social media – Renée Robson

1 Week Until #SHRM18!

June 12, 2018June 12, 2018 @ReneeRoberz

With less than 1 week until #SHRM18 I realised there was an amazing #NextChat on Twitter that I missed that would make a great share in anticipation of the conference.

(A ‘tweetchat’ for the uninitiated, is basically an hour or so of open, collaborative discussion over Twitter, using a specific hashtag.)

Something you may not be aware of is that alongside the SHRM18 Conference & Expo, SHRM are hosting the WFPMA (World Federation of People Management) World Congress. I’m particularly interested in this, as the current President is the Australian HR Institute’s very own Peter Wilson. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

So, as well as getting incredibly excited for the #SHRM18 lineup, I’m also keen to hear more from the global track of the conference, which has particular interest for those of us attending internationally.

Right! Let’s get to it. Eight questions to prepare you for #SHRM18:

What are some basic do’s and don’t’s for a SHRM Annual Conference?

Do: bring a charger and talk to as many people as you can.

Don’t: wear new shoes or get hung up on planning out every second of your experience. The best stuff is always spur of the moment.

What is your No. 1 goal for attending #SHRM18, and how are you planning to accomplish it when there?

Talk to as many people as possible about global HR trends. I’m noticing more and more the ‘hot topics’ are international in nature rather than country specific.

Thousands of HR pros will attend #SHRM18. What advice can you share for successful networking in such a large crowd?

Ask people about what brought them to #SHRM18 – often there’s a particular challenge/area of interest where you can find common experience.

What are your picks and recommendations for #SHRM18 “must-see” sessions and speakers, and why?

Oh my gosh so many! But definitely Steve Browne & Charles Jennings. I’m also booked in for much of the global HR track (which Charles, Brad Boyson & Eric Owski are all a part of – all of whom I’ve completed Q&As with recently).

Also I want to see all the official SHRM Bloggers who are speaking but realistically I think my ‘must see’ list in the conference app (which is amazing BTW) is getting very, very full… I’ve got so many sessions I want to see I’ll never know where to go!

What are some important etiquette guidelines when visiting the SHRM Annual Conference exposition hall?

Be thoughtful – as good as the swag can be, be considered in where you spend your time. What are your biggest challenges? What vendors may be able to help you look at those challenges in a different way?

What SHRM18 Expo Hall vendors and solutions are you most excited about visiting and learning more about?

Finding the gems I’ve never heard of before. Expo’s are a great opportunity to see new products/services that you may not get to see/hear about/question otherwise.

What are the top three things attendees might forget to take to — or bring back from — a SHRM Annual Conference?

Phone charger. Reusable coffee cup. Phone charger. 📱 ☕️ 📱

What are the best ways to demonstrate the value and return on investment of your #SHRM18 attendance to your organization’s senior leaders?

Come back armed with new ideas and new ways of looking at old problems. Vendors, speakers and the random person you chat to in the lunch line are all your allies here

See you there!

#SHRM16, #SoMe, Reflective practice, Social Media & Learning, Working in People & Culture

The HR World is Becoming More Connected

June 24, 2016 @ReneeRoberz

I have LOVED the #SHRM16 conference and it has really forced me to get out and meet some fantastic people – both ones that I’ve had the opportunity to connect with online and also some completely new friends.

That’s the amazing thing about our HR world becoming more and more connected. Having worked across Australia and New Zealand it was the advent of social media allowing professionals to share and collaborate that really changed the game for me. All of a sudden, it wasn’t just the few having access to information about HR in other organisations and countries through printed journals, conferences and site visits. The many can now collaborate, share and create together, coming together on Twitter, LinkedIn, through blogs and vertical platforms (and many other ways) to work across industries and oceans.

The effect this is having on HR is massive. Our employees were already globalising through migration – but now our HR approach is globalising. We’re being able to access information about state of the art employee attraction schemes happening in the USA, learning and development taking a front seat in the UK and I’m able to talk to the creators of such things through Twitter, Skype and a host of other social platforms. People, and companies, are sharing more: the session from Craig Briscoe and Jenn Saavedra from Dell was a testament to that, an excellent example of a large company inviting others to learn from their journey.

It is through social media that I connected with the good folks at SHRM and had the opportunity to get closer to a whole new world of ways to approach people at work. I had initially used social media professionally as tool to observe – I began to follow some prolific HR and learning experts on Twitter and the more they shared the more engaged in this community I became. I began to share content that was relevant to me and then began to blog myself, I also engaged in tweetchats, LinkedIn groups, discovered more great resources and authors and also began to share this knowledge and my own journey in real life.

