Why HR Should Be Leading the Way in Social Leadership

I had a big "ah-ha" recently that compels me to write this post. I'll start with the light bulb thought.

HR professionals have substantial opportunities to generate enhanced value, that can significantly impact their careers and companies in ways they may not be aware.

Ok, that may not sound very profound and some reading may say, "Yeah, yeah we already know that." But it became an important "ah-ha" after experiencing a series of recent events that punched up this point. (By the way this is an example of the process and result of creative thinking).

Event #1: Earlier this year, I was interviewed by Ben Slater of Beamery on the topic of recruiting as marketing - Recruitment Marketing: Important or Illusion? The Complete Expert Review. Seeing some human resource activities as marketing activities is a useful and evolving trend. Approaching it that way, I believe is very helpful in achieving better results.

Key thought: HR professionals are marketers

Event #2: I was asked to conduct a series of webinars underwritten by the fabulous card company MOO regarding employee advocacy, which I referenced in a previous post - Need A Fresh Approach to Employee Engagement?  Conducted for SHRM, that webinar was created through the lens of enhancing the role of HR and titled, The New Face of HR: Are You Ready for Employee Advocacy?.

The 2nd webinar on employee advocacy, delivered for HR.com, was from the point of view employee engagement.

If you're not familiar with employee advocacy, it is employees championing their company's product or service with their authentic voice through social media.

Key thought: HR professionals can impact marketing and elements of marketing such as branding though employee advocacy.

Event #3: I participate in a weekly Tweetchat conducted by the great guys from Switch & Shift, Shawn Murphy and Mark Babitt called Social Leader (#SocialLeader). Last night we were talking about how to get key leaders in an organization to become more social and see the advantages of doing so. This is where I chimed in, "This is where HR can play a meaningful role!"

...and that's the moment when all the dots connected and this surge of conviction welled up in me...

Key thought: HR professionals need to be leading the way in being Social Leaders. We need to be skilled and expert at knowing its value and use.

For all the reasons presented in the webinars and interview, it's a logical, important conclusion. 

One final connecting piece. I am part of the IBM Influencer-Futurist program representing talent management in the New Way to Work category (#Newwaytowork). We look at and for trends that impact workplaces now and into the future, all of which directly impacts human resources.  Social media is definitely one and yet many are still resistant to. It is the key thread through all the themes referenced above.

HR professionals as social leaders really is a "new way to work."  

Tweet: HR professionals as social leaders really is a "new way to work." http://ctt.ec/504XW+

As a fellow colleague, I encourage you to give thoughtful consideration to what this means for you. I recommend the following action items as well as taking the time to answer the questions.
> Check out the replays of the webinars.
> Study up on the themes presented.
> What does your LinkedIn account look like--appropriately representative of you and your company?
> Are you sharing your expertise?
> What does your digital footprint look like?
> What does it say about you as a social leader?
> What are the collective advantages of being, becoming one?
> In fact, do you need and want to become one?

My answer -- it is to your professional advantage to say, "Yes!"
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Have You Experienced the Power of Numbers?

Comment; Though this post was written prior to an event I attended mid 2015, the premise is timely and worth reading! Look for follow up posts addressing this theme.

This upcoming week, I have the great fortune of attending IBM's Insight Conference in Las Vegas. Its focus is looking at the role of analytics in work, commerce and mobile. I know it's going to be a powerful event!

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/events/insight/

And... it got me thinking about numbers. I've never considered myself a "numbers gal" as they say.  Yet, in my world (talent management) more and more numbers are showing themselves to be a meaningful partner.

And...that got me thinking about how essential numbers are...in well...just about everything! Let's start with when we were born - yep numbers are attached. The ability to live -- gotta have money -- yep numbers are attached...you get my drift.

So here's a confession. I've taken numbers forgranted. Their role is so common and integrated into my existence, I don't think about them or appreciate them. And yet recently, I've been challenged to take them more seriously. 

