Category: Uncategorized

In Praise of Experience During a Time of Social Media Crisis

There have been a few blogs recently about social media crises. Storms around Tesco, The Sun, Ryanair and even our own HR brouhaha over Peacockgate have all thrown the good and bad of open social comms in to a sharp light…possibly adding fuel to the arguments of those who fear and want to control it.
This comprehensive post from Rachel Miller offers much information and sound advice on how to prepare for a potential crisis. I like that she crowdsourced some of it, as this helps underline the collaborative, community style of the social comms – we can learn from each other and the best ideas need not come from multi national businesses.  In fact in these type of crises it’s often the bigger names that are most susceptible…although some the biggest can also afford to do very little or even ignore it completely – as Amazon showed earlier in the year.
I saw Euan Semple talk recently of the connection between your internal comms structure and your social approach – if you need a dozen people to approve a blog post then it’s unlikely that your social updates will have a natural flow to them.
Regular readers will know that I think posts like this one on why a business’ social engagement should be the preserve of the young, digitally native Gen Y/Millennials/interns are complete nonsense and you need look no further than a social media shitstorm to bear that out.
The keys for any of theses situations are usually tone, context and perspective. Knowing when the storm is at an early phase and when we’re reaching the eye. When to apologise, when to educate, when to pull the plug and how to turn it into a badge of honour. And never knee jerk in panic.
When I present on dealing with negative comments I always use this post and chart from Laurel Papworth.
It’s a pretty foolproof way to assess what to do and how, and you’ll notice that pretty much all the actions require sensitivity, perspective and balance. All things that come with experience.
Now you could be forgiven for thinking that someone who has a mile or two on the business experience clock would say that – but then what it does give you is a more measured, less excitable and responsible approach. For example I wouldn’t have responded to Peacockgate with a hashtag campaign of #ProudtoworkinHR as it appears to marginalise the profession with a whiff of minority defiance, implying that we know that most others see us as being different or a problem. It also failed to tackle with the points being raised…there were more sensible ways to tackle it and take ownership of the debate.
Once in a while there’s nothing wrong with having a bit of experience – hell, it may even be a positive.

I’m a Content Curator…Get Me Out Of Here!!

Jungle

Amongst the insightful, and some not-so-insightful, comments emanating from the recent Social Media Week London was one about content that seemed to slightly slip under the radar but was visible enough to be picked up and mentioned in a few presentations since…

…namely that a leading supermarket chain (oh go on then, Asda) delete any update that hasn’t attracted at least 100 likes within 5 minutes.

Now I find that fairly extreme content curation, the kind of thing you could build a reality show around – gather a group of community managers, let them create or find some content, and watch the twitchy fingers as they decide whether to hit delete or wait a few more minutes, send out a few more tweets, and try and get those likes.

Of course it raises the question of what type of content can pass the 5 minute/100 like test – particularly if you’re not a major consumer brand and have to rely on a healthy mix of curating third party content as well as creating your own, with the bias usually on the former.

This question was perfectly illustrated a couple of Mondays ago as two pieces of content popped in to my timeline almost simultaneously.

First up was this blog from my friend Doug Shaw looking at the importance of taking time out to have lunch with colleagues, break bread, chat, share and generally be social. If you’ve heard Doug speak you’ll know this is one of his pet topics, and rightly so.

Not long afterwards followed this piece on Metro online. Someone has made small plastic knives, forks and spoons that fit on the top of your pen, meaning that you barely have to break stride from in front of your screen when you want lunch. No need to head for the kitchen to stretch your legs and look for cutlery.

The two pieces are from opposite ends – one suggesting we use lunch to have a break, the other helping to ensure that lunch makes no dent in your productive hours.

So in my game of Extreme Content Curation which one would you go for?

Doug’s piece, framed and shared in the right way, should certainly spark some debate and chatter within your community, particularly if you’re working around the HR, Recruitment, Workforce, Management space. The value of a lunch break, the aid to collaboration, knowledge sharing and conversation pitted against the structure of a working day.

