Category Archives: Influence

Social Media ROI – Perhaps it’s not what we Thought

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yomamaI recently came across a fantastic article titled “The New ROI for Social Media Recruiting” which not only gave great insight into this year’s ERE Recruiting Conference & Expo but shared a little of why folks still are not jumping on the social media bandwagaon, especially executives. Perhaps we are trying to measure the wrong things.

This article talks of discussions that took place at the Conference that even big named brand representatives are still having a hard time getting their senior corporate managers and leaders involved or even understanding the ROI of social media and how it affects their organizations. We’re still looking at it as an end all, cure all as opposed to a valuable tool and channel of influence to our overall efforts. Perhaps that’s because of how it’s been presented to us.

Social is a grand tool for getting your brand out there and as this article surmises you can’t not be there.

You can’t not be on social because candidates, potential candidates, and those whom you hope to attract and someday hire will see your absence from the social media landscape as a negative. Doing it poorly is equally negative.

When a company fails to post regularly, and especially when comments and questions go unanswered for days or never, or when a company indiscriminately dumps all its job postings into Facebook’s news feed, it says, in the words of one recruiter, “This is a lame company that has no idea what social media is all about. Who wants to work for a company people think is lame?

The great thing that social enables us to do, and especially for brands and organizations, is telling the employer story and building its brand. Things such as the culture of the organization and what to expect in the hiring process on through to the day to day “what it’s like to work there” kind of things. These are the very particulars potential candidates are looking for when deciding whether or not to even begin the hiring process.

We may never be able to obtain ROI in how many folks we’ve hired through Facebook or Twitter (social in general). Instead, we should be looking at the value in branding and reputation building.

What does your company brand look like online? Are you a ghost town?

If you’re looking into a few easy ways to start, check out Glassdoor’s free resources.

HR it’s about your people – not your seat at the Table!

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booster seatI often love to hop on to Youtube and watch a few videos of channels I’m subscribed to as a part of my ongoing learning in this space (okay, and a few funny videos).

I came across a fantastic video from Meet the Boss TV titled “Ten Best Practice HR Tips” that showcases HR and Executives from companies such as McDonald’s UK, KFC, IBM, Google and Mattel  It was interesting to hear how they change their strategies from what previously was being done in their organizations to what they are currently doing in regard to their people.

HR can be a game-changer in our organizations. The very ones who can quite possibly change the course of our ships and create amazing organizations; the very ones who can often change the definition of what’s expected from our leaders and our people. They can become the greatest company brand ambassadors and create amazing change within the structure of our organizations.

Sometimes that takes asking ourselves a few questions such as:

  • What are the business needs around our people that drive performance?
  • What is it that our people truly value about working at our organization?

When we determine the answers to these two things we can often create an energy that can be released around our people – from where it should begin first and foremost. From there HR can then begin to talk about the future talent needs of our organizations, how we can generate better insight around our people, how they can get rid of organizational silos that destroy our progress, and lastly – how we can support change in business.

Back to the video:

We must start thinking differently and perhaps going back to the basics where we do consider it more about our culture and the people that work there than our ever arriving at the table.

Building your online community BEFORE you need it!

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online community buildingI’m a part of a fantastic community called #TChat (Talent Culture) and World of Work started by the awesome Meghan Biro. You should check out the TChat radio program on Tuesday evenings and our Twitter Chat on Wednesdays > Read more about that HERE. This is a fabulous global professional discussion where we discuss things from Social Business and Branding to Careers and the World of Work.

This past Wednesday we discussed “Connecting Career Dots“ and let me say it was a great discussion. I learn so much from this community. You need to connect with them. It’s always great to learn from others in business and hear their expertise, experience and to always be learning.

One of the questions that was on the agenda that we discussed was our “What is your advice to those in the Job Market for utilizing technology” and my answer was a big “Build your Community BEFORE you need it!“

Building an online community takes time, effort and patience. Some people just don’t get this.

Some people start their social strategy without a strategy and think that they can immediately start selling their wares, themselves, their careers, their resume’s or whatever and that’s just not how it works.  It takes time to build a trusted brand and community that includes sharing others content, retweeting, interacting, engaging and proving that you’re an expert in your field. Why would you want to shoot it all to hell by self promotion?

Social Community Building is a sticky wicked. Granted, you’re there to show the world how fabulous you are but there is a thin line between self-promotion and showing you’re all that! It’s more about relationship building.

I have folks tell me all the time “Susan, you are so connected – how did you ever get that way?”

