Which 'Breakthrough Technology' might actually break through?

Later on this year at the HR Florida Conference and Expo Trish McFarlane and I will be co-presenting a session titled "Thinking Outside the (In)box - What These ‘Big Trends’ Mean for HR and Recruiting", what will be (hopefully) a fun and challenging look at what some of the big tech, demographic, and economic trends will mean for HR and Talent Management.  I have been a big believer in the importance and need for HR and Talent pros to think more expansively about how things like wearable technology, the shrinking (and aging) workforce, and (see yesterday's post), massive and rising levels of student loan debt will impact their organizations and talent programs. So I'm always on the lookout for what's new, what's next, and trying to think about whether the latest piece of high-tech gadgetry might change the way we find, align, collaborate, and coach in the workplace.

Recently, the MIT Technology Review (thanks MIT!), posted it's list of '10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2013', an interesting collection of new and new-ish innovations that they think will move past niche status and enter (or at least approach) the mainstream in 2013. Some of the items on the list - Baxter the Industrial Robot, 3D printing, and smart watches are probably familiar sounding. But some of the others like memory implants or deep learning represent some of the latest in technology innovation. Taken together the 10 technologies will certainly have some impact on work and the workplace this year and beyond. The challenge is, as always, for you as a Talent pro to think about developments like these and try and assess which ones might matter for your organization and your approach to talent.

One way to make sense of these kinds of lists is to try and put the technolgies into buckets or categories - something to help you prioritize and allocate your already limited time and ability to even attempt to process these kinds of innovations. I like to use three buckets (see below), and I'll offer my shot on whether or not the 'breakthrough technologies' on the MIT list should be on your radar in 2013.

I'll save the rationale for these categorizations for now, but you can come hear Trish and I talk about them at HR Florida!

Get on it - These are potentially important right now - you should be not just aware of these trends, but should be actively assessing how they will change either the workplace, the nature of work, or how you will engage talent.

From the MIT List - Baxter, Big Data from Cheap Phones, Additive Manufacturing, Temporary Social Media

On the come - Probably not going to hit you in 2013, (or maybe even 2014), but if you have your act toghether enough to be able to talk about talent needs in say 2015 and beyond, then this trend will probably come into play. Only talk about these with the C-suite if you have some serious internal credibility.

From the MIT List - Deep Learning, Smart Watches, Ultra-Efficient Solar Power

Discovery Channel - These are fun to talk or think about, but you probably don't need to give them more than 5 seconds of consideration unles your business is directly related to the technology in question. If not, then be content with catching up on them on the Discovery Channel in a few years and re-evaluate then.

From the MIT List - Prenatal DNA Sequencing, Memory Implants, Supergrids

That's my take on this latest list, and how to attempt to evaluate whether or not you need to spend time thinking about and planning for any of these new technology innovations as they pop-up. I'd love to get your take on these, or any other potentially disruptive technologies that are going to or are already changing your workplace and your talent game.

Native Languages: An HR Technology Conference Review

This week the 15th Annual HR Technology Conference was held in the great city of Chicago, and once again the event brought together, in a way and at a scale that is unrivalled in the industry, the diverse and ever-widening community of HR leaders, practitioners, solution providers, analysts, press, bloggers, and everyone-that-doesn't-fall-into-one-of-those-categories types that have an interest in the role of technology in the workplace.

And as has been pointed out again and again, no matter what kind of work you do, whether you're an information worker in a massive global firm, someone on the retail front lines, a small business owner that needs to know how to get the most out of your team, or even a solo artist looking for your next gig - technology plays a role in how you find work, (and often, how work finds you), how you find people to help you, how your work gets seen and judged, and perhaps, hopefully, can help you to do your work even better than you imagined possible.

That last part, technology that helps people to do their best work is the ultimate goal, I think, and one that is shared by both solution providers and practitioners alike. And not all successful HR Technology products and projects have to be flashy and exciting and cutting-edge, (although those are the ones we like to talk about the most). No, sometimes technology that simply takes a mundane but essential workplace process and makes it more efficient, or that automates what used to be manual and dreary, or one that simply gets out of your way to let you concentrate more fully on your real work, and less on the other 'stuff' that stubbornly tries to distract you - these too are important, necessary, and in many ways often more impactful than the latest new social-mobile-local-big datafied thingy you just saw at the show.

And at the Conference, we get to see, hear from, play with, and talk to the folks from all manner of solution providers - ones that are chasing the newest and latest; ones that are dependably playing in the middle but still really important ground since most employees have a pesky desire to get paid correctly and on time and have their benefits coverage be current and accurate; and many that are doing some of both - continuing to innovate and grow from a reliable base, and providing customers the opportunity to move at their own pace.

