Let's Connect...Here At Work

I've spent the last several years reaping the benefits of an expanding social network. Through channels like twitter, facebook, Linkedin and foursquare I've met (both in real life and via these tools) many amazing people. My view of the world has changed, I have new colleagues and friends I can reach out to at anytime, and I continue to learn everyday. It is obvious to me that investing the time in my network has paid off over and over again.

But what about the people I see everyday? What about the new leaders in my organization? What about the projects that are just getting off the ground inside my organization? Have I reached out internally as much as I have externally?

Change Isn't Good...It's Awesome
My organization is moving at a fast pace. We're growing, both in the number of new jobs we continue to create, but also in the programs and initiatives we are launching. It seems as if there is a constant buzz of enthusiasm everywhere you turn. That's a good thing.

Having tunnel vision and missing all of this activity is not.

One of the roles of a human resources leader (or any leader for that matter) is to stay on top of these changes. I don't mean to be aware of the changes. That just involves listening at a meeting every once in a while.

I'm talking about actively seeking out your colleagues and getting yourself a regular appointment on their calendar. This way information can be shared, challenges can be discussed,  and you will automatically start building the internal connections necessary to understand and support their work.

"Human Resources must understand the business operations first, and then do good work to support those operations second. All too often HR pros believe their transactional forms and requirements are the core business...they couldn't be more wrong."

How About You
What have you done to reach out to your colleagues? Are you up to speed with their work...the work of your company? Or, are you too busy checking the latest regulation that will require a new policy and a great new triplicate form?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



photo credit

Social Media Attack

Is it just me, or do you sometimes feel like you're under attack from social media? It seems every day brings a new product, module, app, or strategy that I should be building into my social media plan? What usually follows is a series of blog posts that not only explain the new tools, but also help me appreciate how incredibly far behind everyone else I am.

Followers, Likers, Connections, Oh My!
What to do with all of this external reaching out, connecting, and following? I initially committed to following back, accepting connections and friending just about everyone. What has happened over time however, is that my various channels and social tools got really crowded with "people" who are interested more in selling or spamming versus connecting.

That's a bad thing.

Retreat! Retreat!

Once in a while it makes sense to evaluate your approach...take a close look at your network...and clean things up a bit. It not only helps get the fluff out of your stream, it also forces you to evaluate who and why you're connecting. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big believer in social media, but making sure you don't waste your time and energy is an important part of being a productive member of the SoMe community.

How About You
What steps have you taken to make sure the SoMe hordes don't over run your life? It's a learning process for me, and I'm always interested in learning more!

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



pic courtesy of timothywest

Social Recruitment in a Sunday Paper World

My perspective on recruitment has changed dramatically over the last few years.  For those paying attention...ahem, that excludes many leaders I know...they've radically changed not only their thinking about recruitment, but their spending as well.  


Let's be real for a minute, if you're talking about the changes that have come about because of social media but you're still buying ad space in the Sunday paper, waiting for the monthly niche journal to publish, or believe your brand is so strong applicants should be grateful to work for you, then you're missing the boat. Many leaders acknowledge that social media is growing, but haven't even explored how to use the tools themselves.  How is that possible?  

Social Media Recruiting
As I continue to learn s l o w l y about the power of social media in my professional practice, I'm putting my company's money where my mouth is => we're shifting our focus, our energy and our spend to where the world is going, not where it's been. Here's a brief summary of the key components of our evolving strategy:

• facebook page for HR: Includes links to our jobs, benefits, recruiters, our RN Residency program, has posts that provide tools for job seekers, information about housing (did someone say the beach?), information on restaurants, theatres, museums, and where to go for happy hour
• twitter: branded account for the HR team but each recruiter has an active account as well, consistently use the same hashtag (#achjobs) for job related posts and all traffic is driven to the HR facebook page, not the company website
• foursquare: all locations have been claimed across the organization and instead of a "special" we're using tips to drive traffic back to the HR facebook page
• Linkedin: beyond just a free company page, we're developing our careers page that will soon have additional video testimonials from employees in addition to several highlighted job postings and company video updates
• Talent Communities: this is our next BIG endeavor that will reverse the way we recruit from the centuries old approach of posting a job and hoping someone qualified applies, to a more proactive system of building relationships with potential candidates and then selecting from that community when positions become available...much more to follow on this...
• Oh yes, and we have the obligatory company job page as part of our company website (If this is the only place you're on the web as part of your recruitment strategy it's time to turn the lights off and call it a day)

Metrics Matter
Making sure this strategy adds value, or any strategy for that matter, is a cornerstone of our approach. Tracking specifically the ads we run, and the follow through at the candidate level all the way to the end of the recruitment cycle is essential. In future posts I'll share our successes, particularly as our Talent Community initiatives get traction this winter.


How About You
Are you an HR leader that is still hiding under your desk scared to death of social media? Now that I think about it, you probably should be.  You see, the world is moving fast, trying new approaches, and sharing more than ever. We're learning every day to try and keep up, but it isn't easy. That level of transparency is foreign to old-school HR folks, and will probably be the reason they don't get the respect they deserve.  Give social a try...I'll help!

I'd love to hear from you.


No Excuses.






pics courtesy of living-authentically and glowimages