My answer? I follow folks that I wanna connect with. I engage with them. I share their awesome content. I make them laugh. I comment on their updates. And then they start noticing you…….it starts happening. They start following you back. They start commenting on your updates, and so on, and so on.

Yes, this takes a lot of time and perseverance. But the end justifies the means.

I know that if and when I need anything, I have a community that knows the answer or where to go to get it. These folks trust me and are totally willing to lend a hand, send a recommendation, help me get a job or refer me to someone who needs my goods.

If you were laid off today, do you have that community that you could go to for these kinds of things? Something to ponder.

Photo Credit: Andar360

The Circle of Twitter – Dissecting our Strategy!

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circleI’ve been thinking a lot about Twitter and how it’s being used and to see if we might need to dissect our strategy!

I had originally titled this post “Is Twitter nothing more than one big Circle-Jerk?” I thought I would change it to keep folks from swallowing their teeth!

But since I have your attention let’s take a look at one of the definitions for “Circle-Jerk”  from friendly Urban Dictionary -

Urban Dictionary- circlejerk

I’m a Twitter nut, but I’m wondering if we’re doing it wrong and not really taking a better approach.

For example, every Friday (and then some) we have the fabulous #FF (Follow Friday) sagas. This is where folks on Twitter will give virtual “shout outs” and “high fives” to followers and other Twitter nuts whom they love and appreciate and I think it’s all well and good. And nobody does that better and is more sincere about this when doing it then our good friend Steve Brown.

But there are always those that are sucking up – and I guess that’s okay – and they want you to keep the chain going, so to speak. Or perhaps we’re just following the footprints of others online.

Here’s the thing, Twitter can be a valuable tool in sharing and following great content, expanding your learning and gathering an online community but if we’re just shouting out nothing but thank you’s, #FF’s and not engaging or sharing great content – what are we there for? We have enough Spam!

Here’s a great (and funny) example of Twitter shouts by my friend Robert Caruso - that shows the absurdity of what we sometimes do on Twitter – and what it would sound like if we could actually hear what’s going on through The Twitters -

That video cracks me up cause that’s exactly what it would sound like if we were actually listening to someone read our Tweets.

Here’s a novel idea, how’s about we strategically share great content, make sure to acknowledge folks that help build our community, add value, engage with us – and not just click “Retweet” just to grab someone else’s attention, because everybody’s doing it, feeling obligated and to make it count! (Those last three words came to me by way of watching ‘The Titanic’ one too many times)

I can’t wait to hear your opinions on this subject and if/how we can improve our strategy………

Happy Tweeting!

Are you a Fluffer or the Real Thing?

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flufferMost of us know what a “fluffer” is because we weren’t born yesterday. For those of you who don’t know I’ll give you the run-down:

Fluffer – A hired crew member of an adult film to keep the male participant “engaged” before he has access to the real thing.

I tried putting that in a nice way.

Why am I discussing that over here at HR Virtual Cafe? Good question.

For the past several months I have been taking a step back and looking at the things I’ve got in my hand (ahem) and really trying to cut out those things that (a) are robbing my time (b) not part of my strategic approach to where I want to go (c) not making me money (d) getting in the way of my work and life and I’m trying to prioritize.

That being said, I’ve often wondered if my writing and my blog are somewhat looked at as a “fluffer” to the real pros out there who are writing great content and changing the world. Or, am I only taking up space and wasting my time.

My hope is that I’m providing somewhat great (and entertaining) content AND steering folks over to the other bloggers and pros out there who are doing an extraordinary job!

Here are a few things to consider when thinking “You may just be a Fluffer” in the blogging world:

  • Are you writing consistently? Some say the rule of thumb is 2-3 times per week – others say “Only write when you feel inspired or have something great to say.”
  • Are you providing real-life problem solving to your readers / potential readers questions and dilemmas? (Dwane Lay has caused me to rethink my blogging strategy)
  • Are you staying up-to-date with current and real life issues in your industry that should be addressed? It’s important to always be learning. There are great bloggers and authors out there who I continue to learn from every day. Face it, you don’t know everything and hearing other people’s experience and perspective is a great learning experience.
  • Are you simply writing to entertain or to change the world? We all need a little distraction and entertainment too!
  • Are folks coming back for more of you? Are you constantly “raising the bar” (pun intended) with your posts or are you stuck in a rut of nothing to say? If you are, take time away from your writing and work – take a walk, read a book or another blog and gain a new perspective. That usually helps. If not – give it up.

If you’re writing a blog simply because some guru told you that you needed to start a blog and you’re not passionate about what you do – it may be a good time to rethink your strategy. Not everyone should blog.

