I am a self-proclaimed social butterfly.  I would prefer to stay awake all night and socialize than to sleep.  I’m not sure why I was built this way, but I was.  Perhaps it was my very social parents… maybe living abroad… I’m not really sure.

I am sure that some people attend conventions to learn all the latest and greatest trends.  Some people probably go to reinforce past lessons.  Surely there are many reasons for attending career-related conventions like SHRM.  My reasons, however, revolve almost entirely around meeting new people and sharing new experiences together.

This was the first time that I had attended the SHRM conference.  I didn’t really know what to expect or what to look for – no real comparative benchmark I suppose.  So, I went in to it with a child-like curiosity.

I wasn’t interested in learning about the nitty-gritty of HR since I’m not an HR practioner, but I was interested in learning about the personalities that make up the HR world.  I was also really excited to meet the Blogger and Twitter friends that I had made over the past four months!

The Blogging/SM Crowd

The most common question I’ve received since returning home has been about the blogging group that attended the conference.  It seems that there is some real interest in who this group is and what they are like in person.  My answer has been and will continue to be simple.

The group that is involved with social media as it applies to HR and Recruiting seems to be, for the most part, very down to earth.  My quick take… in alphabetical order:

• Cheesman seemed like a pretty chilled out kind of guy
• Franny… well, you just want to give her a hug… big smiles and very nice!
• Jennifer was always very focused (she had a bunch of interviews to do)
• Kris and Jessica are both very ambitious and have a lot of vision for their site
• Lance is very easy-going and fun to chat with – very intelligent
• Laurie does not go around biting off people’s heads (in public anyway)
• Mark is about the coolest individual anyone could hope to meet – seriously
• Mary Ellen is wicked smart and easy to have a conversation with
• Mike knows his stuff and is a lot of fun to bounce ideas off of
• Sharlyn is very smart (I wish I could have chatted with her more)

I sure hope I didn’t forget anyone… hmmm.  Did I?

Anyway, the moral of this story is a pretty simple one.  There is some talk about conventions becoming virtual in the future.  A time and a place when we won’t have to meet in person, in a foreign city, thrown out of our “norm,” to sit through days of convention stuff.

I don’t want it to go there.  There is way too much value in spending time with new and old friends… reconnecting and creating new stories together.

What’s To Come

I have a bunch of things to write about from the SHRM conference… but, I know that everyone does as well.  So, beyond the 2-3 “must write” topics that I’m going to put out, is there anything that you want to know about from my experience at SHRM?  Were you left wondering about a particular aspect of the conference?  If so, drop a comment and ask.

It was great meeting everyone in person!  Thank you for adding new stories to my life experience.  Hopefully we will have more great times ahead!

Photo Credit, Kristi Jones

Fast recap from Day 3 – Time is short… video is quick

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSwwNZ1JDzI

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Jack Welch‘s speech today at the SHRM conference.  Let’s face it… it’s Jack Welch – it wasn’t cheap for SHRM to get him here.  With that cost comes a set of pretty high expectations from an HR crowd that has undoubtedly gone through a bit of a financial rough patch of late.

The conference started out with a bunch of lights… a typical New Orleans style band… and, of course, a few speeches (one of which came from the new CEO of SHRM Lon O’Neil).

Finally, Jack Welch was introduced.  The style of delivery chosen was a Q&A session… which I found to be pretty interesting.  Instead of a “talk at you” set-up, they went the informal conversation route – a good idea I thought.

I frantically Tweeted throughout the entire speech.  Little tidbits offered by a person that is arguably one of the most influential figures in business today.

When all was said and done, I headed outside to ponder what I had just listened to.  Trying to wade through the thick list of business-appropriate messages, I was left with two that stood out above the rest.

Control

Take control of your career.  Take control of your strategic position within your organization.  Take control of the message that your company is sharing.  As an HR professional, quit laying down and taking it.  Pushing paper should not be your forte – but, you are going to have to put your foot down first.

HR is an extremely important function within organizations today, but the professionals that dedicate to it have been pushed to the back.  It’s time to grab the bull by the horns and make your voice heard.

Trust

Trust was a bit different and I loved it!  Selfishly, I liked it because it reinforced some of the thoughts that I have been sharing over the past few months.  I also enjoyed it because he delivered it as a warning more than as a random piece of advice.

