PODCAST - #HRHappyHour 202 - Zenefits and Disrupting HR Tech

HR Happy Hour 202 - Zenefits and Disrupting HR Tech

Recorded Tuesday February 17, 2015

Hosts: Steve Boese , Trish McFarlane

Guests: Parker Conrad,  Co-founder and CEO, Zenefits

Listen to the show HERE

In the latest HR Happy Hour Show, we were joined by Parker Conrad, Co-founder and CEO of emerging HR technology solution provider Zenefits. Zenefits has a innovative and unique approach to how it provides technology solutions to their customers - the HR and Benefits administration software is completely free for companies to use, Zenefits earns its revenue from commissions from insurance providers when customers elect to use Zenefits as their broker. It is a disruptive model on many levels.

But beyond that model, Parker shared Zenefits approach to building, supporting, and helping customers succeed with HR technology. One interesting concept Parker shared was the idea of how solutions should only gradually expose complexity to customers, i.e., the most common and generally simplest approaches should be on the surface, and only when more complex options are absolutely needed they should be revealed. This was a fascinating conversation with the CEO of one of the fastest growing enterprise technology companies in any domain - not just HR.

Additionally, Steve described the giant icicle hanging in front of his office window, we were reminded (again), that the show is much, much better with Trish in the house, software releases that are 'numbered' might mean complexity and trouble, and finally we learned that Steve once configured an ATS job requisition approval process that was 13 layers deep. Which was stupid.

You can listen to the show on the show page here, and using the widget player below, (email and RSS subscribers will need to click through). 

Check Out Business Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Steve Boese Trish McFarlane on BlogTalkRadio

 

As always, you can listen to the current and all the past shows from the archive on the show page here, on our HR Happy Hour website, and by subscribing to the show in podcast form on iTunes, or for Android devices using Stitcher Radio (or your favorite podcast app). Just search the iTunes store or your podcast app for 'HR Happy Hour' to add the show to your subscriptions.

This was a really fun show, many thanks to Parker and Zenefits for joining us!

PODCAST - #HRHappyHour 201 - Putting the Fun into Analytics

HR Happy Hour 201 - Putting the Fun Into Analytics

Recorded Thursday January 29, 2015

Hosts: Trish McFarlane, Steve Boese

Guests: Mike Psenka,  Senior VP of Workforce Analytics,  Equifax Workforce Solutions

Ed Pertwee, Head of Workforce Planning, BT

Jennifer Payne, Editor, Women of HR

Listen to the show HERE

In the latest HR Happy Hour Show, Trish and Steve recorded a live HR Happy Hour show from the recent Brandon Hall Excellence conference, where Mike, Ed, Steve and Trish conducted a panel discussion on how to leverage data and analytics for HR and organizational success.

Mike and Ed both shared some excellent examples, (both in the panel and in the HR Happy Hour podcast), of how, where, and to what effect data and analytics are making an impact in workforce planning, compliance, and to improve business results. There are some amazingly powerful applications for using data in a wide variety of contexts - where to locate company facilities, the effect of demographic shifts on performance, and how long commute times impact engagement and satisfaction.

Additionally, Steve defended Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks, Trish let us know that the number '201' should not be said as 'two hundred and one', and we learned that a husband should never question the strength and intensity of his wife's labor contractions.

You can listen to the show on the show page here, and using the widget player below, (email and RSS subscribers will need to click through). 

Check Out Business Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Steve Boese Trish McFarlane on BlogTalkRadio

 

As always, you can listen to the current and all the past shows from the archive on the show page here, on our HR Happy Hour website, and by subscribing to the show in podcast form on iTunes, or for Android devices using Stitcher Radio (or your favorite podcast app). Just search the iTunes store or your podcast app for 'HR Happy Hour' to add the show to your subscriptions.

This was a really fun show with some fantastic guests and I hope you enjoy listening!

Manager Tracking

In case you missed it, we had a really fun, interesting, and dare I say engaging conversation last night on the very special 200th Episode of the HR Happy Hour Show and Podcast. You can catch the replay of the show here, or download to iTunes or your favorite podcast app - just search for 'HR Happy Hour'.

The show, titled 'The Final Conversation on Employee Engagement?', had many highlights, (and was lots of fun too), but for me probably the one nugget that resonated the most was when Mike VanDervort shared how at a former employer, a large retail organization, HR and leadership realized that understanding how managers physically walked around the stores, in what speed and direction, and with whom they talked with and for how long, was a key to better understanding employee engagement. I don't want to put words into Mike's mouth, check out the replay of the show to hear his full comments, but to me this kind of insight while obvious on one level (management by walking around has been a thing for ages), is probably more valuable now than before due to the tremendous advance in wearable technologies, GPS-like tracking (even indoors), and our better ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data.

Check out the pic below, (email and RSS subscribers may need to click through if the image does not render), it is an example of advanced visualization data on player movement from an NBA game. 

