Category Archives: General

HRevolution 2011-Exponentially Better

Every year I come back from another HRevolution and say the same thing: wow. But what can else can I say after watching 130+ international HR pros, recruiters, and business leaders come together, share ideas, and go home with a renewed fire to be better at what they do every single day?

Yeah, wow is apt, I’d say.

These events seem to get exponentially better. Each time I meet a few more people, deepen those relationships during the year, and the festivities start even earlier. We keep the event to a one-day affair, but people arrive days in advance to get a jump start on networking and building relationships.

Not the usual HRev prep

This year’s event was prefaced by some interesting personal challenges. The devastating tornadoes and storms that hit the South last Wednesday knocked out power for over a quarter of a million people in north Alabama, and my family was included in that unlucky group. We were fortunate not to have any other damage, so we will be okay in the long run. After spending Wednesday night at home with no power, my wife and I made the decision to pack up and head to Atlanta early instead of riding out another night of candles and flashlights for the 3am baby feeding. When we arrived at the hotel on Thursday afternoon, we were greeted by lots of familiar faces (for me, anyway).

It was right about then that I became a second-class citizen and Bella, Bree, and Melanie became the main attraction. That, of course, was perfectly fine with me. I was excited for Melanie to finally meet the people that I talk about all the time and put some faces with some names. It was funny, because Trish McFarlane, one of my very good friends, another co-founder of HRevolution, and the gal I affectionately call “big sis,” rushed straight past me and hugged Melanie like they were best friends! That kind of greeting is what makes HRev feel like so much more than an event.

Friday begins

Friday morning, I had the opportunity to meet Mike Grindell and some of the geniuses on the SHRM Atlanta team. We ate at The Flying Biscuit and I have that place on my “must eat” list next time I’m in town. It was fun, raucous, and a great way to get myself into the right mindset for the event. :-) Before I went to breakfast, I ran to a nearby Chick-Fil-A to grab something for Melanie to eat. I got some funny looks from other runners as I passed by in the opposite direction carrying a giant drink and a bag of breakfast goodies!

During the day I spent time with Melanie and the girls enjoying some much needed rest. A short nap later and it was time for the tweetup to begin. I’m almost tired of the term “tweetup,” because I always get questions and people don’t seem to understand what it is. A tweetup is just a gathering of people, really. Some of us know each other from Twitter, and some of us do not. There’s really nothing wildly different about it from any other group of friends getting together to enjoy each other’s company. As always, the tweetup was entertaining, and even though I couldn’t get my trademark Diet Mountain Dew at the bar, I ended up drinking half a dozen Diet Cokes to try to fill the gap. The night wound down (for me, anyway) at the end of the tweetup and it was off to bed to be ready for an early start.

Saturday-sleeping in does not equal event prep

The best planning crew anyone could ask for!

Saturday morning kicked off as many do. I rolled over and was face to face with one of the girls who had woken up during the night. I leaped out of bed (way to sleep in on the biggest day of your year, genius) and got ready in record time. The other planners and I walked over to make sure the space was prepared and to spread out the goodies for everyone.

We gave the announcements to start the day, and the keynote speaker, Liz Gottung, came forward to get us moving. After talking for a few minutes, the crowd started quizzing her on professional development for her team, the state of the HR industry, and her role as the Chief HR Officer for Kimberly Clark. I was worried at first, because there were a lot of probing questions. Then I remembered that as a CHRO for a global organization, she probably faces that kind of scrutiny on a daily basis from other business leaders. The quote from her speech that hit me hard was “HR as a destination profession.” She talked about rotating marketing, sales, and PR people through HR to get their unique insights. All in all, it was a great session and I’m glad Tim Gardner was able to help us get her there to participate.

Making the hard choices (which session to attend?)

Next up we had sessions running concurrently, and, as always, I felt like I needed to be checking out each one to make sure it was on track. I spent most of my time during this block in Josh LeTourneau’s Social Network Analysis session. He is way smart and the information he shared has so many untapped applications. For instance, if you’re trying to push something through your organization, it would help to know who the influencers and informal leaders are. Your org chart does not show that data. However, through some testing and a thorough analysis, you can map your organization and find out who everyone goes to for help with problems or to talk about certain topics. Great stuff.

