Tag Archives: HR Carnival

Strategic HRM (HR Carnival)

This week I’m hosting the Strategic HCM themed HR Carnival. For those of you that might be new, the HR Carnival is a series of links to blogs around the world that are gathered together for a single post. Sometimes there is a theme, and sometimes it’s wide open in terms of topics. I try to create themed carnival posts, because I like collecting content around a specific topic to allow you to go deep into one content area. As you might have guessed, this time we’re talking about strategic HRM (or strategic HR, whatever works for you). Here’s what I requested from the community in terms of content:

For this Carnival, I’m looking for posts around the theme of “How to be a strategic HR player in 2015”. In recent weeks I have spent a lot of time researching and writing about HR strategy, strategic planning, etc. I took the SPHR exam, which focuses heavily on strategic HRM. I think HR as a profession knows that this “strategy thing” is important, but they don’t know how to do it, where to start, etc. I’d love to hear some examples, simple ones, of how people actually put this stuff into practice. Or maybe just a tip or two on where to start for the newbies.

Make sense? Are you with me?

Good. Let’s jump into the submissions.

Strategic HRM Carnival of HR

David Richter from OctopusHR offers a great case study into how the HR team aligned training goals with the organizational strategy (with some excellent results). I really like this one, because case studies are excellent tools for learning about how other organizations face challenges. All too often we hear about business issues or successes independently, but a case study that highlights the issues and how the organization overcame them is especially powerful as a learning tool for the rest of us. Well done, David.

hcmx radio strategic hrm development planningMy friend and colleague Trish McFarlane posted on the Brandon Hall Group blog about her recent HCMx podcast with David Wentworth. During the episode they talk about the changing world of learning and development, but it really gets into strategic territory when they discuss how to link individual performance with organizational performance. That, my friends, is what aligning talent practices with organizational goals looks like. I encourage you to check it out!

Sandrine Bardot at Compensation Insider brings us a plan for how to get buy in for your compensation and benefits plan. This is an excellent post not only because Sandrine offers us an easy template for putting this into practice, but because she also gives us some critical advice for getting your stakeholders on board.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership by Dan shares excellence in written form as he discusses strategic alignment of leadership development programs. I’ll be honest–many organizations think that even having a leadership development initiative is enough to check off the “strategic HRM” box, but as Dan mentions in his article, it’s just the beginning. You have to continuously reassess to determine the strategic fit.

Amit Bhagria of Young HR Manager gives us his insights on strategic HR in 2015, and what I particularly liked was the initial review of the previous year’s high level changes to consider (mobile, social, economic, etc.) When teaching students to prepare for the SPHR, one of the keys I had to drill into them was the importance of evaluating the external environment in the strategic HRM planning process, and that’s where Amit starts in this post.

Jeanne Achille of Devon Group offers something simple, yet easy to miss. Often when we discuss strategy and how to “live it out,” we forget that a significant portion of the way we communicate is nonverbal (or “presence,” as Jeanne refers to it). Developing a strategy is only half the battle–if you can’t communicate it properly then you are going to ultimately fail.

Linda Brenner at Designs on Talent finally gets us to one of the most basic of strategic HR tenets: metrics. Measuring quality of hire (you have to check out her definition!) is a must if you want your talent acquisition practices to be strategic for the long term. If you’re not measuring, how will you know if you’re meeting your goals?

Winning the award of “strangest title” in this HR Carnival is a look at Aristotle’s beliefs on oysters by Tim Jones at Lumesse. The gist of the story is that for many years, people believed something that was completely false simply because they didn’t test the theory. This translates to the world of strategy in that we have to be looking for opportunities to test what we believe. This is something I plan to write on soon because it’s so critical and yet rarely done. Don’t assume that a new project will fail–test it. Don’t guess about someone’s reaction to a new policy–try a pilot program. Excellent reminder, Tim.

Allison at Meshworking provides insights into the power of using employee contributions to drive and enhance your engagement strategy. The point here that made me stop and think is that when HR discusses employee engagement, the initial suggestions are very tactical. However, incorporating an overall engagement strategy (or engagement culture, as I like to position it) that includes employees in the development process is a much more powerful strategic HRM move than one driven only from the corporate side.

Jennifer at Workforce Software gives us some strategy resolutions for the coming year. The specific item pertaining to strategic HRM I appreciated was this: total workforce management allows you to visualize your entire workforce, across all locations. And that insight empowers faster, more strategic—and more cost effective—decision making.

A big thank you goes out to all of the participants for sharing their knowledge and insights!

Which article about strategic HRM did you like best? Why?

