My Top Five HR Technology Conference Moments #HRTechConf

I am just back from another fantastic week at the HR Technology Conference in Chicago, which once again was a record-breaking gathering of HR leaders, technology executives, industry experts and thought leaders who convened in the Windy City to talk all things HR and workforce technology, and organizational success.

As the Conference Program Chair, and the onsite host, I (sadly), don't get to actually see and enjoy as much of the Conference as I would like. I tend to have to run from a General Session, to a rehearsal for one of the next day's General Sessions, and then maybe to yet another rehearsal, with a few minutes here and there spent actually talking to folks and (when I had a little time), walking the floor of the Expo, (which if you attended, you know you needed PLENTY of time to see).

But I did still want to share some of my impressions of this year's event, even if they are limited to the parts of the Conference that I actually did SEE, if not in their entirety, at least for significant amounts of time. And I also wanted to make sure I thanked and recognized some of the great people who shared their time, energy, insights, and expertise, to make the Conference a success.

So a couple of disclaimers before I get going. I am not going to mention any element of the Conference I did not see in person, so that rules out just about all of the Concurrent sessions, (I think I was only able to peek into a couple of them over the course of the event), the below 'Top Five' list is presented in reverse chronological order, (to keep me from having to pick my absolute favorite), and if I fail to mention someone I should have, I promise it is completely an oversight, and not intentional.

So with that said, here are my Top Five Moments from this year's HR Tech Conference:

5. The first 'Women in HR Technology' Summit

On the Conference's opening day last Tuesday, we held our first-ever 'Women in HR Technology' Summit. The Women in HR Technology Summit was designed for HR, business, and technology leaders in HR and HRIT to share strategies for enabling and supporting technology careers for women, learn from CHROs on the best ways to create and support more inclusivity in technology roles, and hear from successful Founders and CEOs on how they are breaking barriers for women in technology leadership.

The discussions were incredibly interesting, as were our three panels moderated by the fantastic Cara Capretta, (women tech leaders, CHROs and talent leaders, and CEOs and Founders), along with our closing address 'Lead Like a Girl' from Tacy Byham kept our capacity audience captivated throughout the day. There were so many leaders who are talented, successful, and willing to openly share their experience and insights, that the session turned into an absolute highlight of the Conference.

From last week's #HRTechConf at the Women in HR Tech Summit - a highlight of the Conference for me.

A photo posted by Steve Boese (@steveboese) on Oct 10, 2016 at 8:27am PDT

To say that the inaugural event was a success could be a bit of an understatement. In my four years of being a Program Chair for HR Tech, I have never received more positive comments and feedback about any single element at the Conference. Stay tuned for more on this subject, as it has become clear to me that there is the need for and interest in, further programming, conversations, and networking in this important topic.

4. Discovering the Next Great HR Technology Company

While HR Tech, and plenty of other shows, have done startup tech company demonstrations and competitions in the past, this year at HR Tech we decided to introduce a new spin on the concept.  Borrowing from the format of the popular TV series "The Voice", we paired up and coming HR technology companies with their own expert 'coaches', (Trish McFarlane, George LaRocque, Madeline Laurano, Kyle Lagunas), who not only 'found' and nominated these companies for participation in the event, but also collaborated and coached them on their presentations and delivery for the event itself.

I'm looking very serious on stage at #hrtechconf

A photo posted by Trish McFarlane (@trish_mcfarlane) on Oct 4, 2016 at 11:27pm PDT

 

At the session, ably hosted by Jason Averbook, each of the 8 participating companies, (InvestiPro, ClickBoarding, Chemistry Group, LifeWorks, Clinch, HighGround, RolePoint, and Qwalify), had 5 minutes to talk about their solution, and show it off a little, followed by about 2 minutes to answer a question or two from one of our expert coaches. After 8 fast-paced demonstrations and discussions, the audience got to vote for who they thought would be 'The Next Great Technology Company' - a vote won by LifeWorks in what was an extremely tight race.

