PODCAST - #HRHappyHour 176 - Big Bets for HR

HR Happy Hour 176 - 'Big Bets for HR'

Recorded live at Oracle HCM World - Thursday February 6, 2014

One more shot from last week's Oracle HCM World event - the HR Happy Hour Show/Podcast that Trish McFarlane and I were able to record with Oracle's Bertrand Dussert, VP of HR Transformation and one of the sharpest guys around when it comes to understanding modern HR, and the critical role of technology in that transformation to modern HR.

You can catch the show on the show page here, or using the widget player below:

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Bertrand has had a great and varied career as an HR practitioner and executive, which sets him apart from many of the typical HR software company execs you'll encounter. He knows the challenges that come with being an HR and business leader playing in the big leagues, and can lend this expertise and insight to the clients he works with in his role as a trusted advisor for Oracle.

In the show, we talked with Bertrand on some of the most interesting technological trends and the opportunities they will present - the 'Big Bets for HR' as it were. We hit upon wearable devices, the internet of things, predicitive analytics and more. And at every turn Bertrand helps us break down the topic and see what it all might mean for HR leaders in the future.

It was a really fun, lively, and quick 30 minutes or so, and I hope you take some time this week to check out the show.

Once again, you can listen to or download the show from the show page here, or from the iTunes store - just search the Podcasts section for 'HR Happy Hour'. Android users - we have you covered too. Download a podcast app called Stitcher Radio and search for 'HR Happy Hour' and add the show to your list of favorites.

Thanks again to Bertrand and to everyone over at Oracle for making it possible to record the HR Happy Hour live and on site from Oracle HCM World.

The three axis of beauty that I bet you will keep repeating

On my way back from Oracle HCM World, (and by the way there will be more content coming from the event, including a HR Happy Hour Show that we recorded live from Las Vegas), and among the many excellent and thought-provoking presentations from the show, there was one really interesting nugget shared by an HR leader from Oracle customer, beauty products company Elizabeth Arden that I can't seem to quit thinking about.

At the top of the session, in the section of the talk where the presenter describes what the company does, the size and structure of the organization, and generally sets the context for the technology/strategy conversation to come, we learned that Elizabeth Arden has a concept that they call 'The Three axis of Beauty'. This idea guides, aligns, and helps prioritize their product development, marketing, and branding efforts. In case you were wondering, The Three Axis of Beauty' are color, fragrance, and skincare. Pretty much everything EA does has to align into one of these axis of color, fragrance, or skincare.

I don't know why I thought this was all that interesting a concept really, or particularly noteworthy - maybe it was just the use of a clever turn of phrase, i.e., the way the phrase 'The Three Axis of Beauty' just sounds way cooler than presenting the strategy or structure as 'The three elements of our strategy' or 'Our three product families', or 'The three pillars of our organization.'

In about 5 minutes I was, as a pretty much disinterested observer on the market for beauty products, turned into someone who seemed to instantly remember and have resonate with me the three axis of beauty and that, in fact, they are color, fragrance, skincare.

I bet you are even repeating them now as well, like some kind of Glamour magazine inspired mantra - color, fragrance, skincare.

Color, fragrance, skincare.

Color, fragrance, skincare.

Ok, I will give it a rest now, but I hope to at least someone else the beauty, pardon the pun, in presenting the company strategy and approach to their markets, expressed in a simultaneously simple and interesting way was well, a thing of beauty, (dang, that was terrible).

If you want people to actually think about normally boring content like a product/market segmentation strategy slide deck then it helps to at least try and elevate the manner in which you lay out said strategy.

The three axis of beauty is instantly memorable, is fun to say out loud, and even made a caveman like me interested in the world of beauty products. In 5 minutes of a talk I was able to connect with the strategy.

Can you say the same thing about the last time you or someone at your company presented on your strategy?

Have a great weekend!

PODCAST: HR Happy Hour 174 - Oracle HCM World Preview - Modern HR

HR Happy Hour 174 - Oracle HCM World Preview: Modern HR

Recorded Thursday December 19, 2013

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane sat down with Gretchen Alarcon, Vice President of Oracle HCM Strategy for Oracle, for an interesting and fun conversation about some of the most important challenges facing the modern HR leader and the organization as we head into 2014, as well as how advances in HCM technologies are helping organizations to meet those challenges, and to offer some ideas about what some of the most intriguing HR and workplace technologies will have in store for us in the future.

Additionally, Gretchen gave us a preview of the upcoming and inaugural Oracle HCM World event to be held February 4-6, 2014 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. At Oracle HCM World, there will be over 100 sessions featuring HR leaders, industry experts, and recognized thought leaders sharing their insights and experiences - all designed to help attendees improve emplopyee enagement, to provide new strategies for talent attraction, development, and retention, and to support professional networking and knowledge sharing.

