezi? Uite ai creioanele aici!
- .. vanzari si a strategie …
- Mami, dar domnul de ce e aici?

Il felicit pe Stefanita pentru precocitate si intrebarea existentiala.
Chiar, ce cautam eu acolo?

Va scriu pentru ca doresc sa va fac cunoscuta opinia mea despre modul
total neprofesionist in care s-a desfasurat interviul la firma dvs,
incepind de la stabilirea intilnirii, desfasurarea acesteia si
comunicarea rezultatului. Si eu am fost in situatia angajatorului dar
intervievatului i-am acordat in timpul interviului atentia si respectul
cuvenite unui om ce se prezinta la solicitarea mea, unui posibil coleg.
Chiar daca nu corespundea profesional il informam despre rezultat.
Respectul aratat altuia este si respectul de sine, face parte din
cultura profesionala a fiecarui desi este in principal o problema de
educatie.

Voi mai aplica la joburi disponibile in firma dvs (da, sint perseverent
in atingerea scopului) si am rugamintea ca la urmatorul interviu , daca
voi mai fi chemat, sa imi permiteti sa imi aduc cainele, deoarece nici
eu nu am cu cine sa il las. Este un Beagle de 1 an si 5 luni, brownian
(*) in atitudine si nu as vrea sa il las singur de teama ca pune mana pe
chibrit si da foc la casa sau se inhaiteaza cu maidanezii din cartier,
organizind orgii sexuale insotite de consum de alcool si/sau tras
prafuri pe nara . In plus as vrea sa vad capacitatea de concentrare a
doamnei de la resurse umane cind va simti cainele pe gamba dansei
simulind copulatia canina (doggy style – pour les connaisseurs).

Cu retinut respect,
Cxxxx Lxxxx
07.xxxxxxx

PS: pentru doamna de la resurse umane: brownian vine la miscarea
browniana si nu de la Sandra Brown.”

I had a great time at the Recruiting Unconference (trulondon) last Thursday…lots of interesting and thought-provoking debate and information. Over the next few blog posts I am going to write about some things that have had me thinking.

A key track for me was the one on Social Media…I have certainly tried to embrace LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogging over the last year or so and talk passionately to candidates about the need for them to get connected and get in the conversation. I was keen to learn more…

Track host Matt Alder started by asking each group member what social media they used and why…and four things immediately stood out for me:

Hardly any recruiters seemed to use any Social Media other than LinkedIn

Those that use LinkedIn seem to regard it as a database, a source of names to headhunt, and a medium to advertise jobs

Most recruitment companies seem to regard a consultant’s LinkedIn connections as owned by the company not the consultant

The only interest in Twitter seemed to be as a medium to advertise jobs

Clearly there are a lot of recruiters in the UK who haven’t yet got Social Media. There was little talk of developing networks or communities, of engaging candidates and clients in groups. It seemed depressingly familiar, just another medium for finding names to headhunt and for advertising roles. I’m not saying that there aren’t recruiters who provide a service doing just that, but why do we have this amazing new medium which opens up all sorts of possibilities, can really transform the way we work and interact, enables us to deliver some real value for candidates and clients…and then just try and find ways of using it to do the same old, same old…

I’m going to share some of my thoughts about LinkedIn here…Twitter will get its own post, hopefully soon!

On the question of ownership, I firmly believe that my contacts are mine…and I say that having been employee and employer within the industry. I appreciate that I have made contact with people whilst in employment, but it is how I have worked and interacted with that network that has provided fees and therefore revenue for the business. I know that there was a court case involving Hays last year which they won, but I believe in that case that the employee in question was sending invitations to clients that he hadn’t met or worked with, whilst at the same time setting up in competition. Sorry, but that’s unethical. Also when it was heard, use of Social Media as a business tool was still fairly embryonic.

I have met virtually all my contacts; those that I haven’t met I do have a working relationship with, and would have spoken to them at length on the phone (or social media). I have never invited (nor accepted an invitation from) anyone that I have not had interaction with. I can share information with them through status updates, and will call or send messages on a regular basis especially acknowledging when they have a relevant change to their status. Used properly it provides a great platform from which to start building a network/community (Twitter can help further develop this)

My LI network has delivered fees, not just for me but also for colleagues…and I am transparent with the network, giving them visibility of my Twitter feed, and this blog, on my LinkedIn profile.

