Author: Mervyn Dinnen

Thoughts on Talent, HR and WorkTech trends from an analyst, researcher, writer, podcaster and Top 100 Global HR Tech influencer

reasons to be cHeeRful

It’s time for another Carnival of HR. If you’ve not dipped in before then you should…it’s a fortnightly collection of blogs from some of the top HR and Recruitment bloggers in the US, UK and farther afield – sometimes around a theme and other times simply a collection of the best writing of the last two weeks.

I’ve been a little remiss with my submissions lately but have been sparked into action by 6th June edition. It’s curated by a really great guy in Steve Browne – a good, and giving, friend of the UK HR community and someone whose weekly HR Net newsletters provide a regular highlight in my otherwise burgeoning e-mail inbox of money saving vouchers, LinkedIn spam messages and offers of financial gifts from East Africa.

Steve wants us to look at what’s good about HR. Most bloggers are able to pinpoint what’s wrong and what needs to change but maybe can be slower to champion what works and what makes us proud to work in the sector.

As a non-practitioner (more of a vicarious practitioner) it’s sometimes easier to take a more holistic view – which I know may infuriate those at the coalface – but things do look in fairly good shape. Sure there are those who would prefer to get back to basics, others who use strategy as a reason for overlooking the basics and many who participate in a regular kvetch fest about seats at the table and how to get taken seriously, but overall everyone I meet is passionate, committed and determined to do the best they can. In tough economic times, and with traditional employment patterns undergoing significant shifts, it’s easy to lose sight of the importance of HR in keeping employers and businesses productive, harmonious and engaged.

And there are two things about the future that really excite me the most – Social Connectivity and Sharing. Continue reading “reasons to be cHeeRful” →

Free Wifi and the Experience Economy

I’m writing and posting this blog sitting in the lobby of a holiday hotel in Ibiza. Around me are several holidaymakers similarly using smartphones, tablets, net books and laptops to share their holiday experiences, post photos and updates, check e-mails etc.

We’re all able to do this as this hotel has free wifi in its luxurious and tranquil lobby and lounge areas. This is my third holiday in a row where a traditional ‘package’ holiday hotel has offered free wifi access in public areas. You pay if you want it in your room but most prefer the congenial and social surroundings of the lounges.

At last weeks CIETT2012 conference I attended an excellent keynote from Prof Lynda Gratton and amongst many things that she said (which I will probably revisit in future blogs) was that

We are now in an experience economy where measuring money matters less to consumers than measuring experiences

And with data roaming charges being what they are it’s certainly become easier to share holiday experiences from a hotel lounge with free wifi.

Most conferences I go to now talk about the importance of storytelling, how businesses need to encourage their customers and clients to share stories and experiences – reputations defined as the stories told about you as opposed to what you say about yourself – and holiday hotels, so central to the overall holiday experience and operating in a very competitive market, need to give every encouragement to their guests to share stories. Continue reading “Free Wifi and the Experience Economy” →

Searching For The New Social Vision…

Tomorrow sees the 4th ConnectingHR Unconference and we’re talking about socially connected organisations. I wrote in my last blog about how the conversation has developed over the last two years and this topic seems the natural continuation.

Over the last couple of days my friend and fellow ConnectingHR organiser Flora Marriott has been putting together a music playlist for the after event drinks. Hopefully we’ll get a few live numbers courtesy of Doug Shaw and for the rest of the time we’ve been crowdsourcing songs, relevant to the socially connected organisation theme, through the twitter hashtag #chruchoons

Coincidentally my iPod has recently been on a Dexys Midnight Runners nostalgiafest – it must be the band reforming and about to release their first new album for yonks – and the song that springs to mind is There There My Dear. The band’s second hit single, with brass soul riffs and lyrics written as a letter to ‘Robin’, it was in defence of the band’s new soul vision and ripped into po-faced ‘anti-fashion’ bands who didn’t buy into it.

And then there was the classic lyric…

Don’t you know the only way to change things is to shoot the men who arrange things

OK, there’ll only be metaphorical shooting tomorrow…but substitute ‘social’ for ‘soul’ and there you have it! Searching for the New Social Vision!

