PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 340 - Creating the Employee Driven Learning Organization

HR Happy Hour 340 - Creating the Employee Driven Learning Organization 

Sponsored by Virgin Pulse - www.virginpulse.com

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane 

Guests: Helen Rossiter, West Marine; Connie Costigan, Saba

Listen HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve and Trish recorded live from the Saba Insights 2018 Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona to talk with Connie Costigan from Saba and  Helen Rossiter from West Marine, a 250+ location retailer on how they have created an employee centric learning organization.

By empowering employees to take control of their career planning and learning and development opportunities, West Marine has created a culture that enables and supports continuous learning, collaboration, and has created opportunities for employees to expand their skills and grow their careers. Instead of seeing retail, hourly employees as fungible assets, West Marine has invested in learning and development and has seen the beneifts of these investments. It seems really simple, but most organizations still have not made the connection between people, development , and business results as West Marine has experienced.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

This was a really interesting and fun show - thanks to Helen, Connie and everyone at Saba for having the HR Happy Hour Show at their event.

Subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app - just search for 'HR Happy Hour'.

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 339 - Using Culture and Feedback to Evolve Performance Management

HR Happy Hour 339 - Using Culture and Feedback to Evolve Performance Management

Sponsored by Virgin Pulse - www.virginpulse.com

Host: Steve Boese

Guests: Keri Smith, Director of Human Resources, Business Partner and Organizational Development, HH Hunt; Joshua Howland, Director of Product, OC Tanner Labs

Listen HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve recorded live from the OC Tanner Influence Greatness Conference in Park City, Utah and learned how HH Hunt, a 2,000 employee organization is evolving their performance management practices. On the show, Keri Smith of HH Hunt shared their journey from the classic, annual, highly structured, formal, ratings-based, and pretty much hated annual performance review processes, to a newer approach centered around the 1-1 relationship between a manager and an employee. She discussed how the organization prepared to change their performance management practices, how they have set up a framework and structure for managers to lead impactful and engaging conversations with their employees, and how these new methods have served to solidify and strengthen both organizational culture and individual performance.

Joshua shared how the newly released capabilities in the OC Tanner Culture Cloud have supported Keri and HH Hunt in these initiatives and how they are working with all kinds of organizations to enable and empower culture-centered change. You can learn more and sign up for a free trial of these new capabilties at www.octanner.com.

This was an interesting show and great look at 'life after performance reviews.'

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

Thanks to Keri and Joshua for joining us and thanks to OC Tanner for inviting the HR Happy Hour Show to the event.

Subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show wherever you get your podcasts.

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 338 - LIVE from the 2018 HR Technology Conference #HRTechConf

HR Happy Hour 338 - LIVE from the 2018 HR Technology Conference

Sponsored by Virgin Pulse - www.virginpulse.com

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Guests: Don Weinstein, ADP; Gretchen Alarcon, Oracle, Cecile Alper-Leroux, Ultimate Software

Listen HERE

This week on a special LIVE HR Happy Hour Show recorded at the HR Technology Conference Steve and Trish welcome back show legends Don Weinstein, Gretchen Alarcon, and Cecile Alper-Leroux to talk HR Tech, innovation, women in technology and much more.

We had a great live audience at the HR Tech Pitchfest Theater who watched the show live, joined in on true HR Happy Hour fun, and heard from three industry leaders and legendary HR Happy Hour Show guests talk about some of the most important topics in HR tech and in workplaces.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

Thanks so much to Don, Gretchen, and Cecile for taking some time from their busy HR Tech Conference schedules to join us on this special HR Happy Hour Show!

Remember to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts - just search for 'HR Happy Hour'.

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 337 - The 2018 HR Technology Conference Preview - #HRTechConf

HR Happy Hour 337 - The 2018 HR Technology Conference Preview

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Sponsored by Virgin Pulse - www.virginpulse.com

Listen HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, hosts Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane preview the upcoming HR Technology Conference to be held September 11 - 14, 2018 in Las Vegas.

Steve and Trish shared their 'not to miss' events and sessions, shared some ideas on how to have a great conference experience, and shared some details of a special 'LIVE' HR Happy Hour Show that will be broadcast at the Conference on Sep 12 at 4:30PM PT.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

If you are attending HR Tech next week, you definitely want to hear this show!

And if you are attending, please be sure to come watch the Live show next week.

Subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show wherever you get your podcasts - just search for 'HR Happy Hour'.

One way legacy companies can change the recruiting and retention equation

One challenge most older, 'legacy' companies can face when recruiting and attempting to retain their most desired people and keep them from flocking to the newer, more exciting, and often more lucrative startups in their industries is their very own legacies and brands.

One could argue that 25 year old hotshot developers are not that interested in joining say an IBM, when they could jump on a new AI or blockchain startup. Or in finance, the allure of say a JP Morgan Chase might not hold all that much resonance when that same 25 year old has been immersed in crypto currency exchange technology for the last few years. Or in retailing, what would draw someone who has many options to a company like Walmart or Target, when modern, fast-moving, and tech-driven startups like Stitchfix seem to be much more exciting?

Well, one 'legacy' company is trying a really clever strategy for to address this challenge - the legendary auto manufacturer GM is looking to improve its success in recruiting and retaining talent for its new self-driving unit named Cruise, by offering new employees equity directly in the Cruise unit, and not in legacy GM. From a recent piece in TechCrunch describing the plan:

In what will be seen as a big recruiting and retention win for Cruise, employees will be offered equity in GM’s self-driving technology subsidiary rather than shares of GM. The securities offering was disclosed in a recent SEC filing for GM Cruise Holdings LLC.

The equity structure gives all Cruise employees the chance to own actual shares of Cruise, not in GM. It’s a critical development for a company, even one flush with new capital like Cruise, that is working to deploy autonomous vehicles on a commercial scale.

“The goal was primarily to create a new equity structure so that we could recruit and retain the best talent by giving them direct participation in potential upside in Cruise through owning actual shares in Cruise, which we didn’t have before,” Cruise CEO and co-founder Vogt told TechCrunch.

So how does a company like GM better compete for in-demand talent, that may be drawn to their smaller, upstart competitors? By making it seem for the most part that this talent doesn't really work for GM, they work for a self-driving car startup called Cruise that just so happens to be subsidiary of GM. And this allows GM not only to get a lift from not being wed to 100+ years of GM history from a branding perspective, it allows loosens up the compensation purse strings for these Cruise employees, as large, legacy companies like GM have much more rigid and formal methods of allocating compensation - ones that their startup competition usually are not encumbered by.

And if things work out for Cruise, the prospect for employees of really cashing in with a spinoff and an IPO add the carrot of potential future millions that 'legacy' GM would never be able to match. It's a clever way to combine the strengths of GM's legacy and history with some new ideas that shore up some of the weaknesses in that legacy.

And yes, I am a GM owner. But I am still driving my own car. For now anyway.

Have a great day!