When people know they're being watched...

... they behave differently.

This observation, really given as an aside, was probably the most intriguing one that was offered during the presentations at the Social Media Strategies for HR seminar at The Conference Board in New York that I attended and co-presented with Trish McFarlane this week.  

The take, that installing, deploying, and making central more 'social' and open or collaborative systems to support people's day-to-day work processes and workflows certainly might make the organization more collegial and efficient, but it also might come with some risk and downside as well.

I think there is certainly something to say for the notion that for many people participation in social networks and systems is part honest, and genuine information sharing and engagement, but it also is at least (partly) a kind of performance as well. Think if you can for a minute about your Facebook feed - I will bet it is filled with perfect photos of your friends' precocious and impossibly cute children, tales of friends jetting off on some exotic location, or even long-lost relatives that you know are (largely) losers painting a way-too-flattering portrait of their lives.

When people know they're being watched, they behave differently.

They might embellish, they might obfuscate, or, certainly, they might simply act better and more diligently and responsibly. But either way, whether it is the popular social networks that have invaded our lives, or it is an internal or enterprise social workplace type system that at its core is designed to give lots more people a window into what the average worker bee is up to all day, I think perhaps we haven't thought enough about how being watched impacts people's actions and behaviors.

Anyway, I'm off the soapbox.

Let me know what you think - is more openness, transparency, and visibility into our everyday and mundane actions at work going to change how we act and how we try to present our work selves? Do we run the risk of becoming the same kind of annoying broadcasters we have become on Facebook? 

As always, The Conference Board put on a great event, and I want to thank them for inviting me to attend and participate this week.

EVENT: The Social Media Strategies for HR Seminar

In two weeks I will be attending and participating in the Conference Board's 'Social Media Strategies for HR' seminar, along with many other fantastic Human Resources practitioners and leaders. If you are thinking that the 'Social Media in HR' angle is getting really played out and overdone, then you might be right, but you also might be in the tiny minority of HR professionals and leaders that actually have been working with social media, social networks, and proactively using these platforms to support their business and talent strategy.  I think, generally, that the opportunities and challenges that social media present to the typical HR organization are just beginning to be explored. Remember, unlike many of us in the social media bubble almost no real HR leaders spend their year attending seventeen conferences, fourteen tweet-ups, or diving into one of the myriad new HR-themed Twitter chats. Mostly they are too busy in their day jobs, and when they have time, they are trying to figure out how to better their function and their performance, and using social media can be one of those ways - if they could ever find some spare time to try and sort it out.

That is why a dedicated event like the Social Media Strategies Seminar for HR is so compelling to me.  In the early days of social media in the workplace, there were hours of trial-and-error while learning because there were no classes or conferences or case studies where you could learn how to use these platforms more effectively.  The benefit for today’s professionals getting into the space or for those who are using the platforms but want to take that use to the next level is that there are events where you can go and learn more in a day than many of us did in a month or a year.

If you or someone in your organization is wants to learn more about using social media platforms for HR and recruiting, you need to mark your calendars now for The Conference Board’s Social Media Strategies for HR Seminar.  Join me in New York City on April 17- 18, 2012 as we discuss and learn how to:

• Leverage social networks to benefit the entire organization
• Implement and manage social networks to spur innovation and knowledge sharing
• Use social media to increase employee engagement and bolster employer branding
• Manage the legal implications of social media in the workplace

I’ll be co-leading a session on how you can use social media to strengthen your employer brand and bolster employee engagement.  My co-presenter will be Trish McFarlane, Director of Human Resources for Perficient and co-founder of the HRevolution.

Use discount code SB1 to get $250 off the registration cost!  You can register for one day or both.  I hope you’ll join us, you won’t be disappointed.

Notes From the Road - #2 - Lower Manhattan

I was able to spend a few days in lower Manhattan this week, attending and co-presenting at The Conference Board's Senior HR Executive Conference, which was held in lower Manhattan, extremely close to Ground Zero, the site of the fallen World Trade Center towers, and now, the recently opened 9/11 Memorial site. When I realized the proximity of the event to the Memorial, I made plans to visit on Tuesday evening, after the conference activities were complete for the day.View of South reflecting pool

The Memorial is as expected - sad, striking, contemplative; and in my view, a must-visit for anyone making a trip to New York City. The Memorial does require a reservation and a ticket to attend, (they are free), and there is a visible and attentive police and security presence throughout. Which makes perfect sense as when touring the Memorial grounds one gets the sense that the uniformed staff were guarding and protecting their own.