But on the other hand, the Metro piece has great images – ready made for hitting the like button without actually reading what it’s about – and novelty value. No doubt many would think it was a good, even fun, idea even if they shared Doug’s view of how your lunch should be taken.

So let me know what you would do.

The clock’s ticking.

And & Dec are waiting to interview the losers.

You’ve got to choose one piece to share and frame.

And there’s five minutes to get the likes…

…which piece would you go for?

(Image via Radio Times)

Disclaimer – this blog in no way intends to infer that chasing likes at all costs is in any way a social media strategy that should be pursued

#HRTechConf – We’re All Technologists Now!

HRTech

The final keynote at the recent HR Technology Conference was from Jason Averbook, who delivered an overview of HR technology – where we were, where we are now and where we should be going.

His rallying call was that we need re-imagination – we’re getting bright shiny new technology but we’re doing old school things with it. To emphasise this point he ran through 5 generations of technological development, the 4 different eras of what we’ve called HR, and concluded that despite all that change we’re still basically doing what we’ve always done.

He also had news for the HR professionals who think that technology isn’t for them – We’re all technologists! “Do you call IT when you want to search Google?” he asked. “Who keeps their smartphone nearby when they go to bed at night?” got a clear majority show of hands.

Another show of hands revealed that only 5 people in an audience of many hundreds were from the payroll function, yet payroll is usually the first HR process that we get technology for. A couple of comments on the twitter channel questioned whether this was because the process didn’t innovate – but I’m not sure that’s true.

When I first started work I got paid cash on a weekly basis, then by cheque on a monthly basis, and more recently by direct transfer. I used to be given payslips with my cash/cheque but now I have to log in to a system to find them. And because I don’t do it regularly I invariably have to reset passwords – coming up with a new on each time! Payroll evolves much the same as any other process, yet where were the specialists at this show?

Jason also touched on the irregularity with which people interact with their internal technology. He asked when we last got married, had a child or moved house, as these are three key events when we will interact with the HR technology at work. Clearly for most people these events happen very rarely – maybe every few years – giving them little reason to interact with that technology, yet most HR professionals will complain that employees aren’t using the tech. Again you need it to do different things if you want more interaction.

The importance of measuring for now was another key point. Performance reviews, engagement, development are all measured and reviewed historically, yet employees are more interested in what’s currently happening. The technology for real time measurement is available so why not use it for now as opposed to what’s already gone.

Some other points that Jason covered:

  • People come to work and expect to get connected, most people keep their phone within 3 feet at all times of the day and night, yet we often deny them that connectivity.
  • If you go to a website that sucks, you don’t stay on it for too long. But do you ever go back to see if it’s better? Probably not, this is why businesses need to get their tech right.
  • For possibly the first time consumers now have better technology than businesses do. Expectations are raised.
  • The Cloud doesn’t change cultures – it’s just a delivery mechanism.
  • Give them real time access to social channels – or they’ll post on Glassdoor!
  • “HR sucks at simple”. Contentious, but it got a reaction.

The closing call was ‘If interaction is not embedded in the process then it won’t get done’ with a plea to ‘think simple’.

Jason is a good speaker who puts his points across with energy and simplicity. I took away a clear message that too many HR professionals see technology as something that isn’t really their thing, but a box that needs to be ticked. Clearly everyone in the room used technology constantly in their personal lives and there shouldn’t be a disconnect when it comes to embedding it in the workplace.

My view is that the things we look for in the technology we use in our personal lives – ease, relevance, convenience, enhanced experience – should also apply to the technology we use in our working lives. Technology should not be a barrier to getting work done but should be an enabler to getting a better job done. As Jessica Merrell tweeted ‘innovation & technology change isn’t just the vendor’s responsibility – amen!’

Laurie Ruettiman’s blog on the automation of HR is worth a read – ‘you might want to think about understanding the technology that’s about to upset your apple cart. If you know your enemy, you can destroy it’

After all, it’s never really the computer that says no….

