#Nextchat with me today: The next 5 years in HR Tech - #HRTechConf

Remember just a few years ago when we started to see a flurry of articles, presentations, and even books about the topic of “Workforce 2020” that offered predictions about what work and workplaces would be like at the then far-off-into-the-future year of 2020?

I am not sure why authors and consultancies fixated so much on the year 2020. Maybe it just sounds fun to say out loud and it also had the benefit of seeming so distant that you could plausibly predict just about anything short of we’d all be commuting to work in flying cars and you’d probably get away with it.

Let me see if that still holds today -- here is a 2020 prediction for you:

“In 2020, organizations will have access to powerful technologies that automate every HR and talent management process, can apply sophisticated machine learning capability to predict workforce events like attrition and job-fit, and since these technologies are all delivered via THE CLOUD, they will be accessible and affordable for every organization, regardless of their size.”

Wow, amazing!  And what is more amazing is that all of those things exist TODAY, and we don’t have to wait until 2020 for them. Which is a really good thing because I am not sure if you have noticed, but 2020 is really not that far off anyway. We have spent so much time thinking and talking about 2020 as some vague signpost in the far distance that it has just about snuck up on us.

But the good thing is that since 2020 really isn’t all that far off, we can offer better, more reasoned, and more valuable predictions about what it truly will be like, and we can start making more concrete and specific plans for how in the next five or so years, leading up to 2020, our HR teams and our organizations can best utilize technology to improve work, workplaces, and drive organizational success.

Please join  @shrmnextchat at 3 p.m. ET on October 14 (TODAY) for #Nextchat with special guest, ME, the HR Technology Conference Co-Chariman and Co-Host of the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve Boese (@steveboese).  We’ll take a look at the next five years of HR technology  and chat about what HR leaders should be thinking about -- and preparing for -- with respect to workplace technology in 2020.

Here are the questions we will hit on the chat today:

Q1. What are the key considerations for HR leaders as they begin to plan their HR tech strategies for the next 5 years?

Q2. What are some ways to tie the HR technology strategy to the organization’s long term business and talent strategies?

Q3. How will changing employee demographics and their expectations for technology change how HR leaders deploy technology in the next 5 years?

Q4. What area of Human Resources (Recruiting, Performance, HR Admin, etc.) will technology have the largest impact upon in the next 5 years?

Q5. How does the increased reliance on technology to enable HR service delivery change the role and competencies required of the modern HR leader?

Q6. What should HR leaders look for when evaluating HR technology solution providers over the next 5 years?

Q7.    What is your one wish for your ideal HR technology solution that you’d love to see created by 2020? #nextchat

#Nextchat is the only Twitter chat I regularly participate in, and I encourage all of you to jump in to the conversation today from 3PM - 4PM EDT.

Thanks to my friends at SHRM for having me back to chat about HR Tech!

Fondly remembering the days of 3% raises

Quick shot for a busy Tuesday - check out this piece that ran on USA Today online over the weekend - Is the annual pay raise dead?, a look at some recent studies and trends in the world of employee compensation.

For what seems like ages, once per year the big total rewards consultancies like Towers Watson or Aon Hewitt would diligently report back that for the average employee annual salary increases would be about 3% (again). The news that annual salary increases would be about 3% became somewhat of a running joke, since it was so consistent and predictable. The phrase of employees being '3-percented until retirement' was fairly common.

Well, if the latest news on annual salary increases is accurate, we may all look back on the 3% raises of the past and wonder what happened to them. Check out some of the comments in the above-mentioned USA Today piece:

"Base salary increases are flat. We don't see the prospect of that changing much at all in the next several years," said Ken Abosch, who studies compensation issues for Aon Hewitt.

In other words, the annual raise is dead. It was already on life support last decade, but the Great Recession has finished off the raise. It's been replaced by "variable compensation" — the bonus.

"The quiet revolution has been the change in compensation mix," Abosch said. "Through a series of recessions, organizations have pulled back dramatically on fixed costs. And base salaries are often a company's most significant fixed cost ... [They] have a compounding effect, and create a drag on an organization's ability to change."

Awesome isn't it when your salary, (and by extension, you), are described and probably considered as 'a drag on an organization's ability to change', instead of, I don't know, a strategic investment of organizational resources in order to hire and retain great people.

One of the effects of a relatively higher percentage of one's overall compensation being shifted towards bonuses or other kinds of variable pay is that it makes 'regular' employment look and feel more like contingent labor. One of the reasons people like 'regular' jobs is the 'regular' nature of their weekly, monthly, and annual earnings. Drive more of these earnings into more company-friendly (and easier to reduce and/or eliminate), irregular compensation, then, well, earnings stability becomes much more tenuous.

