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There’s No Riot Goin’ On

At this weekend’s Hard Rock Calling gig the headline act, Bruce Springsteen, had bought Sir Paul McCartney on stage for a gig-goers dream of an encore. Alas, the entertainment was cut short 😦  The 10.30pm curfew for the event had been breached and the police pulled the plugs. The crowd streamed home, somewhat miffed.

“It made for a slightly bizarre, anti-climactic end to what had been a fantastic show” said the BBC reporter.

Would never have happened back in the 70s!

December 1973 saw an infamous and much chronicled gig at Hammersmith Odeon (now Apollo) from Mott the Hoople (supported by an up and coming glam metal band called Queen) for which high ticket demand had led to the staging of a second show. Touring schedules being what they were then there was no alternative date, so two shows were scheduled for the same night. The second show started late – the police and venue security eventually pulling the plugs (literally) at 12.15 am precipitating a near riot…whilst the final trains of the night waited patiently at Hammersmith station for the crowd to empty out!

Would that happen now? Clearly not! (Even though the Bruce Springsteen fan demographic would indicate that there may well have been people in Hyde Park on Saturday night who had been at the Mott the Hoople gig!)

Just contrast with today’s gig going…tickets bought up to a year in advance, set lists pre-publicised, a running order on the door as you arrive – with a curfew! Hell, even Led Zeppelin in their heyday were known to come back for one last encore to satiate the demands of a few hundred fans who wouldn’t leave!

Coincidentally I’ve recently been catching up on the Dominic Sandbrook documentary series on the 70s and the BBC4 series Punk Britannia. When the latter was first aired it lit up the post Jubilee blogosphere with chat of youth anger, rebellions and the tepid conformity that many old punks see in today’s yoof. I was debating this over a few beers with FlipChartRick a few weeks ago, just after he had published a blog which in turn had been inspired by one from Chris Dillow.

Rick felt that the some of the perceived anger and rebellion was largely misty eyed nostalgia…

“Are today’s youngsters any less rebellious than we were in the late 70s and early 80s? Perhaps but, then again, I’m not altogether sure that we were really that rebellious anyway. We did a lot of things that shook people up but that’s because our easily identifiable youth tribes made it look as though we were hell-bent on a single cause. Most of the time, though, we were just doing what teenagers have always done; seeing how far we could push things without getting into serious trouble”.

Whilst Chris Dillow was in little doubt that Punk offered anger that shocked their elders…

“Punk was more rebellious and more disquieting to the establishment than anything we see today. Nobody of my generation is as appalled by dubstep as 40-somethings were by punk. It’s unlikely that a single today would be banned for political reasons and get to number one, as God Save the Queen did. And try as I might, I can’t imagine Rizzle Kicks doing to Alex Jones what the Sex Pistols did to Bill Grundy. In this, music reflects a wider social fact – that today’s young people are much less gobby than we were.”

During the ale-fuelled conversation Rick encouraged me to record my thoughts, something I haven’t got round to…but last night’s mild mannered frustration at the early concert curtailment gave me a good example of how things have changed since those romanticised 70s days. I guess I wanted to see the full Punk Britannia series first, and I think that watching them in conjunction with the 70s documentaries gave a context that the music programmes alone may not have reflected.

I could have started a blog on the difference between the mid-70s and now with a question. If you are a parent, when we you last really shocked by something that your children did, liked, watched or said?

I remember an op-ed piece by a female journalist a few years ago (can’t remember who I’m afraid) in which she accompanied her teenage daughter to a boy band concert. She was appalled. Appalled by the conformity and niceness of it all. At the same age her band were The Rolling Stones – their primeval, sexual and narcotic take on pop blues horrifying her parents…yet here she was consumed with boredom. She was shocked…but the shock was at the conformity and mawkishness of what she was seeing. Continue reading “There’s No Riot Goin’ On” →

Hello, I Love You, Won’t You Tell Me Your Klout Score

A bit of fun maybe but this one will get the Klout deniers up in arms. Not sure how I missed it a few weeks ago but there’s a US dating site – Tawkify – that now offers to match you with your perfect partner based on Klout scores.

Cool huh?!!

Love these quotes from one of the co-founders on why they use Klout integration…

“People with high Klout scores know how to listen and know how to react; they’re cute, smart and connected. It’s as powerful as someone’s height or weight.”

“We’ve found that Klout scores are an authentic measurement of sophistication, wit, cultural savvy and appeal — a much truer and more trustworthy measurement than the typical online dating site bull-hockey-factors of height, weight and income”

So there you have it – you can put your Klout score on a CV and get a job, and now it can get you a date too.

I realise that a lot of my regular readers are, shall we say, a little sceptical about Klout, and indeed the whole business of measuring influence come to that. I have previously voiced my own thoughts too.

And I can’t help but wonder what kind of first date two people with high Klout scores will have…lots of check ins, liking, tweeting and live blogging of each other’s’ jokes and opinions no doubt.

But then if an algorithm can decide that I’m cute, smart, sophisticated, witty and savvy…then hell, who am I to argue 🙂

E-mail Killed the Chat Show Star

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street journal recently – wireless carriers are getting creative in the way they charge customers for voice calls. They need to as the average length of a person to person phone call has almost halved in 6 years from 3.03 minutes to 1.78 minutes.

It reminded me of this op-ed from New York Times about 15 months ago on how people don’t talk on the phone much anymore. I’d like to think I started the trend with ‘The End of the Phone’ but it’s unlikely!

It may seem like the end of conversation, which funnily enough was at odds with a subject occupying some UK HR bloggers recently. Gareth Jones thinks that conversation is the new currency whereas Rob Jones points out that it’s the old currency, it’s been the lifeblood of organisations since well before the days of Don Draper. We’re just going back to being human, as Doug Shaw puts it.

All of which took me back to my very first job in a 150 person accountancy firm. This wasn’t the days of Mad Men (no jokes) but still if you wanted to speak to a colleague you either picked up the phone and dialled their internal extension or walked over to their desk. If a partner wanted to see you they phoned you and told you to come and see them with a specific file. Most days any number from 5 to 50 may drop by the pub for a lunchtime glass of shandy or sandwich, whilst small groups from different departments would gather in nearby cafés. A lunch break was just that! A break to get out the office and usually chat. Continue reading “E-mail Killed the Chat Show Star” →

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…