I had previously written about one of the heroes of 9/11, FDNY Firefighter Thomas J. Hetzel, as a part of a blog tribute called Project 2,996. And while I did not personally know any of the heroes and victims of September 11, 2001, Firefighter Hetzel for me, has become almost the face of the tragedy. Brave, selfless, a true hero. And taken from his family and friends far too soon. At the site I located Firefighter Hetzel's name inscribed on the Memorial, almost as if searching for the name of a friend. While I never knew him, I think he represents well the idea that the brave souls lost that day are still a part of all of us, and their loss and sacrifices should never be forgotten.

While the 9/11 Memorial forces us to look back and to reflect, there are obvious and apparent signs that allow us to look forward as well. The sounds and machinery of new construction fills the space, and the rising Freedom Tower looms large and spectacular over the scene. When the final touches are placed on the new Tower, and on all the other projects in the space, they, combined with the Memorial will be even a more fantastic and meaningful site.Freedom Tower - click image for a larger view

Whether or not the process and debate as to what to do with the former World Trade Center site took far too long or was too political, does not not seem to matter much when you look down and see the Memorial or you look up and see the gleaming towers rise to the sky.

I hope everyone that gets a chance to visit New York City in the coming days and months does take the time to head down to lower Manhattan and see the Memorial for themselves, and to pause and reflect on sacrifice, bravery, loss, and rebirth.

Have a great weekend!

Senior HR Executive Conference - Social Technology and Innovation

This afternoon at the Conference Board's Senior HR Executive Conference Trish McFarlane and I presented a talk titled 'How Social Tools Can Empower a Global Organization'. The slides from the session are can be found here, and are also embedded below, (email and RSS subscribers may need to click through).

How Social Tools Can Empower a Global Organization

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Mainly, what Trish and I tried to share are some examples, both well-known and a few lesser-known, of how organizations have and can use social media, social networking, new tools for innovation and collaboration, and probably most importantly how looking at business challenges with an eye towards how social and collaboration can help meet these challenges.

These types of short presentations are really meant to be a kind of starting point to thinking about social in different organizational contexts, and for leaders and organizations that have already begun projects and programs, perhaps offering some awareness or insight to new opportunities they have yet to explore.

The feedback to the session was great, (thanks attendees for your time and attention), and many thanks to Trish and to the Conference Board for allowing us to present today.

I'd love your comments and feedback on the presentation as well!

What's Your Question for the CHRO?

This week I'm on my way to New York City to attend and co-present along with Trish McFarlane at the Conference Board's Senior Human Resources Executive Conference. The Senior Human Resources Conference this year has as its theme The Future of Work: Growth, Innovation, and People. The event takes place tomorrow, Tuesday November 15th, and Wednesday November 16th.

The Conference Board has organized a phenomenal set of sessions presented by a cross-section of  the most accomplished Human Resources leaders from some of the world's largest organizations. Just a few of the companies that will be presenting their perspectives, philosophies, and strategies for adapting to this new world of work are Nike, Pitney Bowes, Abbott Laboratories, Boeing, American Express, and more. 

With the really ambitious theme of 'The Future of Work', Trish and I plan to outline and discuss some of the ways organizations can and are leveraging social tools to foster growth, development, innovation, and give themselves an edge in an incredibly challenging and competitive market.

Trish and I are looking forward to attending and presenting, and if you could not make it to New York City to attend in person, you'll want to follow along virtually on Twitter on hashtag #TCBSRHR, and look for reports here, and on Trish's HR Ringleader blog. 

But perhaps the best thing about the Senior HR Executive Conference is the unique and fantastic opportunity to meet, connect, and talk about the important issues facing some of the most senior Human Resources leaders at some of the largest companies in the world today. There are few events, at least ones that have agreed to let me attend, that offer this kind of access.

So since I get to spend a couple of days in this kind of company, I'll put it out there to you faithful readers.

If you could get a few minutes with the CHRO of a Fortune 500 company, what would you like to ask? What are the burning questions or comments you'd like to pass on? What do you think these senior HR leaders need to know?

Please share your ideas and comments, I promise I'll do my best to get the questions asked, and I'll share the answers I receive here.