If I Were Running A Company…#SHRM12 Day 2

I’m glad SHRM is an all-day conference. The problem with that is it really is an all day conference, so you have to wake up very early in the morning. It truly takes a commitment, especially in HR to do that. That being said…

Speed Networking Event

A speed networking event is what it is…a speed networking event. In this event, there were tons of first-time attendees who want to network and experience the conference itself. You will mostly hear people attend the event for sessions, parties, or the city itself. These people want to network for their company and/or collecting a list of names. The most interesting person I met was Wesley Forest who is job hunting in Atlanta. This triggers something SHRM might do: Have 50 (or 100 or whatever the number) HR job seekers and bring them over to the conference to network and attend sessions. That will be some goodwill.

Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell was Monday’s keynote and just to me, it isn’t new. He discuss how different generations function. The older generation believe in hierarchy while the younger generation believes in networks and run it their own way. This seems old bat to me because of the controversy Gladwell stated that the Arab Spring was not a “mobile” revolution. All of social media went up in arms. That controversy alone proves the point Gladwell was making. It wasn’t about how you get your network, it’s how to establish a network and by that, get a network that has some structure and hierarchy. Gladwell mention the Civil Rights movement as an example of a network that is organize and finish the job because of Martin Luther King. I have been joking about tweet-jihad Gladwell’s comments a few months ago, but he’s right that it’s important to build the network, which Gen Y does well, it’s how you finish and from Occupy Wall Street, my generation has a long ways to go.

Of note: to read in detail why Occupy Wall Street failed, read Michael Kazin’s article here. This is what exactly Gladwell was talking about.

Concurrent Sessions

I would normally get one bad session a day when attending these conferences that long. I really can’t say the sessions I went to weren’t bad…they’re great. I attended three sessions: HR Innovation from Sue Meisinger, who was a former President of SHRM, Beyond Behavioral Interviewing from Nancy Newell, and Creative Destruction from Angela Hills. All three had expertise, wisdom and captured the audience; ingredients of a great session.

Exhibit Hall Challenge

I was at Exhibit Hall for probably an hour. Some of the time was sitting at a presentation where China Gorman was discussing employee engagement. The other time was standing in line for some thing. I thought it was for the $5000 cash prize/ Free Conference pass to Chicago next year. When I spoke to someone at the line realizing I might be at the wrong line, the person said this is for the line to win a free Kindle…and a second chance to win a Kindle. This bother me so much because aren’t there other vendors, er… I mean all vendors are giving away Kindles, Kindle Fires, iPads, iPods, iPhones, Blackber…oh, right? Today, it is my journalistic duty to enter every giveaway the vendors have because of the sheer ridiculousness that nearly everyone is giving away a tablet of some sort. Sadly, my odds of getting another tablet is greater than someone dating me.

SHRM12 and Glassdoor Party

I won’t get into too much detail, but when HR are “off the clock”, they do let themselves go. There was one HR person (or a co-worker at the bar, I don’t know) showing off her midriff and tattoos and dancing like her Spring Break years in Daytona, FL. You can imagine the party for yourselves.

For Today

The keynote speaker is Jim Collins, author of Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos and Luck, more concurrent sessions (although tough to beat yesterday), the Exhibit Hall challenge, the Dice Blogger pre-party, entertainment from Jerry Seinfeld and a likely surprise in the morning. Hint: he’s 25 miles from my house…and he has a big house.

If I Were Running A Company…#SHRM12 Day 1

Today was the official start of the SHRM Annual Conference and already, the buzz around the conference yesterday was The Hive (no pun intended). A lot of people were asking questions from the basics like how to register and how to choose your username to more advance questions; mostly about policy. The Hive has been a great addition not only for the conference, but SHRM’s Social Media Guy, Curtis Midkiff’s mic skills.

On the side

On a personal note, another thing I love about yesterday was meeting the other bloggers for the first time. I’ve been in the HR twitter scene since 2009. They’re were rare opportunities to meet the other bloggers and Atlanta was perfect for me since I have friends (in HR and other circles) there, and SHRM won’t be coming to DC anytime soon (remember the monsoon of 2006?). It was great to see their faces for the first time and why social media is cool.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice

The keynote speaker was Dr. Condoleezza Rice and for the first 20 minutes. It was interesting to note in the “three greatest shocks” that she mention the 2008 financial crisis. She mention the housing crisis as the primary cause, although there are findings that suggest otherwise. Other than that, Dr. Rice mention little to no education is the biggest national threat and U.S. needs to regain footing in advancing human potential.

