HR Happy Hour

HR Happy Hour - Episode 58 - 'Job Boards and the Future' Thursday August 12, 2010 8PM EDT So much has changed in the world of work and recruiting in the last five years. Global recession, rising unemployment in many countries, the maturation of social networks as a viable platform for job advertising and candidate sourcing, and oh yeah, an every three month or so prediction from someone that 'the big job boards are dead'. Despite all the turmoil and change, the big job boards are still around, and most of them are not simply sitting still, rather they have come to realize that innovation, adaptation, and flexibility are absolute requirements for survival in a world of reduced hiring, shrinking HR budgets, and the increasingly popular notion in many companies that big job boards are no longer needed, when direct access to candidates via social networks has never been easier. This week on the HR Happy Hour show we welcome Tom Silver, SVP of Dice.com, the leading job board for IT and other technical positions. You would be hard pressed to find an experienced IT worker that has not spent significant time in the last 10 years trolling Dice. Tom will share with us his insights on the world of the big job board today, what Dice.com sees as the major challenges in recruiting highly skilled workers today, and some of the new products and services Dice is rolling out in response to the dawn of social recruiting. An insider's view into the big job board scene - it should be an interesting show and I hope you can join us.

HR Happy Hour - Episode - 'Exceeds Expectations with Sonar6' Thursday August 5, 2010 8PM EDT The words 'performance review' and 'suck' are so often in the same sentence that it really is not all that surprising to find that the vast majority of managers and employees look at the annual performance review with at best, trepidation, and at worst, dread. I mean, performance reviews suck, right? Well a few years ago a software company called Sonar6 was formed, and understanding the baseline assumption that performance reviews suck, set out to build a solution that would (gasp) actually make performance reviews and performance management, interesting, engaging, and assuredly not 'sucky'. Sonar6 makes some of the most innovative solutions for performance management and succession planning that you perhaps have never seen, (but you need to). They also have a fun and offbeat approach to marketing and communications that is a refreshing change of pace from the mainstream. I mean for a small company from New Zealand to make a name for itself in the crowded HCM space, you have to think differently, right? Joining us on the show will be Mike Carden, Co-founder of Sonar6 to share their unique story, their approach to performance management, and why more companies aren't as cool as they are. I hope you can join us for 'Exceeds Expectations with Sonar6'

HR Happy Hour - Episode 56 - 'HR Florida Preview' Thursday July 29, 2010 - 8PM EDT The HR Florida State Conference & Expo is the annual conference of the HR Florida State Council, a state affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Each year the event attracts over 1,000 human resource professionals and vendors throughout the state of Florida and across the nation. And this year, the event will feature a special panel on HR Blogging and Social Media, consisting of some of the best and best known bloggers in the space (and one radio show host). The HR Florida Conference is set to smash records for attendance and the interest and enthusiasm for the event is palpable. This week on the HR Happy Hour we will be joined by reps from HR Florida, most if not all the members of the HR Blogging Panel, and even a special guest or two. What should any great HR pro be thinking about before summer is over? Heading down to HR Florida (and maybe nabbing a side trip to Disneyland) of course! Join us for what should be a fun and lively show!

HR Happy Hour - Episode 55 - 'Mystery HR Theater' Thursday July 22, 2010 - 8PM EDT This week on the HR Happy Hour show we have a guest so cool, so fantastic, so enigmatic that we will do our very first 'mystery guest' show. We can't say who our super top secret guest is, but save to say that he or she is world renowned, legendary, and someone we have been chasing to appear on the HR Happy Hour show for ages. This person has expertise, insight, perspective, and no doubt loads of great information to share. So do us a favor, trust us this one time, and tune in to the HR Happy Hour this week to play 'Mystery HR Theater' with all your HR friends.

HR Happy Hour - Episode 54 - 'Enterprise 2.0 and HR' - Thursday July 15, 2010 8PM EDT Enterprise 2.0, defined as 'the use of emergent social software platforms by organizations in pursuit of their goals', has become an increasingly important concept for organizational leaders to understand and leverage. Enterprise 2.0, or E2.0 for short, is changing the way companies interact with customer and communities, how information is shared, created, and consumed, and in many progressive companies, is altering some of the fundamental processes and definitions of work. Certainly the proliferation of tools and platfroms on the social and participatory web, social networks, shared co-creation of knowledge repositories, and the realization of the power of networks have begun to impact the inner working environments of many organizations today. Success in E2.0 projects is much more about understanding and influencing people - their behavior, habits, and the collection of shared beliefs and practices that shape an organization's culture. Hey - those sound quite a bit like the topics that a great HR leader should not only understand, but should be able to help shape. In fact, many of the fundamental pillars for lasting success with E2.0 seem to be squarely in the HR pro's sights. So why does it seem like HR has been largely missing from the E2.0 conversations? How come HR seems to have ceded this ground to the IT folks? What can and should a savvy HR leader be doing not only to become more aware of the capability and potential of E2.0, but also to help lead organizational efforts. Joining us on the show will be Professor Andrew McAfee, the author of 'Enterprise 2.0 : New Collaborative Tools For Your Organization's Toughest Challenges'. Professor McAfee coined the term 'Enterprise 2.0', and is the most influential thought leader in the space. I hope you can join us for what should be a interesting and informative show.