The next block was a tough choice. I really like Eric Winegardner, but I don’t directly manage a team (yet), so I didn’t spend much time in his Virtual Management session. I heard a lot of good feedback, though, including this one Â by Mike Haberman. I spent a chunk of my time in the Connecting in a Non-Creepy Way led by Dwane Lay and Shauna Moerke. I know the social thing and I’m (pretty) good about not being creepy, but I wanted to hear Dwane since I haven’t met him before. I came in at an opportune time, because one of the participants brought up a Â question about following people online who are “HR coordinators” (or low-level HR pros, in other words). He wanted to know how the information they share was valuable to the community. I was about to interject when someone countered that everyone at every level has something valuable to add, and I seconded the notion with a hearty fist pump and a “woohoo!” from the back of the room. :-)

Those three ladies were the belles of the ball!

Lunch was fantastic, and I was able to share it with Melanie and the girls. It was nice to have a short rest before kicking back into high gear for the afternoon sessions.

At the next set of sessions, I split my time between Wellness Doesn’t Suck and Designing for Influence. We made this block a little longer than the others to accommodate some of our speakers, but it felt too long to me, and many of us were tired after a filling lunch. I walked into the influence session just in time for Eric Winegardner to challenge the room about the HR department being the very best department in the entire organization. It’s not enough to push policies and rules on people. You need to be the shining example of what to do. I totally agree with the sentiment!

During the final group of sessions, I was getting revved back up, and I spent at least fifteen minutes in each of the rooms. First I checked out The Great Performance Debate with William Tincup and Mike Carden. It was focused on whether the annual performance review process is something that is driven by the managers, the employees, or the organization’s leadership. Definitely interesting. Linking Culture, Brand and Revenue was up next with Nate DaPore of PeopleMatter. One of the quotable quotes from that session was “how does HR create culture?” I was quick to respond via Twitter that HR’s role is to reinforce and communicate culture, but it doesn’t create it. That’s what I do every day at work! And I wrapped up the hour by spending some time in How do I Get There from Here with Paul Smith and China Gorman.

It seems like this type of session is perennially present at HRevolution. Basically, how do we stop talking within the echo chamber and make real, lasting changes to the rest of the HR world. I chimed in near the end about the eBooks that have been coming out recently. See, I created those as a way to reach out to the wider HR community. In recent months, half of my LinkedIn invites have come from people who read the guides but aren’t regular blog readers. It’s my tiny way (with the help of everyone who contributes and shares the tools) to reach out to HR world outside of the social media sphere.

And with that, it was time to wrap up the event. We took some comments from the audience, and Liz received a standing ovation when she said that her eyes had been opened to the wider HR community’s passion and that she felt more positive about the future of the profession than ever before.

A few thoughts in no particular order

I felt more satisfied this year with the event than I did in 2010, and I heard the same sentiment from many of the repeat attendees.
We had about 20 three-time attendees. That means over 100 of the attendees were first or second timers. That’s good turnover and means we aren’t just talking to the same crew year after year!
Crystal Peterson chooses the best hotels and venues ever. When my babies get old enough to marry (in 50 years ;-)) I’m calling Crystal to plan those weddings.
Trish McFarlane is a great leader and someone I look up to in many ways. It was fun to watch her go from playing with Bella and Bree to speaking to the crowd to negotiating with the venue staff. So versatile!
Steve Boese was the cause of our biggest complaint. Throughout the day I kept hearing people saying how tough it was to pick a session because there were multiple good ones at each and every concurrent block!
Debbie Brown took me for a diaper run after the tweetup on Friday night. I so appreciate her for that!
We will be holding an HR carnival on Wednesday, May 18th. If you attended the event and wrote about your experience, please email me the link. If you would like to write something (a few sentences, a paragraph, or a short narrative) about your experience but don’t have a blog, please email me anyway. One of my good friends, Robin Schooling, did a guest post here after HRevolution 2010 and it received more views than my own review of the event!
Look for posts coming soon that were spawned by conversations, sessions, and attendees at HRevolution. It’s hard to explain now what all I learned, but it’s going to come pouring out in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned.

If we met even for a minute or two, I hope you could tell how excited I was to help provide a forum for everyone to come together, share ideas, and make HR better in so many ways. I smile every time someone tells me how much they appreciate me/us for putting these events together, because I get more out of them than I feel like I put in!

Both of the above photos and a whole heck of a lot more great ones from HRevolution can be foundÂ here courtesy of Monster.com’s extremely talented photographer, Alana Lombardi.

HRevolution 3 and other random thoughts

I am beat. Tired. Worn out. (Cansado, for my Spanish speaking brethren.)

