Negative Space

A recent guest on the HR Happy Hour show sent me a note after the show expressing concern that they had perhaps dominated the conversation and was worried that I may have been somehow offended or disappointed.  

I was neither offended nor disappointed.Tourist photo , NYC, 1950's

The show is all about providing a forum or platform for interesting and smart people to share their opinions, insights, and expertise.  I don't need to say much of anything to have a good show. In fact, I think at times, the less I have to say the better.

That advice I think holds true for many other relationships as well, be they 'real' or virtual or with software programs and their users.  Hurry up and finish talking so I can say what I really think. Let me tell you what I have been up to. Sure, we have that feature.  We have every feature.

It holds true for the design of the systems that we use in our workplaces and in our spare time. Software companies often feel compelled to include every feature that customers request, or that they have seen a competitor tout as 'new and improved'. 

We don't always have to fill up all the space with words, content, opinions, comments, buttons, and features.

Sometimes it is perfectly acceptable to not have all that much to say, and let some negative, or empty space in.

Is it obvious that I spent the holiday weekend goofing off, and did not come up with anything interesting to write today?

Barbecue and New Beginnings

Today kicks off that annual end of summer celebration in the United States known as Labor Day weekend.

As I write this, it's late and I can't be bothered to look up the specifics about the origin of the Labor Day holiday, but I am fairly sure it was born from a long history of employers exploiting the workforce with long hours, unreasonable pressures, low pay, poor working conditions, and unrealistic expectations.  

Thankfully, those days are long behind us. 

They are, aren't they?

These days Labor Day weekend is mostly about transition, the change of the seasons, the end of summer vacation for students, and the start of 'serious' business since vacation and holiday time is pretty much over for most workers.

And of course Labor Day weekend is about barbecue.  Who doesn't spend at least some time on Labor Day weekend at the grill, burning perfectly searing some steaks or concocting their favorite burger recipe.

For me, I plan on spending some quality time with three of the things that have come to mean a lot to me - my butcher, my smoker, and my grill.

I hope you have a fantastic long holiday weekend.  No matter how tough things may be out there for you, Labor Day offers the promise of the end of one phase of your life and the start of another.  

I mark this transition with gobs of smoky, delicious meats, how you mark it is up to you, but for sure once Labor Day is passed, it all starts over again.

HR Technology Talk from the Godfather

Tonight on the HR Happy Hour Show we welcome the Godfather of HR Technology, the HR Technology Conference Co-Chair Bill Kutik to the show for the 'HR Technology Conference Preview'.

You can listen live starting at 8PM EDT from the show page, using the player embedded below, or by calling in to 646-378-1086.

The world of HR Technology changes by the day, new players enter, established players try to up their game with new offerings and capabilities, and a week doesn't seem to go past without another major announcement of buyouts and consolidation in the space.

I have to think all this HR Tech Vendor consolidation can't be good for selling booth space.

Bill will be on board tonight to talk about the big event, which has become one of the key, must-attend HR conferences of the year, to share his views of the market for HR Technology from his vantage point as the leading independent analyst of the space, and to offer up many other insights and pearls of wisdom gained from a long career in journalism.

I hope you can join us tonight for the debut of the great Bill Kutik on the HR Happy Hour show - talking all things HR Technology, and the big HR Technology Conference set for September 29 - October 1.

HR Florida - A Bold Attempt is Half of Success

The leaders and organizers of the HR Florida State Conference have welcomed and embraced the social media community in a proactive and meaningful manner.

The second annual blogger/social media panel (which was a trip, even if I got the shaft 'Family Feud'Mike V style), the presence and continued coverage of the team from Voice of HR, and the support and accomodation of two live HR Happy Hour shows from the conference location, are just some of the social media elements running through the conference.

Heck, in every concurrent session an announcement is made explaining that they are numerous bloggers in attendance, and the tweeting during the sessions in actively encouraged. 

I talked with Mike VanderVort , the organizer and the moderator of the blogger panel about the thought process undertaken by the HR Florida leadership team that has led to the social media component to be so strongly apparent and even emphasized at the event.  Mike shared with me that the leadership committee felt strongly that social media, social networking, and knowledge/skills necessary to leverage these tools in the modern workplace would transform the way people work, and how HR leaders will be in position to drive results in their companies.

Just like the traditional and expected impacts to HR professionals and the workplace from US Healthcare reform, the effects of a long term economic downturn, and the seemingly ever changing and increasingly complex labyrinth of workplace legislation; the leadership of HR Florida felt that the impact of social media and social networking was of enough importance that their membership and their conference attendees would be well served by the presentation of visible and relevant education and dialog about these new tools and strategies for their use inside organizations.

Welcoming the sometimes unpredictable world of bloggers/tweeters etc. into your event is not without some risk and definitely some uncertainty.  Occasionally a tweet may be negative or accusatory, a blogger might use some shall we say more 'colorful' language than what is typically heard at these kinds of events.  The 'message' is no longer in complete control of the conference organizers and the presenters.  Lack of control, rogue comments, potential exposure of negative aspects of the event, or the content.  

Heck, the exact same concerns that made up the first five audience questions to the blogger panel.

The truth is, neither HR Conferences nor HR professionals at organizations can 'control' the message any longer.  What is really cool about HR Florida, pretty much as traditional an event as I have ever seen, is that it has come to terms with this new reality, and in many cases, much, much sooner than the HR professional that are their customers.

The conference is to be commended for this vision. The event, just like the inside of organizations, can't be sure what will result from this experiment. But in the immortal words of the chocolate covered fortune cookie I had last night - 'A Bold Attempt is Half of Success'.

HR Florida and Doing the Right Thing

I am attending the HR Florida State Conference and Expo and participating on the second annual HR Florida blogger panel later today. Huge thanks to the HR Florida team for inviting me to attend and be a part of the show.

The first session I sat in on was called the 'ROI of Compassion' presented by Lisa Murfield.  Lisa shared the story of United Bulk Terminal, a small Louisiana employer that was faced with massive business disruption, personal hardship, and even devastating tragedy as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Of United Bulk Terminal's approximately 150 employees, 83% lost their homes, and though damage, infrastructure problems, inability to get supplies to the facility, business operations were shut for over two months.

Using a concerted and coordinated program of support, outreach, and committed communication, United Bulk Terminal was able to successfully resume business operations while retaining over 50% of the 'pre-disaster' employees.  That may not sound like an impressive percentage, but considering the personal devastation, the forced evacuations, and the incredible trauma that the vast majority of the employees suffered, the 50% figure is really quite remarkable. 

How United Bulk Terminal demonstrated a truly committed and compassionate response to its family of employees makes for a fantastic case study in corporate response to massive natural disaster.  But for the vast majority of organizations, the kinds of employee trauma that the company will have to deal with are more common, mundane, and certainly predictable.

Death of a loved one.  Financial loss.  Issue with the health or the behavior of employee's children.  Even the loss of a pet.  

These are the kinds of tragedies that are impacting every workforce, in every city, each and every day. 

Having a plan for massive environmental disaster and large scale business disruption is certainly sound business strategy and planning.  

Having a plan to adequately and compassionately support an employee in their more personal and everyday tragedies might be more important and more impactful. Here is my offering in the creation and administration of these policies - Do The Right Thing.

Thanks to Lisa Murfield for an interesting and enlightening presentation.