So here’s the new lyric…hopefully you know the tune 🙂

 
Dear Robin,
Hope you don’t mind me writing, it’s just that there’s more than one question I need to ask you. If you’re so anti-social media so use pen and paper instead of all e-mailing just the same. It’s just that communicating like that I can express my dissatisfaction. Continue reading “Searching For The New Social Vision…” →

HR and the Socially Connected Organisation

 

“I don’t know what I was expecting
But I’m sure I am detecting
The sounds of human beings connecting
And some pretty deep reflecting”

(Anon, previous ConnectingHR attendee)

 

 

It’s only 19 months since the very first ConnectingHR Unconference, and on 16th May we will be running our fourth. It has certainly been a revelation seeing the community come together, grow and develop in that time and how what could easily have been a one-off has become a regular event that inspires, challenges and entertains.

Looking back at my blog HR and the Social World, which previewed the very first event in 2010, it struck me how far the conversation has come…and how far we can still go.

The early discussions were around social media, the how and the why it should be used, the potential to change the way we work and shape the future of how we will be working. Subsequent events moved the debate on to people strategies and eventually to what the future of work may look like.

For #CHRU4 our theme is ‘The Power of a Socially Engaged Organisation’ and there are five key questions that we’ll be looking at:

  • How can organisations embrace social media/strategies internally to increase engagement?
  • What are the positive benefits and opportunities of embracing social and community strategies in organisations?
  • What tools are there to help increase collaboration and conversation in organisations?
  • Can a more social business create commercial value and increase engagement?
  • What alternatives are there to the traditional employee survey?

As always the actual agenda on the day will be attendee driven, yet there will be something new at the very start. To get the creative thinking juices flowing we’ll be seeing a series of 5 minute presentations which will combine a mixture of short case studies and think pieces aimed at challenging the way we see everything from workplace design to HR metrics! Continue reading “HR and the Socially Connected Organisation” →

Social Media Policies in One Sentence

Ok Ok…I know its guidelines not policies but I needed to get your attention! After all, I’m a convert. An evangelist. And I spread the word whenever I get the chance.

I’ll be spreading it later today at #HRD12 and next week at the Recruiting Through Social Media conference – and I know from past experience that the burning questions will be:

  • should we block employee use of social media
  • what does a good social media policy look like

The answer to number 1 is simple – DON’T! Because you CAN’T! Block their access on a work desktop or laptop if you want but you will only drive them under the desk and on to their phones.

And if you’re about to call out ‘Aha, it’s a company phone so we can block it on there too‘ (as someone did when I was presenting recently) then the answer is…they’ll have another phone! Unless you make them give up their personal number or phone (never a good idea) then they will still be able to access social media – it’s the new cigarette break/coffee break after all – and all that will happen is that you’re unlikely to have visibility of it.

And, of course, the rest of the world will know that you’re a company that tries to block access to social media. Not a desirable bit of ’employer branding’ in Business 3.0 or Recruitment 5.0.

Now what about a policy or guideline?

Keep it simple and if possible limit it to one sentence that means something everyone can understand and relate to. Continue reading “Social Media Policies in One Sentence” →

Kindness…

‘Kindness don’t ask for much/But an open mind’ (Ryan Adams – Kindness 2011)

Well hello…feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here! I’ve still been blogging as part of the day job but things have been a bit quiet on the T Recs front.

Fear not, there are a couple of posts in the pipeline that will hopefully see the light of day over the next week or so.

In the meantime I can report that recovery from the shoulder operation is progressing well – slowly but surely – and I’m hopefully on course to be sling-less within 4 weeks. Many thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to tweet, DM, text, e-mail and generally show support, interest and concern. The two fingered tweeting and blogging has been a nuisance and, to be honest, didn’t last long…just don’t tell my physio 😉

I can’t complain. Whilst I’ve been away from here there are people in my life (both offline and online) who have been suffering much worse than me, and to whom I have offered as much support as I can – a sharp lesson in however hard you think things are for you, there always people a lot worse off 😦

One of the things I love most about the online community that I am a part of, and which grows daily, is the generosity and kindness so often shown to those who need support, encouragement, help and guidance, and barely a week goes by without those on the receiving end of this kindness showing thanks – often by sharing gratitude on social platforms or else through a blog.

This was very well described by my friend Alison Chisnell on her most recent blog – in which she comments about the first blog from another of our friends, Flora Marriott:

“The other thing that struck me in reading Flora’s first post was the great way that she described her network – vibrant, full of varied, precious friends and family, people she loves and respects, people who she helps and who help her. That reminded me of the general fabulousness of the people that I am privileged to have become friends with through ConnectingHR and Twitter, as well as those who I have met through more conventional means” Continue reading “Kindness…” →

The Challenges of the Two Fingered Tweeter

If you follow me on twitter then you may already know that this weekend I’m having surgery (keyhole) to repair torn cartilage in my shoulder. If the medical technicalities interest you then it’s a Bankart Lesion.