Companies need to be more agile and flexible these days, no doubt. But at least in the US they have had the benefit of pretty much universal employment-at-will arrangements to ensure labor and labor cost flexibility. Now it seems like that might not be flexible enough for many organizations.

They want your 3% as well.

It's going to keep getting harder for traditional workplaces and policies

Last week I wrote about the six-hour workday, and experiment that some companies and public sector organizations have been running in Sweden (and some other places), that is designed to reduce employee stress, improve work/life balance, and improve employee engagement and retention. And the six-hour workday comes with the side benefit of helping employees stay more focused on their work while reducing unnecessary distractions.

So far, in limited experiments, the six-hour workday is proving to be pretty effective at moving the needle in a positive direction on some of HR and talent pros most intractable challenges - engagement, retention, and employer brand. Despite all this, will the six-hour workday catch in here in the USA in any noticeable way?

Maybe not. 

Or perhaps the answer is maybe not yet.

'Radical' new ideas are only radical until they hit a tipping point when they have reached just enough adoption, and from a few influential organizations, and suddenly candidates are asking your recruiters about whether or not you have six-hour days or have eliminated annual performance reviews or have implemented an unlimited vacation policy.

I just caught this piece about LinkedIn, and their recent decision to adopt an unlimited vacation policy for their employees. While LinkedIn is certainly not the first organization to trash the traditional PTO process in favor of one where employees and managers figure it out for themselves, they might be one of the largest, with about 9,000 employees worldwide. LinkedIn has likely many motivations that drove the decision to scrap the 'three weeks vacation after 5 years of service' nonsense that probably 97% of organizations use to award and track time off for their employees, but my guess would be the primary ones would be for recruiting and retention.

Likely there are dozens of Silicon Valley startups that have not bothered to worry about setting up traditional PTO plans at all that are competing with LinkedIn for talent. Just think about the difference in these two sentences in the point of view of a talented tech candidate:

1 You will accrue 4.25 hours of paid vacation every bi-weekly pay period, maxing at 80 hours until you reach 5 years of service, when the accrual maximum increases to 120 hours'

2. 'You take as much vacation as you want. Work it out with your manager and team.'

Don't bother telling me in the comments that people don't actually take as much vacation when it is 'unlimited' as they do when their is a set PTO policy and schedule. That doesn't matter one bit to the candidate, or anyone else really.

What matters is that when you can't match (and sometimes you do have great reasons why you can't), more innovative, modern, and employee-friendly policies and perks you are going to be always at a competitive disadvantage.

Once these innovations and perks make that important shift to become 'expectations' you had better have a decent rebuttal to candidates and employees who won't understand why they suddenly have to start worrying about having enough accrued hours of PTO in order to take that long weekend they deserve after pulling 70 hour weeks for two months to meet the last big ship date. 

It is only a matter of time, if it has not happened yet, when one of your hiring managers comes back to you in HR and asks 'Why can't we have unlimited PTO?, the talent we need expects it.'

Have a great week!

My Top 10 Tips for HR Tech Conference Attendees #HRTechConf

NOTE: This is a (slightly) updated version of my Top 10 Tips for HR Tech Conference Attendees that I ran last year just before the Conference. Reading it over, I was not surprised how just about all my advice from last year still applies. I am clever that way. Plus, I have the inside scoop. Hope to see lots of readers at the event.

And by the way, you can still register for HR Tech 2015 with Promo Code LINK15 and save an additional $150.00 on top of the $50.00 PreShow rate discount – That’s $200.00 in savings when you register by Midnight EDT Thursday Oct. 15 at www.hrtechconference.com 

It's now a little more than one week until what is in my completely biased view as the Conference Co-Chair the best annual event for HR professionals, the HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas. If you are coming out to the event next week, and I hope lots of readers are, I wanted to serve up my slightly better informed view of than most have and give you my list of the Top 10 Tips for getting the most out of your HR Tech Conference experience.

So here goes, (in no particular order, save this is how they came to me in a semi-coherent state late last night).

1. Take advantage of the Conference's 'Welcome' day activities on Sunday, October 18

Building upon what was a really popular and well-received idea from last year, once again at HR Tech, we will have several pre-conference educational sessions (offered at no extra charge for full conference attendees). These pre-conference sessions kick off at 1:15PM on Sunday with 'Workplace, Wearables, and Workout Wednesday' sponsored by FitBit, and then continue with three more pre-con sessions (from Ceridian, Salesforce, and IBM) at 2:30PM. These pre-con sessions are a great opportunity to jump-start your learning and kick off the Conference experience.

