So where are the jetpacks?

A couple of days ago I shared on Twitter the link for the 2014 HR Technology Conference call for speaking proposals page. Soon thereafter a couple of folks more or less called me out, questioning the fairly long lead time between when the speaking proposals are due and the actual dates of the conference (about 9 months all told). The objections or complaints were basically along the lines of that since the HR Tech industry is moving and innovating so quickly that having such a long interval between when speaking proposals are due in and when the conference will take place means that many new developments and innovations will go missing from the show.

While I admit that nine months seems like a long lead time, and without going in to the mundane details of the steps involved for proposal review, potential speaker interviews and re-interviews, program balancing, agenda and content development, and oh yeah, actually finalizing and promoting the agenda so that we can market and sell conference tickets, and all the time that these activities require, I'd rather take another approach to explain to the folks that think that 9 months is too long, and really anyone who has bought into the notion that the enterprise and HR technology industries are moving that quickly why they are a little off-base.

The truth is while the HR tech industry is innovating and progressing, it is generally not making quantum leaps in capability and efficacy in such narrow and discrete time frames as short as a few months. We could leave the call for proposals for HR Tech open until the day before the show and I would expect that 90% of the submissions would be largely the same types of sessions we see in January.

The larger, more established providers are working off of development roadmaps that are largely laid out at least a year out into the future, and perhaps even longer. The smaller, more innovative companies also need at least a year to get their product built, figure out just what the hell they are doing, convince a few real customers to use their product, and then get someone outside the Valley to notice them. Big client-side projects that form the basis for many of the case studies and HR executive-led sessions that we like to showcase at the show themselves often last the better part of a year, (and sometimes longer).

And even with all these incredible advances we have seen in HR tech in the last few years, (the move to the Cloud, video recruiting, social referral programs, mobile learning technology, iPad-based talent management, open web candidate sourcing, predictive workforce analytics tools, ACA compliance business intelligence, and on and on), many, many organizations and HR departments are still pushing paper, keying and re-keying the same data into multiple systems, and executing processes and transactions in much the same way as they were 10 years ago. The truth is it is still the exceptional HR organization and HR leader that wants or demands (and can secure) the very latest, most cutting-edge technology solutions for their organizations.

We have come a really, really long way in HR technology, but there is still a long, long way to go.

And for that reason, and a few others, it is a really exciting time to be in HR and in the HR Technology space. And that is also why I am really confident at next year's HR Tech Conference (the discussion about speaking proposals for Tech is what launched this little mini-rant), attendees will see the very best and latest developments, and hear presentations from their HR peers about how HR tech is helping drive their businesses. 

But make no mistake about it, this is a long game. A game that is changing for sure, but probably not as quickly as you think and perhaps not as rapidly as some folks would have you believe.

Take a close look at all the 'HR Tech 2014 Predictions' pieces you can find in the next few weeks. Then do a quick search and read a few of the same for 2013 and 2012. There will be lots of overlap. 

And that is ok. And expected. These things often take longer than we expect.

We were promised jetpacks, right?

And one last thing, mainly for a couple of folks that might care, if indeed some incredibly interesting and disruptive development in HR tech happened from out of the blue sometime between when the HR Tech Conference agenda is finalized and the actual show in October, I would find a way to make sure it was included at the event.

Q&A: How Mobile Consumers are Changing HR Technology

Recently I did a quick Q&A with the good folks at Cornerstone OnDemand that centered on how the consumer, really the smartphone and tablet-toting consumer, and their demands and expectations are going to drive and influence developments in the HR Tech space going forward.

In a nutshell, I had three basic takes that are shaping these trends: (you can head over the the Cornerstone OnDemand blog for the full Q&A).

Ease of use - the App-ification of our lives demands that the technologies that will be the most adopted, and therefore the most effective at work, be as easy to access, understand, and immediately derive value from as apps like Yelp, Shazam, and Instagram. No smartphone app comes with a user manual. If you can't move from installation to use to value in minutes then you are going to turn off most of your users. And that is even before we start talking about designing for the smaller screens and tap-tap-tap interfaces, rather than the 27-inch monitor you have at the office.