The visualization above, of the movements of the 10 players on the court, the ball, and relative to the 24-second shot clock, provides both coaches and the players themselves insights into their performance on this play, and can help them make adjustments for future games, understand how player movements are coordinated with each other, understand where and how the movement of the ball impacts player positioning, and finally, use a data-driven approach to evaluating individual performance. This kind of deep dive into player movement is made possible by advanced video capture technology installed in NBA arenas, and powerful new software tools that can make sense of and display the massive data sets, in almost real-time.

Let's jump back to the retail store manager example then. Just as the NBA is embracing advanced tech that captures player movements in order to make better decisions and improve team and player performance, Mike's example of the store manager incorporates those same concepts. If store leadership had a better understanding of how the best store managers actually, physically moved around the store, and where and how they chose their interactions, who they collaborated with, (the retail store version of sharing the ball in the NBA), they might be able to copy, or at least take the repeatable and transferable elements of successful manager interaction and movements to other, less successful stores and managers. With modern wearable technologies to track movements, record interactions, and supplemented by internal GPS or iBeacon tech, there is almost no reason why a large retail operation could not develop 'manager movement' maps similar to the one you see above from the NBA game. 

Sure, the 'manager' map would move a little slower, and may not be as compelling a view, but the insights it could give to improve manager performance, (and then increase employee engagement, which is the context we were discussing on the Happy Hour Show), is I think quite attainable. 

Already retail operations are experimenting with tracking technologies that locate, identify, and then target shoppers with custom ads and offers based on where they are in the store, their past shopping history, and what the retailer thinks will help convert a sale. I can definitely see a time when similar technology is brought to the HR technology stack, and instead of pinging a customer to a sale in Aisle 7, that due to some signals about low stock on the shelves in a certain department, it will then alert a front-line manager to spend some additional time with the employees on the receiving dock.

It's cool, it is powerful, and I think it is coming...

Have a great weekend!

LIVE Tonight - #HRHappyHour Show 200 - The Final Conversation on Employee Engagement?

HR Happy Hour #200 - Celebrating the Final Conversation on Employee Engagement

Broadcast LIVE - Thursday January 22, 2015 - 8:00PM EST

Listen LIVE (and after the show to the replay) on the show page here, or using the widget player embedded below

Hosts : Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Guest: Paul Hebert

Call in 646-378-1086 to be a part of the show

Check Out Business Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Steve Boese Trish McFarlane on BlogTalkRadio

For the celebratory 200th Episode of the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve and Trish will broadcast LIVE just like in the old school HR Happy Hour Show days, this Thursday at 8:00PM ET.

Long time friend of the show and frequent guest Paul Hebert will be along for the ride as we talk employee engagement, hopefully for the last time ever on the show. We have beaten this subject TO DEATH and still we are no closer to 'solving' engagement, or even deciding if it can be solved.

So this week on the show we will beat the topic around one last time, see if there really is a solution to engagement, and maybe and finally move on to more interesting subjects. Like robots. And the Internet of Things. And basketball.

Additionally, we will have some fun looking back at the history of the HR Happy Hour and have some laughs at Steve's expense.

This will be a really fun show, especially since we will be back LIVE this Thursday at 8:00PM ET.

Hope you can join us and jump in to the conversation on the Twitter backchannel - use hashtag #HRHappyHour to join the fun.

PODCAST - #HRHappyHour 199 - Employer Branding from the Inside Out

HR Happy Hour 199 - Employer Branding from the Inside Out

Recorded Tuesday January 20, 2015

Hosts: Trish McFarlane, Steve Boese

Guest: Jason Seiden, CEO Brand Amper

Jason co-founded Brand Amper, an employer branding platform that builds brand equity quickly and sustainably by putting employees—the most trusted source of information about a company—at the center of brand creation. For 20 years, Jason has been making professional communication more genuine and productive.  You can find him on Twitter, he's @seiden.

Listen to the show HERE

In the latest HR Happy Hour Show, Trish and Steve welcomed back our friend Jason Seiden, CEO of Brand Amper, one of 2014's 'Awesome New Startup' technologies from the HR Technology Conference to get an update on what has been happening with Brand Amper, and to talk about engaging employees in the brand and mission of the organization. Often 'brand' initiatives are drawn up in corporate boardrooms or by expensive external consultants without much thought or acknowledgement of what the actual brand messengers and deliverers, the employees, think or feel or believe. Jason talks about the importance and power of leveraging actual employees and what they actually think and believe and aspire to in creating, communicating, and executing the brand promises and delighting customers.

Additionally, Trish and Steve lamented the sorry state of Email in the workplace, (it is NEVER going to die), and Jason shared why he wears the same black H&M shirt everywhere he goes. Steve is 100% with Jason on this strategy, while Trish has some concerns about the mental well-being of both of the gents.

You can listen to the show on the show page here, and using the widget player below, (email and RSS subscribers will need to click through)

Check Out Business Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Steve Boese Trish McFarlane on BlogTalkRadio

 

As always, you can listen to the current and all the past shows from the archive on the show page here, on our HR Happy Hour website, and by subscribing to the show in podcast form on iTunes, or for Android devices using Stitcher Radio (or your favorite podcast app). Just search the iTunes store or your podcast app for 'HR Happy Hour' to add the show to your subscriptions.

This was a really fun show and I hope you enjoy listening!