WEBINAR: Don't Fear the Future - 5 Tech Keys to Raise Your HR Game

Tomorrow January 29, 2014 at 2:00PM EST I will be giving a Webinar sponsored by the fine folks at Silkroad called:

Don't Fear the Future: 5 Tech Keys to Raise Your HR and Game in 2014 and Beyond

This is meant to be a lively and hopefully interesting look at some of the most cutting edge or innovative technology trends, (robotics, wearable technology, etc.), talk about where these technologies are heading, why they matter, and then talk a little about how understanding how these technologies can and will be used in the workplace can help you raise your HR game in 2014 and beyond.

Here are all the pertinent details, including the registration link for the FREE Webinar:

While most of us with busy and chaotic jobs in HR are busily trying to get 2013 closed up -- there were some remarkable developments in the consumer, business, and economic arenas that you might have missed. Amazon introduced us to the concept of package delivery via a fleet of drones. Google wants to put a self-driving car in your driveway. And Rethink Robotics wants to supply you with your new office-mate, an eight-foot tall, fully articulated, and happy industrial robot named Baxter. Meanwhile, the workforce is getting older, entire industries are worried about finding the talent they need, and EVERYONE is fighting over the same superstar technical workers.

But you are a progressive HR, recruiting, or talent management pro (that’s why you’re reading this), and you know that in order to help drive your organization boldly into the future you’ve got to stay ahead of the rest of the pack and be the lead dog so to speak. And not only being aware of what is happening in the world outside of the HR office but how these technology and environmental developments will help inform and shape your talent management strategies.

You already get that the key to winning in 2014 (and beyond) is probably not going to be found in creating a better PTO request approval workflow, but you might not yet have the time and the bandwidth to think more deeply and creatively about how to leverage these changes in your organization and for your career.

That’s why Silkroad created their latest webcast – Don't Fear the Future: 5 Tech Keys to Raise Your HR and Game in 2014 and Beyond. Join us for this webcast, and we’ll give you a quick look at what these trends will mean for our work and workplaces, and more importantly, share some creative ideas about how to apply them to your HR and talent practice (and make you look like some kind of clairvoyant in the process). So make plans now to get your 2014 started in the right way - by getting your creative juices flowing and thinking about how your organization can be ready to win the future!

January 29, 2014
2:00 p.m. (Eastern)
1:00 p.m. (Central)
12:00 p.m. (Mountain)
11:00 a.m. (Pacific)

Date or time doesn't fit your schedule? Go ahead and register anyway. We will be sure you receive an email with a link to the recorded webinar following the event.

You can register here and I hope to see you tomorrow!

I don't see him like a robot. I see him like a person.

A couple of years ago when I know I was one of the few folks in the space regularly writing about robots at work and the potential impacts that were going to be realized from these developments, I used to get a boatload of Google search traffic simply from keyword searches on the word 'robot'. These days, I see much less of that kind of search directed traffic, even though I am probably writing even more frequently about the topic. 

But lately it seems like everyone in the HR/work/workplace blogosphere is talking, writing, and speculating about robots and the increasing automation of all kinds of work. While I do think that this increase and almost mainstreaming of attention on the topic is really quite needed, I also think that at some level we might be already getting a little tired of the topic, and are even beginning to tune out these messages.

So rather than run the latest piece about the newest advancement or application of robot or otherwise machine intelligence to a new form of work and issue off another warning about how you or your kids need to take this all very seriously as one day the robots will take all our jobs and leave us, well, trying to figure out what to do with ourselves, I decided to share a simple, short video about a specific application of new robot technology in the workplace, and let you decide what it might mean.

Embedded below, (email and RSS subscribers will need to click through), is a recent video from Rethink Robotics, the makers of the pretty amazing industrial robot known as Baxter. Baxter, you might have heard, represents an improvement to traditional stationary and bespoke, single-use manufacturing robots of the past. Baxter is flexible, can be easily programmed, and can work in very close proximity to people.

Check the video and pay particular attention to the comments of one of the plastics plant supervisors, a Ms. Martinez about what it is like working with (and supervising as it were) Baxter:

Really interesting, for a couple of reasons I think. Certainly the big, easy to remember line is when Ms. Martinez admits to 'seeing' Baxter like a person, like the person who would have previously had that job on the line that Baxter is now cheerfully, ceaselessly, performing. But we also hear some comments from the plastic factory leadership about how the cost savings and efficiency gains from automation are necessary to save jobs in the aggregate, even if the shift to Baxter(s) will cost at least some jobs in the process.

No matter if you take the 'robot threat' seriously, or think it all a bit silly, I think it does help to ground the conversation at least a little bit sometimes, and the experiences and observations of front line organizations, managers, and co-workers that are now, increasingly, co-existing with more and more advanced robotics are worth considering.

Note: I am down at the IBM Connections event in Orlando this week, maybe I can see if Watson has some comments on the subject. 

Notes from the road #9 - The 'Which car is in your airport?' test

Really quick shot from me on a travel Friday - a revival of the long-dormant 'Notes from the road' travel series as I have, fittingnly, been on the road this week. For this installment I have two observations/data points and a then some questions for you.