Living in Interesting Times

Hire me

It’s almost three years since I last started a social job hunt. Back in November 2010, the concept of leveraging social media channels to create awareness of yourself to potential employers, whilst along the way creating content that both chronicled your insights and perceptions of the job hunting process, as well as showcasing the knowledge and attitude that you could bring to a role, was fairly new.

In October 2013 this is now more commonplace; in fact for many individuals it’s expected.

Using Social Networking for Job Hunting

At the recent Social Media Week London I joined Steve Ward and Bill Boorman in presenting to job seekers how they could effectively use social media as part of their job hunt. My session covered three areas:

Research – find out about sectors, businesses and individuals. Who is hiring, who may be hiring and who’s doing what in the industries that interest you and what skills, capabilities and knowledge they may require.

Engage – it’s not just enough to find out the information, you need to interact with the individuals, put yourself on their radar. You need to connect to the people who are doing the hiring, which may mean identifying those who can introduce you to them. And not just the companies and recruiters but also bloggers from your preferred sector; read what they write, comment and share.

Self-Promotion – make sure that what you do brings you to the attention of the people you are trying to reach. Use a video of yourself, create a blog (Tumblr or WordPress), use images and seek out and share interesting and unusual content and become known as someone who has access to and shares interesting insights. Develop reach and contacts.

Influence and Network

There’s little doubt in my mind that the importance of what someone can bring to an organisation in terms of knowledge, network, access to information and (crucially) that oft misused word influence will be crucial hiring factors in the very near future.

Attendees at the recent Discover Sourcing event heard Andrew Grill (ex CEO Kred, now IBM) present on ‘Talent in the Age of Social Business’ and talk of the importance of influence to a business both internally and externally, how to recognise it, source it and the importance of hiring it in to your organisation.

For me Kred are different from Klout, PeerIndex and other influence measures because of the outreach factor and the transparency – not about how much stuff you put out, or how often and how many followers see it, but about how you interact with and share others’ content, and how they interact with what you do.

Are you a trusted source? Do others share what you have shared? Do people trust and act upon what you say? Do you build authority? Or drive unique interactions from new sources? Do you build relationships? These are some of the things that hiring managers will be considering in the future.

When they hire you they will also be hiring a network, a community of people around you who are part of what you can bring to the day job. Connector, facilitator and enabler will be key attributes.

It’s over two years since an IBM Social Jam had as one of its conclusions that employees have a personal brand, existing both inside and outside the business, that companies do not own but effectively ‘rent’ from them whilst they are at work. They went on to say that these personal brands should be rewarded based on how they help the company.

Future of Talent Communities

I found it interesting to hear Don Tapscott talk at HRTech of how talent communities should be about getting tasks within an organisation completed and not just be a ‘pipeline’ of potential future employees. This reminded me of conversations a couple of years ago about how the future of talent community management would be building a network of flexible, freelance workers, creatives and writers, designers and UX specialists, analysts and data scientists. Keeping them engaged and informed, able to share and help, refer and recommend. And maybe some future employees too.

Business as Usual

Where is this leading us? Well, I think that as ‘social’ business becomes business as usual, and sentiment begins to overtake likes, shares and clicks as a key metric, then having a socially enabled workforce, a proper social engagement strategy and the ability to share the stories and create the content that encourages customers, clients, employees, suppliers and partners to want to be a part of what you do, will become crucial, and the organisations that fail to take advantage of this may well get left behind.

Customer and consumer expectations are rising. They often now have better tech than companies and are changing the way they communicate and collaborate. Smartphone ownership is driving a different kind of consumption. For example, we spend too much time talking about ‘mobile’ recruitment when all our candidates are doing is job hunting – the medium through which they connect and apply is irrelevant to them, convenience and experience matters more.

And employees, your number one brand advocates, are not only using social channels but expect to be able to harness the opportunities they offer in their day to day business roles.