Often the ‘social media role’ is, by default, given to a millennial. What is critical to remember is that while these technological changes may be most associated with millennials it does not mean they’re the most expert in the subject, nor that those changes aren’t impacting other generations just as much. In fact, one of the most prolific tweeters I know in Australia is a baby boomer L&D professional who has taught me a huge amount about the value of social media in learning.

My breakthrough HR moment from SHRM16? It, without a doubt, has been that technology has the power to change the world for the positive. Sal Kahn moved every single person present in the closing keynote describing the impact that Kahn Academy has had on people the world over. I was very misty eyed (OK, I was tearing up) when Kahn described the emailed letters of impact from his students from children and their parents around the word. This man has changed the world with his “delusional optimism” and I’m so happy that the world has embraced his message.

Don’t be scared of technology. Don’t think it is something that you can’t learn because you’re of a certain generation or the couple of times you’ve dipped your toe in the water you’ve found it confusing. The power to connect is incredibly powerful and technology is a great way for you to access a world of people who are willing to help you, your organisation and your employees develop.

Just try it.

This article was first published at https://blog.shrm.org/blog/the-hr-world-is-becoming-more-connected-shrm16

#SHRM16, Career, Working in People & Culture

A Kiwi Who Lives in Oz Takes on America!

June 19, 2016 @ReneeRoberz

I’ve had an amazing time in the USA (just like last time) – but there are some things that I just can’t get used to. Nothing negative, but there certainly are some differences between the USA and Australia/New Zealand!

I’m here for the #SHRM16 conference, some work and also holidaying with family – so I’m getting to see a bit of this awesome country.

Things that have made me, or those around me, face palm:

Where is the coffee I’m used to? I’m now detoxing.
Why is everyone so nice? It makes me feel uncomfortable when everyone you meet is so darned helpful!
Californians texting/facebooking/on the phone while they drive! (Definitely is a negative for me).
Drying everything in a clothes dryer – don’t your clothes shrink? And you miss out on the feeling of air-dried clothes which is the best!
Alcohol is so cheap in the USA (scratch that: everything is cheaper).
Tipping – it’s a constant struggle for me to math it up.
Australian/NZ humour is much drier, I’m constantly tripping myself up saying things I think are clearly jokes but are not translating so well.
Kiwi’s earn 42% less (but also spend 63% less on healthcare, 72% less likely to be in prison and experience 19% less of a class divide (CIA World Fact Book).

And the things that remind me of home:

The beaches in California – mmmm the smell of the sea!
Hotel rooms look the same everywhere #corporateart
Sometimes in Australia I can’t understand what people say if they’ve got a thick accent, it’s still true in the USA!

I have to admit… I was dubious about how I would find the USA – but I love it. The people are lovely, the place is beautiful, and the ultimate seal of approval? I love how many dogs I got to pat, because everyone seems to have one, in California.

Career, Social Media & Learning, Working in People & Culture

From Melbourne Australia to Washington D.C. for #SHRM16

May 24, 2016 @ReneeRoberz

If you cannot feel it radiating through your screen, let me tell you, I’m pretty excited! In a matter of weeks, I’ll be arriving to Washington, D.C. with possibly the best cohort of people you could ever want to conference with. No sarcasm: HR people are the best – we make a difference in people’s lives, we get to work in every industry, and we get to contribute to easily the most interesting part of work – the people! We share, we get energized by improving things, we challenge each other and we’re open to doing things differently.
Whether you hail from the U.S. or not, you need to know that those of us that don’t hear a lot about HR in America. Google any hot topic employment issue, and there’s a company in Silicon Valley dealing with it in a gobsmackingly creative way. Google the ‘death of HR’, and you’ll find a plethora of passionate HR bloggers who, mostly from the USA, are debating how we continue to evolve and shape the world around us. What about Twitter? Where are the best tweetchats happening? Well SHRM are running them! Google paid maternity leave… ok… maybe not a good example?

Obviously the impressive line-up of speakers is a big draw card for the conference. And because of this, one of my most challenging tasks is going to be deciding what I must attend versus what I really, really, really want to attend. If I start sharing my list at this stage, it’s actually just a transcript of the whole line up – proving for once and all that I still need to do some serious reviewing of the seemingly thousands of sessions on offer before my arrival.