Jack stressed that companies are changing.  The ability to attract talent in the future will be tougher because the focus is going to be heavily placed on an organization’s ability to provide something different, fun… engaging!  Our ideas on good work environments and engaging professional pursuits are going to be tossed on their heads.  We have to give employees something more than stability… we have to give them a place that they enjoy hanging out at.  A place that will open their minds and undoubtedly shoot for their hearts.  This will be the future of talent engagement.

He also stressed communication and how it ties in to trust.  Jack said to forget about creating messages for different tracks… the media, in-house, customers, etc… you are who you are.  People will see through and distrust companies that can not be open and consistent.

Ha!  Sounds an awful lot like the social media dialogue…

Trust, consistency… what makes someone stand out in social media is the very model that will make companies stand out going forward.  As HR professionals, Jack is challenging you to confront the status quo and to get interested in the message.  Step up!

So… that’s it.  That’s what I took away from Jack Welch.  As for the investment to have him at the conference, I think it was worth it.  If 5% of that room left with a better sense of the future, I think that the fee will be paid back 10 fold over the next few years.

Now I’m off to wander the streets of New Orleans for a bit.  This “Live Blogging” thing feels like a big responsibility… so, I’m taking as many pictures as possible and posting them to my Twitter page.

What did you take away from hearing Jack Welch?  Do you disagree?  Speak up… this should be a dialogue.

First and foremost, let’s start by recapping on what SHRM is and what they do…

Per the official SHRM website:

“The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 250,000 members in over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR professionals and advances the interests of the HR profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China and India.”

So, now that you have a recap, let’s dig in to my interview with China Miner Gorman, the COO of SHRM.

Q&A from HR Professionals

Last week I sent out a request to the HR professionals in Texas and around the country that I have worked with in the past.  The response with questions was overwhelming.  I narrowed them down a bit and chose a few to use in the interview with China.  It was evident after the first few email responses from my contacts that HR Professionals are very interested in social media and how it will impact their roles in the future!

Social Media – Questions

Q: How will SHRM prepare me as a professional to leverage social networking technologies?

A: Part of it is engaging with SHRM on our new website and with our new platform now and in the future as we design new applications. These communities will be geared towards the community itself. Users will be able to establish any sort of community they like. Not only will you be able to connect and engage with other HR users, you will have instant access to valuable information to share with others. You will be able to find, link to and share content from the site. As we continue to learn about the tools we will be adding them to our community.

Q: Has technology expanded to a point where it should be a separate specialized area taught for certification such as compensation and benefits?

A: That’s a great question! SHRM is in the process of researching the need within the HR world. It would not surprise me if this starts to show up over the next couple of years as a major need across the global HR community. SHRM is dedicated to keeping the members and all HR professionals current with the times.

Q: What is SHRM doing to educate HR professionals about the risks and rewards associated with the various social media venues?

A: You will see content at our annual conference in New Orleans. You will also find content on our website. We are currently getting expert advice from our special expertise panel.  We will share these stories and conclusions via HR Magazine and reporting on SHRM.org. We have launched The Daily Digest, which will surely contain timely topics on social media along with many other pressing issues. Social Media is all the buzz in the recruiting world and we see it becoming a larger issue for the non-recruiting HR professionals.

Social Media & SHRM

I attempted to look through Daily Digest, but I could not find a way in.  Apparently it requires membership.  Instead I took a screen shot so that you will recognize the link on the next occasion you visit the SHRM website.

If Daily Digest proves to be what China outlines above, I can see some definite value for HR professionals that are still members of SHRM.  On the other hand, in playing around with the SHRM website, I tend to get lost and pretty overwhelmed with information.  Considering how much I use the internet, this is a concern.  I just hope that this doesn’t scare away the people who need the timely information that SHRM has to offer.  Simple is better when you need something fast!

Risk and the Future

In part two of this interview, I’m going to cover the topics of non-HR certifications and SHRM’s take on what’s currently going on with unions.  Additionally, I will highlight a very interesting part of my conversation with China about how SHRM is planning to adjust their focus in the future.  You might be surprised to find out how they plan to serve you.

What’s your take on it?  How much have you learned about social media from SHRM in the past 3 months, 6 months… year?  Should they play a role in your future education on the topic?

Came across this recent post by HR Bartender from an interview with China Gorman last month.  It’s very well done!