Social Job Hunt 2013

And so it’s into this evolving business landscape that I head off on my Social Job Hunt 2013.

I’ve learned a lot over the last three years, and have gained much knowledge and insight from an ever evolving network of connections covering recruitment, HR, employment law, the future of work, digital marketing, social strategy, branding, FMCG and agency. Not forgetting content creation and curation, community building, encouraging employee and management participation and building reach and influence. A lot has changed, and a lot of change is yet to come.

Judging from some of the conversations I’ve participated in, and from the experiences and insights shared, at various events recently we are certainly living in interesting times.

I’m excited about the future, the opportunities and avenues that are being opened up, and am looking forward to playing my part in helping business navigate these interesting times.

It should be a fun ride. Let me know if you would like to talk…

#HRTechConf – 5 Observations From Across The Pond

HRTech panel

Recently back from Vegas having attended my first HR Technology Conference in the US…a three day extravaganza of exhibitors and demos, content and parties, and most importantly, connections and networking.

I was lucky enough to have an access all areas blogger’s pass so here are some of my random thoughts on what stood out for me as a first time attendee…from a UK perspective, obviously!

1) Its Huge. The Expo was larger than anything I have seen in the UK and the press room alone was big enough to hold a one day conference! Massive scale but still with a personal touch as everyone I came across took the time to network, get to know you and talk enthusiastically about their particular area of expertise/interest.

We’ve all walked round expo floors dodging glances from slick sales people manning the stands and looking to collect business cards and email addresses to help them spam you with messages and calls. I wasn’t sure how this one would go but have to say that every exhibitor I spoke to wanted to engage in a conversation (OK, maybe it was my accent) and talk you through their product, usually displaying a real passion and pride in what they do. That may be because my inbuilt anti-sales radar kept me away from the others.

2) Bloggers Count. At this event bloggers are important. We had our own room, sponsored by Dice, and numbered about 30. I remember Rob Jones writing about how having blogger as opposed to a sales prospect’s job title on his badge at CIPD11 elicited a more ambiguous approach from exhibitors. Not here. Most businesses wanted to engage the bloggers and tell us about their tech and what it could do. They seemed to see us as important conduits of their message. They scheduled meetings with us, made sure we were at all the parties and receptions, sought our views on trends and generally saw us as a valuable, and influential, channel…something UK event organisers should take note of. I really appreciated, and learned from, time spent with Glassdoor, RoundPegg, Success Factors and MTM Recognition.

The impression I got was that bloggers were seen as an important part of the conference and an important link for exhibitors and speakers.

3) Swag and Parties. From some of the blogs I had read covering previous years I was expecting to need an extra suitcase for all the swag on display – I’m a sucker, I really did think there would be t-shirts with slogans like ‘HR chicks/dudes do it better’ ! As it was, amongst the stress balls, pens and flashing party specs I will make use of my Cornerstone on Demand shirt proudly proclaiming that I’m a Millennial at Work (I took a survey, honest) and my limited edition ‘Seize the Night’ Virgin Pulse launch one. Not forgetting my SumTotal iPhone/iPad charger, Glassdoor lip salve, mints and torch/bottle opener key ring, Technomedia USB, Broadbean beer cooler and many more!

The parties…well, I’ve shared what I need to on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! There were many of them, often 3 or 4 on at the same time, offering part networking and part fun. No expense spared either. My top three were courtesy of Reputation Capital/Blogging4Jobs/Technomedia, Jobvite and Virgin Pulse/Starr Conspiracy. If you really need reasons to go to this conference then the parties are as good a good place as any to start!

4) Content. The actual conference part provided me with a mix of great, good and average. The keynotes from Don Tapscott and Jason Averbrook were excellent. The panel sessions were good value too. Some of the breakout presentations were less insightful though – maybe I was spoiled by attending HRevolution the day before as there was certainly more energy, ideas and insight at that event than in some parts of the larger conference. Will be interesting to see how this shifts with Steve Boese now at the helm of HR Tech.