3. General Session - 'Engaging and Retaining the Talent of Tomorrow'

An important benefit of HR Tech every year is the opportunity for attendees to hear from and gain insights from many of the most influential HR leaders in the world on the topics that are most important to all HR professionals today - areas like talent management, employee experience, development, and creating opportunity for diverse talent pools just to name a few. This year at HR Tech we held what was perhaps the most powerful panel of top HR leaders that we have ever assembled at one time - the highest ranking HR executives from Starbucks, IBM, Cisco, and ADP and that was narrated by award-winning journalist the TV host Soledad O'Brien.

#Flashback to #HRTechConf 2016 Thursday's General Session with Soledad O'Brien

A photo posted by HR Technology (@hrtechconf) on Oct 7, 2016 at 4:49pm PDT

In the session, the panel hit on major themes impacting and shaping the workplace today - freedom, stability, information sharing, self-management, and fulfillment to name a few. These senior HR leaders reminded us all that the talent and engagement challenges that face their tens and hundreds of thousands employee companies are not at all unlike the ones you might be facing in your organization as well. But even more importantly they reminded us of the power and value of coming together in one place, at the same time, to talk and share openly about these challenges. I was able to spend some time talking with and watching this panel of CHROs interact with each other, and I was struck by how easy and natural their conversations were with each other, and how open and willing they were to connect. It was a fantastic group and an amazing session at the Conference.

2. The 2nd Annual HR Tech Hackathon, (and first HR Tech Hacklab)

A newer feature at HR Tech, introduced in 2015, is the HR Tech Hackathon. In our Hackathon several HR tech solution providers send small teams consisting of about four developers and designers to take on a development challenge and 48 hours later, present it to our audience. In 2015, the challenge statement to the teams was pretty generic, and while all the teams that year did a fantastic job interpreting and putting their own unique stamp on the development, I thought something was still missing - namely a connection between our HR leaders in attendance and each individual technical team.

So this year, I was lucky to be able to enlist my friends Jason Lauritsen and Joe Gerstandt of Talent Anarchy to facilitate an opening day 'Hack Lab' were over 200 attendees worked in teams to generate their own 'hacks' or ideas for new and improved processes, solutions, and technologies that each of the technical Hackathon teams would choose from in order to guide their development. The teams, (from TMP Worldwide, IBM, Towers Willis Watson, and Ultimate Software), each selected a challenge and worked with that specific HackLab team to try and bring the attendee's concepts to life.

Digital depiction of the #HRTechConf Hackathon demonstrations last week

A photo posted by Steve Boese (@steveboese) on Oct 10, 2016 at 9:21am PDT

As you can see from the digital rendering of the Hackathon session above, each of the teams brought new, exciting, and innovative ideas to their solutions. I kind of like to think that I have seen it all in terms of HR tech, but even I was amazed at what I saw that these teams were able to create in such a short time. Thanks to all the Hackathon participants for their fantastic efforts, and special props go to the team from Ultimate Software whose 'Ultimatt' solution was voted as the audience's favorite.

1. The Ideas and Innovators Session

So we at HR Tech did not invent the 'Ignite' format, nor are we the first conference by any means to stage sessions using this format, but I think after seeing quite a few of these kinds of sessions over the years, in my totally biased opinion at HR Tech we do this format the best.

And the reason why we do is 100% due to the speakers that we are able to secure for this session at HR Tech. We have the built-in advantage of having just about all the best minds in the industry already gathered in one place, so I have to say find 10 or 11 folks who are ready to rock the Ignite format really is not all that hard.

We had talks on a wide range of topics - robotics, workforce fluidity, the gig economy, people as the center of the organization, disrupting your own career - and more. And we had what I think was the best collection of people at any event I have been associated with who rose up to this toughest of all public speaking challenges.

Fantastic group of speakers at our Ideas and Innovators session at #HRTechConf

A photo posted by Steve Boese (@steveboese) on Oct 8, 2016 at 4:57pm PDT

Many, many thanks to Lance Haun, Cecile Alper-Leroux, Jason Seiden, Jennifer Payne, Ben Eubanks, Michael Krupa, Adam Rogers, Ambrosia Vertesi, and Trish McFarlane for being awesome. And special thanks to Mike Psenka, who would have been awesome too. Mike had to head back to Charleston in advance of the approaching Hurricane Matthew to take care of his family, and graciously allowed me to step in to (try) and deliver his message on communication. (Mike would have been better!).

