PODCAST - #HRHappyHour 224 - iCIMS and Talent Acquisition Technology

HR Happy Hour #224 - iCIMS and Talent Acquisition Technology

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Guests: Madeline Laurano, Colin Day, Adam Feigenbaum

Recorded Wednesday November 4, 2015

LISTEN HERE

This week on the show, HR Happy Hour hosts Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane were at the recent iCIMS Analyst Day in San Diego, where they sat down with fellow analyst and official 'Friend of the HR Happy Hour' Madeline Laurano in Part 1 of the show, to talk about trends in HR and recruiting technology, and followed by a conversation with iCIMS CEO Colin Day, and COO Adam Feigenbaum about the state of the Applicant Tracking System, and the broader market for Talent Acquisition technology.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, or by using the widget player below, (Email and RSS subscribers will need to click through). 

iCIMS has developed a substantial list of customers for its talent acquisition technology suite, and has made a commitment to talent acquisition as its primary focus - sort of unique among large, established HR tech companies, many of which are or have been pushing to develop or acquire additional or adjacent capabilities.

iCIMS has made a big bet that customers will understand and value what a provider solely focused on Talent Acquisition can offer, and on the show you can hear direct from iCIMS execs on why they have elected to stick with their core competency and how that benefits their customers.

This was a really interesting and fun event. Thanks to iCIMS for having myself and Trish out at the event, and also thanks to Madeline, Colin, and Adam for taking the time to be a part of the HR Happy Hour Show.

And don't forget the HR Happy Hour Show is available on iTunes, and on all the major podcast player apps for iOS and Android - just search for 'HR Happy Hour' to find and subscribe to the show and you will never miss a new episode.

HRE Column: A Golden Age for HR Tech

Here is my semi-frequent reminder and pointer for blog readers that I also write a monthly column at Human Resource Executive Online called Inside HR Tech that can be found here.

As usual, the Inside HR Tech column is about, well, HR Tech, (sort of like I used to write about all the time on this blog), and it was inspired by the recently concluded HR Technology Conference.

I once again kind of liked this month's column, (I suppose I like all of them, after all I wrote them), but felt like sharing this one on the blog because it touches upon what has been in the past a pretty popular topic with HR leaders today - how to make the most of their HR technology investments.

Here is an excerpt from the column, HR Tech's 'Golden Age':

If it seems like I have been a little obsessed with the just-completed HR Technology Conference and Exposition^®,it's because I have been. For most of the year, I work on the planning of the conference (formats, speakers, session themes, etc.) and from speaking with so many HR solution providers, experts, analysts and HR leaders -- both before and at the event -- I have come away from this year's event amazed by the quality, depth, breadth and sheer number of options HR leaders today have at their disposal when it comes to innovative HR-technology solutions.

I'd like to try and break down three such technologies that were on display at the HR Tech Conference, and hopefully share some thoughts on how HR leaders can take advantage of them, and of what is possibly HR tech's "Golden Age."

HR continues to move toward becoming a data-driven discipline. While this isn't a new theme, there is movement toward more advanced HR-technology solutions for data visualization, data consolidation and tools for more data-informed decision making. At the HR Tech Conference, this trend becomes even more prevalent, given the sheer number of exhibitors and demonstration sessions. Two companies worth noting participated in our "Awesome New Tech" and "Awesome New Startups" sessions.

Read the rest over at HRE Online..

Good stuff, right? Humor me...

If you liked the piece you can sign up over at HRE to get the Inside HR Tech Column emailed to you each month. There is no cost to subscribe, in fact, I may even come over and wash your car or cut the grass for you if you do sign up for the monthly email.

Have a great day!

Generations in the workplace, ranked

I have been to a few events lately, and thus have been subject to at least some 'Generations in the Workplace' content. Since many of you might still be confused/concerned/bored to death with discussions on Generations and work, I humbly submit to you this subjective, unscientific, and 100% accurate breakdown of how the generations stack up in the workplace.Source - UNC Executive Development

Here goes...