There was a time when I was hearing from every “Tom, Dick and Harry” out there that everyone needed to have a blog. We’ve seen this over and over but if it doesn’t align with your strategy, you don’t have a knack for writing, the end doesn’t justify the means, then maybe you should find something that you are better at – and get to it!

One day you may visit this blog and find “page not found” – but for now, I’m fluffing for the smart guys!

Here’s a great new list for you – just put out by Laurie Ruettiman “HRBN 40 under 40” – check it.

A time-saver app review; Flipboard – why I love it!

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While I despise most of the Facebook apps I do love a good mobile app. Especially those genius smartphone apps that help you manage your time.

For instance, how much time do we have waiting in car pool lines while picking our kids up from school, or perhaps waiting at the Dr’s office for an appointment? Tons, right?

If you’re like me and want to manage that time and be productive instead of picking up a germ-filled People magazine there are some great tools out there to help.

Introducing Flipboard - the “Social Magazine” app that lets you view all your social platforms in one place and like, comment and share. This app is outstanding (oh, and also helps with your Klout score and engagement, if you care).

I love this for several reasons. Here’s a few:

  • I can read all my friends Facebook status updates and in real time, like and comment or share
  • I can see what my Twitter friends have shared and do the same
  • I can even check my Google+ account and create some super engagement
  • Checking your LinkedIn updates are a breeze (if you’re interested in that sort of thing)
  • I can pull in any topic that’s trending such as my favorite “Trending Technology” and get the scoop as it comes out – which allows me to share to my friends and appear as if I’m a real Tech know-it-all
  • I can see all the current food pics my Instagram friends have posted and add a little “that looks amazing” comment – right from the dashboard of Flipboard

It can be exhausting trying to keep up with all our platforms if we’re simply having to go to each platform, log in, browse around and this app is a tremendous shortcut – and also cuts out the noise.

I’m sold on so many apps that help me cut down the time that it takes to manage my work and life! And I cannot recommend this one enough.

Did I mention it’s free? For now, anyway. Until we’re all loving it, using it and hooked on it.

So, go get it NOW.

And while your family is sitting around eating turkey this week you can use this app under the table and not worry that you’r not on Facebook or Instagram enough and that your Klout score is gonna wind up dropping to 26. You know, kill two birds (Just don’t take your phone into the wash room – that’s just gross).

You can thank me later.

My Recap of SHRM’s #WorkFlex12 Conference – and how it affected me, personally

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I had known for about 7 months that I would be attending SHRM’s WorkFlex 2012 Conference here in Chicago that commenced yesterday because they had asked me to be one of their session speakers. And I knew that they were having a roll-out of some fabulous speakers, but I had no idea how much it would change me personally.

Sometimes we find ourselves in a funk, especially when we’re trying to juggle (Work and Life) the very things we are preparing to discuss in some sort of public seminar or speaking engagement. This used to happen quite frequently when I traveled and spoke across our nation many years ago. I never thought it would happen to me this time.

I’ve been doing this juggling act with work and life now through so many life-changes; the loss of a job, the loss of my husband’s career and trying to help him navigate his next move, car issues, home issues, family issues. Add all this to your current work-load and starting a new business is sometimes very challenging. Who am I kidding? It’s sometimes overwhelming and keeps me up at night (and not in a good way).

I headed to the conference on Wednesday, not making Tuesday because of many of the issues I stated above. I had been up all night the night before heading in and was running on about 2 hours of sleep. I knew it was going to be a long day and I would need to somehow dig down deep for some kind of supernatural strength to be able to make it till the end of my session, not to mention blogging and sitting through numerous sessions and a few keynoters that I wanted to be in on.

I will admit that I have been on an emotional roller-coaster and a bucket of nerves for several weeks now. And I was starting to feel sorry for myself and I could sense myself chewing on a bitter weed of discontent. Even my close friends were kind enough to point it out. I had indeed become a Debbie Downer to be around. One of those very people I can’t stand to hang with, I had become.

And guess what? Something happened.

I had sat in on a couple of fabulous sessions back to back in the morning and was able to live-tweet several nuggets. And then I went in to hear JR Martinez speak.

As he began we found ourselves laughing at his humorous jabs at the audience and then so many of the things he shared began hitting very close to home and I kind of had an epiphany. Something started shifting inside me. A paradigm shift, for lack of a better explanation.

If you haven’t heard his story I highly recommend it. Having come through so many challenges (which seems like an inappropriate word) and finding the strength to go on is his mantra and was what I needed to hear to get me outta my funk.

