SHRMStrat Day 3

Yesterday was the final day of the SHRM Strategy Conference for 2012 which ended on a deep note in my opinion.  The world famous Deepak Chopra discussed topics like Karma, positive intention, and psychological implications to value added leadership.  He began with a touching story about an incident that happened when he was only seven years old related to a rose his mother had received that thousands came to see and pay deep respect to.  When the rose finally dried out his mother had a party with her closest friends to distribute a pedal to them which they all valued as if it were diamonds.  Weeks later, young Deepak asked his mother what was so important about the rose and she told him they were the soul of India.  The impact of that story has had a profound effect on his life and mission ever since.

Mr. Chopra is actually an MD but learned early in life that in order to achieve well being one needs to well inside and out.  He is actually known as the Dr. of body, soul and mind.  During his session he asked us to do several exercises that allowed you to think about the suggestions her was sharing and at one point made people realize that it is our soul that is present and not our mind.  For example, the soul may be listening to him but the mind may be thing king "why did I not go to the ladies room before I sat down".  The purpose for all this deep discussion and understanding what to set the stage for what is necessary in leadership to help individuals manifest their dreams. It's all about being intentional every day and being present with that person which includes not looking down at your iPhone all the time.  The most important person in your life is the one in front of you and the most important moment is the one you are in right here and now.

Trust, Stability, Hope & Compassion are components of stories leaders must tell just like the one he started the program with at this session.  There were so many jewels he shared that it is difficult to put them all down here but one famous acronym he shared using the word leaders is this:

Look and listen

Emotional bonding

Awareness

Doing

Empowerment

Responsibility

Synchronicity

He went on to explain what he meant with each of the above words or phrases and ended with both a call to action and a suggestion that our next phase of human evolution will be survival of the wisest instead of prior survival of the fittest.  It takes intention to be wise about how to increase other well being on a day to day basis.  Ultimately, you will increase your own well being by intentionally waking up each day with the mindset to consistently be positive and uplifting to others which will in turn increase the well being of those around you.

In addition to the well being of individuals within the company that Mr. Chopra spoke of, I also had the opportunity to attend a session the focused on a cultural aspect that is very important now and into the future for companies to be successful.  Workflex was the focus of Cali Williams Yost session titled HR and Business as Strategic co-owners of Flexibility.  The biggest takeaway from this session is that workplace flexibility cannot be a policy or program that HR writes and expects the leaders to implement.  Like other sessions this week there must be a common element among all stakeholders which is trust.  This element along with others create a culture of workplace flexibility where ultimately employees are trusted to get the job done while they flexibly manage other aspects of their life. 

Surveys had cited workplace flexibility, when employees have it, as a top reason they stay with the organization.  It is more important than pay as employees would give up 8.6% of their compensation just to have the option of workflex.  The forecast for 2020 in tech journals say 26% of the workforce will be working remotely.  That is just covering technical positions while I have personally heard statistics that say 68% of our overall workforce will be working from home at least part of the time by as early as 2016.  This is very promising as I have lost excellent employees over the years who wanted flexible schedules so they could be home with their new babies more.  I started my company 11 years ago so I could be home with my son more when he was younger because I missed so much of my daughters younger years.  This whole concept supports our opening speaker Linda Rottenberg's comment about how you can be an employee for a short time but a mommy forever.  Ms. Yost has a blog about the topic called work+life fit, inc with some very important tips for organizations who want to move in this direction.

In addition, SHRM has moved in this direction providing resources and information about this topic for a couple years now partnering with Families and Work Institute.  The second annual SHRM Workflex conference will be held in Chicago later this month.

All in all this conference was a hit and I know many are looking forward to next years strategy conference which will be October 1-3 in Scottdale, Arizona so they can earn another nine plus hours of strategic HRCI credit, network with some awesome practitioners, and takeaway valuable ideas to help their employees move forward.

by Donna Rogers, SPHR, ILSHRM Director

I Don’t Want to Know What You Had For Dinner!

For 99% of those people that have never really used social media that I have spoken to have said something related to, “I Don’t Want to Know What You Had for Dinner”!  I have learned to accept this type of comment because it’s obviously a function of a well-known stereotype about social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, and lack of knowledge about what social media really is and does. 