Of course the real big noises of the content show were that perennial fave ‘talent management’ which jockeyed for overuse with the younger rising star ‘big data’. For me both are default terms that cover for a lack of more interesting conversations…would have been good to have a deeper dive into both these areas particularly with reference to the end user. We heard how both Amazon and LinkedIn know more about employees than their employer does but no real insight as to the relevance and impact of this.

For me the three most interesting, and encouraging, technologies at the event were about sourcing & candidate identification, using social reach and conversations to provide something a lot deeper – Dice’s Open Web, and two emerging businesses that didn’t exhibit but were certainly active participants in the conversations – eitalent and entelo.

5) Connections and Conversations. This was a huge part of the conference experience and one of the strongest. Some really great conversations and insights were shared, with the opportunity to have face time with many people who are often just avatars on a social networking platform, being a particular highlight. It’s difficult to put a value on this kind of interaction, but I know that this part made the whole trip worthwhile for me.

As you may have gathered, I enjoyed the experience. The interactions, insights and social aspects were hugely important. Technology is an enabler, a delivery platform that is now embedded in almost every action that HR and Recruiters take on a daily basis. From payroll to on-boarding, rewards to succession planning every professional needs to understand how technology can help deliver an improved and enhanced service, and experience, to current, past and future employees, managers and directors.

This event was a great place to start – I’m planning on coming back next year!

(Image from Trish McFarlane)

Is HR Ready to Get Naked?

The HR Technology Conference opened with a keynote from author, consultant and business strategist Don Tapscott. His talk – Radical Openness – was based on his latest book (of the same name) and looked at the social enabled evolution in business organisation and the challenges and opportunities it offered.

He started with four principles of openness…

Collaboration
Transparency
Sharing
Empowerment

…and then looked at how each are being driven by shifts in technology, social and behaviour.

Some of the key points he talked about:

The age of networked intelligence – we talk about the Information Age but what technology is enabling isn’t just a link to information but to other peoples’ intelligence. Their brain power, insights and analysis.

Talent communities shouldn’t just be about candidates – we should be building and growing these with the aim of helping to get the job done, tasks completed. Instead of using to hire externally we should be using them for collaboration.

Many organisations are not used to the breaking down of tasks – if we are going to effectively use these talent communities as channels of collaboration then we need to change the way we think of work.

The need to deal with business changes – a tweet from Jason Averbrook nailed this as the need to be agile in our approaches to process and technology. He later tweeted that HR was enabled precisely because it spoke HR language and not business language…not sure how that one plays out with the UK audience.

Forget talent inside – a key point about changes to organisation structures around innovation. Again this relates to using outside talent collaboratively. Again it was Jason Averbrook who commented ‘the organisations that only think of talent management as looking at internal talent will have a very hard time competing in the future’.

Customer collaboration and co-creation – too many talk about customer engagement as the holy grail, but the future business should be focused on the customer or consumer as a partner in collaboration.

Leadership can com from anywhere in the organisation – a new type of business structure will lead to a breaking down of traditional hierarchies. Culture should encourage anyone in the organisation to take a lead role on any process or project.

The final thoughts centred on how businesses will cope with openness and specifically how HR will adapt. Some examples were shared of organisations reverting to protectionism in the face of collaboration or co-creation.

Transparency, openness, sharing and collaboration point to a new organisational ‘nakedness’ creating a huge opportunity for HR professionals to play a major role in steering businesses forward.

Is HR ready to get naked….

What I’m Looking For at #HRTechConf

I’ll be spending the next few days at the HR Technology Conference – the first time I’ve been able to go.

I’m lucky enough to be part of the blog squad so have been thinking about what new trends and innovations I’ll be looking for.