HR Happy Hour - Episode 53 - 'Re-thinking Talent' Thursday July 8, 2010 - 8pm EDT The long lasting and lingering economic recession, shifting workplace demographics, access to information and talent growing exponentially, and likely the final days of the traditional 'employee/employer' social contract are all conspiring to make locating, acquiring, and retaining the talent that organizations still need ever more challenging. The recession in particular is forcing a new generation of workers to think differently about work and nature of their future relationship with an employer, or more likely the many employers they are going to have in their working careers. Workers and candidates have been forced to adapt, but what about organizations? Are the organizations that need to have access to and support from ever more capable collections of talented staff doing enough to adapt themselves to this new environment? What approaches and strategies for talent acquisition make the most sense in a world where compensation, benefits, and long-term security can no longer be promised? Does traditional internal career pathing even make an impact on the modern employee that fully expects a short tenure at an organization? What organizations are today are changing and morphing the fastest and best to remain competitive and successful in their talent acquisition efforts? Joining us to talk about these issues will be Susan Burns from Talent Synchronicity and Jennifer McClure from Unbridled Talent (and hopefully you too).

HR Happy Hour - Episode 52 - 'I Fought the Law' Thursday, July 1, 2010 - 8PM EDT So now everyone, your dad, your kids, your grandma, and your employees are happily tweeting, friending, liking, and sharing information on public social networks like Facebook and Twitter. In the corporate world, reactions to this phenomenon have varied from outright bans on one extreme, to fundamental embrace of the tools on the other extreme. And no matter what position your organization stakes out along the continuum, risks, opportunities, and choices abound. How much transparency and openness is too much? What kinds of risks are there for organizations in policy making and in enforcement? Are there particular elements of employment law and organizational exposure that need to be considered? It is naive to propose outright bans on these tools, as it is equally naive to promote unfettered and unmonitored access and usage in the workplace. This week we will be joined by Eric Meyer, Paul Smith, and Joan Ginsberg, all HR and/or legal experts, to talk about these and other issues. Please join us! Even LinkedIn

HR Happy Hour - Episode 51 - 'Live from Gettysburg' Thursday June 24, 2010 - 8PM EDT Gettysburg. For most Americans, and students of military history the name alone conjures up thoughts of devastating battle, loss, heartbreak, and ultimately redemption. The scene of a terrible and significant three day battle in the American Civil War and the setting for one of the most famous political speeches in history, Lincoln's legendary Gettysburg Address. Learning more about the battle, and the leaders on both sides of the field offers important lessons - not just in military tactics, but in leadership of organizations and of people. What drove the best leaders on the field that day? What did they possess that compelled men to hurl themselves into incredibly dangerous situations simply to follow them? Where did they go wrong - after all many thousands of brave soldiers never returned from Gettysburg. The HR Happy Hour show is pleased to broadcast live from Gettysburg as a guest of the Conference Board's Gettysburg Leadership Development Experience. Join us with some very special guests as we talk history, leadership, courage, and even a bit of tragedy - live from Gettysburg. The HR Happy Hou

HR Happy Hour - Episode 50 - 'The World Cup of HR' Thursday - June 17, 2010 - 8PM EDT Call in 646-378-1086 You may have caught something in the news, or on TV, or the interwebs - there is a little sporting event going on called 'The World Cup'. Yes, the big soccer/football once every four years extravaganza in on again. It is estimated that over 2 billion people will watch some of the World Cup tournament this year. So chances are pretty good that your company, your customers, your employees are going to get involved in the excitement in some way. How do major sporting and social events impact the workplace, how can organizations and leaders work creatively to take advantage of the excitement, should you give absent, late, or sluggish employees a pass during or after a big match? Join us this week with our special panel of international guests, as we talk World Cup and the Workplace.

HR Happy Hour - Episode 49 - 'The Why of Work' Thursday June 10, 2010 - 8PM EDT Why do we work? Is it just for the pay check, to get the bills paid and keep the lights on? Or is there more to it, like a search for meaning, community, or engagement in a cause that is important or meaningful? In their new book 'The Why of Work', Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich describe that through our work we seek a sense of purpose and meaning, and that by tapping into that meaning we can enjoy more successful and positive workplaces, more engaged workforces, and more successful organizations. How can leaders strive to create more abundant organizations, that are better connected to the needs of customers, employees, shareholders, and communities while providing employees more opportunity to find their true motivation and get more connected to the work, to each other, and to the organization. Dave Ulrich, Professor of Business at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and c-founder of the RBL Group will be our special guest on the HR Happy Hour to talk about The Why of Work, finding and creating meaning in the workplace, and the ideas behind the abundant organization. It should be a great show, and I hope you can join us.