But I feel great. Fun, huh? See, in less than 48 hours I’ll be in Atlanta, Georgia. It will be the first meeting of many during the HRevolution event. And while it’s not easy to put together (for me or the other planners), it’s always worth it.

People come away with amazing ideas, relationships, and motivation to change this little HR/recruiting world. And knowing I get to play some small part in that is satisfying on a level that is hard to describe.

If you know me at all, you can tell that I’m a doer. I like to make things happen. I book and double book myself until my calendar cries for mercy. I just want to be creating, engaging, and leading others at all times. It’s what I love. At times it causes me to be worn to the bone with responsibilities, because I have a very difficult time saying “no” to anyone.

I talked yesterday with Trish McFarlane, the other co-founder of HRevolution. We did a webinar for an ASTD (American Society of Training and Development) chapter in Los Angeles, California. We spent 60 minutes talking about unconferences in general, HRevolution, and what makes this event unique.

Today I will be on DriveThruHR with Bryan Wempen and William Tincup. I haven’t had a moment to sit and think about what I plan to talk about, so it will be an interesting half hour! You can catch the show or the replay afterward at this link.

I read a short article once that has stuck with me. Here’s the gist of it:

There is a college professor who is an expert on topic X. He has studied for years and has published papers and reports on the topic, but he does not believe that things like social media and blogging are worth his time.

On the other hand, another young gentleman is just getting started in the profession, and he is very interested in learning more about topic X. So he starts a blog, builds a community, and writes about what he knows and is learning about the topic.

A short while later, a reporter is looking for an expert on topic X to interview for a story, so he opens up Google and does a search. He doesn’t find the professor with numerous degrees and published articles. However, he does find the man who started blogging and writing about the topic and has since been recognized by his peers as an expert. Who do you think is going to be interviewed by the reporter?

When I read that anecdote, I realized that something similar happened to me. I am not an expert and I don’t have any special qualifications other than passion and the drive to help others. However, that’s been enough to radically change the path of my career from what it could have been otherwise.

Sorry for the rambling. Just wanted to clear my head for the day!

What is your favorite HR tip for managers?

The next free eBook coming out soon is going to be about HR tips for managers. I am looking for stories of how real HR pros in the trenches have seen it played out right or horribly wrong when they try to give advice/tips to their managers. Or maybe you have a special piece of information you would offer to managers who don’t have an HR person at their organization? How about telling about what you see almost all of your managers messing up on as a warning to others to be cautious about that area?Just a few ideas!

Your story can be as short as 2-3 sentences or as long as a page. I know we all have different experiences that it would help to share with our peers!

Click here to email me. Just shoot your story over along with your name (first name is fine if you want to be anonymous) and I will work to get you into the next eBook.

Deadline to submit is Wednesday, April 27th. Questions? Let me know!

SHRM-Membership discounts and the value proposition

SHRM, you make me laugh. I see emails coming in from you on a weekly basis with offers for discounts, free totes, and more. The value of membership? It’s there. Let’s focus on that.

See, I’ve been a Society for Human Resources Management member since August 2010. Why did I join? Well, it wasn’t for a reason most people end up joining SHRM. I didn’t sign up for the white papers, the templates, the webcasts, or even the discounts on attending their events.

I signed up to volunteer.

Chuck Salvetti, the manager of the student and YP programs at SHRM, reached out to me last summer to see if I would be interested in being the chairman of the SHRM Young Professional Advisory Council. I leaped at the chance, but the caveat was that I had to be a member in order to volunteer on the committee. So, grudgingly, I signed up.

I’m so glad I did.

Since then, I’ve been more than confident that it was the right decision for me. Not only have I had the opportunity to participate in some great discussions that will shape the focus of the SHRM YP program, but I’ve also started using the tools that the organization provides. Last November, just a few short months after becoming a member, I took on a new HR role in a startup company. Suddenly I needed those webcasts, white papers, and templates to do my job on a daily basis.

I still tell people to join local SHRM chapters for the community/connections and the national SHRM for the content. However, after seeing the work they are doing with SHRM Connect, I could be recommending national membership for building connections if they can get the tool cleaned up and re-released.

Bottom line: SHRM is doing some great things in both traditional HR spaces and in social media. If you are not a member, I highly encourage you to give it a hard look. If you are where I was a year ago and membership doesn’t make sense for you, then pay your local dues and help them rock their chapter. There’s a role out there for everyone. It’s up to you to find yours and fill it.

Thank you to SHRM for sponsoring HRevolution!