In recent months I’ve been at a recruiting leaders round table, as well as two FIRM (Forum for Inhouse Recruitment Managers) conferences, and at all three events current recruiting pain points have been discussed. Invariably they are very similar, whichever group of delegates has been bought together. The key ones, unsurprisingly, have been:

ATS – specifically how to get one to do what you want them to do
Creating a positive experience for everyone who applies
Reducing the volume of unsuitable candidates tied in with better screening
Talent pipelines
Improving internal mobility
Difference between generating names and creating candidates
Hiring for potential vs hiring for now

Many of those are linked to technology so wearing my recruiter’s hat I’m going to be looking at how tech suppliers can help ease that pain. And how they can give a better experience to applicants and candidates.

From an HR perspective I’m keen to see how the employee experience can be enhanced. From attraction and nurturing, through on-boarding and performance management to internal collaboration, personal development, promotion and succession, I’ll be interested to see if what works for the employer is also creating a great experience for the workforce. And how technology can help not hinder.

As the level of connectivity, and the demand for an experience that has a positive, shareable impact, all grow it will be interesting to see if technology that offers a streamlined, cost effective and superior service to the company can also create an enhanced experience for the end user – the job seekers, recruiters and employees.

Gonna Set My Soul on Fire With Some HR Technology

About the time you’re getting the chicken and roasties out the oven this Sunday I’ll probably be starting to jam your Twitter timelines with talk of Gen Y mythbusters, HR improv, hickeys and employer brand (not at the same time I hope), not to mention passion and great places to work.

Yep, that means I’ll be hanging out with some of my US HR friends at HRevolution. (#HRevolution)

And by the time Coronation Street starts on Monday I’ll be immersed in radical openness and workforce analytics. I’ll be at the HR Technology Conference too. (#HRTechConf)

So apologies in advance if I get a bit carried away with this stuff.

I’ll be joining an awesome blogging team and don’t want to let the side down so I’ll do my best to make sense of it all and write about it here.

According to Blogging4Jobs I’m in for 3 days of conference sessions, expo hall madness, and parties galore – sounds like it might be a tough gig, but someone’s gotta try and do it 😉 And this time there’s also a wedding (#ZuCoWedding)

Maybe that’s what Elvis meant with how I wish that there were more than the twenty-four hours in the day, cause even if there were forty more I wouldn’t sleep a minute away

I’ve been to Chicago and Atlanta for HRevolution in the past so I sort of know what to expect, but this is my first time at HRTech – can’t wait to experience it.

If you’re reading this and planning to be there – then let’s make sure we meet up.

And if you’re in the UK I hope I give you some insight into what’s going on through Twitter and this blog.

I promise that what happens in Vegas will stay on the blog…well, the bits you need to know about anyway 😉

Vegas

(Image via @Jeremywaite)

No-one Likes Us. We Do Care.

No one likes us2

As long as I’ve been around the HR profession there have been regular bouts of navel gazing. You only have to look at some of the most-shared HR blogs and join in the usual conference chats about seats at the table, making a difference and the need to change. I’ve facilitated discussions about the purpose and value of HR, whether we should do away with it and how to demonstrate the value.

I’ve often said that I know of no other business function that beats itself up so. I know of few sales people who responded to the PPI mis-selling scandal with a long hard look into their soul to question the job and personal values, and neither did I see a wave of accountants post-Enron self-flagellating over whether the finance function had lost credibility and could no longer be taken seriously as a business function.

Any who did have self-doubt would doubtless strive to show how the profession could improve to stop a repeat, with those guilty of wrong doing not just being wrong, but also rogue outliers and not indicative of the overall standards of most of the profession.

In my experience though the HR function never quite seems to have the same self-belief, which may be why it can sometimes be seen to overreact to perceived attacks on its credibility and value.

Hence my lack of surprise at the brouhaha caused by this week’s online opinion piece from the Daily Telegraph’s Deputy Women’ Editor, Louisa Peacock – It’s Official: Lucy Adams Has Killed off the HR Profession Once and For All.

There are plenty of blogs and responses from both the online community and the online HR media on Peacockgate* and I don’t particularly want to add to the she was wrong/no she wasn’t/yes she was debate, however much of the immediate response seemed to me typical of a group who maybe lack the necessary self-confidence needed to brush this kind of thing off and hence end up taking offence at what they see as an attack.