You can listent to the show on the show page here, or using the widget player below. Addtionally for you smartphone addicts, you can get the show on Apple's iTunes or for Android devices, using an app called Stitcher Radio. In both cases just search for "HR Happy Hour" to download the show and to subscribe to the podcast.

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It was a fun and enlightening conversation with Gretchen, and many thanks to her and the Oracle HCM team for joining us this week.

Note: This is the final show of 2013 - thanks as always for listening and Happy Holidays and we will see you in 2014! 

BONUS CONTENT - My spot on the Oracle Apps Blog

Please indulge a quick spot of self-promotion - today I have a post up over on the Oracle Applications Blog with some thoughts around the impact of social media and social technologies in HR, and the great opportunity and potential for HR leaders to leverage these technologies inside the organizations.

The post is titled, Beyond Record Keeping: What Social Means for HCM, and I hope you will check it out and share your ideas and comments about Social HCM there. And while you are at it if you are interested in staying connected to what is happening in the Oracle Applications space, the world of HR Technology, (or just want another opportunity to internet-stalk me), drop the Oracle Apps Blog in your feed reader.

The Oracle Applications blog is meant to be a resource for the HR community and will feature guest posts from key executives, strategy leaders, and Fusion Applications customers. And I will be posting there from time to time as well.

You’ll be seeing some new names and some names that you probably already know. The goal is to provide you with the information you need to get the most out of Oracle Applications today and identify new opportunities for your business in the future.

Thanks for the indulgence - tomorrow we will back to our regularly scheduled hijinks here on the blog.

Welcome Back - News from Steve

Requesting your kind indulgence today, as I have some personal news to report today on the blog.

Recently I accepted a position with Oracle Corporation, working in the Fusion HCM Product Strategy team, and I will start in my new role next week. I am excited by the opportunity to work with such a fantastic team of Human Resources technology professionals, and with a set of new technologies in Fusion HCM that are driving innovation, capability, efficiency, and business insight for organizational leaders and managers. The Oracle Fusion HCM team has spent several years designing and building an incredible set of applications, and I am thrilled at the chance to help continue the momentum, and help customers with their critical Human Resources and Talent Management initiatives.

Some of you might know that I have a long history of working with Oracle Applications, from my earliest days with AT&T implementing what now seems like a quaint 'green screen' Oracle Apps version 10.4 in the dusty desert city of Riyadh in the 90s. That project was simultaneously my first real experience with a true enterprise-class set of technologies, and my first taste of seeing up close how the implementation of the right technologies, by the right people having a shared commitment to the desired outcomes could truly transform an organization. It was the perfect project to get introduced to the world of enterprise software, large enough to have significance in the organization, but with just enough self-governance and individual accountability to keep the engagement levels high, and the spirit of teamwork alive.

Eventually I moved back home from Riyadh, and continued to work with Oracle Applications for most of the ensuing stops in my career, (including working for Oracle Consulting directly), in roles ranging from client implementations, project management, enterprise HRIS management, and more.  But even as the geographies, industries, and responsibilities changed for me, I consistently stayed close, (some might say loyal), to the set of Oracle technologies that I first encountered many years before on a 115 degree day in Riyadh. Consistently, I derived the most satisfaction by learning new technologies, working with clients to assess their needs and goals, and finding and delivering solutions that could help them to meet these goals. And sure, getting the chance to 'play' with cool new tools is always fun.

So for me, to return to Oracle, and to work with Oracle Fusion HCM Applications at this point in my career is, I think, a natural fit. As I said, the Fusion HCM team is the best in the space, (sure I am biased), and the Fusion HCM Applications that have been delivered, and the ones that are on the way, are on the absolute cutting edge of our industry. I am looking forward to the chance to contribute to the team, and most importantly to be back helping customers achieve their goals.

Some other notes, (continuing the navel-gazing theme of this post), I do plan on keeping this blog active here, contributing to Fistful of Talent, and continuing to produce and host the HR Happy Hour Show, (although I am taking tomorrow night off).  In time there may be some changes to one or both of these projects, we will just have to see how that develops. Going forward, I will have to manage and determine my participation in other events and projects that I have been associated with in the past and balance the needs and objectives of my employer and our objectives. But I do plan on remaining active and visible in the HCM community, and look forward to continued engagement and dialogue with the many, many fantastic and intelligent people it has been my great pleasure to come to know in the last few years.

Lastly, I wanted to say thanks to all the fantastic friends, colleagues, blog readers, show listeners for the assistance, kind words, advice and counsel over the last several weeks. One thing I have learned for sure is the value and power of community, and I am humbled and appreciative for all the generosity directed to me. I only hope that I can find a way to repay at least some of the good Karma in the future.

That's it for now - tomorrow we are back to our regularly scheduled program of technology, innovative ideas, basketball, and barbecue.

Have a great day!