Here are a few things he shared that struck me:

  • Everybody has a story. (This is something to always keep in the back of our minds, especially when we’re dealing with people. It tends to make us more sympathetic).
  • Being flexible is MUST! Plans change, either by our choices or the fact that life is unpredictable. But even the high rise buildings around us are created to be flexible to be able to stand the atmospheric conditions.
  • Adapt and Overcome! No matter what comes your way.
  • Every single person has strengths and weaknesses. When we find ourselves in a crossroads of life, we need to find our strengths. Dig deep!
  • There comes a point in life when there’s nothing else you can do but simply throw your hands up and laugh! Even in the midst of difficulty.
  • Your life can completely change in one moment. How are you going to respond to it? Are you going to quit or fight?
  • In his darkest of times he made the decision to forget about his long-term plans he had created and focus on the short-term. How could he remain positive – today? Tomorrow will take care of itself.

In the end, he started talking of how he made it out of his “funky time” because he started thinking of how he could give back. He started volunteering his time, through his darkest of moments, and visiting others who had gone through horrible experiences of their own. This drew him out of himself and his own pity party, and once again, created purpose.

Sometimes we need reminders that cause us to think differently, whether it’s how to incorporate new ideas in the workplace, juggling our own work and life initiatives, or simply seeing that inside each and every one of us is a hidden strength that if found can pull us out of the deepest and darkest of places. They cause us to once again help us re-focus, re-group and find our purpose.

Thank you SHRM, for bringing this conference to my city and allowing me to have been a part of something life-changing.

Too big for your britches to say “Thank You?”

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I’ve been mulling over something that has been bothering me at times and then at other times, I get it. People are busy, too many irons in the fire – add social technology to the mix and all that it entails and we just don’t have enough time to tell our community a big ole “THANKS.” Or do we?

Technology has afforded us all to be able to check our Twitters while we’re sitting in the dentist chair having a root canal but yet we can’t click “respond” with a “thank you so much for sharing my shit” because we simply have too much going on? Really?

I am connected with folks who may or may not have a large online community of followers and I am often blown away by two things:

  • Those who have a large following  that always send a kind “Thank you, Susan, for sharing my post”
  • ………………………(nothing but the sound of crickets, in response to sharing)

Now, it’s pretty much a given that those with a smaller following (not always the case) are going to send you a thank you. But the big guys, you know who I’m talking about, who would be spending countless hours a day responding to thousands of followers, just don’t have the time to do so. And when they do, it’s just a nice gesture.

This really bothered me in the beginning stages of developing my online community. And then I chillaxed, to some degree. And the more I built my following and the more they started sharing my content, I understood the time that it takes to respond to every.single.one. But yet, I still try to do that.

Now, obviously, I don’t have millions of followers. But I still have a loyal group of “sharers” that get the word out. These are my friends. Why wouldn’t I take the time in between my day while grabbing a coffee, to say “thanks for all you do.”

Do we have to say thanks to those with whom we are connected that share our content? No. And sometimes I often want to tell my close friends, “It’s really not necessary that you thank  me every time.” And I mean that. But it is nice to acknowledge folks once in a while.

I don’t think your ever too big to do that.

Okay, bring on your comments. I’m waiting and bracing myself.

Photo Credit: dorry’s

Defining your purpose; Personally, Professionally and Managerially

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Today’s guest post comes from another online connection, Travis Sinquefield, HR Manager and Consultant for H&S Companies, P.C. and writes over at DevelopingOrganizations. Check it out, I think you’ll like it!

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about personal development. I am the kind of person who is always thinking about where I am currently and where I want to be, at least on a professional level. I have not given much thought of where I want and should be on a personal level, however.

This past weekend I read “How Will You Measure Your Life?” by Clayton Christensen. If you are not familiar with him, he is a management professional at the Harvard Business School and the preeminent scholar on innovation. I was drawn to this book, not just because I am a fan of Clay, but also because of the difficult he was going through when we decide to write this book, which includes battling cancer and then having a stroke. As you can imagine, this was quite a time of introspection for him.

In the book, he references many different management theories and how they can be applied to your personal life. At the end of the book, he gives out a three step process for helping to determine your purpose in life:

  1. Determine the “likeness” in which you would like to be – i.e. decide what kind of person you want to be and what you stand for, both personally and professionally
  2. Commit yourself to doing everything possible to make your ideal likeness become a reality
  3. Develop a metric to measure your progress and success

While this seems like a pretty simple process, in reality in can take many years to fully realize the process and apply it to your life. For Clay, it took over 15 years. For myself personally, I hope it won’t take that long because these are questions I have been considering, albeit in different forms, over the years.

