New Class, New Ideas
SteveThe latest installment of my HR Technology class (I think this is number 5) is set to begin in about two weeks time. Since I am now a veteran of developing and delivering this class, there is the temptation 
to to think I have it all figured out, and I can simply roll out the last term's content, assignments, readings, etc. and the class will more or less take care of itself.
But I think to do that would be a disservice to both the students and to myself to some extent.
The market for HR Technology is constantly changing. Great and new content is being published every day. Heck, even the legend Naomi Bloom is now blogging, a new development since I last taught the class.
And my perspective is changing as well. Since the last class I have attended a half dozen events, read stacks of papers and blog posts, done ten or so HR Happy Hour Shows and met some incredibly smart and talented people.
So for the new class, I am determined to keep the content and the delivery fresh, relevant, and here is the key I think - forward thinking. More emphasis on what is 'next' I believe is of more short and long-term value to my students than spending too much time on the past.
Finally, another goal I have for this session is to have even more community involvement in the class and more external expert interaction with the students. In the past I have done virtual guest speakers, an HR blogger/student guest post project, and some online discussion forum moderation by outside experts.
These activities were all interesting, reasonably successful, and to some extent fun. But I want to do more, push the 'community' aspect even further and try to ensure that once the students have completed the course they have established a real connection to the broader community of HR and Technology stars that have done so much to further my own knowledge.
If you are an HR pro, HR Technology expert, vendor, or blogger and want to get involved in the HR Technology class, leave me a comment, or send me an e-mail - steveboese@gmail.com.
If you have some suggestions or recommendations as to what technologies, strategies, and skills I should emphasize I'd love to hear those suggestions as well.
And as always, thanks for your support.
Reader Comments (9)
Thanks for the shout-out. I'm in. I'd love to do an "Ask the Expert" session like I did at HR Tech, and we can always seed the questions if your students are shy. And here's another suggestion. Make them read all the papers published on my blog site for extra credit. When they fire you from the University, you've got a future in whatever it is that I do.
I love the idea of getting your students to do a guest post for an HR blogger. I'm actually working with the local student chapter of SHRM to get them to start a group/community blog to showcase their skills and knowledge to prospective employers. The best advice I have is to make sure whatever you do is archived in some way. If you feel like it's worth posting here on the blog, it could be a huge resource for HR students everywhere. Email me if you'd like to chat. Just the idea of being able to help the students makes me pumped. :-)
Whoa. This is too weird. I was just talking to someone about getting college students to write on RecruitingBlogs.com because their perspective would be fresh, interesting and totally spark conversation. One of the things I think would be really fantastic is to have them approach business topics from an HR perspective or how they think a merger or acquisition might affect certain workforce or compensation strategies. Not totally HR Technology (sorry) but as soon as I finished having this convo, I saw your tweet! Kismet?
We'd be interested in the moderated discussions and in looking into the idea of a guest post by a student. In addition, for the super ambitious members of you class, what do you think about having a group of them start their very own blogging community and/or twitter list? If they did that, I'm sure folks you work with (like us) would advertise and promote them with posts, blog roll, whatever. Too much?
Great post and good idea Steve. Maren - I like your comment here and think there is a lot of value in getting people to start thinking about how to solve business problems in a more holistic way, obviously including "HR based" components to those solutions as well. There are companies out there that don't do this M&A work particularly well, and you end up with a mess in their HRMS because nothing is standard (standard hours, comp plans, systems, access/security).
Steve great thoughts regarding your next class. I have talked to recruiters and executives that have asked for referrals for HR Executives for their firms this past year. The two words I have heard most often in the last 6 months are "forward-thinking". You sir once again, are spot-on.
Hi Steve -
Great post as always. Great ideas about your upcoming class, I think it is so important to share real life stories and situations in the class setting. I would love to come in and meet with your class, talk about the recruitng aspect of HR, or host students perspective on our blog, one RIT to another. Let me know how I can help!
Best -
Chernee
@Naomi - Your new blog, and many of your prior publications are on the list for sure, and once I get the schedule of classes set, let's try to arrange a night where you can call in to the class for a 'Ask the Expert' session. It would be fantastic
@Ben - You are 100% correct about making the work they do more enduring and sustainable. I will let you know what I come up with.
@Maren - Thanks for the suggestions. I have a specific subject matter of course, but I also see my role as kind of an ambassador to the big, external world. Almost none of my students are aware of what is happening on the blogs, in online communities like Recruiting Blogs, etc. Let me see if I can identify a student or two that would be a good fit for what you are describing.
@Mark - Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to be more aggressive this class with the use of Twitter in particular, and I like your idea quite a bit.
@Jason - Thanks Jason, great points about keeping the 'whole' in mind as well as the parts
@Debbie - Thanks very much I totally agree, looking forward will benefit my class much more than looking back
@Chernee - Thanks for the offer! I love the idea and I will contact you to figure out how to best work this out in our schedules this winter.
Thanks SO much everyone for all the support!
I loved participating in your previous classes so of course count me in again. I think some technologies to cover is the movement of ERP applications to the SaaS model, Google Wave and the continued integration of Social Media technologies into HR applications. Speaking of integration, companies continue to purchase multiple best of breed applications without thinking about how to effectively and efficiently integrate them together so how about some emphasise in your class on integration?