It’s a first for me – I’ve never needed an operation, never broken anything, nor ever required a general anaesthetic, so it will be a whole new experience.

On the down side – I’ve got about 3 months in a sling with minimal use of my left arm, and for the first few weeks minimal use of my left hand too (lucky I’m right handed)

On the up side – I won’t be doing any shopping for a while, I’ll get driven everywhere and the surgeon tells me that he mostly performs the operation on young sportsmen!

It will be daunting at first – having to do everything one handed. Having practiced tasks such as dressing and making lunch using only my right hand I can see that this will be a challenge…but then it will be a challenge that will make me appreciate how lucky I am.

And I may uncover previously untried skills.

So I’ll be the two fingered blogger and tweeter, index and middle fingers primed to skate over the iPad and laptop.

It’ll be awkward, you may have to excuse the typos but the upside for you guys is I’ll be slower hence probably also more succinct!

I’ll let you know how I get on…

Will it be The Last Rites for the CV at #TruLondon?

‘He’s not pining, he’s passed on. This parrot is no more. He has ceased to be. He’s expired and gone to meet his maker. He’s a stiff, bereft of life, he rests in peace. If you hadn’t have nailed him to the perch he’d be pushing up the daisies. He’s rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot!’
Monty Python Dead Parrot Sketch

‘Kiss me where the sun don’t shine
The past was yours but the future’s mine
You’re all out of time’
Stone Roses, She Bangs The Drums

At this week’s TruLondon5 I’ll be talking CVs with James Mayes and (I hope) a whole bunch of attendees in the track ‘The CV is Dead!’ If the CV was Monty Python’s parrot would it be pushing up daises, merely resting or stunned? Could the Stone Roses lyric be from an ‘online profile’ to a traditional CV?

This is one of those subjects that creates megabytes of content in cyberspace. Everyone has a view and many like their views to be controversial. I’m sure that the debate on Wednesday will be both lively and heated.

It’s actually a deeply complex topic as it has many facets:

  • How does a jobseeker want to be represented
  • What is the best way to showcase skills and capabilities
  • How does a recruiter want to receive applications
  • How do recruiters screen and select
  • Do recruiters/hiring managers have the time to devote to assessing in a different way
  • What information does a recruiter really need to make an informed decision
  • How much is invested in technology that requires the maintenance of the status quo

These are just a few; I’m sure readers will have many more to add.

I have to say that I don’t have a foot firmly in either camp, which is why I’m looking forward to hearing the range of views. I know from my work at Jobsite that there is an increasing appetite for CV databases, but what form may the ‘CV’ take in future?

To get the conversation started, here are a few thoughts and questions of my own and some gathered from recent blogs: Continue reading “Will it be The Last Rites for the CV at #TruLondon?” →

Some Thoughts About Youth Unemployment

I’ve been worried about youth unemployment for some time. The recent rise to a figure over a million has really put this at the top of the agenda, both politically and in our everyday lives. Most readers will know someone who is either trying to get a start in the world of work, or will be doing so in the next few years.

But the problem is much wider than we think. The uncomfortable truth is that youth unemployment has been rising stubbornly for 10 years or more. The global downturn has thrown more graduates on the job seeking queues but for one category this has been happening for years.

The graph below shows how youth unemployment rose from 11.7% in 2001 to 19.6% in 2010 (it’s over 21% now) – between 1990 (not on graph) and 2001 it rose very slightly, from 10.4% to 11.7%, but between 2001 and 2008 (start of the recession) it rose from 11.7% to 15%…and this is during an economic boom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now look at this graph – taken from a House of Commons briefing document on Youth Unemployment from January 2011 – which shows it much more starkly, and also shows where the real problem lies… Continue reading “Some Thoughts About Youth Unemployment” →

What Type of Leaders do we Really Want?

‘You choose your leaders and place your trust/As their lies wash you down and their promises rust’ (Paul Weller)

What do we expect from our managers and leaders? Judgement and insight, or conviction and ideology?

It’s a question raised in Jonathan Freedland’s weekend piece Chris Huhne, David Cameron and the RBS boss don’t have it, but Al Gore did – asking whether we prefer jaw-jutting certainty to thoughtful judgement in our business and political leaders.

A weighty question. I guess most of us want decisive leaders and managers, the kind of people who know how to sort things out and get things done. And people who can read the signs and adapt. Yet is that what we get? Continue reading “What Type of Leaders do we Really Want?” →