We’ll be doing a live event this Friday

There were several of us at the SHRM Annual Meeting who want to share what we learned…so we will.

Who?  Hank Head, HR Exec from Dow Agroscience, Louonna Kachur, HR exec from Ice Miller, Dave Swider, Partner at Bose Law, and myself will do a feedback/briefing/sharing session at Hank’s conference room at Dow Agro this friday morning.  We were all in N’awlins.  We all picked up some good stuff, and Dave was a presenter, too.

Let me know if you want to come – I’ll direct you to the registration site.  We’re doing it through the local SHRM Chapter here in Indy – it’s free if you’re  a member.  Should be fun and informative.  7:30 am till 9 this friday.  I’ll blog the results…

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Another HR Professional Against Jack Welch

I attended the Indy SHRM lunch today, and ran into an old friend at the sign in table.  She had seen the postings about performance management and the notes about Jack, and wanted to vent a little.

“I was a big believer in the power of performance reviews and the importance of documentation, but now, looking back on it, I guess that all of that guidance and corrective advice we were giving never really did change behaviors.  Maybe it wasn’t worth the time.”  She laughed.  “Maybe, I’m just getting old and cynical.”  I assured her that she was….and that that was OK.

We all need a little watering, some encouragement, and occasional pruning.  Without the attention, we wither and die…

I was reminded a while ago when I found a dessicated and VERY dead office plant in an office, a great metaphor for performance management in our modern world.

When you feel old and dried up, like this plant, it's time to change jobs.

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Fact: Performance Management is broken

One of my takeaways from the conference – everyone is mad at performance management.  Managers hate doing it.  HR hates administering it.  CFOs hate having a huge asset (people) with no real feedback loops or accountability system.

I have an idea.

Instead of using software to automate a flawed system, use new communication channels (social networking, perhaps?) to build a fast feedback system that is more direct, and get a better result with less hassle.  I’ll be meeting with some social networking wonks and geeks next week, and I will be pushing this idea on them.  They don’t have an HR background, and that may actually be an advantage.  This is a marketing and communication and system design problem, more than an HR issue.  It’s just an issue that we all need to fix.

Now more than ever.  I’ll keep you posted.

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Behavior rewarded is behavior repeated

Things that are currently hot topics –

Lots of interest in motivation and related issues – that includes total compensation plans and how the money spent creates a positive outcome, and how to make sure benefit plans are motivating the right behaviors.

FMLA.  It never goes away, and still an irritation.

FLSA and all of it’s fringe issues.

Termination and outplacement and workforce planning with an eye to the future

COBRA rules and dealing with the administrative workload

…notice that most of this is administrative, and not that strategic.  The push of the featured speakers at the conference was a push for more of a strategic role.  The average attendee, however, is facing a crushing administative workload upon return to the office, and new ideas are not exactly welcome right now…

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Dance interlude

Dancers at Mufaleta's

Went out for dinner – needed to get some local flavor and color.  Mufaleta’s is a restaurant and dance hall that has a cajun band.  Was fortunate to get a table near the dance floor and watch a couple who had to be in their ’60s steping out and doing smooth, elegant cajun dancing.  I hid the Blackberry and got some photos that I am very happy with – the shots captured the feel.

Dancers

Dancers in a blur

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Concert update

Three words.

Cheryl. Crow. Rocks.

three more…

Front.  Row.  Seats.

Every now and then, a musical event is a blast.  This was one.

Rock

Whee!

More shots

Concert fun

\Rock being interpreted for the deaf…only at SHRM

Signing rock

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General Session – John Kotter was good!

Coming off as a kind of cranky, rumpled professor, John Kotter presented a general session that looked at economics and our nation’s sense of urgency.  Acutally, he is a cranky, rumpled professor at Harvard Business School.  Details to follow – but the big deal to me was that he didn’t use Powerpoint – he was using overhead projector technology and I found it very refreshing.

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This place is huge. Really.

It is one mile from one end to the other.  The session I’m in is at the farthest corner.  I’m bailing early so I can get to dinner and then to the Sheryl Crow concery at a reasonable hour.  If you want the full SHRM experience, it seems to focus on sore feet.

A session too far

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A few thoughts on Employee Engagement

From a session –

Why do dissatisfied employees stay and make us crazy?

1. Fear of the unknown

2. Some people are underacheivers and have found a place to hide

3. Golden handcuffs – medical or personal issues

4. Demographics – a child in school or close to retirement

5. Love the work.  They just aren’t good at it.

6. Work is a social club and they’re a member.

7. They have a personal bond with their boss, and they’re boss isn’t holding them accountable

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A clever idea about performance management

Just had a chat with a very frustrated head of HR from a social service agency.  She was on the trade show floor shopping for performance management software.

I challenged her that when she installed the online system, that the managers would hate it at the same as they hate the paper based one, only at a faster rate.  They would be ignoring her at the speed of light, not the speed of paper.

The answer?  Use the guise of the economic crisis to redesign the system using a “clean sheet of paper” approach, both eliminating waste and respecting her people.  Simply put, make it better and stop the madness.

She is going to call a meeting with her managers, and redraft the system using social networking tools as the engine of communication, and get away from annual reviews.  Faster, simpler, better.  I’ll keep you posted.

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