The World of HR Blogging: Carnival of HR

I’ve posted several HR Carnivals here before. I try to make each one special, because I know how important the world of HR blogging has been to me as a hands-on HR pro, and I don’t want anyone else to miss out on that opportunity.

I’m currently subscribed to 25-30 HR blogs in Feedly.It’s a great tool for keeping up with multiple websites, because it pulls the latest content into one place where you can read without visiting 20 different sites. Very handy. Anyway, I have used HR blogs over the years to help me stay motivated, learn new tips/tricks, and improve my HR service delivery. And the cost on those improvements? A little time. If you’d like to get free updates via email, just plug in your email address here.

Hopefully you’re reading this site and others that help you to learn and do more as an HR pro. I think that’s where the true value lies in the HR blogging world, at least for us practitioners.

With all that said, let’s check out the posts submitted from other authors. I hope you enjoy!

The excellent posts

Continue reading

Getting into HR? This Carnival’s For You

This HR Carnival is focused on those getting into HR. The HR Carnival is a great opportunity to harness the brains of multiple people for a common purpose. This one is no different. For this edition, I asked each person to contribute an article that touches on some of the key skills, insights, and abilities for the new HR pro.

I realize that many of us are beyond those initial shaky steps in the profession, but I also think we need to do what we can to reach back and help the next generation of HR professionals however we can. With that in mind, let’s jump into the day’s content.

Six of HR’s best blogs sound off

  1. The team from changeboard blog  threw out the top 10 career tips from HRDs around the world. Let’s tap into the brilliance offered here, shall we?
  2. Melissa at HR reMix brings us the best advice for a new HR pro. (Hint: it’s never really about HR!)
  3. Shauna the incorrigible HR Minion tells us you can never be too much of anything. Absolutely love this and couldn’t agree more.
  4. Mark at Inflexion Advisors offers up the power of 7 simple questions.
  5. Naomi Bloom shares with us the model of a modern HR leader. Do you fit the mold?
  6. Amit from Young HR Manager asks the eternal question: can HR have friends at work? Wow. This one really hit me hard. I have plenty of friends at work of varying degrees, but I always have the vague thought in the back of my mind that I might have to be the one to end that on the company’s behalf one day.

As for myself, I’d love to kick in the Ultimate Guide to Entry Level HR Jobs. Lots of good info there and hopefully it continues to help the next generation entering the HR/recruiting workforce by answering questions, providing helpful guidance, and eliminating the ambiguity surrounding the profession.

What about you? Any additional words of wisdom to share?

SHRM 2013 HR Carnival

For those of you not familiar, the Carnival of HR is a biweekly collection of great content from some of the other HR bloggers around the world.

This week I’m hosting a special edition focusing on the SHRM Conference. I did bend the rules just a bit to allow an intriguing post about the conference experience from a marketer’s point of view, but otherwise it’s a quick review of the event from some of the best and brightest that HR has to offer. Enjoy!

  1. My friend Paul Smith at Welcome to the Occupation shares Curiosity Killed The Cat.
  2. Jon Ingham kicked over Why Your Talent Aren’t Talent.
  3. Kevin Grossman pitched in his thoughts on Selling in the Workforce, based on Daniel Pink’s keynote speech.
  4. Melissa Fairman, who I was thrilled to finally meet in person, shares her thoughts on her Adventures at SHRM.
  5. Emily Jasper at The Starr Conspiracy gives us some ideas that marketing is using to Make Events Exciting for Those At Home.
  6. Jennifer Payne puts her Thoughts on Becoming More out at the Women of HR blog.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to share! I hope the rest of you in the audience will check out the content and let some of these other authors know your thoughts.

Five years ago (HR Carnival)

This week’s HR carnival is going to be going up at EvilHRLady on Wednesday. The theme is “What were you doing five years ago?”, so I thought I would throw in a post to that effect. Nothing enlightening or exciting today, just a chance for me (and you) to reflect back on the amount of changes that five years can bring…

Five years ago, my life was radically different. I was still busy, but my focus was totally different from what it is today.

  • I was thinking about running my first ultramarathon.
  • I was helping to plan my wedding.
  • I was doing manual labor during the day and going to school at night.
  • I was a junior in college.
  • I had only the vaguest sense of what this “HR” thing was.
  • I had to turn down an unpaid HR internship because I needed the $$$ when I got married.
  • I was living in my first house all by lonesome.
  • I had never even read or thought about writing an HR blog.

At any point in the middle of the hustle and bustle of 2007 I could have made one or more decisions that totally changed the course of my life. And despite all of that, here I am today. Married. Kids. HR degree. Job in the HR/recruiting field. And blogging to my heart’s content.

So how did I make the leap? What was the secret ingredient?