Someone on the track, who owned a small IT recruitment business, legitimately raised the fear that a consultant leaving and taking his LI connections was taking business away…and Paul Harrison (Carve Consulting) who co-hosted the track made a great point when he said that the company may lose someone’s contacts, but then they would hire in someone who would bring with them a whole new set of contacts.

My personal view is that the attempt to protect is old, sales led recruitment thinking and does not take into account the possibilities opened up by social media.  Recruiters, in future, will be hired because of their network…not just who they know, but how they engage with the network, what information and knowledge they build, what business opportunities the network offers. There’s an onus on the recruiter to behave ethically and professionally if they want flexibility and trust from their employers…certainly not adding connections that are not technically part of their network, and with whom they have had no personal interaction, particularly if their intentions are to leave soon.

I did make the point on Thursday that in my opinion recruiters probably would not join a business that made them leave their contacts when they left…I certainly wouldn’t sign a contract that effectively said ‘we want you for your contacts, and when it’s time for you to leave, we’ll keep the contacts, thanks’

Social Media policy will soon be an extremely important criteria for candidates to consider when assessing a company (actually, why isn’t it now?)… and a legitimate question for the interviewee to ask. In fact as recruiters I think we should be finding out what the policy is when we take a brief.

I can certainly see a time soon when businesses will be rejected if their policies are not forward thinking, encouraging, empowering and trusting.

It’s a tough proposition for company’s to engage with their employees. Non HR experts might argue otherwise… I can just hear them now: “If you want to engage with staff, why not offer them flexible working, or ooh wait, subsidized gym memberships? Or the coup de grâce … performance bonuses…a no brainer really!”

HR professionals, however, will quickly tell you that the soft fluffy stuff, although it looks and sounds great, is not likely to keep employees engaged for very long. Think tassels at the end of a very long tablecloth. A quirky initiative is no silver bullet and all that.

Speaking at the Employee Engagement Summit in the City earlier this week, Jane Sullivan, senior consultant at the Work Foundation warned HR delegates against taking a quick fix approach to employee engagement. “There is no quick fix, its more a holistic and fundamental approach,” she said, adding that there is no one size fits all model, but rather a model that works for each individual.

Mike Conder, UK HR director at financial services firm, KPMG, bigged up the value of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a tool to engage with employees. “Its an added opportunity to communicate with employees, and to demonstrate your care attitude.

“CSR is something most employees really care about: ‘It impacts me personally, my family, and its something I can get my head around’”.

Conder said that if used in the right way, CSR can change the perception of an organisation, while good management will also change employee perception giving them the opportunity to participate in something meaningful. “Logically it makes sense, and statistically, it’s absolutely true,” said Conder.

Source: Personneltoday.com

I saw Dr N on Thursday. It was good to have him back.

I wasn’t really with it at the appointment. I couldn’t focus and didn’t know what to say. I have felt pretty numb over the past few weeks and I couldn’t convey how I felt. At one point he just said “Are you okay? Have you been sleeping? You seem like you’re on another planet”. I told him that sleeping was a silly question, which he admitted, but he was right. I was very tired and vague. The fact he’d noticed though was good. It makes a change from other doctors that clearly pay no attention to how you really are.

I explained that I’d been having problems with headaches over the past couple months. I’ve literally had a headache every day for about 3 months, sometimes incredibly intense pain, other times just a dull ache, but nearly always there in some form. Beta Blockers are meant to be effective in preventing headaches, so he was a little concerned seeing as I’m already taking propanolol (for anxiety/agitation). We’ve decided to increase the dose and also switch to the modified release version so I’m now taking 160mg daily instead of 40mg b.d. Hopefully it will have some effect.

On Friday I got a phone call from HR. I have a new HR Rep, R. She introduced herself a couple of months ago, but hasn’t been in touch since. She was meant to call me regularly but hasn’t, so it was quite a long catch up. She asked me about therapy referrals, my social worker and psychiatrist. I told her there wasn’t much to say. Therapy referrals take forever, my social worker is still useless and I don’t see my psychiatrist until tomorrow.