Yes social media is power, but so is learning…

Education, education and more education is so important to organizational success.  We all know this—it’s a no-brainer!  The point I will make here is that social media is 100% learnable, and anyone can use it, regardless of age, role in organization, income, background, etc… with this being said, those attending #ILSHRM12 this year will have the opportunity to take part in the Social Media Lab, which is all about learning and education. 

What is Social Media Lab?

The Lab will run throughout the conference, and will be accessible by any attendee.  There are two parts to the Lab.  The first part is the drop-in component, which allows any attendee at any time to drop into the Lab and speak one-on-one with a social media expert.  You can ask any question about social media; how it works, specific platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIN, or strategy questions about how the organizations you work for can integrate social media into the workplace, and into HR.  Take note, no question is a bad question, ever!

The second part is organized workshops that will take place during the conference breaks.  The topics that will be discussed are Twitter 101 and LinkedIN 101.  These short sessions will be facilitated by a social media expert, and the advantages of taking part in these organized sessions are the ability to learn from not only the facilitator but your peers. 

Make sure you take a look at the conference agenda at http://ilshrm12.sched.org/.  Note that this URL is mobile accessible for those using Android, iPhone and Blackberry mobile devices. 

Why should you drop into the Social Media Lab, or even care about social media?

Think of social media as just another communications channel (albeit a VERY powerful one) that can be included as one of many organizational channels that are used to promote, sell, advocate, share and engage with target audiences.

Remember when email first arrived on the scene in business.  Initially most people resisted email because… well… it represented a change that forced people out of their comfort zones.  Fast forward 10+ years and we all can say that email drastically changed the nature of business.  Imagine if over the past 10 years you did not use email.  I’m not sure you would have been as effective, productive and invaluable to your organizations.  The same thing is happening with social media.  As soon as you create a Facebook page you have automatically joined the 1 billion users in a community that is 1/8 of the world’s population.  How can you afford not to be tapped into this massive community?  Using the example of Facebook, you now have instant access to a global network that you would NEVER have had access to if you were not strategically using Facebook as a business practice. 

Social media can be so impactful for employer brand awareness, talent attraction, employee engagement, productivity, internal employee communications, team-building, teamwork, performance management, employee retention and more. 

Case in Point!

I was a relatively early adopter to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN.  Early on I thought Facebook and Twitter were a waste of my time so I either deleted or cancelled my profiles, but then returned to them later on.  My network has grown exponentially in the past 5 years, and I attribute this growth primarily to social media.  I would never have had the opportunity to co-organize the Social Media Lab at ILSHRM if it were not for social media.  My current business, SocialHR would never have happened because I met my business partner, Geoff Webb on Twitter.  Simply put, social media has allowed me to connect with and cultivate amazing business relationships with people all over the world that I share mutual interests with.  This would NEVER have been possible if it were not for social media.  

I have worked with organizations to help them leverage social media in the workplace.  I have seen first-hand the impact that social media has had on their business results—results that surpassed anyone’s wildest dreams, and in places never imagined.  It’s been fantastic to see.

Meet the Volunteers

We have assembled an absolutely fantastic group of volunteers that will be working with you during the course of the conference.  They not only love teaching and educating, they love learning.  Each one of these speakers have worked within the human resources sector, and are leaders in social HR.

1.        Jeff Waldman—@JeffWaldmanHR

2.        Geoff Webb—@SocialHRGuy

3.        Susan Avello—@SusanAvello

4.        Dwane Lay—@DwaneLay

5.        Autumn McReynolds—@AutumnMcRey

6.        Jennifer McClure—@JenniferMcClure

7.        Salima Nathoo—@SocialSalima

8.        Kevin Grossman—@KevinWGrossman

9.        William Tincup—@WilliamTincup

I wish you all a fantastic #ILSHRM12 conference, and make every effort to drop by the Social Media Lab to talk social media.  We promise, we won’t be asking you what you had for dinner! 

About the Author:

Jeff Waldman is Founder SocialHRCamp, COO SocialHR

Jeff is an entrepreneur, ideator, social HR strategist and HR practitioner who has worked with a variety of organizations from start-ups to large multi-national corporations.  He currently works with organizations and their HR teams to strategically leverage social media to create and drive unparalleled business value.  

Jeff recently founded SocialHRCamp, the first-ever global HR UnConference, which provides HR practitioners around the world with an incredible experiential learning platform to kick into high gear their social HR journeys.  He is an avid blogger, speaker and advisor on topics relating to diversity, social HR, career management, personal branding and leadership.