HR Pros and Technology - It's a Hard Knock Life...
October 16, 2008
So, I'm T minus 7 days and counting - I'm doing a presentation on social media/tech and HR at the state HR conference.
It's not that I don't know what to cover, or that I'll have a hard time putting it together. I've presented
on the topic before and already have the slide decks ready to roll. I'm fine in that regard.
It's that I don't really know if I can make a difference to the HR pros I'm talking to. I'm a big believer in the power of social media and 2.0/3.0 technologies without question, and believe other HR pros should be as well (if you hate the term 2.0, sorry about that, but it's still the best descriptor out there, especially for those who don't have exposure). If you're reading this blog, chances are you're an advocate as well -both for HR and technology (hey! we know what blogs are!).
So, I'm an advocate and I'll bring my A-game. I just don't know if I'll REACH anyone. My friend Meg Bear probably put it best over at Talented Apps when she recently put HR pros on notice regarding the same topic. Here's a part of Meg telling it like it is:
"I know I’m hard on you, I honestly don’t mean to be. I am just really tired of hearing, time and again, that the only way that HR has any influence on the company is when new leadership is brought in to lead. I just know you can do better. This is why I have to to put you “on notice” now. I don’t want you to suggest that I didn’t warn you. It is time to lead and if you won’t someone else will.
You must take a role in leading an internal social strategy in your organization. Your company is currently deciding what their strategy is for social media and if you are not in loop now you might never be. So why is it so critical for HR to be in the loop? This is not just about the currently available pieces of enterprise 2.0, it is about the changing face of managing human capital and I can tell you with confidence, that if I see it coming it’s not far away."
It's a great call to action by Meg, and hey - I'm ready to jump on the train before it leaves the station. Of course, I'm a HR person who jumped on blogs in early 2007, so you would expect that from me. Since you're reading blogs, there's a high likelihood that you're into social media, so you're in the game.
Welcome to the bleeding edge. We forgot that 90% of the HR world has never read a blog. Since you and I are daily consumers of this type of content, we're into other aspects of social media as well. Most HR people aren't, and it's easy to forget that.
Here's Meg's final call to action - click over for a great list of items Meg defines as illustrative of how the definition of talent is changing, and what it means for HR pros:
"OK, so now you know just how big this shift is going to be. I suggest you find a way to plant yourself at the center of the solution quickly, or I expect I’ll be hearing another story about how hard it is and how nothing ever gets done.
The game is changing people, how badly do you want to win?"
Good stuff, Meg. Wish me luck in my ongoing presentations - it's not that I don't know what to say, it's that I'm less than confident I can help get change. And that stinks.
Hi Kris -
So, first off, good luck with your presentation and greetings from a new reader.
Your post resonates with me for a couple of reasons. Both relate to the group coaching and speaking I do with high potential executives.
The first is that I find that entry level execs (directors and VP's), like the HR professionals you wrote about, are waiting for "them" (the top executives) to do something. It's always interesting to see the facial expressions when I suggest that directors and VP's are in a position to change things by taking action and influencing the rest of the organization - both up and down the chain.
The second point of resonance was your comment about the lack of awareness and under utilization of Web 2.0 platforms. The most common facial expression I see when I mention my blog or blogging with a group of executives is blank stares. My guess is 2 or 3 years from now everybody in the corporate world is going to be using the 2.0 technology the way they use e-mail today. It's a challenge leading everyone there, though, isn't it?
Cheers -
Scott
Posted by: Scott Eblin | October 16, 2008 at 03:01 PM
Good luck with your presentation, Kris.
I am not an HR person. I was a line manager for over 30 years. I always wondered and perhaps you can enlighten me why HR never seems interested in helping their company to make the most of their human capital
That was the focus of my entire career. I gave up the traditional top-down command and control approach after my first 12 years and slowly but surely migrated to its opposite, the bottom-up approach. The more I listened to people and responded effectively to their complaints, suggestions and questions, the better they performed. I discovered at first that they were twice as capable as I had ever thought. Later on, after I learned how to convert the 95% of employees who were conformists (wasting much of their brainpower trying to conform) to being self-directed as were my very best performers, I learned that people are actually four times as capable as I had thought. In this mode, morale and productivity go through the roof and the company blows away competitors.
So I wonder why HR doesn't take the lead and provide real value by teaching managers how to manage people in such a way to unleash their full potential of creativity, innovation, productivity, motivation and commitment to get achieve effectiveness in the use of human capital?
Best regards, Ben
Posted by: Bennet Simonton | October 16, 2008 at 03:55 PM
Hello Kris,
First let me say congratulations on the presentation. You'll do fine. I recently did a similar presentation before our state SHRM conference and a HR Technology group. Both were well received and I've heard a few say their now moving into the 21st century.
You know this but I'll say it anyway. You can't save everyone. You can provide the information and a path to success. But the choice to walk on that path is theirs.
I, too believe that HR as a function is on the bleeding edge of a tremendous change. If we're not careful MBA strategist will move into the Human Capital space pushing out HR professionals and leaving them in the dust of managing service center and compliance.
Just a thought...
Posted by: Denise Cooper | October 16, 2008 at 06:56 PM
Thanks for "getting it" Kris, I was beginning to wonder if I had made a big error using the "on notice" generator since that was such fun it clouded the message some.
I made a lot of observations at HR Tech on this topic, some I will blog, others I will email. I am absolutely interested in seeing your slides though (and yours Denise) if you are willing to share please do. I'll certainly attempt to return the favor as I expect to be crafting a few messages around this in coming quarters.
- Meg
Posted by: Meg Bear | October 17, 2008 at 06:20 PM
Web 2.0 technologies are being adopted by early users at an ever-increasing pace; it's tough for everyone else to keep up. Why? Because everything happens so fast, many in the industry eschew participating at the bleeding edge, instead observing and spectating.
But this fact isn't really a revelation as much as it is an intriguing mirror of a well-established trend. Many are familiar with the bell curve that illustrates how technology, in general, is adopted:
Some folks are always the early adopters. Their numbers are small. And then there are those who adopt new technology only after they -- perhaps unconsciously -- get the feeling that it has been adequately vetted by these early adopters.
These folks aren't the experimenters; they aren't the adventurers, like we are. But some among them have the potential to be, and it is our job to inspire them.
Posted by: Brent Skinner | October 29, 2008 at 03:33 PM