As always with HR Tech, I do have to send out a blanket apology to anyone I forgot to mention above, who I didn't get a chance to see at the Conference, whose party I said I would try to make it to but didnt', or anyone else that I just was not able to spend the time with that I would have liked. I am still working on a way to get a clone ready in time for 2017.

And finally, thanks so much to all of the HR Tech Conference attendees, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and my colleagues at LRP who put on such an amazing show. I am indebted to all of you and hope to see you back at the show, back in Las Vegas, next year.

Blues Brothers Band members, ranked

Since I am on the way to Chicago for the HR Technology Conference this week, I thought it would be fun (and be a needed short diversion), to run a Chicago-themed Ranked post.

And what says Chicago more than the Blues Brothers Band? Well, I suppose plenty of other things are more 'Chicago' than the Blues Brothers, but this was the first idea that came to mind. That, coupled with I only want to spend 10 minutes writing this sealed the deal.

Quick clarification on the criteria for inclusion - the list is limited to the original lineup of the Blues Brothers Band and who appeared in the first Blues Brothers movie.

As always the rankings on the blog are unresearched, unscientific, completely subjective, and 100% accurate.

Here goes:

10. Murphy 'Murph' Dunne (keyboards) - His role in the movie was meant to be Paul Shaffer's

9. Donald 'Duck' Dunn (bass) - What are the chances two guys named 'Dunn(e)' would be in the same band? Weird.

8. Tom 'Bones' Malone (trombone) - How many successful, mainstream bands have actually had a trombone player? Can't be more than 10 in the last 4,000 years.

7. Willie 'Too Big' Hall (drums) - Played with the Bar-Kays for a while. (that is all I have for Wille Hall trivia)

6. 'Blue' Lou Marini (saxophone) - Was for a time a member of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Which seems pretty cool.

5. Matt 'Guitar' Murphy (guitar) - Pros - Doesn't let Aretha Franklin boss him around, Cons - boring nickname

4. Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper (guitar) - Doesn't every 'military rank' nickname sound awesome? I want to be called 'The Colonel' or 'The General'

3. 'Joliet' Jake Blues (lead vocals) - Probably should be #2. 

2. Alan 'Mr. Fabulous' Rubin (trumpet) - Vaults way up the list due to his fantastic nickname

1. Elwood Blues (harmonica) - Takes #1 because the harmonica is cool. And has the single best line in the movie with the 'It's dark and we're wearing sunglasses' bit

There you have it.

Of course you can disagree with the list, but of course you would be wrong.

Happy Sunday and if you are out at HR Tech this week be sure to say hello.

HRE Column: Three Lessons Learned Programming the #HRTechConf

Here is my semi-frequent reminder and pointer for blog readers that I also write a monthly column at Human Resource Executive Online called Inside HR Tech that can be found here.

This month, I took a look back at what I learned, or have think I have learned, from the last four years of programming the upcoming HR Technology Conference, and tried to tease out some of the trends and themes that are important for HR and business leaders to keep in mind as they consider their current and future HR technology programs.

I came up with three big lessons from all this thinking about and seeing HR Tech solutions that I tried to describe in my HR Executive column. From the HRE piece:

The last four years I've spent as the co-chair of the HR Technology Conference and Exposition^® (Oct. 4 through 7 in Chicago) have provided me with a unique perspective and view of HR-technology innovation, insight into the major trends and shifts in HR-technology solutions, and a better understanding of how the most successful organizations are applying these solutions in their enterprises to achieve superior business results. The last four years have been spent taking software demonstrations from hundreds of innovative HR-technology start-ups, meeting with and attending customer conferences and analyst meetings with many of the industry's leading solution providers, and perhaps most importantly, talking with HR and business leaders who have presented at the conference about their challenges and successes. These experiences have given me a large data set to consider when I think about how I would approach HR and workforce technology if I were back in the role of selecting, implementing and supporting such solutions for an enterprise.