Mobile is the platform - The most popular social networks are increasingly mobile-only, or mobile-dominated. Facebook, Twitter - they are all about mobile now. And the fast climb of mobile-only messaging apps like WhatsApps and SnapChat tell entrepreneurs that you don't need a web interface to scale into the many millions of users. To day, almost all HR technology aimed at mobile users have just been mobile versions of existing desktop and web applications. I think that is going to change. 

Switching costs will decline - What do you do with a smartphone app that you no longer enjoy or simply ceases to add value to your life? Easy - two taps and it is gone forever and you find something to replace it. As more and more HR and workplace solutions move to the cloud and more will become mobile-only apps, over time both 'vendor lock in' and these kinds of switching costs will be reduced. The very same technology approaches that have allowed the cloud vendors to disrupt the on-premise solutions of the past makes they themselves open to the same disruption.

There is more of my insight/nonsense on these ideas over at the CSOD blog - many thanks to the Cornerstone team for asking me to share some of my thoughts.

Have a great weekend all!  

Twitter chat today on HR Tech Implementation and Adoption - #Nextchat

Note: Today, Wednesday November 13 at 3PM EST, I will be co-hosting the popular Twitter Chat called #NextChat, which was created by the great folks over at SHRM and brings important topics in the areas of Human Resources, management, leadership, and technology to the forefront, in a fast-paced and informative medium.

Below is the set up for today's @NextChat on HR Technology Implementation and Adoption that I will (along with Trish McFarlane), be co-hosting. I hope you can join us today at 3PM EST.

NextChat - HR Technology Implementation and Adoption

Technology solutions have for some time helped Human Resources departments improve service delivery, find and attract talent, provide employees opportunities to learn and develop their careers, and support an organization’s business strategy. But what has changed in the last few years are the methods, strategies, and challenges for to insure the successful implementation and adoption of modern workplace and HR technologies.

With more and more HR technology solutions moving to cloud-based delivery models, the way HR technology is marketed, sold, implemented, and deployed to users has dramatically changed in just the last few years..

Combine the changes in the technology development and delivery process with the explosion in the number of solutions that offer HR professionals support for their initiatives and programs and you end up with a market that is full of potential and promise, but also one that can be difficult for the HR professional to navigate. Making the ‘right’ decisions about HR technology has never been more challenging, (and more important). 

Please join @weknownext at 3 p.m. ET on November 13 for #Nextchat with special guest Steve Boese (@SteveBoese) and Trish McFarlane (@TrishMcFarlane). We’ll discuss some of the most important factors for successful selection, implementation, and user adoption of the next generation of HR technology solutions.

Q1. What are the signs that it is time to make an HR technology purchase/investment?

Q2. What are some of the key elements and concepts in cloud HR technology purchases that HR professionals need to understand?  #nextchat

Q3. What are some of the common statements and buzzwords given by HR solution providers, and what do they REALLY mean? #nextchat

Q4. How can HR professionals identify the most important factors for their organization in their technology decision process? #nextchat

Q5. After a technology is selected and purchased, what are the essential next steps to launch the implementation project? #nextchat

Q6. Are HR technology projects similar to other HR projects and what specific skills does HR need for technology projects? #nextchat

Q7. Once the project ‘goes live’ how can HR continue the positive momentum and ensure adoption rates meet project goals? #nextchat  

Q8. What are the tools &  metrics to evaluate/assess HR technology success? How can HR learn from past project experiences?

 What's a Twitter chat?

I hope you can join in the conversation today at 3PM!

On our wearable technological future workplace

If you haven't yet, you should really spend some time reading Josh Bersin's excellent piece on Forbes, 'The 9 Hottest Trends in HR Technology... and Many are Disruptive.' In the piece, Josh combines his insight into the HR and HR technology markets to offer up his view of some of the most important, and potentially impactful trends for HR and the workplace in the near and semi-near future. 