This will be my first SHRM Conference this year, and the anticipating is killing me – meeting the other bloggers and SHRM-ers will be excellent! The amount of collaboration and sharing that happens within the HR community on social media is true warm-fuzzy material. A few of the bloggers are even doing a fantastic seminar on social media strategies for HR and business goals (it’s an additional session on the Saturday run by Sharlyn Lauby, Jonathan A. Segal, Craig Fisher, and Aliah D. Wright). I highly recommend this one if you’re thinking about dipping your toe in the water on social media or just want to learn from the best.

The SHRM community and its international impact have been highlighted for me through Steve Browne who has connected many of us internationals with the great minds at SHRM (a big hi to Andrew, Mary, John & team!). The global network this event enables is mind-blowing – the opportunity to interact with other attendees is fantastic. HR is so broad! We work in so many places and industries, have different approaches to strategy and delivery. And yet the common experience means that when you meet anyone in our industry, you instantly have 10 similar issues and opportunities – and the great thing about HR people is they’re willing to share and help each other out.

Along these lines – please do approach me and other bloggers at the conference – we’ll be furiously mashing a keyboard with one hand, having a phone in the other (possibly also pockets full of chocolate), while manically sharing and interacting with others on social media. But if you want to discuss how to engage and better access this wonderful online community, I’m sure every single one of us would love to share our passion with you.

I’m looking forward to meeting you in June – now just to prepare my cork hat, my pet kangaroo and pack the bags! (Just kidding. I’m actually a Kiwi living in Australia, so it will be bringing a rugby ball and hobbit slippers.)

Happy conferencing!

—-

For more information and to attend SHRM 2016 Annual Conference & Exposition, visit www.annual.shrm.org.

This article was first published at SHRM

#SoMe, Brand, Uncategorized

Accepting (Or Rejecting) LinkedIn Invites

January 7, 2016 @ReneeRoberz

I love connecting with new people online. I often make connections through Twitter (especially Tweet Chats), conversations in groups on LinkedIn, via comments sections on websites/blogs, I’ve met people via Periscope and Blab and recently discovered HipChat (how cool is that!? Thanks Melissa!).

However one thing I don’t generally do is accept LinkedIn invites from people I don’t know or haven’t had a conversation with previously. There have been a couple of exceptions – when the request has come with a short message about why the person wants to connect I’ve accepted and then had some great conversations, both online and in real life (or IRL for those of you that remember MS Messenger).

My main reason for this is that I like my LinkedIn feed being relevant to me. I get a huge amount of my own professional development from seeing what my connections and groups share and I believe the platform would lose relevance to me if it became a feed of 1001 different irrelevant posts.

When I receive an invite from someone I know I always accept, and if I don’t know them I will go through a couple of steps before declining:

Have they written a message about why they want to connect? If they have and it makes sense to me I’ll accept and send them a message to start a conversation.
If there is no message I check out their LinkedIn profile – have I met them somewhere/worked with them in a past life? It can be easy to dismiss people too quickly, especially if they’ve change their surname or it’s been a few years.
I also do a quick Twitter search – have I interacted with them on that platform?
If something about their profile intrigues me I will send them a message (thanks Helen Blunden for this great LinkedIn email responses article, I’ve adapted the suggested messages and used these myself) asking what they’re looking to achieve out of the connection.
If none of these things are true I will decline the invite.

LinkedIn is a professional network, not a popularity contest. LinkedIn groups (which have gone through a great facelift recently) provide an opportunity for open networking – my personal connections do not need to be that open network.

How do you judge who you accept connection requests from? I don’t believe there is a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to use this platform – just the way that works best for you.

First published on LinkedIn

#SoMe, Brand, Personal brand, PKM, Social Media & Learning

What No-one is Telling You About Navigating Your Company’s Employment Brand Online

September 8, 2015 @ReneeRoberz

Are you hearing this a lot?: “future of work…blah blah blah…. millennial… blah… technological shift”?

Yes yes, it is true, it’s real, and we do need to prepare for change in the world of work. But something I’ve noticed is that we aren’t so great at preparing for is what’s just around the corner.

No I’m not talking about Generation Z – I’m talking about the critical role of social and new media in how we manage our employment brand.

You’re reading this – so I know you can use LinkedIn, Google… maybe even Twitter? I love social media for professional development (and those that know me hear me wax lyrical about it all. the. time.) – but social media for PD is an option for business folk. You might use it, you might not, but it won’t really impact on your ability to do your job (yet).

Something that is right around the corner (and already here if you’re in a big market like the U.S.) – the proliferation of employer review websites and apps. The potential impact on employment brand from social and new media is huge.