I recently completed an executive coaching /consulting engagement and wanted to show the extraordinary value and success of the experience. Along with providing a detailed debrief, in partnership with my client, I calculated the financial impact, including return on investment in real numbers and percentages. The numbers magnified the success of the engagement and amplified my own sense of accomplishment!

Additionally, I recently read an article that was of great encouragement about a California company, CA Technologies, that reconfigured its recruiting process to more adequately reflect its values and brand.  As an HR professional and career coach, sometimes it's down right embarrassing how candidates are treated. They didn't want to be one of those companies.

One of the key motivators?...the numbers -- they were a reality check. This was shared via the blog Open Source HR - the title - We Solved the Job Applicant Black Hole . Here's the gist...

“No one ever contacted me.”  Most people who have ever applied to jobs online have experienced this.

Statistically, only 25% of completed job applications will ever get reviewed by a hiring authority at an employer.  Very few will ever receive a response from a real person.

In an effort to improve our candidate experience, based on feedback from job candidates in 2014, we audited our process to find only 12% of the 100k applications received annually were being reviewed.

We thought we could do better than that.

Our solution?  In January of 2015 we implemented a small team in our Hyderabad office, called Talent Assessors, to review and vet each application and respond to the applicant with a personal note letting them know if they would move on in the process.  The program was spearheaded by Becca Sil, Operations Manager from CA’s Talent Acquisition team.

We now have 3 resources on the team personally responding to every applicant within 2.5 days.

We soon began receiving feedback from applicants that indicated we were on the right track.  We published one such note in an article on Linkedin that received some interesting awareness.

The results:

• 100% job applicant response within 2.5 days
• 25,000+ applications have been reviewed to date.
• 60 hires have been made from this pool that might have gone previously un-reviewed.
• More accurate candidate database and source of qualified applicants data
• Annual cost of the program is less than $20k.

“The Talent Assessor program has helped to improve the overall candidate experience at CA Technologies, by ensuring that every candidate, qualified or not, receives a personalised response from a member of our team. We now have much more meaningful data to allow us to focus our marketing strategies in the most effective areas,” said Becca Sil.

“No one ever contacted me.”  That doesn’t happen here anymore.

As I've begun to pay closer attention to data and the role of analysis, I am now a convert. A convert to what you may ask? A convert to the significant role numbers and their analysis can play to get more of the outcomes I really want personally and professional for myself and my clients! For me, their use will become a permanent part of my professional toolkit. 

Numbers can tell a story. Numbers can amplify a need. Numbers can help us see truth. Numbers can give voice to the human experience when perhaps no one will listen. When used appropriately, they are a uniquely expressive and descriptive partner to our human story.

I am looking forward to learning more about the power of numbers at Insight 2015 and I'll be sharing my findings and observations in real time on Periscope and Twitter under the hash tag #IBMInsight and #Newwaytowork @joanncorley along with being a featured guest of a tweet chat - #NewWaytoWork tweet chat - Save the date- 10/27 5:30pmET.  See you there!

Are You Ready for The Future of HR?

"I feel like I have been brought out of the dark ages." That's the phrase that continually ran through my mind during my experience at the #IBMInsight conference. It was absolutely amazing! From learning about 3D printer cars that are made of a plastic that could save lives - Local Motors (whose CMO is a women) Elle Shelley +Elle Shelley to listening to an IBM Executive converse with Pepper the Robot built with Watson intelligence, to learning how analytics helped a cyclist win the Great American Road Race, to hearing entertaining back stories about several films made by Ron Howard & Brian Grazer, it was truly unforgettable!

It was also an honor attending as a representative of my corner of the world -- Human Resource/Talent Management as a member of the IBM Futurist-Influencer Program. Many from the program were there for the specific purpose of considering a #Newwaytowork. Pondering the question, "How can we have a #smarterworkforce?" (I use these hash tags so you can continue to follow the conversation on twitter) while also contemplating, "What's the meaningful intersections between this, mobile, social and commerce?"

We spent a full afternoon engaged in "masterminding". It truly felt like a "think-a-thon"! And what was produced reflected reimagining our future from the impact of wearable tech in human resources to new roles such as HR Analytics, which we dubbed the HR "data whisperer".