Then, Soledad O’Brien did a Q & A with Dr. Rice. It was an odd segment where it went all over the place from her childhood to Iran and Syria. It didn’t sound slick. Don’t get me wrong, Iran and Syria are big issues people need to read about. However, I think O’Brien should done a better job transitioning and carrying the positive momentum Dr. Rice created that afternoon. Overall, it was a great speech, but I do hope they eliminate the Q & A from Dr. Rice’s talk and guest speakers Malcom Gladwell, Jim Collins, and Tom Brokaw, it does seem SHRM’s “Be ____” campaign does have a purpose.

Exhibit Hall

I only went to Exhibit Hall for 45 minutes and it’s like the last time I went there since Chicago 2008. You got big companies occupy space, people gathering swag, run over to get in line for A CHANCE to win something, and new this year…nearly every vendor has a tablet to give away. Cool, but I want some other prizes like a brand new Vespa, a 3D printer, or win a free trip to the moon. The one I like was a HR outsourcing vendor showing the Euro 2012 quarterfinal between England and Italy, and the most intriguing one was a vendor that does mobile rewards & recognition where Executives and c-suites can text or message their employee on doing a good job. Apparently, from Amy Shat, there are vendors who focus on unique things like pre-arrange funerals and breast pumps. Although these companies are important and fill a unique niche in HR, those vendors should be heard, but not seen. I will expand my horizon tomorrow.

#SHRMHockey

I participated in the first #SHRMHockey game, which was started by Dwane Lay and it was a lot of fun and for Atlanta Mission. As for my performance: I suck as an offensive player, but I can block a shot like Anton Volchenkov. Seriously though, it was great and hopefully a new tradition begins in SHRM. Photos of the event are by Heather Bussing.

For Today

If Sunday is the sizzle with the parties and rowdiness at the Expo, Monday starts the meat & potatoes of the conference with concurrent sessions, The Hive into high gear, a more focused Exhibit Hall and Malcolm Gladwell as the keynote. In honor of Gladwell, let’s tweet jihad his speech.

If I Were Running A Company…ATS

I will be going to the SHRM Conference for the first time in four years next Saturday, first time as a press blogger (I will write my preview next week). I’m mentioning this because I will soon be bombarded by email (and snail mail for that matter) of many numerous HR vendors going to be there. One of those HR vendor sectors will be applicant tracking system companies (ATS).

I have seen many ATS companies promoting their use and seen through live stream conferences about how recruiters must know the science of recruiting and what ATS to use.  I’ve seen many ATSs but here’s the problem I have: can it tell an applicant’s story? Does an ATS know what he/she is really looking for? Does ATS know their own workplace culture? Does ATS have an imagination?

That’s the problem I see in companies is they relying on ATS to make it easier for recruiting, which shouldn’t be the case. ATS (and yes, recruiters) look at applicants as face value instead of imagining if they fit with your organization.

Don’t get wrong; there are two ways ATS are useful: 1) it compiles and organize data in an instant and 2) user-friendly experience for the employer and job applicant. Other than that, ATS should not make the decision for the recruiter. The recruiter needs to look at who applied and does their WHOLE story fit what their looking for, not keywords or a read your resume for six seconds like this:

(Courtesy: TheLadders)

To me, the ATS is HR’s version of the polygraph. You can lie if you know how to game it.

This reminds me of one of my favorite Tony Kornheiser quotes, “Everything is 50/50.” In this case, employers have the data, story, and information; but also need wisdom and creativity if they have a place for that person in their organization. The ATS is here to stay, but your ATS will not work with a competent person using the ATS.

 

Memo to the D.C. Metro

If you’re an avid reader of this blog, you know I have a disdain for the Metro. I’m a proud public commuter. I love taking buses and trains. I find it more cooler than driving on the beltway. I love Metro so much, it hurts that I contribute to Unsuck DC Metro, which is a great source of Metro news and fodder.

