The decision to embrace the introduction of Social Media tools to an organization is best followed by some fairly standard business practices, deciding what goals and objectives are to be met by the use of the tools and developing governance protocols for the use of the tools.
When developing governance policies at some point the decision making will shift into two streams of consideration:
1) External use of the tools-marketing, branding, customer service and recruiting are the most common uses as well as awareness, community building and fundraising for not for profit organizations.
2) Internal use of the tools – inside the firewall-opening communication channels to improve expertise/knowledge sharing and disseminating information rapidly, training and development, increasing cross functional collaboration, reducing the need for traditional surveys, detecting and addressing rumours earlier.
Many organizations have introduced technology solutions to their training and development efforts in the past decade but the user interface is most likely user to technology rather than embracing the use of community interactions to improve the learning opportunities. One of the biggest complaints about traditional online learning, whether at an educational institute or within a corporation is that it reduces the opportunity to share experience and ideas with others in the learning community. The use of Social Media tools has now changed that concern simply because it simplifies and encourages such sharing and allows users to share across a broader knowledge base than ever before.
When looking at internal uses of Social Media it is easy to see that collaborating with marketing and customer service teams that have already entered the world of Social Media will bring valuable experience to the use internally. Interacting with the public at large provides insight to what to expect within the organization as to the behaviour, needs and wants of the end users of the tools.
What other potential uses do you see for the internal use of Social Media tools? What do you think the biggest challenges will be to introducing the tools? What is your current practice for developing governance policies for new technologies in the organization? Do you have union contracts that include clauses related to the introduction of new technologies? How does that affect your process?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Social Media and HR
Ready or Not, It Is Here
Are you using Social Media for recruiting or are you thinking that you should be using it but feel overwhelmed by the enormous amount of information in cyberspace and being touted at various conferences and seminars? If you are somewhat tentatively using it for recruiting purposes or made some attempt to learn more, you are in good company and it is understandable if you have merely dipped your toe in the waters not quite sure what to do with it all.
Social Media is simply a series of tools that uses technology to build communities that share information, ask and answer questions, educate, collaborate, and connect. Why do we want to build internal and external communities that use Social Media tools and what does this have to do with HR? Let’s start with asking the same question about HR - what does HR do? Share information, ask and answer questions, educate, collaborate and connect. Social Media tools create the ability to start, monitor, and participate in discussions about your organization both among the employee base and with everyone outside of the organization. HR professionals can use Social Media tools to monitor and participate in discussions within the organization but also gain knowledge about what is being said about their organization on various Social Media sites and develop cost effective and wide ranging recruitment programs.
If the organization is not participating in a meaningful way they not only lose the opportunity to build communities and present a balanced discussion about it but they take the very real risk of allowing the conversation to go unchecked. And it will, actually it is whether you are paying attention or not.
HR professionals have a great opportunity to take the lead with adopting Social Media and demonstrating how effective it can be by using the competencies that all great HR professionals develop as part of their practice. In previous posts I commented that collaboration may be the most effective competency that HR professionals can use in their work. Being skilled at collaborating can help develop communities within an organization and externally with customers (both business to consumer and business to business organizations will benefit from such communities). A must have for developing strong collaboration skills is to also continuously update your communication skills and in the world of Social Media, communication skills can make all the difference to attaining your goals and minimizing or mitigating negative outcomes.
A real world example of one thing that Social Media tools can do to help you in your work occurred in a LinkedIn group for HR professionals in British Columbia. A member of the group asked for sources of information to help write a Social Media policy. Within a few hours he had three of the best resources and examples available on this topic. This saved him hours of searching for the information himself and the cost of paying an external consultant to help with his project. It is fairly easy to imagine how many other uses of Social Media are available to help you in your work.
We are currently working on a book that takes Social Media out of the realm of hype and conflicting sources and uses plain business protocols to start the Social Media journey for professionals. This book will provide references to sources that our research over the past year unearthed as reliable and user friendly for those of us that are not technical whizzes but use technology to improve our work.
Do you feel like you want to take the lead on Social Media in your organization but are not sure where to start? Does the constantly evolving world of Social Media create confusion about how to choose which tools that will help accomplish your goals effectively? My goal is to bring the discussion down to earth and help untangle the complexities of Social Media. I will continue to post on this topic over the next while based on the thoughts raised in conversations with HR professionals.
What thoughts cross your mind when you think about Social Media? What do you wish would exist to make the learning process easier and faster?
Are you using Social Media for recruiting or are you thinking that you should be using it but feel overwhelmed by the enormous amount of information in cyberspace and being touted at various conferences and seminars? If you are somewhat tentatively using it for recruiting purposes or made some attempt to learn more, you are in good company and it is understandable if you have merely dipped your toe in the waters not quite sure what to do with it all.