With this year's conference just about a week away, I thought it would be interesting and hopefully informative for HR leaders if I shared what I think are (at least some of) the most important pieces of advice about the HR-technology market and how HR leaders can best increase their chances of success with their investments and programs. These are not in any particular order of priority or importance, just a few things that come to mind as I think back on all the technology I have seen and people I have learned from these last four years.

Lesson One: If the HR solutions in your organization can't communicate with each other, they are probably less valuable by half.

There's been a big trend these last two years, in particular, for many of the leading HR-technology solution providers to create application marketplaces that are more open and easier for HR and HRIT leaders to use to better integrate different solutions from different providers. These marketplaces -- from providers such as ADP, CornerstoneOnDemand and iCIMS, among others -- are explicitly designed to make supporting and complementary solutions work more seamlessly with the "core" HR solutions such as payroll and applicant tracking, to name just two. This trend toward openness and easier integration is likely to continue as HR leaders recognize the additional value and cost savings of simpler, faster services supported and backed by the providers themselves, not just the customer's own IT resources.

Lesson Two: Analytics may not have taken over HR, but what is coming in the next evolution of analytics just might.

At previous HR Tech conferences, we devoted considerable time and attention to HR analytics. But even in 2016, it still seems that the organizations presenting their analytics success stories at the conference are still in the decided minority, and that most organizations have yet to embrace and implement many, if any, of these analytics-heavy technologies. But I actually think the next phase of innovation in this area will...

Read the rest of the HR Exec column here 

Good stuff, right? Humor me...

If you liked the piece you can sign up over at HRE to get the Inside HR Tech Column emailed to you each month. There is no cost to subscribe, in fact, I may even come over and rake your leaves car or clean out your gutters for you if you do sign up for the monthly email.

Also, if you are interested in the HR Technology Conference that will be held next week, (October 4- 7 in Chicago), you can learn more, see the full agenda, and still register to attend at the HR Tech website - www.hrtechconference.com.

One final note: With the Conference next week the blog will be quiet for a little bit, I hope to get back to it the week of October 10.

Have a great weekend and hope to see many blog readers at HR Tech!

What if everything I told you was wrong?

If you are a fan of the video series TED Talks or have been to an HR conference or two in the past couple of years then you are probably familiar, or at least have heard of Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy. Her work on something called 'power poses' has been the source of one of the most popular TED talks of all time, with something like 35 million views, a bestselling book titled 'Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges', and has been out on the speaking circuit for most of 2016 promoting the book.I'm the person not in the power pose

The book's central theses: that leveraging body language in these 'power poses', (think standing tall, arms raised, chin up, chest out, etc.), can help us overcome things like anxiety, fear, lack of confidence and allow us to perform our best, (or at least better), in stressful situations like speeches, job interviews, or presentations. The book, the TED talk, and the speaking gigs all stem from the same source: a 2010 study titled Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance authored by Amy Cuddy along with Dana Carney and Andy Yap.

From the 2010 paper's conclusion:

Our results show that posing in high-power displays (as opposed to low-power displays) causes physiological, psychological, and behavioral changes consistent with the literature on the effects of power on power holders—elevation of the dominance hormone testosterone, reduction of the stress hormone cortisol, and increases in behaviorally demonstrated risk tolerance and feelings of power.

It goes on a bit longer, but you get the idea. 'Power poses' can increase testosterone, improve our feelings of power, and help us perform under stress. Awesome to know this, as taking a minute or two to put yourself in a 'power pose' is about one of the easiest things I can think of to do.

But....

What if this actually isn't true? I mean what if the benefits and positive outcomes from adopting 'power poses' are really non-existent, or at least incredibly negliible? What would you think if you have watched Ms. Cuddy's TED talk 26 times, bought and read her book, or paid to attend a conference where she was a keynote speaker?

Remember that 2010 research study at the core of the 'power pose' idea?

Here is what one of the paper's co-authors, Dana Carney has to say today, as reported in Inc.com:

There's only one problem: It (the effects of power poses), isn't real. Several subsequent studies following rigorous protocols were unable to reproduce the effect Cuddy and her co-authors found. Striking a power pose did not increase testosterone, associated with confidence, or decrease cortisol, associated with stress in these subsequent tests. And late last night, Dana Carney, one of Cuddy's co-authors on the original paper, published a document disavowing that research.