I studied pretty hard in college, but I also did all the research I could on the people who were already working in HR. I surfed websites looking for an HR point of contact. Once I had that I would email them and ask a few questions about what it was really like working in the HR field. Some of that information helped me to write papers in my junior/senior years, but it also helped to 1) confirm my choice in professions and 2) give me as much of a realistic job preview as I possibly could get.

I’d have killed for some job shadowing opportunity, but between working 40-50 hours a week, going to school full time at night, and the rest of that list of daily tasks, I was just holding on by my fingernails.

In the latter half of 2007 I got a job for a company that ended up paying for my senior year of college in return for my indentured servitude for a year after I graduated. Working for that company was a so-so experience. Not bad, but not really great, either. I learned  a few things about good managers, poor planning/consideration for remote employees, and how team dynamics can influence the amount of work that gets accomplished.

The big takeaway

If I can give a piece of advice… Even if you’re in a position you don’t enjoy, you are learning something valuable. That might be how not to treat people or do business, but it’s still a learning opportunity. Looking back now I can see that every job I’ve held has taught me something about the right things to do. More importantly, it’s helped to teach me how to stay away from the wrong things.

All in all it is definitely tough to think about what life was like five years ago, but I can say with certainty that I am thankful for the experiences that I had leading up to this point. Each step (and misstep) has formed me into the person I am, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Enough about me! How about you? Where were you five years ago? Did you love/hate your job? Were you in college? Was there something interesting going on in your personal life? I’d love to hear about it! 

17 ways to enjoy the HR Carnival

We are drawn to lists. It’s pretty simple, really. With all the information at our fingertips on a daily basis, our brains need some way of keeping track of all the data. It needs a way to catalog resources it runs across, so it sorts, ranks, and filters as needed. Today I have a special list. The Carnival of HR is in town, and I’ve collected 17 fantastic posts for your enjoyment. Whether you’re looking to increase your productivity, get more speaking roles as a trench HR pro, or fire an employee, there is something here for you!

  1. Tanmay Vora brings us 10 productivity reminders.
  2. Lizzie Smithson shares 7 reasons people hate you on Twitter.
  3. Laurie Ruettimann offers up 3 annoying things you do on Twitter.
  4. Eric Meyer tells us 6 shocking social media stats.
  5. Paul Baribeau lets us in on the top 5 job boards for recruiters.
  6. Mark Stelzner preaches on 4 ways “trench HR” pros can get more speaking gigs.
  7. Mike McCarty gives us 4 steps to understanding background checks and the FCRA.
  8. Jennifer Miller lets us know the 4 critical roles on a project team.
  9. Jennifer McClure presents 10 presentations on using social media for HR and recruiting.
  10. Dan McCarthy tells us 10 reasons not to do succession planning.
  11. Laura Schroeder offers 7 trendy HR trends to follow.
  12. Naomi Bloom brings Thanksgiving early with 6 things she’s thankful for.
  13. Andrew Tarvin yuks it up with 5 tips for corporate entertainment success.
  14. Mike Haberman talks about the number 1 key to retention.
  15. Chris Young throws out 4 tips for effective meetings.
  16. Shauna Moerke coughs up 5 ways to know you should have called in sick.

Thanks again to all the great participants for sharing their expertise! I had a great time reading through these posts and I know you will, too.

HRevolution Blog Carnival

The ones who started it all...

We have about thirty posts here today from some of the people I respect most in this industry. It’s not because they’re the smartest (although many are brilliant). It’s not because they know all the secret tips and tricks (although they could teach us all a thing or two). It’s not even because they are good looking (those avatars don’t show everything) ;-). It’s because they take the time and make the effort to continue pushing this profession and the people in it to be better. Every. Single. Day. We’re all better off for your efforts!

Because we have so many great posts, I’m going to keep my commentary to a minimum and just share the links to these fantastic recaps, takeaways, and nostalgic moments. If you set aside twenty minutes to start digging into the posts below, I can pretty much guarantee that you will find new blogs/people to follow. Fair warning: you’ll also have an insatiable desire to attend the next HRevolution. What can I say? It’s an awesome event. :-)

Speaking of awesome… We are going to be partnering with the HR Technology Conference to offer a special one-day HRevolution event on October 2nd, 2011 in Las Vegas! More details to come, but if you have been wanting to attend the event but you’re out in the western US, this is going to be your big shot! Stay tuned.

The posts

And that’s not all. We have videos from the event coming soon thanks to Maren Hogan and some more great stuff on the horizon. Remember, HRev isn’t your usual conference. We keep the good stuff coming all year long! Thanks again to our sponsors, facilitators, and attendees for making the event as successful as it is. We appreciate you all!