Bring something to the table

We have all read ad nauseam about how HR needs to 'get a seat at the table', where organizational strategy and plans are discussed and developed. Well, if you want a seat at the table, be sure you bring something to the table.

Flickr - katesheets

Something innovative, groundbreaking, difference-making.

Something they may not have heard or seen before.

A plan to exploit 'Web 2.0' for improved recruiting or employee collaboration.

A strategy to assess the current skills and competencies of the current organization, so as to be poised to act when the economy rebounds (and you know it will).

An effective plan to keep valued staff engaged, even if you are forced to let some of them go. 

Don't just expect to turn up and be included because of your relative position on the org chart.  No one in that room will get excited if all you have to offer is compliance reporting and maybe a new employee discount at the local dry cleaner.

Times are tough - be willing to take a chance, make a difference, and earn the seat at the adult table.

The right tools

Flickr - m kasahara

Today, in two separate meetings I participated in, it was clear the frustration that results from staff not having the right tools and applications that can make their jobs easier and themselves more productive. Whether it is a simple employee directory with all the necessary information to contact, locate, and identify staff; or a robust information sharing and knowledge managment system to improve productivity and access to information, the absence of the right tools is incredibly frustrating.  It is particularly troubling for new staff, who will immediately compare your tools and applications to the ones at their former employer.  On three separate occasions today, someone commented to me that the resources and tools they had at their last place of employment were far superior to what they have now.

So how do organizations (particularly internal support organizations like IT and HR) get into this predicament? One reason is a complete 'customer' focus.  How can a total customer focus be bad?  When support staff is required to spend 100% of their time and effort only on those projects and tasks that are directly linked to end customer objectives, then no time is spent identifying and deploying those internal tools and applications that the support organizations can leverage to improve their productivity. 

What to do if you find your organization in this unenviable position?

I would argue that these organizations should attempt to devote 10% of their time (at least initially) looking inward, and developing solutions to improve their own jobs and processes. Managers should take some time to gain a better understanding of the real workflow and the processes by which tasks are getting accomplished and get some insight as to what kinds of solutions are needed.

And spend more time talking to these new employees who claim to have had better tools in their last workplace.  They likely have much to offer as to specific technologies and solutions that they have first hand experience with, and that can potentially be deployed in your organization.

Easy access to information, resources, expertise - these are all critical components for employee success.  Ask yourself, are you making it easy for staff to find the needed information, resources and expertise?

Or do your staff spend way too much time and energy searching?

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I'm happy to tell you all about myself

The great Jason Averbook CEO of Knowledge Infusion has said 'LinkedIn knows more about your employees that you do', meaning that for many organizations, the volume, depth, and quality of data that their employees have voluntarily posted on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, far exceeds whatever data you may have about them in your 'official' corporate systems.

Gartner refers to this disparity in terms of 'volunteered' data (the kind on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, personal blogs, etc.), versus 'mandatory' data (the kind you compel your employees to provide, primarily for legal or administrative requirements).

Gartner theorizes that by 2012, this so-called volunteered data will surpass mandatory data in volume and business value.  To be a leading HR organization, you need to plan for this shift, how to expoit the trend, and build processes and systems that will let you both encourage the proliferation of volunteered data as well as take leverage this information for your organization.

 Although it is very difficult in 2008 to know when or if this shift in importance and source of information will occur, there are certainly some things as HR leaders you can do today to assess the trend for your own organization.

Some quick thoughts:

1. Evaluate your company's LinkedIn profile.  What percentage of your staff maintains profiles?  How connected are they?  What organizations did they come from? Of folks who have left, where did they go?
2. Is your company on Facebook?  Have smaller indivudual groups adopted Facebook groups or pages? Are your staff conducting important conversations there?
3. Are you on Twitter? How many of your staff are?  Who are they following?  Who is follwing them?  Are your employess bypassing your standard sources of assistance to reach out to the Twitterverse?
4. Check out Ning.  Are there Ning networks for all or parts of your organization?  Are there related industry networks frequented by your staff?  Should you sponsor or create your own Ning network for your staff?

Let me be clear, this is not about 'spying' or 'monitoring' what your staff is up to.  This is about learning more about what your staff is passionate about, who they turn to for insight or help, and what important experiences and skills they have, that are not reflected in your old, boring HRMS.

It is about accepting the fact that your staff is quite likely offering up critical insights and knowledge outside of the systems that you control.

It is about accepting the new culture of collaboration.

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HR Technology ownership

I've known and worked with some fantastic IT people over the years.

They very best one, Steve Hersh, I first met on an Oracle Consulting engagement where he was the DBA and Architect and I was the primary functional consultant.