However, I saw this harmless article about why Cliff Lee chose the Phillies over the Yankees, Nationals, Rangers and others because both Cliff and his wife, Kristen, love taking the train. I could argue about DC being a more cultural than Philadelphia or that most Philly fans throws batteries, boo Santa Claus, and taser their fans:

However, I don’t blame Cliff Lee rejoining the Phillies to create the “Four Aces” lineup with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels. He wants to win a World Series championship. Who can blame him?

I don’t blame the Washington Nationals because they are trying to progress as an organization and although they signed Jayson Werth, they didn’t get Werth’s best friend on that team 2 years ago.

I blame you, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

In the past few years, you not only scared people away from taken the Metro at its peak, but you have scared off potential clients, ruined businesses, forced conferences to relocate , and your transit system has killed people.

The first straw that broke the camels back was the SHRM Conference was scheduled to be in D.C. in the next year or two. However, due to “transportation issues”, the SHRM Conference is going to Las Vegas next year and Atlanta in 2012. I don’t mind traveling to Atlanta since I have friends there, but it would have been much cooler in D.C. Yes, the 2006 SHRM Conference was a mess because of the monsoon hit that week, but you couldn’t work out how the buses and trains will run (plus our incompetent drivers)? You lost 15,000 additional tourists because of that.

Another strike to your company is your trains have caused double-digit fatalities in the past few years when trains most likely injure people at best. What’s worse: people are committing suicides by just jumping off the platform and get crushed by your trains than jumping off the bridge.

To be fair, other transit systems have the same problem, but in L.A. and Boston’s case, it was incompetence by the human. In your case, it was incompetence by the machine.

The Cliff Lee thing might be small beans, but in the bigger picture, your transit system was going to be an asset to attract people to buy/rent houses and apartments and bring businesses near the Metro stations. Instead by staying on the status quo, your transit system is a liability to work out a deal.

The good thing that is happening to the WMATA board is a potential clean sweep of the whole board to bring in the new one. I do not want my board members to say:

“To an extent, it’s thankless and it’s very time-consuming,” said Maryland board member Elizabeth Hewlett, one of those who wants to step down. “Obviously no one likes to be criticized, especially when you are working so very hard.”

or

“Some of the comments were not well-received,” said Maryland member Gordon Linton, who decided to leave before the reports came out, but officially announced his departure Thursday. “It was wondered whether they understand how the board actually functions.”

or

Board member Jeff McKay and other members faulted the reports – one by a task force organized by the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, and the other by Metro’s Riders’ Advisory Council – for making recommendations that were unrealistic, detrimental, or reflected a lack of understanding of how the board works.

or

“They need someone willing to be heavily scrutinized, work for free, not have a conflict of interest, and have a schedule to devote two days of your week to this…” — Jeff McKay

Really? Two days to devote on this and you can’t do the job? Here’s what you do: Shut up, F*** the system, and do what’s best for Metro and not be a talking head for your district or state because you actually have a job the 6% of the D.C. Metro area wished they do because they are unemployed.

I want D.C. Mayor Vince Gray, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (and his right hand sock puppet, Ken Cuccinelli), and the Federal Government to get board members who are passionate about public transportation from engineers, advocates, business people, and others to can contribute to the agency. By the way, your guerrilla marketing strategy...seriously?

I rarely write blog posts like this, WMATA, but I have to because I care about public transportation and enjoy going to the Metro, but you’re at a crossroads right now.  Ridership and Fare hikes are not your issue; it is how inefficient your trains and systems are. Get reliable people who know how to operate a subway station; bring innovators on the engineering and business front; and bring people who are proactive and WILL DO the job, not use the board as a resume enhancer. When you have the trains and systems in check, people will come to the Metro plain and simple, but you made this more complex than it is.

Also, I don’t want to hear about “Multi-Jurisdiction Dysfunction.” We’re a bunch of grown-ups now. If the majority of states in this country can accept tax cuts and repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” two states and the District can solve the Metro, right?

Think of this as your “Kick In The Ass!” memo, Metro. It’s time to do it and back it up.  Your golden opportunity is now and it is slipping away.