Then in what is a first for HR Tech, we will have our popular "Awesome New Startups for HR" demonstration General Session also on the Conference's opening day, starting at 3:45PM. We have a fantastic set of HR Tech startups this year and you will not want to miss this interactive and dynamic General Session.

And immediately after that, our Opening Reception (with drinks and appetizers) kicks off in the sold-out Expo Hall, (which will too be Open and with the Exhibitors ready and eager to meet you. All in all, the opening day and night of HR Tech should be fantastic and I encourage all attendees to take advantage of these opportunities.

2. Don't go overboard on Sunday night once you leave the Opening Reception

HR Tech is closer to a marathon than a sprint. I suppose it is more like a 10K or maybe even a half marathon. Either way, you jump out of the starting line all full of energy and adrenalin and excitement, but after a couple of miles of running at a pace you know you are not ready to sustain you are definitely going to hit the wall. And it might get ugly. In fact, seeing as it is Vegas, it almost certainly will get ugly. My point is you want to build slowly. And most of the really big, fun, over the top night time social events are on Monday night the 19th and Tuesday the 20th anyway. So have fun on Sunday night, but just remember you are not as young as you used to be. Leave something in the tank for the middle and end of the race.

3. Give something back

This year at HR Tech we are proud and excited to offer attendees the opportunity to 'work' for a good cause while also having some fun. HR Gives Back is working to raise funds towards finding a cure for Parkinson's, which is a cause near and dear to the hearts of many in the HR Tech community. At the Conference, and in partnership with FitBit, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in challenges and activity tracking in order to help raise funds for this great cause. Look for signage and information about these efforts at the Conference, and in the interim check out HRGivesBack.net for more information.

4. Plan out your schedule, but be flexible too, and leave some time to explore

Once again the agenda this year is packed and we have a record number of tracks and concurrent sessions. In most of the concurrent session time slots, there are as many as 10 sessions running at the same time. So you are going to want to spend some time in advance thinking about which sessions you'd like to attend, and even make a backup selection (or two) just in case we have to play nice with the Fire Marshal and cap off attendance in any given session. But also be sure to leave some room in your day to linger a little longer in the Expo Hall or take in one of the vendor demo sessions that will be running on Monday or Tuesday. Or even just to have some time to chat with some of the new friends you have made, (more on that to come). My point is this, it is a Conference, not a synchronized swimming contest - you don't have to know every step you are going to take in advance. 

5. Don't travel (all the time) in the same pack

If you are attending the Conference with some of your co-workers, (which is great), make sure to not spend all of your time traveling in tandem. Split up and cover some different sessions, make sure to engage with other folks during general sessions and meals, and maybe even (horror), hit some different parties after hours. You want to make sure you are not just seeing and interpreting things through the same lens that you use back in the office, sometimes breaking away from your co-workers, even for a little while, can help you to do this. Besides, you have the other 361 days of the year to spend with these people, and they are probably sick of you too.

6. Say 'Hi' to me, or rather, anyone that you really want to meet and connect with

Of course I want to meet as many people as I can, but you do too. And chances are you might want to meet and chat with one of our amazing speakers or one of our industry experts that will be leading panels and sessions throughout the event. So make sure you do! All of these execs and leaders are extremely approachable and generous with their time and their insight. So if there is someone, anyone, you want to meet, then don't let a long line of people stop you from doing just that. One of the best aspects of the HR Tech community is how much everyone wants to help, especially HR leaders that are interested in how HR technology can help them and their organizations move forward. 

7. Take a rest somewhere in the middle of the run

Ok, much like I am ready to take a breather half way into this post, (at about the 1000 word mark and counting), at some point during HR Tech you will want/need to take a little time to recharge. This could mean ducking out a little early from one of the parties, taking a power nap back up in your room after the last session of the day and before heading out for the evening, or it could be as simple as passing on that third dessert from the buffet. All I am saying is you probably can't go full speed all day and night in Las Vegas for too long and come out feeling good on the other side. Find a spot to get some rest, maybe hit the spa or the pool, (it will be pretty hot), and get ready for the last part of the run.

8. It is ok to talk to the vendors in the Expo Hall. Even ones you have never heard about.

I know for attendees the overwhelming tendency of Expo visit time is spent walking from place to place, checking out the vendors you are familiar with and/or interested in learning more about, and maybe entering a contest or two. And while you can easily spend hours talking with vendors and people you know, or maybe are currently using in your organization, I really recommend spending some Expo time checking out and actually learning about at least a few vendors that you have never heard about before. Now I don't want to name specific names, (because there are just too many and I will get in trouble as I would have to leave some out), but you know who you don't know, (if that makes sense), and I can assure you there are dozens of amazing solutions just waiting to be discovered. And don't miss our Startup Pavilion, where a record 30 HR Tech startups will be exhibiting in one area. If you are not sure who to check out, send out a Tweet on the#HRTechConf hashtag and just ask. Not using Twitter? Well that is a problem we will have to solve another day.