5. Millennials

4. Traditionalists/Silent Generation

3. Whatever comes after the millennials (I know that technically these folks are not yet in the workplace but that doesn't stop people from talking about them like they are already our bosses)

2. Baby boomers

1. Gen X

You can comment if you like, but if you disagree with me, then clearly you must be a Millennial.

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 223 - The Chairman's Show - #HRTechConf

HR Happy Hour #223 - HR Technology Conference: The Chairman's Show

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Recorded Friday October 30, 2015

LISTEN HERE

This week on the show, HR Happy Hour hosts Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane broke down the recently completed 2015 HR Technology Conference.

After many months of preparation and an amazing time at The HR Technology Conference, Steve shared some of the behind-the-scenes information you can only get here.  Trish also appeared at HR Tech as a speaker and gives some commentary from the industry analyst perspective. Steve even dropped some hints at his plans for some new elements for the 2016 HR Tech Conference.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, or by using the widget player below, (Email and RSS subscribers will need to click through). 

And don't forget the HR Happy Hour Show is available on iTunes, and on all the major podcast player apps for iOS and Android - just search for 'HR Happy Hour' to find and subscribe to the show and you will never miss a new episode.

Be sure to check out (and share!) this episode.  It was fun to talk about many of the things HR Tech Conference attendees don't necessarily get to see.

Deconstructed Protocols

I have been on a bunch of long, cross-country type flights lately. And part of the deal with a long flight is the time honored tradition of casually glancing at the laptop or tablet of the person sitting next to you to catch a glimpse of their Facebook feed, the movie they might be watching, or my personal favorite - the contents of the PowerPoint deck they are likely about to present the next day.

On my flight from JFK - SFO yesterday I succumbed to my curiosity to steal a glimpse (or three), at my neighbor's laptop. She was preparing and refining a PowerPoint presentation on some kind of really, really complex subject related to health care and disease control in hospitals (I think). While I was not able to make sense of the slides that I was able to see, one slide in her deck just about jumped out at me. It was the slide that seemed to mark the transition from 'These are all the crap things that are going on right now' to the section that would hold the ideas on 'Here is how we fix this mess and (hopefully) fewer people die.'

The slide was titled 'Deconstructed Protocols.'

And when I saw the slide title, I was really blown away. The gist of her presentation, I think, was how hospitals needed to really break down and dissect the specific steps, or protocols, associated with a certain procedure in order to try and figure out why an unacceptable level of post-procedure complications, like infections, have been occurring. And the only way to try and fix the problems is to tear down every element, every step, every piece of communication, every patient interaction, every handoff of responsibility, every piece of equipment used, every medication prescribed, and probably a dozen other things, and assess them both individually and as they exist and contribute to the overall process.

All of which, for a complex medical process, seems absolutely exhausting and probably has lots or people lined up against it.  

Deconstructing this process will take ages, will make people in high positions uncomfortable, and will likely require increased investment in the short term thay may take some time to pay off. All things that are hard, are hard to sell internally, and often have people lined up against anyone trying to drive the changes that need to be made.

What is the point of all this? 

A guess just a good reminder that even in situations like in a health care setting where making needed process, technology, or workflow changes can result in PEOPLE NOT DYING, often the agents of change run up against all the same barriers that you run into in your corporate role.

It will cost too much. This will anger the VP of something-something if you cut his team out of the process. You can really KNOW for sure if your changes will have the desired effect. And on and on and on.

But I hope you stick with it regardless. 

Maybe you are not in the business of saving lives but I bet the change you are (or want to) advocate for will make people's lives better - employees, candidates, managers - doesn't matter. Even when the benefits are obvious and important, effecting change is still hard.

And when the benefits are less clear, like as in most of what we do in HR/Talent, it is even harder. But keep the faith. And deconstruct the protocols.

Have a great week!