What’s often missing from this kind of debate is perspective and context, so here are a few observations:

  • The piece did not appear in the business or finance section but in the Women’s section. It queried the career suitability of a profession which is 70% female and was portrayed as a women’s issue and not necessarily a business issue.
  • Although it was written by the Deputy Editor of the women’s section, part of the problem for the HR profession may have been that is it was written by someone seen as one of their own. Someone who learned her trade in the HR media, has covered CIPD conferences and interviewed many leading HR practitioners.
  • It appeared in the online edition of a staunchly right of centre broadsheet newspaper. One who editorially challenge wastage of public funds and the BBC in general, who broadly support Beecroft and the stripping away of red tape around business, are seen as business friendly and often publish opinion writers (Jeremy Warner, Allister Heath) who ideologically appear to favour much looser employment rights. An HR function being profligate with public money would be in the firing line from an editorial viewpoint.
  • It was an opinion piece. Not quite a Littlejohn or Clarkson, but as with many such pieces it is there primarily to provoke debate, promote sharing, create a noise, get traffic to the site. Some criticism has been levelled around the lack of supporting evidence – but this is fairly common with such pieces. Take something that’s happened, frame it slightly out of context and then use it to prove a different point is a modus operandi for many opinion pieces in the media (and some blogs for that matter). Whether it is the journalist or the sub-editor driving the narrative is unclear and hence I wouldn’t necessarily draw conclusions. **

Before I fall too far into the trap of over intellectualising, the reaction to all this displayed a siege mentality, but not necessarily one with the passion and belief that would indicate success…hence the name calling and umbrage.

I think the CIPD missed an opportunity to take the passion and desire to debate that was displayed by its members as a platform to open a wider conversation. After all, the main thrust of the piece was over career choices for young women so here was an opportunity to use it as a springboard to positively showcase the HR profession.

They could have produced a blog almost immediately, not criticising but summarising and showing an understanding of whatever points were being made. Reference the fact that any profession will have its rogue elements and that bad (or less than best) practice won’t be defended or tolerated, but also isn’t necessarily indicative of the rest of the profession.

Then let members debate, adding their views on the CIPD blog platform. No profession is one spokesperson but is the cumulative views of its members and hence they were in pole position to reflect the views of their members on this. Hell, why not look for a right of reply, a follow up post on the Telegraph site espousing the positives of a career in HR, why and how CIPD members make a difference to working lives.

As Neil Morrison says in his recent blog on this issue

…as a profession we should showcase good performance and role models AND we should hold bad practise to account. It isn’t a weakness to admit that HR is a profession in need of improvement, it’s a strength. And when we do, when we show the critical skills of self-analysis, you know what? We make people take us a whole lot more seriously

It’s often said that people rarely talk about good customer service but will always talk about bad customer service, and the same is probably true with HR. There’s plenty of good stuff out there – it doesn’t mean that the bad stuff doesn’t happen, but that you need to work a bit harder to get the good stuff out in the open.

And a healthy dose of context and perspective is a good starting point…

(* If you read this Louisa, I am joshing, treat it as a badge of honour 🙂 )

(** Later that evening I was at an event where the editor of the FT gave a short talk around the journalism profession and how it was reacting to the digital challenges. Listening to some stories from earlier in his career reminded me that not every piece that gets published is necessarily as the journalist originally intended)

5 Benefits of a Transformational Hire

Much as the ‘War for Talent’ supporters may encourage us to believe it, there is little correlation between the football transfer window and the day to day hiring processes of most businesses. There is one similarity though, in that it focuses the mind of an owner/manager on the teams that they have and how they can be improved.

Whilst football people only get to do this twice a year now, companies do it all year round. Even so, it often pays to take time out to think about what you really need for your team, what special ingredient (ie talent) could make a real change and take you on to the next level.