A Night of Legends

The name of the title refers to an event ESPN980 holds called Lunch with a Legend.  One of the lunches they conducted was  ”legendary Redskins broadcaster” Larry Michael.  EXCUSE ME?!!!  Anyway…

Last Wednesday seemed serendipitous.  I knew for months that January 27, 2010 will be big: I got Caps tickets against the Ducks for $15 each on StubHub and Shauna Moerke’s announcement that she was heading to  DC on a secret mission, which had a domino effect of the events to come.  I knew the night was going to be great…but I had no idea the day was going to be THAT great.

#ConnectHR

After a long day of HR and Recruiting consulting (and beyond), I wanted to go early to the #ConnectHR event since I had “other bidness” to attend that night.  Amazingly, I was not the first person to come in to the event.  The event immediately became packed of HR/Recruiting tweeters;  bloggers;  members of SHRM;  HRA-NCA;  visitors as far from Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Boston, even Portland, Oregon; and others.   Imagine the event as you’re stuck in a Metro train (subway for non-DC area residents) stuffed with congenial people having a conversation and saying “excuse me” a lot.  It was the cavalcade of stars that I could have list a few superstars, but it needed a link since it was that special of who attended.  Since it was crowded, it was hard to navigate to network and I didn’t get to speak to everyone on the list, but for the most part, it was great connecting to people who came all over the country just to network with other HR professionals in DC.  For that, I like to thank SHRM, SmartBrief, Monster, and Recruitingblogs.com for handling the event.

The networking was the main objective of #connecthr, but there were three bonuses that night:

1. Everyone was taller than Mike Lupica.
2. I won a gift bag from Monster.  I was number 27…the same number as Washington Capital Defenceman Karl Alzner…who also shares a birthday with me.  By the way, my schwag had a Flip Camera, gift card, beanie cap, and others.
3. Before I left, China Gorman mention she uses my name as an example of a dedicated HR/Recruiting professional since I “crashed” the SHRM Leadership Conference last November and also my blog posts on HR and Recruiting.  I wanted to be sarcastic, but that was the nicest thing someone has done for me and the only thing I can say is Thank You.

#ConnectHR didn’t had many down moments, but:

1. I won a Monster Snuggie.  Let me be clear, I like Monster and Eric Winegardner since he gives Monster a human element to the company.  I just don’t like the Snuggie. I believe when you buy a Snuggie, some cult gets rich.  To be fair, my mother loves the Snuggie, so Eric and Monster made my mother happy, but since I had to carry the Snuggie all night, my Q rating dropped that night.
2. The event needed more Matt Bradley

Which leads to:

The Capitals and #Caps108

For two weeks, I announce that I had one ticket available for the Ducks-Capitals game, but there were no takers.  So sad because the missed a chance to get free wings since the Caps scored 5 goals in a 5-1 win over the Ducks.  In addition, they missed out on meeting Krafty at RocktheRed.net at a carving sandwich stand and another terrific #Caps108 tweetup.  Chasta and Caps Girl explain perfectly what #Caps108 is for.  If you’re a Caps fan and want to meet with other Caps fans/tweeters/media/jack of all trades, come to outside section 108 to chat and say hello.  I’ll be at the next #Caps108 next Friday against the Atlanta Thrashers to 1) root for a Caps victory, 2) convince Ilya Kovalchuk to come to Washington, and 3) bring the 2012 SHRM Annual Conference back to Washington DC from Atlanta, again.

What made the game (and the night) uniquely special was in the third period, during the last Kiss Cam segment, there was a marriage proposal.  I found that poetic that night since it was symbolic for that night.  to put a cherry on top, I finally met one of my Twitter friends, Addison (who also shares a birthday with me), at the Vienna Metro Station when both of us were heading home (he was going back to Arlington, I was heading back to Fairfax.)

***

In my mind, what could have been a Utopian Day was to my connect HR/Recruiters friends, Caps fans, Tony Kornheiser’s littles, the NPR Summer Class of 2005, and my friends and family all meet and network, although that might take 5-10 years for the right event .  That night made me think that 2010 will have a Mr. Tracy Experience* and hopefully this leads to bigger and better things.  I guess the stars and planets align on January 27, 2010 for mine and hopefully yours as well.