She, Cuddy, and the other researchers weren't being dishonest, she explains, but they made some significant mistakes in their research. Their sample size of 47 was much too small. The people conducting the experiment mostly knew what outcome was being sought, which has a tendency to skew research results. The testosterone increase might have been caused by a different aspect of the experiment--people were given the opportunity to gamble and some of them won, which also increases testosterone.

Considering all that was wrong with the original experiments and the fact that later experiments did not produce the same effect, she writes, "I do not have any faith in the embodied effects of 'power poses.' I do not think the effect is real." She goes on to say that she does not conduct research in this area herself and hasn't in years, nor does she teach the material to her students anymore. And she wants to discourage other researchers from pursuing power poses, which she believes are a dead end.

If you read what Carney published essentially disavowing the research's validity and the follow-on from the marketing of the value of 'power poses' you will come away wondering just how silly it all sounds now. 

Standing in the Wonder Woman pose for 45 seconds will actually make you act and think and seem like ,you know the actual Wonder Woman? That seems kind of dopey. 

And it did to me back when I met Ms. Cuddy, (and where I got the pic you see above).

She was one of the featured speakers at a conference I attended earlier this year, and I was invited to go back stage prior to her talk for a meet and great, get a copy of her book, and take a picture. Prior to that day I had not seen her TED talk, and frankly didn't know much, (anything) about her research and the book. I had never heard of a 'power pose'.

But as I waited in the meet and greet line, I observed 10 or 12 people before me all take a picture with Ms. Cuddy, with the author and the conference attendee each proceeding to adopt the Wonder Woman pose you see Ms. Cuddy in the pic above. As I said, I never heard of the pose, kind of felt idiotic taking up the pose for the pic, and instead stood in what was for me a more comfortable, natural position.

After taking the pic, and talking to some of the folks backstage, I was clued in to just what the Wonder Woman/Power Poses thing was all about. And I felt really stupid that I stood next to the world's foremost expert on Power Posing and took up a pose that (I later learned), was the exact opposite of what I should have done.

I am standing with my arms folded in, am slightly hunched, (Ms. Cuddy is kind of short), and more or less look exactly like someone who had never heard of a Power Pose, and the benefits that such a pose provides.

Long, long story short - I really have no idea if Power Posing creates any real benefit or value or not. I suppose even if it can't be scientifically proven, but it still makes one feel better and seemingly more confident, then it can't hurt.

Just, in the future, if you have Ms. Cuddy speak at your Conference you may want to skip the awkward meet and great posing routine. It did feel dumb to me when I was there. And I'd feel even dumber if I had taken up the Wonder Woman pose only to find out a few months later that it doesn't actually, you know, do anything.

PODCAST - #HRHappyHour 260 - #HRTechConf Preview and Oracle OpenWorld Review

HR Happy Hour 260 - The HR Tech Conference Preview and Oracle OpenWorld Review

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Recorded live at Oracle OpenWorld 2016, San Francisco

Listen to the show HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show hosts Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane review the recently concluded Oracle OpenWorld event, talk about some of the important and interesting developments in the Oracle HCM products, as well as the broader implications for HR and business leaders that stem from moving more enterprise applications, (ERP, SCM, HCM), to the cloud. It was a great event and there are lots of interesting and exciting things happening at Oracle.

Additionally, Steve and Trish previewed the upcoming HR Technology Conference, (October 4 - 7, 2016 in Chicago). We talked about some of the new and exciting elements at the Conference this year, what sessions that attendees should be sure not to miss, and shared some advice on how to make the most of their HR Tech Conference experience.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, or by using the widget player below, (Email and RSS subscribers need to click through)

This was a really fun show, and we hope you enjoy it. 

Thanks to Oracle for having the HR Happy Hour out at Oracle OpenWorld this year.

Be sure to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, or your favorite podcast app. Just search for 'HR Happy Hour' to subscribe and never miss a show.