The Carnival of HR - Super Bowl Edition

Welcome to the latest edition of the Carnival of HR!

I struggled to think of a new and interesting angle for the Carnival, one that has not been used before, and one that would make sense as a unifying theme that would resonate with the writers and their contributions.

After about 15 minutes, I decided that was going to be too difficult and decided on a sports gimmick. 

So without further delay, and in the spirit of the American Football Super Bowl that is set to be contested in a few days, here is the Carnival of HR - Super Bowl Edition.

Off-season

Many teams decide to make coaching changes in the off-season. Likewise, individuals and leaders may decide they need some professional coaching.  At Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership, Wally explores the question in 'Leadership Development: When to Hire a Coach'.

In the off-season each team drafts a new set of young players that have to be assimilated into the team. Coaching these new, young players can be a challenge for some 'old-school' coaches.  Mary Jo Asmus explores some similar territory in 'What Does Gen Y Want from Thier Leaders?'

A big problem in the off season for players is staying in shape.  Without the coaches around to make sure they keep training it becomes a question of motivation.  The motivation expert Paul Hebert offers us 'The 5 Immutable Laws of Motivation' on the Incentive Intelligence blog.

Training Camp

The best teams have a blend of stars and supporting players that fill important roles.  Finding the right blend of talent is a challenge that many organizations will face in 2010 as seen in this piece, 'Optimizing Talent in the New Workforce', by Sharlyn Lauby at the HR Bartender.

Training camp is also a time of learning and reinforcing the right behavior.  But most football coaches are pretty reluctant to dish out the praise.  And that may not be a bad thing as we see in this piece 'What Teacher's Make' from Laura Schroeder at Working Girl.

Some coaches hold fast to their 'systems', while others adapt to the talent around them.  Guatam Ghosh suggests that organizations do more of the latter with 'Recruit for a Cause, Not a Role' on his blog Gautam on Organizations 2.0.

You have to prepare to be able to get to the big game, much less win it. Shortcuts and excuses won't cut it.  In organizations, the will to prepare to win is also important.  On the Training Time blog, Lindsay Richardson offers this advice in 'Getting Training Out of the Box'.

Pre-Game Hype

Part of the pre-game activities is of course game planning. The HR Maven shares some of her plans for ongoing personal and professional development in 'Reclaim your brain'.

You can't even qualify for the game unless you have the right collection of players.  And that means cultivating talent from the first day they come on board. Jennifer McClure at Cincy Recruiter's World share a few stories of how not to get employees started with 'Wanted: A Positive Onboarding Experience'.

A big part of the incessant pre-game hype is excessive analysis on statistics of every stripe. But sometimes these metrics border on the ridiculous, as described by Mick Collins in 'We're Going to Turn This Team Around 360 Degrees' at the Inforhm blog.

The pre-game show usually takes a look back on some relevant Super Bowl games from history.  In this post from the Human Race Horses blog Mike VanDervort takes a look back as well - ' Life Lessons from 25 Years in HR' .

Trash Talk

Players sometimes engage in some pre-game trash talk, sometimes it can backfire on the team. Employees are talking too, and we see in G. Neil's HR Forum that 'Ouch! Survey Reveals that Nearly one out of every two employees is unhappy at work'.

There is sometimes an element of truth in good natured trash talk.  This post is full of the truth, a very real and personal post from Paul Smith at Welcome to the Occupation,  'Being Gay at Work: When I Think About It'.

Game Planning

Coaches spend long hours drawing up plays and strategizing for big game. Benjamin McCall at ReThinkHR advises you to strategize as well with 'Personal Brand: What's on Your Chalkboard?'

A big part of a successful game plan is devising a strategy that plays to the team's strengths. If you are a running team, then you concentrate on exploiting that.  Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership suggests a similar focus as well in 'The One Thing Approach to Leadership Development'.

A smart game plan calls for some brand new plays that your opponent won't be ready for to hopefully give you the element of surprise.  Shauna Moerke, the HR Minion advises you to mix up your routines as well in 'Groundhog Day'.

Certainly a large part of game planning involves video study.  In this guest post on the Corn on the Job blog, Bill Boorman breaks down dealing with recruiters on a video post - 'My Cousin Interviews with Bill Boorman'.

Pre-Game Show

During the 5 hour or so pre-game show, lots of time is spent analyzing the strategies of each team. At HR Ringleader, Trish McFarlane explores some strategies for the HR function, namely 'Four Ways HR Can Operate More Like a Profit Center'.

Coin Toss

At the coin toss the referee goes over a few of the basic rules of the game.  Over at Talented Apps, Meg Bear is talking about rules, specifically 'When the Golden Rule Doesn't Work'.

The coin toss is simple, heads or tails.  And so is doing the right thing by your applicants as so well put by Kari Quaas at the Cool Works blog with 'Respond to Your Applicants'.

Prop Bets

Would you bet on the team that consistently plays to its strengths?  Mike Haberman at HR Observations thinks you should with 'Human Resources Should Be About Improving What Works'.

