HR Technology ownership

I've known and worked with some fantastic IT people over the years.

They very best one, Steve Hersh, I first met on an Oracle Consulting engagement where he was the DBA and Architect and I was the primary functional consultant.

FYI - Steve is still doing great work, you can check out his company here.

But in the space I find myself most interested in, technology for collaboration, information sharing, fostering more 'openness' between the organization and it's employees, the organization and it's customers, or the 'extended' enterprise (past employees, future employees, contractors etc.), it seems to me that IT typically offers almost nothing, save more barriers.

Aside - 'single sign on' is not as important as the IT folks say. How many user names and passwords do you have already, one more won't kill you.

IT's approach and methodology to typical, or 'classic' systems development and implementation has little relevance to today's environment.

Want better information sharing and a platform for collaboration?  I can set up a wiki in 15 minutes.

Need help on a tricky problem or issue?  Send out a Tweet. Your extended network may be able to help you there.  Worried about Tweeting sensitive information?  Get your group or division on Yammer.

Looking for like minded folks at your organization for a charitable cause or an off hours event?  Create a network on Ning, invite people to join and share their interests.

All potentially effective technologies to help support your goals, all needing no IT involvement, approval or possible interference.

To me, HR is in a much stronger position to be the enabler, advocate, and drving force behind the enterprise implementation of these kinds of tools.  IT usually reacts in the negative, because it is always easier to take a position of saying 'No' to a new tool or idea. 

It is more risky and rewarding to say, 'Yes', to put yourself and your reputation on the line in support of a new process or solution.

I am not always anti-IT, but I think that HR needs to focus on developing and delivering business solutions that truly can be transformative.  Most of the IT folks I have come across do not have that as their highest priority.

Who 'owns' HR Technology?

Love the old Farmalls - Flickr - anemergencystop

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Who's on first?

'Who's on first?', is a classic comedy routine by the legendary American comics Abbott & Costello. Aside - even 1940s comedians are on the net check out A&C's website here. The routine is essentially a play on a failure to communicate, Costello wants to know the name of a certain baseball player, and Abbott can't seem to get across clearly that the player's name is 'Who', thus the recurring theme of the bit, Costello keeps asking 'Who's on first?' and Abbott keeps saying 'Yes'.

Video of the classic bit can be found here.

The idea of Who's on first? makes me think about who (customers, employees, shareholders) is 'first' in most organizations today. Many organizations will have well-defined, budgeted campaigns and programs specifically centered on the customer, how to find them, how to keep them, how to get them happier, spend more, tell all their friends, and otherwise 'delight' them.

But very few put similar emphasis and focus on programs aimed at their employees, getting to understand them better, keep them motivated, discover their hidden talents and aspirations.  Systems and processes are usually not centered around employees leading to the often noticed phenomenon in many organizations - 'LinkedIn knows more about your employees than you do'. Think about it, are your employees current skills and profiles easily accessible in your HR systems? Are they up to date? Are you saving 20 year old resumes in a file somewhere?

The astronomical growth and popularity of Social networking sites reveals that people want to share experience, knowledge, and learn from each other.  Why not shift some of your 'customer' focus to an 'employee' focus? 

Find out where and how your employees are congregating, self-organizing, and otherwise connecting with each other, as well as your industry, customers and the marketplace.

Does it make sense for your organization to develop your own 'place' or network for your employees?  

Check out what Best Buy is doing with Blue Shirt Nation, or from a vendor perspective check out SelectMinds.

Should we focus more on our employees?

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Where is my choir?

Since I have been researching and teaching my HR Technology class I have tested a really large number of web services, software programs and concepts in my preparation for class. 

Certainly many are the most obvious types of products that would have direct application to the study of HR Technology, vendors  like SuccessFactors, Halogen, Taleo, and SpectrumHR come to mind. 

But I found that as the class content started to evolve and mature I introduced Twitter, Second Life, Socialtext, PbWiki and SelectMinds.

And I have even spent time on the 'utility' type Web 2.0 services, while not really designed for HR applications, could certainly support many HR initiatives.  Some of my favorites are Zoho, Box, Meebo, FlickR,and Slideshare.

And like any good worker, I have tried to educate our internal HR folks and other colleagues on some of these tools and services.  And while I fully understand that we are knee-deep in the muck of a train wreck of an Oracle R12 upgrade (a whole other story for a different post), I have been really disappointed in the general lack of interest in exploring quite frankly any of these tools in our own organization.

The couple of folks I could convince to get on Twitter are sure it is a goof.  Two different attempts at kick-starting some internal wiki development are stalled (I still post to it, I am stubborn), and you would have thought I committed a crime when I told an internal training class that the presentation was on SlideShare and I would gladly give them the link.

(Here they are by the way - I know they are ugly have not had time to make them over)

Irc Training Slides

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: irecruitment recruitment)

I know, people are busy, don't bother them with superfluous garbage like Twitter and Yammer.  Leave Facebook for the Admissions department.  I wonder if this organization will ever be ready to embrace the new Web 2.0 world.

And I also wonder how long it makes sense to keep preaching, when there seems to be no choir?

Consistently mediocre

My alma mater, my beloved South Carolina Gamecocks are starting their football season tonight, and like every year I am full of hope, but realistic, fully expecting the team's eventual, inevitable return to mediocrity.  It just seems like no matter what happens, the team will always be a middle of the pack, average team.  They will occasionally have a fantastic victory or two, but then suffer a humiliating defeat to an opponent that, at least on paper, they should easily conquer.  They always seem to 'find their level' of averageness (is that a word)?

Why can't they make the leap to consistent success?  What is the barrier to make the breakthrough?

Perhaps your organization is in a similar situation.  You are good, not great, at what you do.  Your employees are reasonably happy, (but how many of them would leave if a better opportunity came along?).  You are a solid, if uninteresting place to work.

The key question for an organization like that, as well as the Gamecock team, is what can we do to make the jump from good to outstanding?

I think it has to start with the employees.  Give them the right tools, access to information, and freedom to explore, innovate, collaborate, and sometimes, even fail.  My next few posts will focus on specific technologies and tools to help do just that.