Josh hits some trends that have been brewing for a few years now, (video, social, and Big Data in talent management and HR), but it is his last trend 'Watch for Wearable Computing and the Internet of Things', that interests me the most, and I wanted to touch upon briefly here.

Josh describes the potential for recruiting applications that run on wearable devices like Google Glass, (something I wrote about on the blog some time back), and a different kind of wearable device from Hitachi that monitors employee movements, activities, and interactions in the hopes of helping the organization (and the individual), 'learn' about when and with whom they are most productive, inspired, and efficient. I even blogged about a similar technology all the way back in 2011.

We all like to say that endless meetings suck the life out of us at work, but with a kind of 'work logging' device that could track the time and participants in a meeting, then perform some analysis about how much or little 'great' work got done soon after, then an organization might be able for the first time be able to 'know' the true cost of their propensity to endlessly gather around large, wooden tables.

And as I wrote about in 2012, a 'Glass' type device to help inform, monitor, and help an interviewer (or manager) adapt on the fly to interactions with candidates or employees seems to hold incredible potential for increased accuracy and productivity. Additionally, the ability of Glass (and presumably other technology), to record and immediately make available digital records of these interactions will provide a real-time capability and mechanism for in the moment feedback, coaching, and improvement.

But there is a downside to this, certainly, for the worker anyway. The loss of perceived privacy namely. While we have all come to accept the fact that while on company time and using company equipment and networks that our digital activities can be and probably are being monitored, most of us would be less willing to sign up for offline (hallways, meetings, the cafeteria), monitoring as well.

At work, we like to be able to steal away from the computers and phones and have side conversations, chats in the break room, even the occasional adult beverage or two with our peers and colleagues. The beauty of these kinds of interactions is that they are generally completely unscripted, informal, and more relaxed. Exactly the kinds of interactions that smarter people than I like Marissa Mayer talked about when she famously put a stop to remote working arrangements at Yahoo a few months back. But will these interactions be as 'free' and as valuable and productive if they are being tracked, monitored, recorded?

I do think the horse is just about out of the barn, at least on these technologies themselves. Many organizations will indeed see these kinds of wearable, always-on, always tracking, always recording devices as a simple extension of phone, network, and email monitoring that is generally accepted and expected in the workplace. Most employees have adapted to this reality by generally keeping personal, controversial, and potentially inflammatory content off of corporate devices and networks. But once the corporation extends 'monitoring' to the person, and not just the tools the person uses? Well, that is a different situation entirely.

Whether or not it takes two years or more like ten, it seems to me that we will almost certainly see more tracking, monitoring, and recording of workers of all types - from service providers out in the field, to customer service folks, to information workers at the corporate office, and who knows, maybe even to the big shots in the big offices too.

It will be really interesting when, as I first asked back in 2011, whether or not employees are going to be excited about wearing a 'workplace wire'. 

LIVE Tonight - #HRHappyHour recaps HRevolution and HR Tech

HR Happy Hour 172 - HRevolution and HR Tech 2013 Recap

LIVE - Thursday October 17, 2013 - 8:00PM EDT

Call in on 646-378-1086

Follow and join the backchannel conversation on Twitter - use the hashtag #HRHappyHour

This week the HR Happy Hour is back with a special LIVE show with a recap and review of all the happenings at the recent HRevolution and HR Technology Conferences.

Join hosts Trish McFarlane and Steve Boese for a look back at both events - the sessions, the parties, the exhibits and all the fun from what was a memorable HR week in Las Vegas.

You can listen live tonight at 8:00PM EDT on the show page here, or using the widget player below:

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

If you were in attendance at either HRevolution or HR Tech, then you are invited to call in to talk with Steve and Trish and to share your thoughts and observations from the events.

Who made you think?

Who made you laugh?

What was the most amazing HR Technology that you checked out?

We will hit all the highlights and also have a few laughs as well.

You won't want to miss this one, as the HR Happy Hour returns with a LIVE show, Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 8PM EDT.