Lots of conference talk recently, but there have been some great things going on and I’d hate for someone to miss out on the good stuff if you don’t have to! I spent last Thursday and Friday at the Human Resources Management Conference in Tuscaloosa, and I really enjoyed the experience. I thought I’d share a few quick takeaways from the event.
- Learned some really interesting stuff on employee engagement and managing people (but haven’t had the change to write on it yet). The title I have in mind for that one is called “the proper care and feeding of employees.”
- It was entertaining to watch as the speaker discussed high level engagement concepts while the audience was asking about more mundane employee issues like using too much time on the phone and not coming to work on time.
- Running an HR department with only one person is incredibly difficult, but it can be done.
- Watching a panel discussion is more fun than listening to a traditional lecture, because the interactivity is higher and asking questions is encouraged. The moderator was worried before a session began that we would have extra time, but the audience asked so many questions that we had to cut some people off due to time constraints!
- I confirmed my dislike for legal updates, although the lawyer that talked about the marijuana growers unionizing was pretty hilarious. :-)
- Using social media as an HR tool has its challenges, but the payoff can be more than worth the effort.
- I’m seeing more and more people who are interested in trying their hand at social recruiting, but for one reason or another, they don’t ever give it a shot. I encourage you to learn what you can and try it out. Some of the success stories I’ve heard have been astounding.
- Definitely encourage you to check it out next year!