I’ll have to get back to you…

Recently I posted a video on effective communication as an HR competency. I mentioned the importance of using “I’ll get back to you on that” as a daily phrase to help you communicate effectively. One of the comments on the post was fantastic, and I wanted to republish it here so everyone could benefit from this piece of wisdom.

Comment by Mike Brisciana (@mbrisciana_hr on Twitter)

Great point about using “Can I get back to you on that” when you’re scattered, you don’t know the answer, and it’s too important to guess or deflect.

I did this poorly at the beginning of my career (I would feel pressured by more senior people to respond on issues I wasn’t fully familiar with), until a mentor suggested the “can I get back to you shortly” approach. No expects you to have a perfect answer on the spot every time. They do expect you to take them seriously and give their issue your full attention.

“Can I get back to you” communicates, “I know this is important; I want to give you my full attention and my best response, and if I can have a little time to think about this and develop an effective response, it will serve your needs well.” There are times when someone needs an on-the-spot answer, but these are few and far between. In most cases, a slightly later but more substantive answer will be much more effective — and, in the end, much more appreciated.

Love it! Anyone else have something to add?

2 years, 350+ posts, and just warming up

Sunday is my two year anniversary.

It’s been twenty four months since I sat down, said, “Hmmm. upstartHR sounds kinda cool,” and started on a journey that has been exciting and unpredictable.

Just… Wow.

What advice do I have for others?

Start when you’re at 90%. If you wait until you are 100% ready then you’ll never get going. It will be a bit unpolished. That’s normal. Just go!
Write like you speak. Looking back now, my writing style hasn’t changed much in two years except to incorporate more of the knowledge I’ve learned in day-to-day Trench HR.
Quantity of posts is less important than quality, to a point. If you only post once every two months nobody will read what you’re saying. If you post once a week with a really thoughtful, interesting idea or two, people will take notice. Here’s a great blogging example of that by my buddy Michael Brisciana. He posts once a week or so but it’s worthwhile to keep up with! And once a week is 50 posts a year, which isn’t too shabby. That’s how I got RocketHR off the ground while keeping upstartHR going simultaneously.
It will make you better in so many ways, some visible and some not. I think I’m a better husband and dad because I am conscious of my time and work to make it worthwhile when I spend it with my family. I think I’m a better employee because I constantly am researching and building my knowledge base. Can’t tell you how many times something comes up at work and I’m able to say, “Well, I just read the other day that you can <insert brilliant solution here>.”

What would I do differently if I started over?

Write more. Yes, I write a good bit, but I wish I shared more content by guest blogging. I wish I had more time and energy to write all the ideas I have in my head. See the screenshot on the right? I have 300+ drafts if I just had time to write them all!
Take more time for mechanics/fundamentals. I take care of the essentials, but I wish I spent more time on things to help more people find the content that could help them be better at what they do. SEO, partnerships, etc. Room for improvement, eh? :-)
More shout outs! I would spend more time working on promoting others and helping them to be successful. I try to do that now but when it comes to shoving an idea out of my head and onto the screen, that has to win or I end up going crazy.

Looking ahead

Ongoing projects: HRevolution, Project:Social, eBooks, etc. I’m going to keep participating in these things and offering support wherever possible. My life is steadily getting more complex and I’m not sure of the time I can dedicate to additional programs, but I’m willing to offer advice at any time.
More products. I have ideas for a handful of targeted, valuable tools to help HR pros in the trenches.
Mentoring other bloggers. Want to do it? Hit me up. I’ll be glad to help with the entire set up from the technical to the writing to the networking.
Speaking and consulting. I’m looking for ways to get out and talk with more people. I have spoken at local events, I’m looking at working with one of the state SHRM leadership conferences to do something with the Rock Your Chapter stuff, and I am going to be doing more this year.

If I had to list everyone I appreciate for helping me get to where I am, you would leave and never come back. I’ll shorten it to say that I am so appreciative of everyone who makes this experience possible for me. In the daily life, there’s Melanie (everlasting patience and letting me bounce ideas off her), the babies (learning a lot about managing people!), and my manager when I say “Ooh, that’s going in a post.” Outside of that, I have the opportunity to work with so many amazing people. Trish McFarlane, Daniel Crosby, Chris Ferdinandi, Cori Curtis, Dave Ryan, Victorio Milian, Curtis Midkiff, Anne-Margaret Olsson, Chuck Salvetti, Stephanie Walsh, Crystal Peterson, Bryan Wempen, Krista Francis, Stephen Harrison, and many, many more.

Here’s to yet another great year of blogging!