I learned new terms like "cognitive computing" while being reminded of terms that have been in the marketplace for a while yet not widely used such as predictive analytics. I saw how Watson Analytics  can enable talent management, recruiting and other human capital management functions to be easier, quicker, more efficient and effective. The future is bright!

Need a simple def. of 'cognitive computing" (I know I did) @EasyAnalytics1 #IBMinsight #NewWaytoWork #IBMAnalytics : pic.twitter.com/GMxiT1EIiU

— joanncorley (@joanncorley) October 29, 2015

But the point of this post is not only to share a few brief highlights (...there is sooooo much more!) but to also share some concluding thoughts for my fellow HR colleagues.  If you've heard me deliver my talk The Ripple Effect - The Power of Your Personal Brand in HR -- the following will nicely compliment it.

1.  Accept the fact technology is here to stay. I know "technology" is a broad term, but I'm intending its use as such because it's scope of impact in our industry is broad --consider: smart phones, email, apps, texting, mobile learning, software (for just about anything), the cloud, byod (bring your own device), tablets, data, video conferencing, video calling, webinars, e-learning, mobile learning, virtual collaboration, virtual classroom, tele-commuting, social connecting...and I'm sure you could add more.

Its now embedded in just about every aspect of our work -- how we interact, how we communicate and how we deliver work. Though many in our field have not been early adopters, if you've yet to be "an adopter",  I'm imploring you -- resistance is futile. Adopt or become irrelevant and inept as an HR professional. And, by the way, the longer you resist the more you impede the growth and profits of your company!

Please know, "Let's get the the tech person," will no longer fly -- you are the tech person, whether you choose to believe it and own it or not! Acceptance, adoption, and integration of technology into your role and responsibilities are now a human resource competency.

2.  Numbers and Measuring Matter - data will become the darling of effective talent management.  If you've never heard of "The Hawthorne Effect" that's a great place to start. Measuring is absolutely necessary to any business success. You cannot change what you do not see. You cannot manage what you do not know. Measuring changes things.

Everyone is familiar with the use of numbers in accounting to assess a business, how about numbers related to the people of the business. Those carry equal if not greater weight in that the people drive and influence the ultimate numbers of the business. People numbers can be anything from performance management to analytics for the best resource to recruit the most successful employees. (Watson can tell you that!)

Get comfortable with using numbers, learn how to collect and analyze them, make your knowledge and use of them a professional competency.  There's a section in my book 15 Shifts -The Essential Guide to Transform Your Talent Management, that shares 4 different and common examples of how to use numbers to determine roi. This and many other activities can help you become acclimated to the role numbers can play as a meaningful talent mangement companion.

The first 2 bring me to number #3.

3. Please don't be the kind of professional that has to be dragged into the future kicking and screaming, begrudging change. I invite you to be the kind of professional that leads the way, risks the blunders, embraces the potential benefits, saying, "see what happens when we do this!" ... all in service to those you manage, the success of the business that employees you and to your own career.

Tweet: Please don't be the kind of professional that has to be dragged into the future kicking and screaming, begrudging change.

Why? The reality is the future of work is now! What you perceive to be in your future is already in someone's present and for some their past.  I have the opportunity to travel all over the country getting a realist view of the state of our profession and it is amazing the breath of differences in human resource knowledge as well as personal and professional technology adoption. In some cases, honestly, it's down right shocking!

So I say, "Rally the troops! Encourage the resisters, proudly display the banner - Let's Create the Future Now!" We have so much to gain and what we have to loose is what probably needs to be lost! Arm and arm HR brothers and sisters everywhere, with diligence, commitment and inspiration, let's march onward and future-ward!

If you're feeling as if you need some help accelerating your professional competencies, impact and value as a meaningful strategic business partner, you'll want to learn more about my Talent Management Practitioner Mentor Program to be launched in early 2016. Though in early stages of development, here's a link to let me know you're interested in learning more as the program unfolds - click here  By the way, this is not you're typical certification program. This is hands on realtime mentor/coaching experience where you and the powers that be will see tangible results.