As has been said often and correctly by many others, (examples, here, here, and here), the HR Technology Conference is the one place where the entire industry comes together for three, (four if you count HRevolution, which I do), days to learn, share, connect, brag, and ultimately, to also try and accomplish one of the goals of the technology products themselves - to do their jobs better, no matter what role they play. And the best thing about the Conference, since it draws solution providers from every segment of the market, is that both the HR Director from the 200 person company and the Executive Vice President of Human Resources from a 50,000 employee multi-national can both find a myriad of technologies suitable for their circumstances to review, colleagues from peer companies to compare notes with, while both taking advantage of access to the leading independent analysts and thinkers in the industry.

From my perspective, the event was fantastic, and I was especially glad with the HRevolution-style session that I co-presented with Trish McFarlane on Wednesday for two reasons - one; the session was so well-attended since it was near the end of the program, and two; showed the real potential and power of the community of people that were gathered. At one point in the conversation an attendee offered an idea for a cool new social capability she would love to see offered in her current solution, other attendees added to her ideas and gave some clarity, and by the end of the discussion, some 'product' types were taking notes and brainstorming about how to build that capability in their tools. It would not surprise me at all to see someone announcing this feature in their product at the Conference next year.

I will end by repeating what I think was the most succinct statement and message that I heard over the course of the event that reminds and reinforces the value and importance of what the show is all about, an observation made by Steve Miranda, SVP of Applications Development at Oracle. Steve said,

'Technology might now be a second language to us, (the attendees of the Conference), but it is a native language to the next generation of the workforce.'

And that simple observation points us forward, not only to thinking about how we can take the things we learned this week back our organizations, but also how we will have to prepare for the future of our workplaces, ones that will rapidly transform into ones where the halls, real or virtual, will be almost completely filled by native speakers of technology.

These natives will not remember a world before smartphones, tablets, on-demand apps, access to their information as and when and on what device they choose, and the ability to share seamlessly, connect constantly, and do it all without pausing for training or even reading the instructions. They will expect their workplace tools to speak their native language.

While we all will want to get there, the starting points and paths will be different for all organizations.

But one thing is for certain, you will know how to start and with whom you should travel on the journey from your connections and learnings from the HR Technology Conference community.

It was a great show once again - kudos and thanks to Bill Kutik, David Shadovitz, and everyone at LRP - the work they do each year to deliver this event is monumental and appreciated.

#HRTechConf (un)session Preview - Social Tools in the Organization

Today at 9:00AM Central time at the HR Technology Conference, I will be co-presenting along with Trish McFarlane a session titled: #HRevolution : How Social Tools Can Empower a Global Organization.

The session, about how organizations are leveraging both public-facing social networks and platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as behind-the-firewall tools like Yammer and Sharepoint, in HR, Recruiting, and Talent Management processes; will be conducted in classic HRevolution 'unconference' style - as a facilitated discussion among and by peers and colleagues in the industry, with the goal to open the lines of communication and share lessons learned, challenges, and goals with each other.

The HRevolution style of facilitating presents some risks of course - if attendees are shy or reluctant to share openly with the group, then the session presenters are under the gun to some extent, and there's nothing worse than a interactive session with no interacting.

So attendees of our session tomorrow are expected to play an active part - sharing their knowledge, discussing their approaches in bringing social technology to their workplaces, and even challenging some of the widely held and often repeated assumptions about social technology and its role in the workplace. 

In addition to the conversations that will happen in the room at HR Tech, we also encourage anyone following the #HRTechConf hashtag on Twitter to engage with us as well.  The hashtag for the session is #UNSESSION and the basic questions we will raise in the room will be tweeted out on my user name @SteveBoese as follows:

Q1 - What social recruiting success stories can you share? #unsession #HRTechConf

Q2 – What collaboration tools are you using and getting positive results from? #unsession #HRTechConf

Q3 – How can social  technology encourage recognition in the workplace? #unsession #HRTechConf

Q4 – How can social tools help drive innovation in the organization? #unsession #HRTechConf

Q5 – How can social tools fix, improve, or blow up existing processes? #unsession #HRTechConf

We will be checking the backchannel throughout the session for questions, answers, comments and for general feedback from the Twitterverse.

Trish and I are really looking forward to the session, and if you are at the HR Technology Conference we hope to see you there, and if not, we hope you will join in the #UNSESSION discussion on the backchannel.

#HRevolution 2012 Preview

The 5th installment of the HRevolution (Un)Conference for Human Resources, Recruiting, and Talent Professionals is set for this coming Sunday, October 7, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. Since 2009, HRevolution has been creating unique opportunities for HR professionals, recruiters, consultants, and vendors to come together to discuss and debate the future of HR.

Once again, the HRevolution has partnered with the HR Technology Conference, to be held October 8-10, also in Chicago, to offer HRevolution attendees a fantastic discount for the big HR Tech event of the year, for folks attending both events.

If you have not yet purchased your ticket to HRevolution, there is still time to get in, visit the registration page here to get started.

I have had the great pleasure and honor to be a member of the HRevolution organizining team since the beginning, and I can say with great confidence that this year's event is shaping up to be our best yet. 