Oh, and Obama did his State of the Union Speech thingy.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Photos courtesy of Clearedjobs.Net

Below: Picture of me with the Capstronaut

*definition: I get pampered with love with all expenses paid trips and lodging to go to events outside of DC.  I will pay for my food and drinks

#ConnectHR in DC

Tomorrow,

After one and half years of following them on Twitter and been stuck in DC (area) all those times, some of the HR Twitter Stars are coming to DC for a networking event of epic proportions (sort of).  SmartBrief, SHRM, and Recruitingblogs.com are sponsoring the networking event and I can’t wait to finally see most of the Tweeters for the first time face to face to see who’s actually taller than Mike Lupica, albeit for only an hour (people coming on Wednesday will realize why I have to leave early).

I hope you come by from car, plane, ferry, horse (but not a Segway)  to #ConnectHR in DC and rest assured, without a shadow of a doubt that Washington, DC, the area with 5 area codes is the Best HR City (thank goodness its not trademark yet for the other city , although San Francisco is dominating the charts for HR cities)

Event link: http://hrconnectdc.eventbrite.com/

Wine, Cheese, and HR Young Professionals Review

If you’re reading this, I apparently snuck in and out of SHRM Headquarters and no one caught me.  That is why people call me the Jackal.

Anyway, I attended the 1st Wine, Cheese, and HR YP Networking Event, provided by SHRM.  The event was in short notice as it started advertising for the event two weeks ago.  SHRM said around 90 RSVP for the event…around 30-40 actually came.  This is no knock on SHRM since they had a short time organizing the event, plus their were other events that was ahead of time: weather, holiday parties, local SHRM Chapter meetings, Caps game.  For that, SHRM did a marvelous job.

It was a formal networking event, like any typical networking event with food, bar, a few minutes of the sponsor, music (minus the loudness, which is a plus), and…networking.  A few observations I want to make:

• Almost everyone I asked heard about the event through email.  How did I know about the event?  Not by seeing an email or through social media.  I learn the event from crashing the SHRM Leadership Conference a few weeks ago and saw China Gorman, who mention the event to me there.  Social media is great and I am a big advocate of using social media in any aspect, but this still proves you need to attract people on a personal level first and email still works best. Then again, it was on short notice.
• SHRM employees have read my blog.  This is the second organization that is watching my move (the first is NPR for reasons I can’t discuss on this blog).
• SHRM unveiled their 2010 video.  This was the second time I saw the video and I’m starting to like it more and more.  “Next” will be a big word for next year for many organizations since we’re starting a new decade (new decade actually starts on 2011, but who’s counting?), but SHRM really define next.  I won’t go into details, but this was an effective ad that answers my question: “What is HR.” 

The event brought to attention that HR has come a long way from just being an administrative function.  HR is still evolving, but that will depend on how executives uses HR and what each HR professional feels comfortable doing.  Bill Maroni, Chief External Affairs Officer at SHRM,  made the an excellent point that 20 years ago, HR was an administrative function, but HR has been changing definitions each year and 10 years from now, the definition of HR will be different from today. 

This is where structure and philosophy has become an important role to HR because it has an open definition.  Employees knows what finance, communications, and business development because they are defined and people know what to expect.  HR can play many roles and thus causing a wide variety of emotions to employees either like or dislike HR (re: Tony Kornheiser, Dan Froomkin, and the Washington Post) . 

What employees outside of HR need to know is HR is the vision of the executive(s).  If they want a stiff workplace, HR will find stiff people.  If they want a creative staff, HR will find creative people.  If they want chaos, HR will create chaos, and so forth.  However, HR can question or alter the executive’s vision for the betterment of the organization, but it is up to the executive if they are open to change.  Collaboration between HR and executives is the key to establish the organization’s workplace culture.

As for the networking event, I do see a lot of promise for the SHRM YP group and it should start at the Annual SHRM Conference or the weekend of the HRGames (I missed those days) to expand the YP group since college students and graduates have their sessions Saturday, the day before the actual conference.  I also hope there’s a two-day summit or unconference on the state of HR YPs so people can discuss HR issues and bounce off ideas and how YPs can improve HR. 