You might have heard of some of these review and information sharing platforms: Glassdoor, Vault & JobAdvisor, and apps like Whisper and Canary. If you haven’t, you will.

The likelihood of your organisation getting reviewed or spoken about on one of these platforms in the next year? Growing exponentially.

The likelihood of most HR professionals and business owners knowing how to navigate this tricky topic? Not great.

These sites are to the world of work what TripAdvisor is to the travel industry: an incredible opportunity, but a force to be reckoned with. Just one negative review might dictate 100% of your organisation’s rating on such a platform.

So wait… what?

The platforms I’m speaking about are already common in the USA… and due to the global nature of technology and it’s impact on trends in the workplace it won’t be long until your CEO or investors are asking you why weren’t you on top of this?!

A bit of a rundown on the kinds of platforms I’m referring to:

Glassdoor
One of the most well-known of these sites, Glassdoor is a US-based site where employees (and former employees) anonymously review companies and their management and can post salary data. Glassdoor includes options for employers to pay for an enhanced profile.

Vault
Vault is all about ranking and reviewing companies, internships and schools. With a wider scope than Glassdoor it seems to be more focused on the graduate market.

JobAdvisor
This Australian based site is similar to Glassdoor (except I like the interface better) and has a few more Australian employers listed – similar to Glassdoor & Vault it uses a ratings system and gives you information from individual reviewers based on ‘pros’ and ‘cons’.

Whisper
Whisper wasn’t originally billed as a site to review employers – but it is increasingly being used in reference to user’s jobs, the base concept being it is an anonymous secret sharer where users post their secrets online. It is possible for workplaces to feel the heat from this app (as there’s nothing stopping users naming their workplace in their confessions).

Canary
Billed as ‘anonymous company chatter’ this app allows users to ‘share insider news, thoughts and rumours with your co-workers’. Aside from the potential intellectual property and privacy concerns Canary is designed to facilitate gossip, which, when it’s anonymous, is potentially an HR (and PR) nightmare.

Don’t panic:

Just start by getting familiar with these platforms, as well as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook along with any other collaboration systems your organisation uses if you aren’t already comfortable with them.
Conversations are going to happen, disgruntled employees are going to post damaging things online. We can write all the policies and procedures we want, but the idea of completely mitigating the risk in this space? Impossible.

What do I need to do?

Get familiar with these platforms yourself.
Asses whether your organisation is already being talked about.
Get out ahead: encourage your star staff to engage in this space – next to 20 stand out reviews, 1 negative review won’t look so bad. But if potential employees, stakeholders or customers just see the 1 negative one? Not good.

Repost from LinkedIn article published 6 September 2015

#SoMe

Social Media & Connectedness In Times of Crisis

December 17, 2014December 17, 2014 @ReneeRoberz

This past week has been fairly brutal. On Monday Australia was on tenterhooks as an unknown amount of people were taken hostage by a lone gunman in what has now been called the #SydneySiege.

Tuesday morning we woke up to the news that two hostages and the hostage taker had been killed as police stormed the building.

While horrific events play out daily on a global scale (just today news reached us that a gut-wrenching 141 were killed in an attack on a Peshawar school), it is often the events closer to home that shock and devistate us the most. This is human nature, when people who have lives similar to own (however we may perceive that) are caught up in events that terrify us, our reactions are often much stronger than when it seems ‘far away’.

When the Sydney Siege news broke Monday morning I was at work. Computers switched to streaming coverage of the events unfolding, tablets and phones were constantly refreshing the big news sites. Loved ones were being contacted via text messaging and group messages were being shared on FaceBook.

I was on Twitter where the #SydneySiege and #MartinPlace hashtags were trending, and soon there was #illridewithyou which now, brings a tear to my eye as it reminded me of the generosity and goodness in people that we often forget as we are quick to anger in times of turmoil.

In hard times, we seek connectedness.

I’m lucky (ok, its not all luck, my workplaces awesome culture was a big reason I took on my current position,) that I work for an organisation that recognises the power of #SoMe. We have a work FaceBook closed group where the Chief Executive shared incredibly powerful words about how we decide to act going forward and how that will define us. (You can scroll down to Peter Burns’ post on the YMCA Victoria FaceBook page posted 3.37pm 16 December 2014).

We use social media to connect, to learn, to build our community, and in difficult times the connectedness we get from these forums means that we grow, learn and heal with each other.

If you’ve fostered the right culture you don’t need to be worried that your people are misusing these tools; because connected, engaged, productive people will exibit those behaviours online too.

