The Carnival gets all Revolutionary

Today at Trish McFarlane's HR Ringleader blog a special edition of the Carnival of HR is up, this one is a collection of all the posts written about the first ever HRevolution 'Unconference' held earlier this month.

Check out the great collection of summaries, reflections, and calls to action from the event, Trish did a great job assembling all the posts.

My post with my observations as well as the guest post that ran here by Wendy Tandon from Salary.com are there, as well as great pieces from Mark Stelzner, Lance Haun, and Trish herself.

All told,  a fantastic event, and a very cool special Carnival to try and bring it all together.

One final note, I have a little piece up over at the Fistful of Talent today, a story of what can happen when a leader takes 'transparency' a little too far.

Enjoy!

The HRevolution - One Vendor's Perspective

NOTE : This guest post is from Wendy Tandon, Director of Product Strategy for Human Resources technology vendor Salary.com.  Wendy (@WTandon on Twitter), was an attendee of the HRevolution conference this past weekend in Louisville, KY and has agreed to share her perspectives on the event here.

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As mentioned in the intro to HRevolution I began my career in HR, and am now happily working to define technology products for HR and the Enterprise.  I’ve not been plugged in to the HR online community for long and am truly amazed at the welcome I’ve received from this group.  My second thoughts as I boarded the plane for Louisville wondering why on earth I would fly to a strange city on a weekend to meet with people I didn’t know were immediately squelched as I found intriguing conversation at every turn.  My experience in Louisville was colored by my unique past, my current role, as well as by some books I happened to be reading during the travel and downtime.  The first books “City of Ember” and “People of Sparks” (yes, they’re children’s books I read and then discuss with my son) and a third “Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion” as recommended by many of you on Twitter.  

The children’s stories are about finding a way out of a dark and dying place, then the conflict that ensues once they find their way – “Influence,” about human behavior and compliance.  All great commentary about why we interact with other people they way we do.  I reflected on how technology has evolved from an isolating experience in the 80’s into the collaborative experience it is today, and how the power of these connections has transformational characteristics.  We may indeed be finding our way out of a darker more isolated place – but we still have much to discover, and I anticipate some conflict as we find our way.  HR and technology are both evolving rapidly, but evolution shouldn’t imply smooth or easy – there will be bumps in the road, especially at this pace.

What else did I discover this weekend?

1)    Social media – the mere name bequeathed to these tools frightens and alienates many.  Technologists must address this. 

2)    The actual percentage of HR pros that are “plugged in” is quite small – we must determine how to best reach out to those who don’t know what they are missing in a non-threatening way.

3)    I’m secretly relieved they are not all plugged in because there must be some upper limit to the number of people one can follow effectively.   See #4

4)    The sheer volume of information available in this medium can be overwhelming and requires we use effective shortcuts to figure out what to use/discard/save for later.  Opportunity for technologists.

5)    The shortcuts we are conditioned to use every day to direct our behavior in a socially acceptable way are magnified by the larger network of interactions we can sustain in a virtual environment.  Opportunity for tremendous influence by those who would effectively use it. 

What do I predict?

HR seems to have not ruminated at great length about how to quantify or capture the value associated with their employees’ external networks outside of recruitment efforts.  The vendor and analyst community will offer suggestions but we need HR to validate them.  What will HR do to create internal networks as they recognize the enormous value in this kind of communication?  My bet is that most will be willing to wait for HRM vendors to deliver a plug and play solution for this since many are still struggling against perceptions from CEOs or others with organizational influence that view social technology as “disturbing” and as something that would result in a lack of control (despite the obvious reasons this is backwards thinking). Those HR pros on the leading edge will create their own using whatever (mostly free) technology they can quickly deploy with likely mixed results.  It will be interesting to analyze what works, what doesn’t and why.

What advice do I have?

As a former HR practitioner, I watch the analyst/vendor dynamic with interest (admittedly self interest) and curiosity, yet sprinkled with just a smidgeon of caution.  I’m not a cynic at heart, but am I the only one who occasionally wonders if an element of these relationships might serve something other than the intrepid consumer? Call me crazy. [mad tapping of keys as analysts block me on twitter] At HRevolution it was asked if HR pulls the vendors or if HR is being pushed by them.  When the market-gurus of my own org demand certain functionality for our products I consistently counter with, “Well, it’s cool, but does HR really want it? Will they use it??”  I have vowed to be the advocate for HR when it comes to my own influence on product roadmap – I simply can’t get the HR out of me.  But in response to the question of push vs. pull, itreally is “both.”  We need each other.  HR should be and in many cases is pushing vendors to deliver quality, easy to use products that address legitimate use cases (think business case).  HR vendors should be clever enough to see the trends in these varied use cases, and then deliver a product that can solve business problems HR might not have been able to recognize or analyze were it not for the technology.  Demand simplicity from your vendors – not more re-branding of old ideas to make the same software appear to do something it never did before without any corresponding change in code.  Talk to your vendors – the good ones are eager to listen.  More importantly, if you aren’t talking to us, we end up listening to no one but the analysts, and as much as we DO love them, well, let’s just say balance is a good thing.

One final thought:

I am encouraged, energized, and excited to be working in this rapidly changing space.  The organizers and attendees of HRevolution have assured me that our efforts are NOT in vain.  I am much obliged to all of you and will strive to give back, both personally and professionally, at every available opportunity.  To all the torchbearers of leading edge HR, and you know who you are, you are truly an inspiration!

Wendy Tandon – Director of Product Management, Salary.com

Notes from a Revolution

The first ever HRevolution Unconference is over, and while the pre-tweetups, tweetups, sessions, Happy Hours, and after parties are all now just a (somewhat fuzzy) memory, the positive effects definitely linger.

It was, I think, a remarkable event.

