Birds Fly…Supervisors Die!

The title above is the outcome of critical thinking that occurred at the end of the SHRM Strategy Conference yesterday at the Chicago Fairmont as Don Tapscott delivered and ended his talk with an analogy that was extremely powerful.  Of course, we are not talking about individual Supervisors literally dying.  Instead, focus your thoughts on the potential idea of “supervision” perhaps going by the wayside as we continue to move toward more collaboration in organizations.  Whereas, I see collaboration is people who work “together” and not “for” others to accomplish the mission of the organization. 

As you watch the video here that I found on You Tube (not exactly the one he used), listen to the author describing the way these birds join forces (as an organization) and what they are doing together in the first place (mission).  It reminds me of how I chunk the information presented in my Organizational Behavior class at UIS.  First we talk about the individuals (the bird), then the groups which are made up of individuals (listen for “groups” of birds), and finally the makeup of the organization and how the individuals, groups and organization itself affect organizational behavior (the swarm).  Notice that no one bird continuously takes the lead (supervisor).  Ironically, they don’t even collide (conflict).  The work together elegantly, swiftly, and precisely to achieve the organizational objective (in this case spotting their prey). I will forever see swarms of birds in a totally different way than I did the day before Don’s talk. 

This presentation, by far, was the most thought provoking of all those I attended this week.  I give credit to the SHRM conference planners for choosing some outstanding speakers.  My second favorite was the one I wrote about in my first ILSHRM blog Steve Cadigan.  Others I found insightful, educational, and inspiring where Bill Conaty, Bridget van Kralingen, Cynthia Worden Lee, and of course one of this year’s ILSHRM keynoters Jason Lauritsen.  If you are having a conference, I would definitely recommend any of these speakers above.

Other posts written about this conference are:  ILSHRM Represented at SHRM Strategy Conference  and CEOs Sit-Up, Take Notice, & Incorporate THINK DIFFERENT.

-Donna Rogers, Director ISC SHRM 

ILSHRM Represented at SHRM Strategy Conference

As the State Director of the Illinois State Council of The Society for Human Resources Management (ILSHRM), I am honored to be writing for the SHRM Press/Social Media. My first time but not so for some of my peers here such as Charlie Judy @HRFishbowl, Susan Avello @SusanAvello, John Jorgensen @jkjhr and of course our fearless leaders Curtis Midkiff @SHRMsocialmediaguy and Kate Kennedy @SHRMPress.  Honored to be on the same team!  So what do I have to write about at the end of this first day. A hellofalot!

The speakers have been fabulous so far and after only one day I would recommend this conference to all SHRM members, chapter members and non members in this great state which if you look at IL BLS data that's about 66k. There are actually about 400 here from around the world.

Let me give you a few examples of why I would recommend this conference so early in the game. First, I started out with a concurrent session lead by the VP of HR for Linked In @SteveCadigan. I chose this session primarily because I have asked my HR students to open a profile to search how Recruiters are using the platform to source candidates (in connection with the two chapters in the text covering recruiting and selection). I also work with several clients who are either looking for talent or looking for a job. My initial objectives were complemented by three words in the session description "employer of choice". My students do a presentation on a chosen organization who have won an award for above. They have not chosen Linked In yet but have chosen employment competitor & neighbor of LI, Google.

The session covered the companies growing pains related to talent acquisition, policy development, competition as an employer of choice and more. So while they are a company who helps other companies with talent acquisition, they have the same problem because of growth. For example 60% of their employee have less than one year of tenure. They have almost 1800 employees now who all help others with services like Linked In Recruiter, Jobs Network, Talent Direct, Recruitment Ads, Career Pages. All of which I have never personally used because my trench HR experience is prior to the birth of this company.  I am looking forward to reading the case studies (Allstate, US Cellular, Kimball International, Kaiser Permanente, & Logitech) they provided in the handout.

The day ended with a 40 year HR veteran (and follow-up reception) who had a very straightforward message that all CHROs, CEOs, & CFOs should hear and incorporate in everything they do. Treat people like humans not numbers (aka remember the "Human" in Human Resources). The veteran was Bill Conaty, former GE HR Executive who worked closely with Jack Welch. He was promoting his book Talent Masters but he really got me interested, as you can see from my tweet stream, towards the end when he shared some of his observations of top HR pitfalls. That information is valuable to those who are working on strategic planning in their organizations.  Some of us were talking at dinner that this is the kind of keynote we need at SHRM national instead of former movie stars or other big names who have really not made a difference in the HR profession. #JustSayin

Looking forward to Day 2 starting with one of our ILSHRM keynotes @JasonLarquist whom I did not hear at our conference since I was "taking care of conference business" 99% of time in Oakbrook.


- Donna Rogers State Director ISC SHRM