HR Happy Hour - Episode 48 - 'The Women of HR' Thursday June 3, 2010 - 8PM EDT This week on the HR Happy Hour Shauna Moerke the HR Minion takes over and will bring along several of smart, fun, and talented friends from the HR world. But they are not (just) simply hanging out and having fun on a Thursday night. The Women of HR crew are set to discuss the beginnings of how they all came together, the energy that they felt when they had their first 'unofficial' event, and how we initially came up with the idea for the new Women of HR site. The team from the Women of HR will discuss the goals for the new site, what we want to accomplish and our personal reasons for participating in this new venture. Shauna and crew hope the site will fill a very important need as a resource for women and workplace issues, a place for advice, mentoring, and where we can build a community as well. So join Shauna and the Women of HR crew for what should be a fun, interesting, and maybe even legendary show.

HR Happy Hour - Episode 47 - 'HR and Indie Culture' Thursday May 27, 2010 - 8PM EDT - Call in 646-378-1086 Indie - the art, music, crafting, building, writing, designing and everything else that gets created independently, outside of the mainstream and continues to evolve and re-invent itself. Indie culture has its roots in the Beat poets of the 50s and stretches to the present day, as thousands of creators make, build, and showcase their ideas and themselves on and offline, and in a scores of constantly changing ways. Why is indie culture, and the indie ethos so enduring and what does it tell us about the modern workplace and the new skills needed to succeed in a global, fast-moving, and constantly changing business world? How does one stay indie once you start climbing up the corporate ladder? Or are big corporate interests always going to see indie creations and ideas as something to 'leverage' and use up? Joining us on the show this week will be Kaya Oakes, author of 'Slanted and Enhchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture' to talk about the history, development, and current state of indie and help us to understand how the indie ethos is relevant to today's individual and organization. It should be a fun show!

HR Happy Hour - Episode 46 - 'Making Work/Life Work' - Thursday May 20, 2010 - 8PM EDT It is one thing to talk about workplace flexibility, and quite another to design and implement flexible working strategies in organizations, and to measure their effectiveness and impact on the bottom line. While most of us would agree that more flexibility in the design of jobs is desirable or 'better', often HR professionals have difficulty understanding how to design more flexible workplaces, to develop flexibility strategies that will work for the organization, and to even understand their important role in this area. Joining us will be Cali Yost, of the FlexStrategy Group and WorkLife Fit, Inc., writer at Fast Company, and an expert on workplace flexibility, to talk about how to move Work/Life from discussion to action, and how HR professionals can be better equipped to lead and support these important initiatives in their organizations. I hope you can join us for what should be an interesting and informative show.

HR Happy Hour - Episode 45 - 'Social Recruiting, Sports, and Upside' Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 8PM ET This week on the HR Happy Hour we will welcome some old friends to talk talent, recruiting, sports, and upside. Make that Tremendous Upside. We will preview the upcoming Social Recruiting Summit set for May 17 in Minneapolis, talk about the NBA playoffs (sort of) and how sports and organizational talent management are so intertwined. Because we all know it isn't about 'sports'. It is about talent assessment, development, alignment, and execution. It is about creating an environment that brings out the best in talent, and allows people to live up to their potential. Or it really may be about the NBA playoffs. Joining us on the show will be Kris Dunn, the HR Capitalist and the chair for the Social Recruiting Summit, Lance Haun from ERE and Rehaul.com, Tim Sackett from the Fistful of Talent and the smartest guy in HR - the Professor Matt Stollak. It should be a fun show, a bunch of guys talking about talent, recruiting, and sports - what's wrong with that?

HR Happy Hour - Episode 44 - 'Live from the #Monstersocial Red Carpet' Friday, May 7, 2010 - 8PM ET, 7PM CT Broadcasting live from the official opening of the #HRevolution Unconference in Chicago! The #Monstersocial is the name of the offical tweetup that opens the #HRevolution and the HR Happy Hour show will be there, talking to all of your favorite HR and Recruiting thought leaders and superstars. We will chat with the HRevolution founders, organizers, and presenters as they arrive in style to the #Monstersocial tweetup. We will find out what the attendees are most looking forward to, what surprises may be in store, and who in the HR space can really rock the Red Carpet. Join us at a special day and time - Friday at 8PM ET, 7PM CT for what should be a fantastic show.