Overall, SHRM did a great job of running this event on short notice.  If they had more time, I would expect more people to attend these events and from the looks of it, SHRM is serious of being forward-thinking  to the workplace for the next decade.  Looks like 2010 could be a start of big things to come.

If I Was Running A Company…2009 SHRM Conference

For the record again, I did not attend the 2009 SHRM Annual Conference.  I was at home with other HR pros looking through to Twitter to see the trends in our sector.  There are a plethora of sites mentioning the SHRM Conference here and here.  Here are my outside observations:

• SHRM likely knew attendance will be low and the mood be more pessimistic.  Coming out of the conference, there is a ray of hope, but the question remains can SHRM follow-up?
• The HR Bloggers panel and Jack Welch were the main attraction at SHRM (By the way, best wishes to Jack Welch on his health).
• Was there any buzz from the other sessions?
• There was no “State of SHRM Address” from new SHRM President Lon O’Neil.  Not a great first impression.
• China Gorman is Bizzaro Dick Cheney.
• Social media has change the landscape of business and conferences.  SHRM was no exception.
• New Orleans was hot and sticky.
• The word, tweetup, was encouraging for the people in the Big Easy, but painful for those who didn’t attend.
• Lots of mentions of food and shops.
• People still collecting too much swag.

Overall, it seems like SHRM is heading to a new direction, but where is it going?  A few points I want to make:

Future Conferences

SHRM needs to adopt to a three-tier price plan: the people who actually attend the conference (full price); the people who couldn’t attend the conference but want to be interactive (watch, discuss, argue in their homes) (10-15% of the full price), and the ones who look through Twitter and a couple of videos (free).  People have said teleconferences are the way to go since people can stay in their office/home to watch the conference.  However, the face-to-face aspect makes people curious to attend these conferences more.

Location

I’m fine on how SHRM pick their location for their conference and people have different agendas in different cities.  I would expect people would love New Orleans.  One of the reasons I didn’t attend the conference was I hate the heat and humidity and that would be any stickler point to any conference or vacation, in my case.  Next year, the conference will be in San Diego and I want SHRM to have package deals with the city (sports teams, amusement rides, parks). Imagine several San Diego packages: a ticket to a Padres game, SeaWorld and Shamu, go north to Los Angeles for a day, go south to Tijuana for a day.  Okay the last one is a stretch, but it does bring an attraction to some who want to go to San Diego next year.

Of note: if the cycle continues for SHRM, 2011 would be in Washington D.C. Imagine the wonderful possibilities for SHRM package deals: White House tours, monument tours, a round of golf at Congressional…after the U.S. Open is played, Nationals baseball (they’re going to be respectable… just not now), NPR tours, meeting Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, the Safeway Barbecue competition (it did coincide the last time SHRM held their conference in D.C. in 2006 and I intentionally put that event there because I know some HR people are meat-lovers), and if SHRM can make a deal with the NHL…the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in Washington D.C. so people can experience how HR works through all 30 teams.  Yes, it is D.C. bias, and that is why I’m trying to save money for 2 years for this moment…if SHRM decides to return to D.C.  I know they will be hesitant after D.C. was hit with a monsoon that last time, but can a guy dream?

Conference Structure

In 2005, SHRM had a brilliant setup of a roundtable of HR professionals in their industry to discuss what they’re doing.  Sadly, only 5 people showed up.  It could of been time (the roundtables were at 7AM Pacific (10AM Eastern)), people were shy talking about their practices, or I have that affect on everything I touch.  The point here is SHRM missed a great opportunity of building that from 06-09.  Now, with the popularity of “unconferences” and panels, SHRM needs to change its structure.  SHRM can still have sessions to hone their craft, but people also want to discuss their company’s issues, how to solve it, and carry back to their respective company.  Which leads to my final point…

The Overall Point of HR

I agree with most of the blog posts that SHRM is too centralized.  To add to that, all HR professionals need to realize HR is a skill.  HR professionals join SHRM to practice, develop, “cheat,” and hone their HR skills either in one or multiple areas.  What SHRM needs to do is how do we use these gifts.  If you think about it, SHRM is really a union headed by Lon O’Neil and China Gorman and they tell us what should we vote, what should we lobby to benefit the HR profession.  The problem is in my opinion, SHRM is looking at the profession as a one size fits all.  What SHRM needs to do is decentralize and segment by function and by industry.  My pet peeve about some HR professionals I asked is they think HR is the same in every job in every sector and I think SHRM has brought that mindset to their members.  That is why I think SHRM needs to create sessions tailor for professionals who are interested in working with government, nonprofits, private sector, telecommunications, or other sectors specifically.  Each individual has a different agenda and SHRM needs to embrace that more.