Observation #1 - On display in the terminal of the charming Greater Rochester (NY) International Airport (I think we have one flight a day to Toronto), was this fine vehicle:

This is a Fiat 500

Observation #2 - On display in the terminal of the West Palm Beach International Airport was this little beauty:

This is a Ferrari 458 

What does this difference in Italian sportscar display say about the two airports/cities?

What does it make us think about what life might be like living there, (because on any trip one of the cities will not be home for you).

If you were flying in a candidate, or if you were the candidate maybe, and she/you take off from a Ferrari city only to land in a Fiat city, would that influence the opinion, attitude about the city, and impact the likelihood that the interview would go well, and they would perhaps even take the job?

Last one - which car(s) are sitting in your home airport right now, or which one should be there that would be a good reflection of your city?

Have a great weekend!

The 3rd Annual Tim Sackett Day honors America's favorite sourcer - Kelly Dingee

First off - Happy Tim Sackett Day!

What the heck is Tim Sackett Day you might be wondering?

Let me take you back to a similar cold, windy, snowy January day just two years ago when a rag-tag band of Human Resources bloggers joined together to honor one of our own, one of the often unsung HR heroes, toiling in the trenches, working day-in and day-out to improve the workplace, one step at a time. The idea was to recognize and praise the type of HR, Talent, or Recruiting pro that all too often goes, well, unrecognized in an era where 'Look at me' sometimes trumps, 'See what I have accomplished.'

So in 2012 for the first and inaugrual Tim Sackett Day we honored, well duh, Tim Sackett. 

And last year for the 2nd Annual Tim Sackett Day, the HR blognoscenti honored another great hero of mine, and one of the stalwarts in the world of motivation, incentives, and influence -  none other than the amazing Paul Hebert.

And for the 3rd Annual Tim Sackett Day we recognize the great Kelly Dingee, aka, America's Favorite Sourcer!Hi Kelly!

You might know Kelly from her work over on the Fistful of Talent blog, where she regularly shares knowledge, strategies, new technologies, and her overall philosophy on all things candidate sourcing, engagement, and outreach. She might be the only contributor over at FOT that actually really and genuinely cares about sharing her ideas and helping the community to learn and get better at their jobs. 

Here are just a few of Kelly's recent takes over at FOT that if you are at all concerned about raising the talent level at your shop, and come on, that has to be all of us, that you should check out:

Is Google+ ready to be our sourcing darling?

My 4 Sourcing Lessons from 2013

Cheap Training for Your Home Grown Sourcer

If you check out these posts, and the rest of the Kelly archive you will come away the better for it. You will have learned something new, been given a compelling reason to try a new strategy or technology, or simply have been challenged to think about what you are doing, and might should not be doing, in a new way.

But the message is delivered in an honest and straightforward way. And the advice is backed up by Kelly's own real-world experience. And that combination makes Kelly pretty rare these days, an HR/Talent influencer that is actually working on her craft, (and sharing her wisdom), with the rest of us.

Congrats to America's Favorite Sourcer on this much-sought after recognition on the 3rd Annual Tim Sackett Day!

Listen to this: Data and Analytics for Hiring and HR

From afar, I have to admit for some time I have been a fan of Evolv, an HR technology company that has for the last few years been been doing some really clever and interesting things in the assessment, screening and analytics space.

Essentially, Evolv helps big organizations, like Xerox for one, understand the characteristics, experiences, and skills that tend to make people successful (and not successful) in a given job, and then helps organizations test for and hopefully hire, the kinds of people that meet (or come close to) those characteristics and therefore are most likely to be successful if they are hired.

Evolv can then evaluate these data points, (and they have millions of them), compare the answers given by prospective candidates to the profile of characteristics of existing employees that indicate eventual performance success, and assess the 'match' of the candiate's answers to the characteristics of the people that time and history have proven to actually be successful on the job.

Recently the folks at NPR's Planet Money took a look at the online predictive assessment process that companies like Evolv are developing and their experience and observations make for a really interesting listen. Check out the NPR podcast here, or using the embedded player below, (email and RSS subscribers may need to click through)

Really fascinating discussion, and mostly because it gives a glimpse into what 'regular' folks, i.e. people not into HR tech or HR or tech, and rather the typical job seeker, think about this approach to employment assessment and HR technology.

The bottom line seems to be that while there might be some (initial) reservations about the relevance, accuracy, and applicability of these kinds of screening tools for employment, that the 'old' system of resumes, cover letters, interviewing polish, and 'Do you have a friend on the inside?' cronyism that are the hallmarks of the traditional job search are no better than casing your lot with an online assessment.

For what it is worth, I think the approach Evolv is taking represents the future of screening, assessment, and hiring. Wordsmithing resumes, spending hours and hours on cover letters than no one reads, and trying to decide if you should wait 24 or 48 hours to follow up with a recruiter after an interview seem incredibly nonsensical, add little value to the process, and ultimately have nothing at all inherent in them that can predict eventual success on the job.

So take a listen to the podcast (about 18 mnutes or so), and get an idea where the future of assessment and recruiting is heading. Let me know what you think.

Happy Geico Day!