As an HR Manager, I have been tasked by the leaders in my organization to work with each employee on a development plan. This spring, during our annual reviews (we do in May after tax season, due to the nature of our work), I sat down with each manager and also each employee and we came up with a couple development goals for each person. Most of these were more general in nature and not quantitative at all, such as getting a particular certification or working towards becoming a tax expert in a particular area.

Clay has me thinking how I work his thoughts and ideas into the development process. I discussed with each employee on where they would like their career to go, but I never really discussed with them their purpose in life and the type of life they want to lead on both a professional and personal level. I am hoping for many of them that their purpose is to be an accountant (or otherwise we might have to have some other discussions), but I really think it is important for every individual to take the time to reflect on what their purpose in life is and how they will measure their life.

Maybe I am a bit out of the ordinary, but I believe organizations should take an active role in both the personal and professional development of their employees. After all, they will probably spend more time with us at work than with their families. In addition, as CPA’s, they are the face of our firm to the public and represent not only themselves but also the company. I would think we would want our employees to represent us well.

As a leader within your organization, have you taken the time to help individuals develop on a personal and professional level? Have you asked them what their purpose is in life, and the standards by which they are going to measure themselves?

Just as important, have you asked yourself the same questions? I know I have. I just have to remember that asking the questions is the easy part – it’s finding the answers that are difficult.

Photo Credit: helpyourself2life

About the Author:

When he isn’t trying to become a blues legend in the confines of his basement and chasing around 2 little kids at home, Travis is an HR Manager and Consultant at H&S Companies, P.C., an accounting and business consulting firm in Grand Rapids, MI. After wandering through a career in financial services, he completed an MBA in Human Resource Management from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and made the switch to working in the trenches of human resources. He is also fascinated with the field of organizational behavior, particularly on the topics of competence, motivation, and leadership. He can be found on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Just because Lance Armstrong quit, doesn’t mean you have to!

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Today we awake to the news that “Lance Armstrong finally quits.” He’s been battling allegations of misuse of drugs for performance for a while and one reporter even states, “In the end Armstrong quits, and by quitting, he admits his guilt.”

Whether that’s true or not, I’m sure we’ll never know – we can only speculate. Perhaps he was just.plain.tired. of fighting this losing battle.

Lance was one of those who went through major stuff and his message was basically. “Don’t let anything get in your way. You can make it through anything, if you persevere and have determination.” Another writer states this about him:

Lance beat everything that came his way. He didn’t relent. If there was a fight to still fight, he would have fought it. Now we’re burned by another fraud masquerading as a hero.

In a matter of months we have learned that college football’s winningest coach enabled a pedophile, the MVP of baseball’s All-Star Game used testosterone and cycling’s biggest star chose to no longer hold back the mountain of doping allegations against him. It’s a sad few weeks when Joe Paterno’s statue goes into storage and Melky Cabrera disappears from the pennant race and Lance Armstrong says “no mas.” Suddenly, nothing seems sacred anymore.

Each brought hope and joy to a lot of people’s worlds. Paterno inspired generations of football players to be better men. Cabrera gave San Francisco four wonderful months of baseball, and Armstrong made millions believe they could do anything.

Seriously? Nothing is sacred anymore because our heroes fall? What a crock!

Listen, all are created equal when it comes to temptation. We are all tempted in one aspect or another – throughout our lifetime. And no one is immune. Perhaps we place these folks on too high a pedestal – and then when they screw up we’re like, “See there! I knew it.”

Don’t be one of those waiting for others to fail just to prove your theory.

The thing is, whether someone walks a chalk line, doesn’t give into the temptation buzzing around them, or whether they take the bait and fall flat on their face – THE MESSAGE IS STILL THE SAME. The message of hope, of perseverance, of fighting till the finish, of beating cancer till the death, – doesn’t change. It doesn’t change just because someone failed.

It’s just like religion.

Just because you have extremists, and all kinds of people who are cray-cray, it doesn’t change the message. It may affect the organization or the team, but it doesn’t change the message. I cannot stress that enough.

Put your trust in people and there’s a chance they may fail. We take that risk when we put our trust out there. But we don’t pack our bags and say, “I’m never watching sports again because someone’s going to ruin it for me. They’re going to screw up.”

No! We keep on keepin’ on and we hope that someone will have the balls to walk the talk.

There’s still hope that you or your loved one will fight cancer and win. My dad did. There’s still truth that you can fulfill life-long dreams. We see this everyday, in everyday people around us.

We don’t quit, just because someone else did.

Photo Credit: theamazing39stonecyclist