For some it may be that you just need more of the same – more bodies at the coalface to deal with workflows and production efficiencies. Possibly not an on-going need so some loan signings (that flexible workforce thing) may suffice.

Other companies may need to ship in specific skills and expertise to cover areas where they are weak or may lack the edge over their competition.

Most football clubs will have been addressing these two hiring areas over the last few weeks.

But then there is another type of hire – the Transformational Hire.

I’m guessing that most followers of this blog, and of my social profiles, will know that I’m an Arsenal fan – and it’s their piece of recruitment that has intrigued many over the last few days. Despite having a lack of cover in some of their specialist areas, and a definite lack of bodies in their overall first team squad, they’ve gone and hired a major global talent who will transform them in many ways but doesn’t necessary address some of the key and immediate deficiencies in the team. And I, for one, am really excited about it.

Now I’m not a fan of the ‘5 things recruitment can learn from the transfer window’ type of blog so I’m desperately trying not to write one! But one thing that has got me thinking more is how many commentators and players see this one transformational hire as somehow changing their perception of the club.

So focusing on the hire and not the football – what could a transformational hire do for your business?

Statement of Intent

Nothing tells the market, and your employees and customers, that you’re ambitious more than hiring one of the big guns, someone with a successful track record who is at the top of their game. Acquiring an undisputed talent from your field who shares your vision and wants to be part of it can make others sit up and think ‘Hey, they’ve got their act together. They’ve got a plan’

Sending a message to the competition

The chances are that you’ll be hiring someone that the competition wanted. It may well be someone from the competition. It can make others look at you differently. In Arsenal’s case the inference behind Chelsea’s refusal to loan them a player was that after this hire they were seen more as rivals.

Inspiration to existing employees

Undoubtedly many of the younger and emerging players at Arsenal will be able to learn from their new player, but the existing team will also benefit. Most people like working with the best talent, provided the best is someone who has the humility and character to still be part of the team. Whilst some may feel that they will look poorer by comparison, the upside is that others will raise their game, learn and take inspiration from someone new. A new face, particularly one that brings experience, class and a strong work ethic, can galvanise a group of employees, give them belief and help them achieve results they haven’t before.

Talent follows talent

It’s not just the existing employees that are galvanised. Other people in the market will see your business in a new light, as a place where talent can thrive, which enables you to be more bold in team building. Someone who people respect has endorsed your vision. It’s not a coincidence that the last two occasions on which Arsenal ignored pressing needs, confounded expectations and broke their transfer record to buy a fully formed major talent saw the start of the two most successful 10 year periods in their history.

Re-invigoration of consumers

For Arsenal, the signing of Ozil makes commercial sense. He’ll sell shirts and sponsorship deals and put bums on seats. He’ll give supporters who were losing faith something to believe in, handily papering over one or two of the areas that haven’t been addressed. Aside from the legalities of someone taking clients and contacts with them to a new business there’s little doubt that in a competitive business sector, customers and clients often look to where the momentum is, the ideas and creativity, and a transformational hire can certainly bring this momentum.

But, a word of caution

Not every transformational hire works out. During my years as a recruiter, particularly in the recruitment to recruitment sector, I saw many ‘top billers’ and outstanding performers join a new business and flounder.

The infrastructure and support at one company may help some achieve great things, but then they can move to a different one and the same may not happen. The culture and values need to be right, and the reason for the hire must be one that builds on and enhances what is already there. It can’t be relied upon to paper over the cracks and keep an underperforming team afloat.

And these hires take time. The person who could transform your team almost certainly needs to be identified, courted and nurtured. You can’t rely on their CV being emailed your way.

And finally, whilst my enthusiasm for Mesut Ozil is getting me carried away here, let’s not forget that transformational hires need not necessarily always be about the most high profile talent. The Arsenal team that had much success between 1987 and 1994 did not need a big name for a spark…careful hiring of the right catalysts inspired a primarily young group of players to reach great heights.

So go find the transformational catalyst for your business…