Making bets on the game certainly introduces some risk.  Susan Burns at Talent Synchronicity asks you to consider your risk tolerance in the Talent Acquisition game with 'Is Risk Avoidance Adding More Risk to your Company's Talent Strategy?'

Commercials

Good Super Bowl commercials are often better than the game itself, and can be more that just a diversion from the action.  Social media and networking often show much more value than many people expect, as is well-articulated by Naomi Bloom at In Full Bloom with 'Reflections of a Digital Immigrant Gone Semi-Native'.

Half Time

Half time is the time for aging rock stars and inspirational speeches from the coach.  But unless the head coach has a stock of credibility built up, no way the team is buying in.  Lisa Rosendahl at Simply Lisa wants to know - 'Have You Checked Your Credibility Lately?'

The best strategists make changes to the game plan at half time to counter what their opponent shown. Change is also a constant in organizations as seen in 'Change, Change, Change... Change is Brewing' from Cathy Martin at the Profitability Though Human Capital blog.

Streakers on the field

If we are lucky, sometime in the third quarter a streaker or someone dressed in a super hero costume will make a mad dash across the field.  In case that happens, you can prepare by checking out Ben Eubank's take on Comic Book Leadership at UpstartHR.

Fourth Quarter

Winning the game in the 4th quarter requires guts, endurance, and a commitment to team play and player development.  At the Devon Blog, Melissa Prusher describes one corporate leader's experience with mentoring in 'How a Passion for Produce Influences One Man's Leadership Skills'.

Fantastic Finish

Closing the deal, and winning the trophy could depend on how well the team has stuck to it's game plan, played smart, and caught a break or two. Lois Melbourne at the Aquire blog explains how sticking to their plans helps them make the right hiring decisions in '9 Box Increases Hiring Successes'.

Disneyland

The winning team celebrates for a time, makes a trip to Disneyland, and almost immediately has to plan to the next season. For organizations, planning never stops as we see in this post from Mark Vickers at the i4CP blog, 'Ten Critical Performance Issues for 2010'.

Off season

Yes, we are back to where we started.  The Super Bowl is over, football season done.  Guys, now it's time to re-introduce yourself to your families. Take a break from sports for a while.  At the Inflexion Point blog, Mark Stelzner advises us to take a similar break from social media with 'Social Media Detox'.

Well that is it for this edition of the Carnival of HR!

One last question - Saints or Colts this Sunday?

Shirt Sponsorships

Why don't American professional sports franchises in the 'major' sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) enter into lucrative jersey sponsorship deals as is common in the rest of the world?

English top-level soccer clubs command as much as $30M per year for such arrangements.

It can't truly be some sort of argument for the 'purity' of the games, every other aspect of the presentation and broadcast of the games themselves is 'sponsored' already.  Next Sunday's Super Bowl game will be played in 'Sun Life Stadium'. And no, 'Sun Life' is not a reference to Miami's carefree, sun-filled lifestyle, it is named for Sun Life Financial corporation, a large financial services company.

Advertising is plastered on most available surfaces in stadiums already, and on television broadcasts everything from timeouts, in-game statistical graphics, and the pre-game, halftime, and post-game shows are all 'brought to you by' some (insert from the following, beer, insurance, male impotency drug) company.

But for some reason, corporate sponsorships on the jerseys/uniforms themselves are still resisted, I think mostly from the notion that corporate logos on the players is just too much commercialism encroaching on the sanctity (ahem) of the competition.

To me it is both hypocritical and silly.

Organizations could benefit from the exposure and if they choose the right club; the association with success, or even a team's reputation for a  particular style of play.  In the NBA, a team like the San Antonio Spurs that are known for attention to detail, strong leadership, team play, and excellence would be a good fit for a precision manufacturing firm, or perhaps an accounting and audit services group. Maybe Intel or IBM would be a good fit.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who have a legacy of bad luck, poor management, and unfortunate player injuries, might be a good fit for a personal injury law firm, hospital, or insurance company.  I could see the Aflac Duck adorning the Clips' jerseys.

The funny thing is shirt sponsorships are common in American youth sports, most every kids soccer, baseball, or hockey team has a local shirt sponsor.  The chief function seems to be to the right to post the framed team picture on the wall at the end of the season. 

And when the partnership between the sponsoring corporation and the team is a perfect match, it can strengthen both parties and reinforce their brands.  

It worked for the Bad News Bears right?

So what team would you like to see your organization's name on?

The people that actually use the technology

Last week amid much hype, Apple unveiled their long-awaited tablet computer, dubbed the iPad.

Pause for a moment while the 'feminine hygiene' product jokes mill about for a second in your head.  Are you ready now? Good.

Almost immediately after the details of the product were revealed, a seemingly collective shriek was emitted from various technology news sites, pundits, and longtime fans of Apple.  Most of this outcry was centered on the perceived shortcomings of the iPad.