Fifty or so HR professions, consultant, bloggers, and friends came together to share ideas, insights, questions, and perhaps, a new solution or two.

I think what was great about the event, is that the sharing and discussions ranged from the extremely practical, (basic and advanced blogging strategies), to more subtle and complex (Social Media in HR and Web 2.0 in HR Technology), to the profound and theoretical (The Future of HR).

So many angles, approaches, and ideas all in one day.

So many great people and relationships formed and strengthened. 

A sign of how successful the event was, that almost immediately after it was 'officially' over, folks began wondering when the 'next' HRevolution would be.  When would we re-assemble to progress the conversation, refine the ideas, and try to get closer to turning talk into action. These are all important, and it is altogether fitting and proper that we discuss them.

But before all that, before the feedback is compiled,  before the planning of the next event commences, I think for those of us that were there it is important to just let the event be for a while.

Let the thoughts, ideas, and friendships linger for a bit. Take the time to let it soak in. Make sure you remember what made the event unique and special.

After you are sure you have done that, then get to work on making things better.

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My personal thanks to Trish McFarlane, Ben Eubanks, Crystal Peterson, the event sponsors, session leaders, and mostly all the fantastic folks that came to the event, and made Louisville the coolest place in the world for 2 days.

See you at the HRevolution

Today I, along with about 50 smart, talented, and fantastic HR folks will descend on Louisville, KY for the first ever HRevolution.

The HRevolution is the original and only 'Unconference' for HR professionals focused on blogging, social media, technology, and a little topic called 'The Future of HR'.

The event is a classic and wonderful example of a community coming together to share, learn, and try and make ourselves and the HR profession better.

But communities have to have something to rally around, and they often need leaders that can motivate and inspire people.

And in the case of HRevolution those leaders are Trish McFarlane and Ben Eubanks. Trish and Ben have created a concept and an incredible community has rallied around their idea. They, along with Crystal Peterson whose tireless efforts in organizing the logistics of the event, have engineered what has really become a kind of phenomenon.

Creating an event, working it into what is already a crowded fall conference and event schedule, and having it connect and resonate with so many people is really a testament to the community, and to the Trish, Ben, and Crystal's efforts.  I have been honored to be a (small) part of the planning for this event.

For folks who can't make it down to the HRevolution, there will be a lively Twitter stream under the #HRevolution tag and special Episode of the HR Happy Hour Show, 'Live from the HRevolution' on Saturday, November 7 at Noon EST.

Special thanks also to HRevolution sponsors:

Sanera

Nobscot Corporation

Xceptional HR (Blogging4Jobs)

Fustion Frames & Award Frames

Monster.com

The Human Race Horses

They have been generous with not only financial support, but advice and ideas to help make the event really meaningful and special.

I can't wait to get to Louisville (even if it means a ridiculous 5:00 am drive to the airport).

HRevolution Sponsor Spotlight - Nobscot Corporation

There is significant energy and momentum in the Human Resources Technology marketplace towards integration. Traditional core HRIS and ERP vendors are trying to strengthen their offerings in areas like Talent Management and Business Intelligence.  Established talent management vendors are expanding their application footprints to encompass more and more functionality be it applicant tracking or learning management.

In many ways the trend towards integration can benefit customers, as it typically eliminates (or at least dramatically reduces) the need for complex, and often custom built integrations to pass HR information around the various systems.

But even as the big ERP providers get bigger, and the Talent Management vendors expand, there remain areas of the HR and talent landscape that neither will likely ever consume. Important technology supported functions like background checks, candidate assessments, or complex workforce scheduling.

These 'edge' products and the processes that they support are often vitally important to the success of an organization and can go a long way towards making the day-to-day lives of HR professionals much easier.

HRevolution sponsor Nobscot Corporation thrives on the edge. Their flagship product WebExit, that supports the process of Exit Interviews was created to address a gap and fulfill a need that the traditional HR Technology companies could not support.  Efficient capture, and subsequent analysis of exit interview data is to many organizations a key source of strategic information that can directly impact ongoing operations, planning, and overall profitability of the enterprise. If you really believe as an organization that human capital is the source of your competitive advantage, then understanding the flow of this capital from beginning (recruiting) to end (exit interview) is vital to your long term survival.

In addition to its market leading product for exit interviews, Nobscot also offers Mentor Scout, the only real enterprise solution for managing internal mentoring programs. Mentor Scout helps to manage all aspects of a corporate mentoring initiative, from matching mentors with mentees, to providing a secure environment for communication, to tracking the progress and success of the program.  For many employees in the organization making connections with experienced and respected colleagues is a necessary and even critical activity. Mentoring programs have been shown to be a powerful driver of increased engagement and forge important bonds in the make up of the company.

Being on the "edge," allows companies like Nobscot to respond quickly to HR's needs.  For example, based on feedback from clients Nobscot expanded its WebExit platform to handle new hire surveys and quality of hire metrics. The resulting program, called FirstDays helps organizations accurately measure the success of recruiting, onboarding, orientation and new hire socialization initiatives.  On the Mentor Scout side of the house, Nobscot expanded Mentor Scout with their Talent Networking Edition which adds peer-to-peer corporate social networking components to solve some common HR challenges such as knowledge sharing, breakdown of silos, recognition, and managing remote employees. 

 
I encourage you to check out Nobscot Corporation, they are a company committed to the long-term success of their customers, and passionate about improving organizational effectiveness and advancing the discipline of Human Resources.

Thanks very much to Nobscot, especially CEO Beth N. Carvin for their generous support of the HRevolution.

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Note : This post is part of the HRevolution Sponsor Spotlight series, the event organiizer's way of saying thanks to the fantastic sponsors of HRevolution, without their generous support the event would not be possible.