Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Social Cliff - #HealthcareHR

With so much chatter about the fiscal cliff dominating the conversation lately it started me thinking about healthcare leaders and the social cliff. Quite frankly, why have so few healthcare leaders, particularly those in human resources leadership roles, failed to add their voice to the social conversation? Here's the reality folks, there is no such thing as a social cliff, even if your gut instinct tells you so.

New Series
Today marks the first of an occasional series of posts on #HealthcareHR. I feel compelled to write on this subject for several reasons. First, I've been a healthcare leader in human resources for many years. Second, our industry is changing at such an unbelievable rate that we need to share our experiences, challenges, and successes. Third, as I mentioned in the opening, I can not find many HR executive voices in the healthcare industry that have taken the proverbial leap and are actively engaged in social media. This needs to change.

Our World is Different
Unless you've been living under a rock, the world of healthcare, and along with it effective human resources management, has changed dramatically in the last few years. The combination of healthcare reform and social media have revolutionized how human resources leaders must do their work. No longer can we rely on past practices or our dreaded comfort zones to get through the work day. So much change has created tremendous opportunities, yet for some reason HR has again stayed quiet. Why?

Inherent in the Role
I'm beginning to believe that the very nature of human resources work (maintain relationships, address compliance, promulgate policies, etc...) does not naturally lend itself to being a leader. That may sound harsh, but how many times does HR whine about not being respected? Too many.

In an era where 77,000,000 people are going to retire and need healthcare services, the industry as a whole is positioned extremely well. Imagine a built in customer base of that many people, and yet HR remains silent.

How About You
There isn't any magic to going social. The tools are simple, the risks are extremely low, and the network of people on the interwebs who are willing to help is endless. By the way, the end result can look something like this or this or this. Maybe it's time you finally got started.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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