Social Media is simply a series of tools that uses technology to build communities that share information, ask and answer questions, educate, collaborate, and connect. Why do we want to build internal and external communities that use Social Media tools and what does this have to do with HR? Let’s start with asking the same question about HR - what does HR do? Share information, ask and answer questions, educate, collaborate and connect. Social Media tools create the ability to start, monitor, and participate in discussions about your organization both among the employee base and with everyone outside of the organization. HR professionals can use Social Media tools to monitor and participate in discussions within the organization but also gain knowledge about what is being said about their organization on various Social Media sites and develop cost effective and wide ranging recruitment programs.
If the organization is not participating in a meaningful way they not only lose the opportunity to build communities and present a balanced discussion about it but they take the very real risk of allowing the conversation to go unchecked. And it will, actually it is whether you are paying attention or not.
HR professionals have a great opportunity to take the lead with adopting Social Media and demonstrating how effective it can be by using the competencies that all great HR professionals develop as part of their practice. In previous posts I commented that collaboration may be the most effective competency that HR professionals can use in their work. Being skilled at collaborating can help develop communities within an organization and externally with customers (both business to consumer and business to business organizations will benefit from such communities). A must have for developing strong collaboration skills is to also continuously update your communication skills and in the world of Social Media, communication skills can make all the difference to attaining your goals and minimizing or mitigating negative outcomes.
A real world example of one thing that Social Media tools can do to help you in your work occurred in a LinkedIn group for HR professionals in British Columbia. A member of the group asked for sources of information to help write a Social Media policy. Within a few hours he had three of the best resources and examples available on this topic. This saved him hours of searching for the information himself and the cost of paying an external consultant to help with his project. It is fairly easy to imagine how many other uses of Social Media are available to help you in your work.
We are currently working on a book that takes Social Media out of the realm of hype and conflicting sources and uses plain business protocols to start the Social Media journey for professionals. This book will provide references to sources that our research over the past year unearthed as reliable and user friendly for those of us that are not technical whizzes but use technology to improve our work.
Do you feel like you want to take the lead on Social Media in your organization but are not sure where to start? Does the constantly evolving world of Social Media create confusion about how to choose which tools that will help accomplish your goals effectively? My goal is to bring the discussion down to earth and help untangle the complexities of Social Media. I will continue to post on this topic over the next while based on the thoughts raised in conversations with HR professionals.
What thoughts cross your mind when you think about Social Media? What do you wish would exist to make the learning process easier and faster?
Monday, May 31, 2010
Change and Shifting Frames
This weekend, Chris Brogan, http://www.chrisbrogan.com/ posted an interesting article on frames. The content isn’t new to me as it is an important component in change management that often doesn’t receive enough attention by business leaders when their organizations take on significant change projects or experience change from external forces. However, the timing was perfect as I have been struggling to fully shift from my old frame to my new frame for several months now.
While my personality is one that often seeks out change and enjoys the benefits that can come with it, this change requires a shift that means adopting core competencies that I have previously felt were not well suited to my abilities.
It also means that some of my core strengths are not as applicable going forward as they used to be. It felt a bit like putting one foot over the edge of that proverbial cliff and a bit like leaving behind some old friends-those competencies that I was so comfortable with. This weekend I realized that it was time to take both feet off the cliff. The option is to fly or drop, the choice is mine.
Considering the idea of frames and change is an important concept for HR practitioners to consider as they are often in a position to help others with the change process.
Are you in a position of having to choose a frame and shift fully into it? What is helping you do this? Where do you seek help as you work your way through the process?
While my personality is one that often seeks out change and enjoys the benefits that can come with it, this change requires a shift that means adopting core competencies that I have previously felt were not well suited to my abilities.
It also means that some of my core strengths are not as applicable going forward as they used to be. It felt a bit like putting one foot over the edge of that proverbial cliff and a bit like leaving behind some old friends-those competencies that I was so comfortable with. This weekend I realized that it was time to take both feet off the cliff. The option is to fly or drop, the choice is mine.
Considering the idea of frames and change is an important concept for HR practitioners to consider as they are often in a position to help others with the change process.
Are you in a position of having to choose a frame and shift fully into it? What is helping you do this? Where do you seek help as you work your way through the process?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Role of HR and Intra-Organizational Social Media Use
I have conducted extensive research into the use of Social Media in organizations over the past several months. It started out as a bewildering and massive array of information while I sorted out which 'experts' really are experts. I quickly came to realize that the world of Social Media is like many other professions (such as HR) in that one must learn as much as they can in a 'generalist' sense, then choose an area of specialty.