I’m so grateful that I could check in on friends in Sydney on Monday. I’m glad that I got to witness #illridewithyou on Tuesday. And I’m a more connected member of my community because of it.

Social Media & Learning

Rethinking Your Assumptions about Social Media & Learning

November 25, 2014 @ReneeRoberz

Does your organisation have a Social Media Policy? A Technology Policy? A BYOD (bring your own device) Policy? A Policy for Creating Policies Policy?

While (as someone who has worked in People & Culture for quite a while and is a bit of a Type A) I appreciate the value of a good policy which helps manage a business need, I think we have a tendency to sometimes get carried away with policies and use them in a reactive, rather than a productive manner.

An excellent example of this is having a Social Media Policy – so many organisations implement these in fear of social media and what employees may say about them online, they forget that anything that an employee says about them in a public forum (like in a town meeting, or on an open Facebook page) can be covered by the Code of Conduct. Why do we insist of having a separate rule book to outlaw/overly police social media?

More often than not it is because the decision makers are scared of what they don’t understand.

Unfortunately this has a negative impact on productive learning within organisations when one of the best tools is treated like it ran over the sheriff’s dog intentionally. Social media isn’t the enemy! It can be a wonderful way to (freely) encourage people to champion their own learning, to build networks, to find resources, to stay up to date in their field. Yes you have to manage its use; you don’t want everyone playing Farmville during work-time. But if you do it right, self-directed learning is such a great way to motivate your staff (and don’t think this is just a Millennial thing, everyone can get involved).

Just a few examples of where I’ve seen this work spectacularly;

– organisations running Facebook ‘Private Closed Groups’ as a way to give a positive ‘shout out’ to fellow staff members and engage in a professional forum – incidental learning and connections can be made within the organisation to promote self-development and informal coaching

– organisations encouraging employees to use professional networking tools such as LinkedIn (or the soon to be released Facebook equivalent) to generate leads, engage with stakeholders and join professional LinkedIn Groups to stay up to date on specific sector knowledge

– professionals using Twitter as both a networking tool and as a way to find out about the latest developments in their field.

Don’t be scared!

Encouraging your employees to network, widen their horizons and stay up to date with professional advances isn’t nearly as scary as losing them and their skills to a competitor who trusts them in managing their own learning. If you put a good framework in place, encourage sensible usage and get your organisation’s leaders on board with making the most of these tools then the returns you receive will far outweigh the effort put in.

Thinking differently

Thinking about learning in organisations differently

November 25, 2014November 25, 2014 @ReneeRoberz

So you’re in Learning & Development, or training, or Training and Development, or you are a proactive manager, business owner or a consultant… in fact, you could be just about anybody because that is who there are benefits for in understanding and taking control of you and your team’s learning in the workplace.

If you want to move away from ‘tick and flick’ learning and drive ROI (and ROE – Return on Expectation – as the knowledgeable Con Sotidis @LearnKotch puts it) then you need to start thinking about learning as an organic, ongoing, personal process that can help organisations get more out of their people (and have happier people).

Organisations that take a holistic approach not only get the feel-good-vibes associated with actually caring about their people, but they also have more committed, happier, more productive employees than other organisations. Increasing your organisation’s feel-good-vibes (and you know, that important thing that’s called your Employer Value Proposition) shouldn’t be the only thing that convinces you of this though, how about the fact that:

40% of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year, that costs big bucks ¹
Organisations in the USA that invest in learning outperform the market by more than 45% – 45%!!!!! ²
Your competitors are doing it – businesses increased training budgets by an average of 15% in 2013 ³

Ok, so I make a pretty good case – but what does this mean for you?

I’m all about evidence-backed change. There is no point jumping on the latest bandwagon in the interests of being seen to be doing the in thing, if that in thing doesn’t bloody work! A pet hate of mine is the overuse of the concept of ‘learning styles’ – yes learning should be enjoyable but I’ve yet to see any convincing research proving that learners playing with play-doh or throwing squishee balls at each other during a face-to-face training sessions helps ANYBODY!

Well it doesn’t have to equal a whole lot of effort. Advances in technology and the way people are using it mean that more and more there are cheap (and often free) solutions to problems that are pretty consistent across most organisations. What it does mean is that you and the decision makers that you work with, may have to readjust some assumptions you hold about learning in the workplace and how it happens.

Refs:

¹https://www.go2hr.ca/articles/employee-training-worth-investment

² http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2012/11/ASTD-2012-State-of-the-Industry-Report

³ http://www.tlnt.com/2014/02/19/investing-in-employees-smart-companies-are-increasing-their-ld-budgets/