HRE Column: On the HR and Marketing Connection

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.

I kind of liked this month's column, (I suppose I like all of them, after all I wrote them), but felt like sharing this one on the blog because it touches upon what has been in the past a pretty popular topic with readers here - the connections and synergies between HR and Marketing.

Here is a piece from the HRE Column, HR and the Marketing Mind-set:

There are four important stages that marketers should traverse when building relationships with customers and potential customers. I think these stages can also be highly relevant and applicable to HR leaders, and they can also be supported by HR technologies and thought of as one way to help guide and organize your thinking if your goal is to “think more like a marketer.” Here are the four stages and some ideas of how they might fit into an HR leader’s program:

1. Collect and Analyze Data

While marketing has embraced data, data analysis and using data to make investment decisions for quite some time, it is only more recently that HR leaders and organizations have joined their marketing colleagues in this mind-set. But, since HR has embraced data at least conceptually, it is probably time to think about data more strategically—much like marketers do.

A big part of the Oracle marketing presentation was not just about how collecting data itself is the goal, but about what the data empowers you to do once it’s been collected. More specifically, the marketing technologies that enable increased understanding of customers and prospects for the purposes of targeted communication and messaging suggests HR leaders consider similar segmentation and targeting with their own outreach efforts.

Unique and more specific messaging that “fits” your audience more specifically is much more likely to get noticed, read and acted upon. Think about how your next “All Employees” email blast can be segmented and made more individually meaningful for the people in your organization, based on some defining criteria or past behavior that makes sense....

Read the rest over at HRE Online.

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 wash your car or cut the grass for you if you do sign up for the monthly email.

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

BONUS CONTENT - My spot on the Oracle Apps Blog

Please indulge a quick spot of self-promotion - today I have a post up over on the Oracle Applications Blog with some thoughts around the impact of social media and social technologies in HR, and the great opportunity and potential for HR leaders to leverage these technologies inside the organizations.

The post is titled, Beyond Record Keeping: What Social Means for HCM, and I hope you will check it out and share your ideas and comments about Social HCM there. And while you are at it if you are interested in staying connected to what is happening in the Oracle Applications space, the world of HR Technology, (or just want another opportunity to internet-stalk me), drop the Oracle Apps Blog in your feed reader.

The Oracle Applications blog is meant to be a resource for the HR community and will feature guest posts from key executives, strategy leaders, and Fusion Applications customers. And I will be posting there from time to time as well.

You’ll be seeing some new names and some names that you probably already know. The goal is to provide you with the information you need to get the most out of Oracle Applications today and identify new opportunities for your business in the future.

Thanks for the indulgence - tomorrow we will back to our regularly scheduled hijinks here on the blog.

Welcome Back - News from Steve

Requesting your kind indulgence today, as I have some personal news to report today on the blog.

Recently I accepted a position with Oracle Corporation, working in the Fusion HCM Product Strategy team, and I will start in my new role next week. I am excited by the opportunity to work with such a fantastic team of Human Resources technology professionals, and with a set of new technologies in Fusion HCM that are driving innovation, capability, efficiency, and business insight for organizational leaders and managers. The Oracle Fusion HCM team has spent several years designing and building an incredible set of applications, and I am thrilled at the chance to help continue the momentum, and help customers with their critical Human Resources and Talent Management initiatives.

Some of you might know that I have a long history of working with Oracle Applications, from my earliest days with AT&T implementing what now seems like a quaint 'green screen' Oracle Apps version 10.4 in the dusty desert city of Riyadh in the 90s. That project was simultaneously my first real experience with a true enterprise-class set of technologies, and my first taste of seeing up close how the implementation of the right technologies, by the right people having a shared commitment to the desired outcomes could truly transform an organization. It was the perfect project to get introduced to the world of enterprise software, large enough to have significance in the organization, but with just enough self-governance and individual accountability to keep the engagement levels high, and the spirit of teamwork alive.

Eventually I moved back home from Riyadh, and continued to work with Oracle Applications for most of the ensuing stops in my career, (including working for Oracle Consulting directly), in roles ranging from client implementations, project management, enterprise HRIS management, and more.  But even as the geographies, industries, and responsibilities changed for me, I consistently stayed close, (some might say loyal), to the set of Oracle technologies that I first encountered many years before on a 115 degree day in Riyadh. Consistently, I derived the most satisfaction by learning new technologies, working with clients to assess their needs and goals, and finding and delivering solutions that could help them to meet these goals. And sure, getting the chance to 'play' with cool new tools is always fun.

So for me, to return to Oracle, and to work with Oracle Fusion HCM Applications at this point in my career is, I think, a natural fit. As I said, the Fusion HCM team is the best in the space, (sure I am biased), and the Fusion HCM Applications that have been delivered, and the ones that are on the way, are on the absolute cutting edge of our industry. I am looking forward to the chance to contribute to the team, and most importantly to be back helping customers achieve their goals.

Some other notes, (continuing the navel-gazing theme of this post), I do plan on keeping this blog active here, contributing to Fistful of Talent, and continuing to produce and host the HR Happy Hour Show, (although I am taking tomorrow night off).  In time there may be some changes to one or both of these projects, we will just have to see how that develops. Going forward, I will have to manage and determine my participation in other events and projects that I have been associated with in the past and balance the needs and objectives of my employer and our objectives. But I do plan on remaining active and visible in the HCM community, and look forward to continued engagement and dialogue with the many, many fantastic and intelligent people it has been my great pleasure to come to know in the last few years.

Lastly, I wanted to say thanks to all the fantastic friends, colleagues, blog readers, show listeners for the assistance, kind words, advice and counsel over the last several weeks. One thing I have learned for sure is the value and power of community, and I am humbled and appreciative for all the generosity directed to me. I only hope that I can find a way to repay at least some of the good Karma in the future.

That's it for now - tomorrow we are back to our regularly scheduled program of technology, innovative ideas, basketball, and barbecue.

Have a great day!