No camera?  No ability to multi-task?  No USB ports?  And on and on.

One clever post compares the iPad to a rock, with the iPad only coming out ahead by the slimmest of margins.

These criticisms are nearly entirely focused on a cohort of individuals that want the iPad to be a more complicated device.  One that would require a more skilled operator, that would likely fail more frequently, and one that would be more difficult for inexperienced or disinterested users to fully leverage.

And yes, to some (maybe more that I want to admit) users these the absence of these more advanced and complex capabilities render the iPad superfluous and unnecessary. Let's call these people 'power users'.

But for many, the ease of use, anticipated fast web browsing experience, and the simplicity with which their desired tasks can be completed on the iPad will offer a compelling value proposition. Calling up a web site, checking e-mail promise to be faster, easy, and dirt simple. Let's call these people 'casual users'.

So we have on one hand the vocal but relatively few 'power users' clamoring for more and better everything, and what is likely a far wider (and quieter) population of 'casual users' who will likely find the iPad a pretty amazing little device.  The iPad will likely sell millions of units despite these criticisms,(remember many of these same power users thumbed their noses at the first iPod).

I think there are some lessons in all this that enterprise Human Resources technology creators and implementers can learn from the iPad and from consumer technology, popular consumer web sites, and public social networks in general.

For me, the lesson is this:

In the enterprise of say 10,000 people that are the planned users of workforce technology (e.g. a performance management system), maybe 100 or so people could be placed in the category of 'power users'. They need the most advanced functionality, can adapt to a less than intuitive design, and often are willing to spend long periods of time learning how to use the technology.

The other 9,900 or so people are 'casual users'.  Ease of use, simplicity, clear workflows and speed in which tasks can be completed are of primary importance. Use of workforce technologies are almost never their 'job', they are meant to be compliments to help them perform their jobs better.  They technologies can't be seen as a burden, time suck, and require lengthy and frequent pauses to ask for assistance in their use.  And the power users probably can't help all of them anyway, there are simply too many of them to effectively serve.

When an organization deploys workforce technologies to ALL 10,000 employees, the needs, concerns, capabilities, and attitudes of the casual users are of utmost importance.  But it is almost exclusively the power users, and their management that participate in the vendor evaluations, make the purchase and design decisions, and (often) are influenced by which solution has the most of everything.

But for the casual users of most workforce technologies having the most capability does not matter, only the right capability does.  For the vast majority of these users, their real jobs are creating, fixing, selling, answering, not interacting with the latest features in the performance management tool.

The iPad, as has been pointed out everywhere, does not have the most capability, but for a large population of casual users it may have the right ones, and while critics, pundits, and technology experts are all taking turns bashing the iPad, it may very well be that Apple knows what it is doing and is hitting the perfect balance of features, usability, and design that these casual users want.

Workforce technologies should always keep that balance in mind.

The HR 101 Series

The King of NYC Victorio Milian, at his Creative Chaos blog has organized and published an ongoing series titled 'HR 101'.

The goal of the series of articles: to provide introductions and insights on many of the seemingly 'non-HR' subjects (Finance, Statistics, Law, etc.) to the many HR professionals that read his blog.

There are some fantastic pieces in the 'HR 101' series, and I was honored to be asked to participate with an article on HR Technology.

I highly recommend you check out the 'HR 101' project, you will find wonderful pieces from Jason Seiden on 'Statistics', Joan Ginsberg on 'Law', and Fran Melmed on 'Internal Communication' (and many more).

Thanks very much Victorio for allowing me to participate in the project!

Do You Have $10?

No, this is not a request for a loan, or even a pitch to donate for earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

Although if you do want to loan me the $10, I suggest you send it to the Red Cross instead.

Rather, I just wanted to highlight a story I came across last week, about a regular guy that set his dreams in motion with just $10.

Mike Neal liked to barbecue (and I admit the barbecue angle was what led me to find this story), and he dreamed of someday having his own barbecue restaurant.  So instead of waiting, hoping, or simply ignoring that dream, Neal simply went for it. 

From the story:

"I had $10, and I went out and got one pack of ribs," said Neal. He set up a grill outside a furniture store and began cooking ribs slathered in his family's special sauce."I'd sell for $5 a sandwich, and people came and started buying them, and I'd go back and get more food, and before I knew it something was happening," he said.

Eventually, continued hard work and dedication led to Neal opening his own restaurant, Michael Neal's Southern Grill,  and developing and marketing his signature barbecue sauce in stores like Walmart.

Sure Neal had a talent for barbecue, and sure good barbecue is about the most wonderful food in the world, but the story is not really about that. The message to me is that you can start small, even $10 small, and still see your dreams realized.  Neal did not see having only $10 as a constraint, he saw it as an opportunity. A start.

So let me ask again, do you have $10?

Postscript - This restaurant is in the 513, winner of the Best HR City. What is it with that town?

I would give you the link to the restaurant's web site or Facebook page, but I don't think they have either, but it sounds like Neal is doing fine without them.