Have a look at the agenda here - littered with some of the sharpest thinkers and most innovative HR and Talent people in the space, the kinds of smart, interesting, and connected people that you simply have to get to know. Folks like Bret Starr, Gerry Crispin, Alexandra Levit, Laurie Ruettimann, the Talent Anarchy team, and your hero Tim Sackett just to name a few.

But beyond the 'formal but not really formal' sessions, consistently the best aspect of HRevolution is the connections that are made within and across the community of people that while having many different roles and positions in the industry, are united in their common desire to make business, HR, and workplaces, and themselves better.

The HRevolution is an entirely bootstrapped, volunteer event made possible by the incredible commitment and generosity of a few important and fantastic organizations - our sponsors and partners.

We are so thankful for the tremendous support of the following HRevolution 2012 sponsors:

Aquire - The leading solution provider for workforce planning and analytics solutions, and importantly a long time supporter of the HR community via HRevolution and the HR Happy Hour Show

Ceridian - A Human Resources and Payroll solutions provider and a past sponsor of HRevolution that we are honored to have with us again in 2012

Pinstripe - A global RPO provider that has shown amazing support in the past not only for HRevolution, but for the HR and Recruiting industry as a whole - fantastic people that really believe in what they do.

SilkRoad - A leading provider of social, cloud-based talent management solutions for functions like Recruiting and Onboarding. We are really happy to welcome them to the HRevolution family.

We on the HRevolution team are truly grateful for your support!

Tonight on the HR Happy Hour Show, (streaming live starting at 8:00PM ET here), we will spend the hour talking about a revolution, the HRevolution that is. We will be joined by members of the organizing team, session leaders, sponsors, and attendees to preview and collectively begin the countdown to what is for many of us, our favorite event of the year.

If you are planning to attend HRevolution, either as a veteran, or as a first-timer, I encourage you to tune-in to the HR Happy Hour Show tonight, and even better, to call in on 646-378-1086 and share with us why you make time in your busy lives to attend HRevolution.

Listen to internet radio with Steve Boese on Blog Talk Radio

Lastly, I have to thank and recognize the other members of the HRevolution team, a wonderful group that I am proud to be associated with - Trish McFarlane, Ben Eubanks, and Matt 'akaBruno' Stollak. Once again, an amazing team to work with.

Hopefully I will see lots of you in Chicago on Sunday and on the Happy Hour Show tonight!

Innovation as a choice

I'm just back from Taleo World 2012, (ok, I admit to being a little biased, but it was a tremendous event), and wanted to share a short bit of wisdom from one of the concurrent sessions I attended, given by WellPoint, one of the largest health benefits companies in the United States. With over 37,000 employees operating in a highly-regulated industry and with the added complexity of operating via numerous subsidiary companies, WellPoint is a classic example of the kind of large corporate environment many of us work in or have been a part of at some point in our careers.Taleo World 2012

And what are some of the things that come to mind when thinking about working in really large, complex organizations?  

We generally think of these corporate giants as lacking agility, with dense and difficult to traverse organization structures, a lack of drive and urgency, and at times the tendency to get consumed by process, entrenched ways of thinking, and lots of 'Not invented here' syndrome that taken together can slow or even halt innovative ideas of transformational projects even before they begin.

While it is certainly true that as organizations get larger and more complex in structure additional rules, policies, and sometimes bureaucracies have to emerge to simply manage the processes associated with organizing that many people, across that many locations, and operating under numerous and evolving external forces and requirements, the smartest of these large organizations are not letting size, complexity and inertia impede their ability to adapt, improve, and innovate.

And while their are reams of books, articles, seminars, and big thinkers all focused on the subject of innovation, still for large organizations, fostering innovation can be really, really hard - maybe even impossible. But during WellPoint's presentation about their purposeful and aggressive approach to reinventing their Talent Management processes, they offered one of the clearest and simplest ways to get past those legacy or inherent barriers to innovation.

Simply put, they decided to be innovative. 

The specific mantra their Talent Management team adopted was 'We can sit and wait, or we can choose to innovate.'

Sure it's basic. Sure it even sounds a little naive. And yes, no one can really effect significant change by simply making a choice, but the choice itself is the start. 

The choice to innovate becomes a conscious one that can support all the difficult decisions that have to be made in order to effect change at large organizations like WellPoint. The choice allows you, even empowers you to think about the big picture and the real reasons and benefits for the hard work you are doing. 

The choice enables you to start to let go of the organizational baggage that often has to be dragged along with you on every new project.

In another Taleo World presentation, Bertrand Dussert mentioned a fantastic quote from Roger Enrico -

"Beware the tyranny of making small changes to small things."

WellPoint's 'choice' and the Enrico quote both remind us of the importance of thinking big, not allowing the past to be a barrier to progress, and that often a simple change in mindset can be the beginning of a fantastic journey, even in the largest and most seemingly resistant to change environments.

Thanks to everyone at Taleo World for what was a superb and inspiring event.

Have a Great Weekend!