She asked me when my last occupational health assessment was. It was over a year ago, so she said she will look into that again. I don’t know what an OH assessment will achieve. I get the impression they only want me to go so that work can say they are doing something to help. I don’t think there will be any pressure on me to get back to work, but I may be wrong. I guess it depends on the doctor I see. I have the same fears I had about the ESA medical. Fears they will tell me that I am making it all up and should just go to work.

If I do go, I wonder if I will see the same doctor as last time. He seemed to be pretty knowledgeable when it came to mental illness and was the first medic to suggest that Bipolar Disorder was a possibility. Shame it took a further 7 months before an agreement was reached on that topic. When I’d brought up his thoughts later with other doctors they didn’t seem interested. I guess they wanted to make their own decisions.

It may be useful to discuss work though. I haven’t managed to get much of an idea from the CMHT about when they think I will be ready to go to work. I am going to try and talk about it with the psych tomorrow. Dr N keeps asking me if I’ve heard anything from HR or whatever, but there hasn’t been anything to tell. I told him about my medical result too and I think he was a little surprised I’d been placed in the support group, although I think it also told him how ill I’d been on the day of the medical. I am not sure he quite understood how bad it was when I’d told him before.

The other thing R mentioned was regarding our company Employee Assistance Programme. I was told that they had been running a CBT trial and maybe I should consider asking about it. I told her I was pretty skeptical about CBT, but it could be useful to have some contact with a therapist whilst I am waiting for the NHS to do something. I agreed I’d give them a call anyway.

I was on the phone to the EAP for ages. First of all someone took my details and asked why I was calling. I explained I’d been told about CBT by my HR rep. She explained that they only offered telephone and online CBT (I’m guessing Beating The Blues!). I told her I wasn’t sure about that, but she said she’d put me through to the counselling team for an assessment and to discuss what might be helpful.

The counsellor was lovely. I explained I’d been on long-term sick leave for mental illness and that HR had suggested I got in touch. He asked me for a potted history, which I gave him as quickly as I could manage. At the end he just kinda went “oh, blimey”. I mentioned I’d had CBT whilst at The Priory and he asked me what I thought of it. I was honest and said that I was pretty skeptical and generally thought it was common sense, useful for mild depression, but ineffective for me. He asked me why I’d even bothered calling then, which was a sensible question. I said that I guess I thought it might be useful to have some contact with therapy whilst waiting for the NHS. Apparently his assessment of CBT was similar to mine and he didn’t think online CBT was going to be much help. He explained that usually a case like mine would be too complex for them to consider, but he wanted to help. He suggested that because I am waiting for long-term support, but I’m not getting the help I need currently, he felt it might be possible to refer me to the face-to-face service temporarily. It would only be four assessment appointments, but it might help me to work out what I want to work on when my NHS referral actually comes through. I agreed that this may be helpful. He asked me more questions then. Mainly about risk and safety. He stressed that his boss wouldn’t allow him to go through with it if they felt I was at too much risk. I had to give him the assurance I would be safe for the next four weeks, which was difficult even now. I am keeping myself safe at the moment, but I don’t know if or when that will change. At the end of the call he explained he would need to ask his boss to authorise my case, but hopefully it would be okay and then he wished me luck.

I am awaiting the phone call back to arrange my first appointment. He said if his line manager had refused he would call me back straight away and I didn’t hear anything, so I’m hopeful. I do think it could be good to just see someone for a few weeks. I don’t trust my social worker and have very little other support. In some ways I’m hoping it will be the same therapist I saw through the EAP back in April/May 2008, but I don’t suppose it will be, but you never know.

I need to go now. I have more to write, but no time. My bloke is going back to work part-time and I have the psychiatrist tomorrow. I guess I will update more soon.