As a person with an extensive HR/OD background the concept of the use of Social Media in an intra-organizational sense is intriguing. I have also read reams of information on using Social Media for marketing and branding. While my future use of Social Media will be in a new business launch later this year, the idea of using Social Media for HR and OD purposes still captures much of my interest.
One thing that is clear is that many organizations still fear opening the gates to Social Media in their organizations. The key is to treat it in a similar manner that you would any other major business process or program. The organization must first hold discussions on what the implementation of Social Media can do for various aspects of the business. Once that is determined the leaders (including a starring role by HR/OD) must develop a well thought out policy for the organization's Social Media strategy. IBM has one of the best I have seen so far and it is easy to find via Google.
The next step is organization wide communication and education on the strategy, the policy, the roll out and the expectations of all employees regarding the use of Social Media in the organization.
This should sound familiar and if it seems daunting it is a little, however the rewards of a well thought out strategy and roll out will be evident within the first six months.
The benefits of Social Media for improving organizational communication, recruiting and training and development programs are significant if the organization takes time to develop and then follow an effective plan first.
What steps regarding the use of Social Media have been taken in your organization? Have you proposed or initiated any Social Media related projects in your HR/OD role?
As a person with an extensive HR/OD background the concept of the use of Social Media in an intra-organizational sense is intriguing. I have also read reams of information on using Social Media for marketing and branding. While my future use of Social Media will be in a new business launch later this year, the idea of using Social Media for HR and OD purposes still captures much of my interest.
One thing that is clear is that many organizations still fear opening the gates to Social Media in their organizations. The key is to treat it in a similar manner that you would any other major business process or program. The organization must first hold discussions on what the implementation of Social Media can do for various aspects of the business. Once that is determined the leaders (including a starring role by HR/OD) must develop a well thought out policy for the organization's Social Media strategy. IBM has one of the best I have seen so far and it is easy to find via Google.
The next step is organization wide communication and education on the strategy, the policy, the roll out and the expectations of all employees regarding the use of Social Media in the organization.
This should sound familiar and if it seems daunting it is a little, however the rewards of a well thought out strategy and roll out will be evident within the first six months.
The benefits of Social Media for improving organizational communication, recruiting and training and development programs are significant if the organization takes time to develop and then follow an effective plan first.
What steps regarding the use of Social Media have been taken in your organization? Have you proposed or initiated any Social Media related projects in your HR/OD role?
Friday, April 16, 2010
Are Organizations Made Up of Talent, Capital or People?
Over the past 8 years there has been a growing trend to using new buzz words in HR. We no longer refer to employees as people, now we call them ‘talent’ or ‘capital’; we refer to executives as the ‘C-Suite’ and attempt to apply a financially oriented return on investment (ROI) to literally everything related to Human Resources.
Is it any wonder that managers, candidates and employees feel disengaged and frustrated with their experience with the people that work in HR? If the people of HR continue this trend of referring to people in this manner the concern is that we move further and further away from what our purported roles are. Whatever happened to facilitating the ability of the management team [people] to attract, retain and develop people? Remember the right people, in the right place, at the right time? I have yet to speak to a non-HR CEO or Manager that refers to the people that work for them as talent or capital-they call them people if referring to groups, or by name if referring to individuals.
Talent, in the form of competencies, skills and abilities come as a complete package, they are attached to people. We can not afford to forget this and by replacing the words people and human with talent and capital what message is being sent? People are far more complex that the set of skills they bring to the workplace and people who work in HR must be conversant with this complexity and understand how it affects the culture of the organization, the engagement of the people who work for the organization, and the future of the organization.
Instead of focusing on catchy new ways to describe what we do, why not focus on simply doing it better?
Is it any wonder that managers, candidates and employees feel disengaged and frustrated with their experience with the people that work in HR? If the people of HR continue this trend of referring to people in this manner the concern is that we move further and further away from what our purported roles are. Whatever happened to facilitating the ability of the management team [people] to attract, retain and develop people? Remember the right people, in the right place, at the right time? I have yet to speak to a non-HR CEO or Manager that refers to the people that work for them as talent or capital-they call them people if referring to groups, or by name if referring to individuals.
Talent, in the form of competencies, skills and abilities come as a complete package, they are attached to people. We can not afford to forget this and by replacing the words people and human with talent and capital what message is being sent? People are far more complex that the set of skills they bring to the workplace and people who work in HR must be conversant with this complexity and understand how it affects the culture of the organization, the engagement of the people who work for the organization, and the future of the organization.
Instead of focusing on catchy new ways to describe what we do, why not focus on simply doing it better?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Perspective on the HR Certification in Canada
At the end of January, my membership in the local HR Association came up for renewal, as did my certification requirement for the CHRP designation. Over the previous several months I debated whether or not to continue with either. I am moving into a new career arena and my satisfaction with the association and the designation had become increasingly poor over the past several years.