9. The General Sessions are big and crowded and long. Go to them anyway.

Yes the General Session rooms are massive. And crowded. And by the time you get there lots of the good seats are taken. But you still should attend them anyway. We have the industry famous 'Awesome New Technology' showcase for the more established HR solution providers on Tuesday morning and we will follow that up with the demonstrations from the first-ever HR Tech Hackathon on Tuesday afternoon. Both of these General Sessions are the kinds that audiences at HR Tech love - a chance to see up close and personal the best in HR tech. You definitely want to be blown away by the latest and greatest innovations in HR technology in the 'Awesome New' session and in the Hackathon. These General Sessions bring the entire community together and you simply have to be a part of that.

10. Don't skip Wednesday.

Assuming you made your travel plans accordingly and are still going to be in Las Vegas on the final morning of the event, you want to make sure you drag your tired, sorry self out of bed to make it down for the last half day of the Conference. We have a fantastic closing day keynote from Jim Whitehurst, President & CEO of RedHat. And in a first for HR Tech we have a great 'Ideas and Innovators' session planned, where 10 HR and HR Tech rock stars will speak using the fast-paced and popular 'Ignite' format. This session will include great people like Mike Psenka, Eric Winegardner, Trish McFarlane, Yvette Cameron, Kris Dunn and many more. Trust me you will not want to miss this, it is the closest thing to a live sporting event or a piece of performance art that you will ever see at a conference.

And in true Spinal Tap fashion, here is an 11th tip...

11. And this is the most important one - Connect with as many people as you can.

This is kind of a boring tip since everyone who gives advice about these kinds of things always includes something like this. But just because everyone tells you to do this, doesn't mean it is bad advice. The truth is the most enduring value anyone (even me) gets from HR Tech or any large event comes from the people you meet, the relationships you build, and the connections you forge. Your next customer, next vendor partner, next boss, next employee, or maybe your next new best friend just might be at HR Tech next week too. But you have to take some initiative to connect. And for some folks, (again me too), that is not always the easiest or most natural thing to do. But you should try anyone. Even if you set a simple goal of connecting with even one or two new people each day at the Conference it will be worth the effort. And if you are finding that to be too hard, then find me and say 'Hi'. I am easy to spot, as I will be the best-dressed guy at the Conference. Ask anyone.

Ok, that is it, I am out. I also want to thank regular blog readers who might have gotten a little tired of all the HR Tech Conference content on the blog lately.  Next week there may not be much new here (probably) while I am doing final prep and heading out to the event, but I will get us back to the regularly scheduled nonsense after that.

Have a great weekend!

CHART OF THE DAY: If you're feeling old, you're not the only one

Super simple, yet cool Chart of the Day on the graying of America courtesy of the Chmura Economics Blog - let's take a look at the chart then as you continue to demand, some FREE commentary from me...

Wow, check the growth of the 60+ age cohort from 2000 - 2030, amazing how the other segments remain (relatively) flat, while just about everyone else, (you and me too), get a heck of a lot older.

Why should we care about this? A few reasons I think.

1. These general demographic trends combine with observed and predicted workforce composition trends to point to a future where the average worker will be older, will plan on working longer, and where qualified 'new' workers will be even more in demand. If your company is not one where these in-demand younger workers will want to be, then you are going to have to get used to an older workforce than you have had before.

2. How does a relatively older workforce actually translate to HR/Talent programs? Increased need for re-training, as careers lengthen but needed skills continually change, higher reliance on benefits more likely to be used by older workers and less on those that tend to be leveraged by 20 or 30-somethings, and finally a need to be more aware and deliberate about how more widely spread age ranges can effectively work together. 

3. Deeper in the Chmura data, they break down this 'aging effect' by US state/county, (I was not able to embed the map here, but you should click through to check it out). As you might expect, the effects of the aging population/workforce composition will differ by locality. You might want to pinpoint the county(ies) that your organization has set up shop in order to get a feel for how quickly and how pronounced the aging effect is expected to be where you need to recruit and retain.

Bottom line, it is probably a good idea to be aware of the big shifts in demographics, at least until you have figured out a way to replace all of your workers with robots.

And looking at how much older we all seem to be getting, you might want to accelerate the robot recruiting sooner than later.