Remember when we all used to run around as HR professionals shouting from the top of our lungs how we must strive toward “employer of choice” status.  EOC was the HR buzz term for the late 90’s and early 00’s.  I grew up in the industry drinking that cool-aid.  Don’t get me wrong; generally, I think it’s a good idea to try and create an environment where your employees enjoy spending most of their waking hours and I think it’s important to invest in your people and their careers.  But I think organizations should only go so far on this quest for the holy grail of employee engagement and here’s why:

#1) There ain’t no such thing as Utopia in the workplace.
#2) It is metaphysically impossible to keep everyone happy all of the time.
#3) There will always be involuntary turnover…and involuntary turnover is not all that bad.
#4) There are some employees who just hate working for “the man.”   Yet they will show up at the office and chain themselves to the desk day after day after day. 
#5) Most employees are smart and will inherently have some level of skepticism around what the employer is really up to. 
#6) Workplaces are not designed for trustworthiness…trust me. 
#7) There are just as many employees who are unappreciative of their employers as there are employers who are unappreciative of their employees.
#8) Like every social fabric on our globe, the workplace will always have some exceptional people, some mediocre people, and some real losers.  By definition, you can’t have all exceptional people and if you tell me that you can I’ll call you a big fat liar and I’ll sketch out a complex algorithm which demonstrates the mathematical impossibility. 
#9) Anyone who thinks they can create a workplace that is really truly fun probably works in a bar; don’t fool yourselves…fun is fickle in the workplace. 
#10) If you think there are people who your business really can’t live without, think again. 

I just don’t think we should be running around trying to create this end-all-to-be-all for our people.  Let’s be realistic and do those things that make a lasting difference to those employees who really matter.  Stop spending 80% of your time on the 20% of the people who in the grand scheme of things mean very little to your organization’s success.

Got piles of work….so just going to link to the article (started as a comment!) here. This is what an ideal recruitment process should be like. I totally agree with the last part:

A curious thing about our interviews: We were VERY hard on the candidates (particularly the Tech interviews), but instead of resenting it, the candidates uniformly were impressed and wanted to work for us. They knew that if they joined, they’d be joining a top-notch R&D group.

Here in the United States, we’ve now witnessed the greatest loss of jobs since the Depression. In the past two years, organizations found themselves seeking means of reducing expenses while they watched revenues dwindle. For many (I could probably say most) reducing jobs was one of the primary routes taken in this quest. Some took this route early and quickly while others took every other possible route before making the choice to eliminate jobs. Some companies handled this with skill, diplomacy, and a humanistic touch. Others did not. Tales of email notices and security escorts have run rampant. Organizations eventually reached what they term as efficient staffing levels given the current state of the market. Hmm, it’s the latter part of that statement that will pose the most trouble in the coming year or two as employees embark upon what I can only tritely refer to as The Great Job Hop of 2010.

The Great Job Hop is in the embryonic stage at this point but the signs are clear. The “high performers” that many organizations have worked diligently to retain over the last couple of years are starting to “look around”. For organizations, the traditional break-up line of “it’s not you, it’s me” would be a lie. It is you. However, for some, there is very little you could have done to prevent the pending break-up. You were not the only company to make layoffs and eliminate jobs. The company to which your “high performer” is moving may have made even more cuts than you did. The difference is — he or she did not experience it first-hand with XYZ Company. 

Organizations have done a great job in the past few decades of building cultures that encourage closer associations at work. One of the questions in the ubiquitous Gallup Q12 is “Do you have a best friend at work?” Our associations at work don’t fall along neat little lines where my best friend just happens to be my fellow ”high performer” in the next cubicle or nor do all occupants of the “most crucial positions” go to lunch together daily. No, with all these close associations forming at work, many of your high performers watched their BF at work lose his or her job. They then rode the emotional rollercoaster with their BF as he or she looked for work in a very tough market. The high performer’s feelings towards the company that he and his best friend at work loved a year or so ago have changed. There’s probably a high degree of survivor’s guilt mixed in with some resentment.  Now, I’m not a psychologist so that’s about as far as I go into the psyche but I am a sociologist so I can tell you what the resulting behavior will be with a high probability of being correct.  An exit is the course that most will take when faced with this quandary. There will be a great urge to remove oneself from the environment that has brought about these feelings. Fortunately, for them, high performers and individuals occupying crucial positions generally have options when the employment picture begins to change for the better, as is predicted for the coming year. 

