HR Florida - A Bold Attempt is Half of Success

The leaders and organizers of the HR Florida State Conference have welcomed and embraced the social media community in a proactive and meaningful manner.

The second annual blogger/social media panel (which was a trip, even if I got the shaft 'Family Feud'Mike V style), the presence and continued coverage of the team from Voice of HR, and the support and accomodation of two live HR Happy Hour shows from the conference location, are just some of the social media elements running through the conference.

Heck, in every concurrent session an announcement is made explaining that they are numerous bloggers in attendance, and the tweeting during the sessions in actively encouraged. 

I talked with Mike VanderVort , the organizer and the moderator of the blogger panel about the thought process undertaken by the HR Florida leadership team that has led to the social media component to be so strongly apparent and even emphasized at the event.  Mike shared with me that the leadership committee felt strongly that social media, social networking, and knowledge/skills necessary to leverage these tools in the modern workplace would transform the way people work, and how HR leaders will be in position to drive results in their companies.

Just like the traditional and expected impacts to HR professionals and the workplace from US Healthcare reform, the effects of a long term economic downturn, and the seemingly ever changing and increasingly complex labyrinth of workplace legislation; the leadership of HR Florida felt that the impact of social media and social networking was of enough importance that their membership and their conference attendees would be well served by the presentation of visible and relevant education and dialog about these new tools and strategies for their use inside organizations.

Welcoming the sometimes unpredictable world of bloggers/tweeters etc. into your event is not without some risk and definitely some uncertainty.  Occasionally a tweet may be negative or accusatory, a blogger might use some shall we say more 'colorful' language than what is typically heard at these kinds of events.  The 'message' is no longer in complete control of the conference organizers and the presenters.  Lack of control, rogue comments, potential exposure of negative aspects of the event, or the content.  

Heck, the exact same concerns that made up the first five audience questions to the blogger panel.

The truth is, neither HR Conferences nor HR professionals at organizations can 'control' the message any longer.  What is really cool about HR Florida, pretty much as traditional an event as I have ever seen, is that it has come to terms with this new reality, and in many cases, much, much sooner than the HR professional that are their customers.

The conference is to be commended for this vision. The event, just like the inside of organizations, can't be sure what will result from this experiment. But in the immortal words of the chocolate covered fortune cookie I had last night - 'A Bold Attempt is Half of Success'.

HR Florida and Doing the Right Thing

I am attending the HR Florida State Conference and Expo and participating on the second annual HR Florida blogger panel later today. Huge thanks to the HR Florida team for inviting me to attend and be a part of the show.

The first session I sat in on was called the 'ROI of Compassion' presented by Lisa Murfield.  Lisa shared the story of United Bulk Terminal, a small Louisiana employer that was faced with massive business disruption, personal hardship, and even devastating tragedy as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Of United Bulk Terminal's approximately 150 employees, 83% lost their homes, and though damage, infrastructure problems, inability to get supplies to the facility, business operations were shut for over two months.

Using a concerted and coordinated program of support, outreach, and committed communication, United Bulk Terminal was able to successfully resume business operations while retaining over 50% of the 'pre-disaster' employees.  That may not sound like an impressive percentage, but considering the personal devastation, the forced evacuations, and the incredible trauma that the vast majority of the employees suffered, the 50% figure is really quite remarkable. 

How United Bulk Terminal demonstrated a truly committed and compassionate response to its family of employees makes for a fantastic case study in corporate response to massive natural disaster.  But for the vast majority of organizations, the kinds of employee trauma that the company will have to deal with are more common, mundane, and certainly predictable.

Death of a loved one.  Financial loss.  Issue with the health or the behavior of employee's children.  Even the loss of a pet.  

These are the kinds of tragedies that are impacting every workforce, in every city, each and every day. 

Having a plan for massive environmental disaster and large scale business disruption is certainly sound business strategy and planning.  

Having a plan to adequately and compassionately support an employee in their more personal and everyday tragedies might be more important and more impactful. Here is my offering in the creation and administration of these policies - Do The Right Thing.

Thanks to Lisa Murfield for an interesting and enlightening presentation.