My decision shortly before the renewal date arrived was to let both lapse. I debated maintaining the designation for a further three year term but discovered that one is required to also maintain the association membership in order to do so. It was not a good return on investment to do this, therefore my decision was based primarily on a business decision but also on a quality factor.
My decision to forgo the designation is based on the fact that recertification points are offered for attendance at events that in my opinion do not improve ones ability to perform on the job. Points are awarded for attendance at a 1.5 hour session, which in my experience consists of about 20 minutes of introductions to everyone in the room and one hour of a consultant essentially selling a product, with a short question and answer session at the end.
In addition, the attribution of points for various events appears to lack logic. For example, you are awarded 30 points when you have a Masters thesis accepted and you are also awarded 30 points for attending a series of short seminars over the course of a 3 day conference.
While there is a significant requirement to demonstrate a high level of learning and application over a two year period for the Masters degree, there is no requirement to demonstrate that sitting through those seminars improves your ability to perform on the job. All you need do is hang in there for a few days and provide 'proof' via a receipt that you attended the conference. Given that fact, what logic was applied to awarding the same number of credits for both those events?
If HR professionals want this designation to attain real credibility then there is a need to sharply step up the requirements for recertification. The fact that it is all too easy to recertify shows up in a lack of high quality output on the job. The stream of complaints and HR bashing in the news and among employees and management in organizations is occuring for a reason and HR needs to start paying attention.
My decision shortly before the renewal date arrived was to let both lapse. I debated maintaining the designation for a further three year term but discovered that one is required to also maintain the association membership in order to do so. It was not a good return on investment to do this, therefore my decision was based primarily on a business decision but also on a quality factor.
My decision to forgo the designation is based on the fact that recertification points are offered for attendance at events that in my opinion do not improve ones ability to perform on the job. Points are awarded for attendance at a 1.5 hour session, which in my experience consists of about 20 minutes of introductions to everyone in the room and one hour of a consultant essentially selling a product, with a short question and answer session at the end.
In addition, the attribution of points for various events appears to lack logic. For example, you are awarded 30 points when you have a Masters thesis accepted and you are also awarded 30 points for attending a series of short seminars over the course of a 3 day conference.
While there is a significant requirement to demonstrate a high level of learning and application over a two year period for the Masters degree, there is no requirement to demonstrate that sitting through those seminars improves your ability to perform on the job. All you need do is hang in there for a few days and provide 'proof' via a receipt that you attended the conference. Given that fact, what logic was applied to awarding the same number of credits for both those events?
If HR professionals want this designation to attain real credibility then there is a need to sharply step up the requirements for recertification. The fact that it is all too easy to recertify shows up in a lack of high quality output on the job. The stream of complaints and HR bashing in the news and among employees and management in organizations is occuring for a reason and HR needs to start paying attention.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Will HR Become More Effective?
HR has the unfortunate tendency to be inward focused; rather than collaboratively engaging cross functional colleagues in HR project design and implementation, they garner sources of information from other HR practitioners to inform their project process. Successful HR projects that drive business goals require the expertise, input and engagement of the rest of the organization. Therefore the CHRP should include a significant requirement to develop a high level of competency in cross functional collaboration, project management and systems thinking. Business acumen is all well and good but of little value if you are unable to discern the need to engage others appropriately.
Of all members of an organization, the HR practitioner should be the role model of collaborative effort and show leadership in the practice of engaging others in business oriented projects. Yet too often, HR is seen as a department that is somewhat isolated and out of touch from the rest of the organization.
If HR associations took a different approach to the surveys they send out regarding the value of services offered by association to practitioners, they would gather radically different input. Send out a survey regarding the effectiveness of HR in their organization, to the non-HR employees and you will gather a very different perception of what needs to be done if HR is ever to begin to garner the respect they claim to want. To get the ‘seat at the table’, a stated desire that gets tossed out there so often will be attained by radical change. Is HR up to that challenge?
Of all members of an organization, the HR practitioner should be the role model of collaborative effort and show leadership in the practice of engaging others in business oriented projects. Yet too often, HR is seen as a department that is somewhat isolated and out of touch from the rest of the organization.
If HR associations took a different approach to the surveys they send out regarding the value of services offered by association to practitioners, they would gather radically different input. Send out a survey regarding the effectiveness of HR in their organization, to the non-HR employees and you will gather a very different perception of what needs to be done if HR is ever to begin to garner the respect they claim to want. To get the ‘seat at the table’, a stated desire that gets tossed out there so often will be attained by radical change. Is HR up to that challenge?
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