In the grand scheme of things, HR is the most versatile function in business since HR deals with recruiting, training, marketing, some form of finance, some form of communication, some form of technology, and others.  Basically, if HR is taking seriously to be innovative and creative, SHRM must give us not one, but numerous pathways to make that happen.  SHRM has the tangibles with their resources, but can they give us the intangibles?  That question remains to be seen.

If I Was Running A Company…SHRM Playlist

Two things to know:

1. I was going to take the week off posting because of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) Conference and the holiday weekend.
2. This is an informal post.  The how-to stuff will resume next week.

I am not there for the SHRM Conference in New Orleans as I am at home reading tweets of HR people partying, learning, sweating, and showing off the goods (you know what I mean).  Now, people will have different opinions on how the conference went if they learn something, met new people, or their experience and I’ll be interested on everyone’s thoughts about the SHRM Conference in my Google Reader and Twitter.  However, SHRM made bigger news beyond the conference.

In Tuesday’s SHRM Conference blog post, SHRM release their official song tunes on iTunes.  I know SHRM read Human Resources Puf and Stuf about music and did a great thing of releasing their general session playlist.  As for the playlist itself, two words:

UTTER CRAP!!!

At least they had Michael Jackson after what happened last week, Sheryl Crow, Goo Goo Dolls, and some New Orleans music.  However, in the Sound Opinions scale of buy it, burn it, trash it, this should of not exist.  SHRM has always said that want to progress and reach out.  If you have artists like Jonas Brothers, Jesse McCartney, Fall Out Boy (vastly overrated), The bad Linkin Park, the remix crap from Haddaway, and the other pop stuff.  That list makes me question SHRM’s progress to move forward and I do not know if SHRM will be taking serious again.  Even the Washington Nationals Music Supervisor is laughing.

However, no need to fear SHRM as I have an alternate playlist to cover your mistakes.  Let’s kick this off:

First, SHRM needs to set the tone, a positive attitude for the conference:

There will be a lot of talking in the conference and there will be new connections made:

You be attending a lot of sessions and hear a lot of speakers. If you want some rhythm on what you’re learning, get out the headphones, put one side on and the other hanging on the side.  Listen to this beat and hear the speaker talk and magic happens:

I know SHRM has a few New Orleans musicians on the playlist, which is wonderful.  I would like to add a few more:

Marc Broussard – Must Be The Water

In most HR surveys and exit interviews, people stay or go because of money.  Well, yeah. (I know it’s cheesy, but it’s so bad, it’s good)

The only thing I like about the SHRM playlist as I mention is honoring Michael Jackson.  How about the artist who truly catches the spirit of Michael Jackson.

In SHRM Conferences, there will be some negotiations

After the negotiaons are done, you feel confident that you snatch something important like stealing candy from a baby:

I know some songs on the playlist is very adult and not suitable for children.  No worries:

Then you celebrate

The conference is all over, but with social media, we will always be around:

That’s a playlist SHRM..Now, I need to figure out the playlist for next year in San Diego…or does Shamu DJ?

Chicago – The Final Full Day

The morning started off raining and traffic was a hassle.  I went to the general session with Nancy Giles and it was not bad.  The sessions were not bad as well, but the energy was not there since everyone was ready to leave. 

After the conference, I had one more half-day to ruin Chicago and took itto the skys.  First was the Sears Tower and after that, the John Hancock building.  Between those trips, Chicago is putting weird dresses along the Magnificent Mile, which seemed appropriate.

There’s nothing much to say except that tomorrow, I’m heading back home and will give a review of Chicago when I come back.  Until then, enjoy my last day in Chicago.

Final day