Companies who have looked ahead and have seen the writing on the wall are beginning to take steps to “re-engage” with their present staff to help mitigate the potential damage. Organizations who took the humanistic route have an advantage. These companies’ actions will not have caused as much guilt or resentment and may even be viewed positively if separated employees were provided with adequate severance benefits and communications remained open throughout the changes. The re-engagement should be approached much the same way as initial recruitment campaigns were approached. What are the positive attributes that attracted employees to your organization? Do you have a unique value proposition (UVP) for your employees? In business, every organization has a unique value it offers to its customers. It’s the reason customers will want to choose do business with you rather than your competitor down the street. You will need to make certain employees know what UVP you have to offer them and that the attributes which brought them to you are still very much a part of the organization. Do you conduct “internal” marketing? If not, you would be wise to quickly develop your messages and a campaign for getting the message into the ears, minds, and, hopefully, hearts of your most valuable asset, your people. 

If you sincerely want to keep your high performers and crucial staffers in place during the Great Job Hop, the most important part of your messaging will be that it rings true.

This year, for the first time, I went to the SHRM Leadership conference. This blog posting is my reflections and perceptions only, which may or may not reflect the views of Society for Human Resource Management or the Human Resource Association of Southern Maine. That’s my disclaimer and I’m sticking to it. Feel free to respond with challenges, corrections and affirmations.

Lead09’s value proposition lies in showing what you need to know; where the answers are; better & best practices; & reflection.

This year, the intent seemed to be focused on having only chapter presidents and/or president elects attend. HRASM sent three members of the 2010 leadership team – president-elect, secretary, and treasurer-elect along with the two members of our Pinnacle Award submission team. This decision has merit. The incoming officers got good exposure to the nuances of chapter strategic planning and operations management. The Pinnacle Award team experienced the enthralling energy of the awards ceremony. The traveling, dining, attending and moments in between allowed the five of us to bond in ways not otherwise available.

Normally, going to a convention/conference, you know have a good idea of what to expect in each breakout session. Instead, there was confusion and a sense of going into the unknown. Kudos to SHRM for overcoming this on day one with the orientation and overview sessions. SHRM published and provided a Conference Program pamphlet and a Workbook. These two books together told us where to be & when, while also providing sound content outlines.

My personal highlights include:
• The collegial and cordial environment was energizing. In other words, just being there.
• Succession and transition macro overview was good.
• Pinnacle award presentation – the power of HR delivered to those in need
• Financial Essential outline will be used to self-learn and audit current programs, practices and policies for fiduciary obligation, responsibilities and opportunities.
• Networked with Nancy T. Kaysarly from Cairo, Egypt
• Got to meet face to face with two of my Twitter followers – China Gorman and Sharlyn Lauby. I sense there were many more Twitter’ers there which means next year there needs to be a Tweetup

Lowlights
• Sardine packed breakout session.
• Noise level during ice breakers was a serious detractor and distraction
• The hoped for review (which was a published agenda item) of Financial Essentials did not occur; deferred to a video presentation on the SHRM Volunteer Leaders’ Center website. Also includes the topics of Liability Protection, Technology, and Working with the Media
o Will suspend further judgment pending video review
• The new SHRM vision statement obliquely restates Human Resources as people management issues

Recommendations
• Organized Tweetup for us Twitter’ers
• Reorganize the breakout sessions away from chapter size and toward functional leadership roles. There is value in talking with your functional peers for benchmarking and best practicing.

Take For Action
• Strategic Leadership: review and reflect intentional Selection, Succession Planning and Transition Planning
• Understanding operations. Areas of responsibility and interest include Financial Essential, Technology, Liability Protection and Working with the Media.

Bottom Line: The SHRM Leadership conference remains the best opportunity for chapter leadership teams to network with each other while also engaging in facilitated dialogues that will continue to ensure & strengthen strategic alignment and engagement between national SHRM, regional SHRM, state SHRM and local chapters. Local chapters are where the rubber meets the road.