FYI - Steve is still doing great work, you can check out his company here.

But in the space I find myself most interested in, technology for collaboration, information sharing, fostering more 'openness' between the organization and it's employees, the organization and it's customers, or the 'extended' enterprise (past employees, future employees, contractors etc.), it seems to me that IT typically offers almost nothing, save more barriers.

Aside - 'single sign on' is not as important as the IT folks say. How many user names and passwords do you have already, one more won't kill you.

IT's approach and methodology to typical, or 'classic' systems development and implementation has little relevance to today's environment.

Want better information sharing and a platform for collaboration?  I can set up a wiki in 15 minutes.

Need help on a tricky problem or issue?  Send out a Tweet. Your extended network may be able to help you there.  Worried about Tweeting sensitive information?  Get your group or division on Yammer.

Looking for like minded folks at your organization for a charitable cause or an off hours event?  Create a network on Ning, invite people to join and share their interests.

All potentially effective technologies to help support your goals, all needing no IT involvement, approval or possible interference.

To me, HR is in a much stronger position to be the enabler, advocate, and drving force behind the enterprise implementation of these kinds of tools.  IT usually reacts in the negative, because it is always easier to take a position of saying 'No' to a new tool or idea. 

It is more risky and rewarding to say, 'Yes', to put yourself and your reputation on the line in support of a new process or solution.

I am not always anti-IT, but I think that HR needs to focus on developing and delivering business solutions that truly can be transformative.  Most of the IT folks I have come across do not have that as their highest priority.

Who 'owns' HR Technology?

Love the old Farmalls - Flickr - anemergencystop

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Welcome Aboard!

In this time of economic turmoil and layoffs a post about new employee onboarding may seem out of place.

But, in many organizations the hiring and onboarding process never really stops, it may slow down a bit in a downturn, but there are always folks retiring, resigning, or otherwise leaving, and some new hires turning up. Getting your new employees off to a good start is really critical, most employees make the 'stay-or-go' decision within the first few months, and as many as 4% of new hires will leave after a disaster of a first day.

FlickR- MEADEH

Or, as in the case in many organizations, long-standing vacancies have recently seen an uptick in applicants, and all of a sudden a minuscule, mediocre applicant pool has some really talented prospects. So now is probably a really good time to assess your onboarding process and make changes as necessary.  

If you are like most organizations, your onboarding process mainly consists of a checklist of administrative tasks (payroll forms, computer account requests, parking passes), followed by some scheduled meetings with the department manager and possibly some other key people to get the new hire started in understanding the role, the organization, the processes, etc.  Larger organizations usually offer some type of New Employee Orientation workshop, where various support and administrative departments talk to a group of new employees regarding policies and procedures, normally the HR department organizes and facilitates these sessions.

All sounds pretty good right?  But what typically is missing is the ongoing support and networking that is usually critical for the success of the new hire. Who are the key sources of knowledge? Where is the repository of crucial information, the kind of stuff that is not in the 'official' company handbook.  Does any new employee truly succeed by doing what is in the handbook?

Since networking and access to knowledge are the key factors in new employee time to productivity, what are some of the tools and technologies available to better manage this process?

Corporate Social Networks - these are robust solutions offering features like employee profiles, discussion groups, blogs, etc.  The best known vendor in this space is probably SelectMinds. Jive Software's Clearspace product is also well regarded. These are 'big' solutions designed for larger organizations that have a well-developed strategy on employee collaboration. These are designed to give new hires a 'pre-built' network of the key folks in the organization that they will need to rely on to succeed. 

Public Social Networks - Set up a company or division page on Facebook, and LinkedIn, and encourage your employees to register and connect their.  This approach will emphasize the 'social' aspect much more than the professional, but if the point is to foster better and more meaningful connections amongst your staff if may work.  Besides, many of your employees are already on Facebook, and unless you are planning to block the site (generally a bad idea), you may as well go where they are.

Blogging and micro-blogging - There is almost no reason why your leadership (CEO, CIO, CFO, whatever) should not have at least a private, internal blog.  Executive blogs (and more frequently the comments) can reveal to a new employee more of the pulse or sensibilities of the organization.  These tools can also allow a new hire to introduce themselves to the conversation,  in a less formal or intimidating way than the traditional, 'march around and get introduced routine'. As for micro-blogging, set up your company on Yammer, and encourage your new hires to sign up.  Yammer (if you can get some key adopters) can be a great source of company news, projects, and discussion. 

These are just a few quick thoughts, ranging from the big and complex (a corporate social network) to simple and free, (Yammer).  There are lots more ways to approach this, and I will cover a few dedicated onboarding tools in another post.

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