Tell ‘Em What Sucks About the Job: Lessons From T2
This week, there’s not one, but two HR conferences five minutes from my house. It’s my shortest conference commute ever. Not that I needed convincing to attend the kick-off of #SHRMTalent on Sunday, Talent Tomorrow (T2)–the agenda was full of rockstars and DICE gave us all free wifi.
There’s something beautiful about spending a few minutes talking about tomorrow. I don’t mean innovation, but tomorrow. Thinking about what’s ahead, what’s to come, and how what’s happening now will evolve into tomorrow. And if you’re like most people, and don’t have the time to think, I’ve done it for you. Read More…
Start-Up Hiring From Day 1
My better half runs a start-up here in DC, so our dinner conversations revolve around what’s new, what’s growing and what’s innovative. So when he first started talking about Study Hall, my ears perked up. With all my years in the corporate world, we always struggled with innovation. In large, conservative organizations I always found innovation to be a harder exercise, especially in finding new minds, and new brains (read: talent).
Study Hall, a production of Foster.ly, is all about collaboration: “Study Hall is a collaborative co-working environment focused on enhancing community between its entrepreneurial members.” So I was excited when Foster.ly decided to blow out the concept to a full day…a #DayofFosterly.
Pinterest Your Brand: A New Model
I recently wrote about using Pinterest in evolutionary, yet small ways–like a visual bio. We know imagery is big news, but it’s more than news, it’s a shift in business content. To document this thinking, I joined Jessica Read at Evviva Brands to co-author a new post: Pinterest Your Brand. If your brand is online, you won’t want to miss this post. Jessie and I will be hosting a Twitter chat on Thursday, April 12 at 1:00 p.m. EST. We hope you’ll join us and learn how to #PinYourBrand.
45 Seconds to a Great Employer Brand
Today, my former team at Marriott International won “Best Employer Brand” at the Recruiting Excellence Awards–part of ERE Expo. (Congrats team!) The awards are a great way to keep tabs on what’s happening in talent acquisition and recruiting and what might work for you. It’s conference season after all: “more best practices, please.” Read More…
A Recipe for Pinterest
We’ve got some great stuff cooking over at Evviva Brands on Pinterest. Perhaps a recipe you hadn’t thought of when using the popular social networking site. If you’ve been living under a rock, or convinced that you’re too manly to learn what Pinterest actually is, it’s an online pinboard that allows you to organize content by image in like groups. Blah blah blah….
The Reality of Employer Brand
Thanks to the fantastic David Gee, there’s a great write-up over on Staffing Talk about my presentation at the Minnesota Recruiters’ Conference. Give it a read, and, if you were there share some feedback in the comments too. I should also take the time for a shout out to Paul DeBettignies who organizes and runs these fab events. If you’re not connected with him on Twitter, do it. Now.
PS: did I mention I hate pictures of myself?
It’s Not What You Think It Is
Every time I have a conversation with someone new about employer brand, it usually results in raised eyebrows and a reaction of “oh, I hadn’t thought about it that way.” It’s not rocket science, but it is a way of thinking that’s often lost on my HR colleagues because, well, we work in HR. And we stay in HR. And that’s often the problem.
Next week I’m lucky enough to have a chance to share my perspective in two venues. And I hope you’ll join me for one of them!
Catch Susan on Drive Thru HR
Don’t Recruit on Social Media
Wait, what? Don’t recruit on social media? But I thought you were a social recruiting advocate? Yes, yes I am. I’m also an advocate of advancing the way we think and report out about recruiting in conjunction with advances in the field.
Last week the fab @Jason_DFW shared an interesting infographic about recruiters’ use (or lack of) of Facebook and Twitter. Today, CareerXRoads shared their latest source of hire data and, GASP!, for 2011, only 3.5% of those surveyed used social media to make external hires.
The data isn’t surprising at all, really. As a field, recruiting/talent acquisition/HR is making some major missteps in the way we think about the affect of social media on recruiting, how it is being used versus how it can and should be used, and what the data actually means. But first, a few admissions.
Your Employees Are Your Brand
A company’s brand is only as good as its perception in the market. And the same goes for an employer brand. This week my former employer, Marriott International, moved up to #57 on Fortune’s Best Places to Work (#1 in companies with more than 65,000 employees). And Sainsbury’s, a UK grocery store, promotes being the “first ever food retailer to be awarded a gold accreditation from ‘Investors in People‘.” And my cousin, a junior in college, told me her professor was handing out these lists in class for internship and job seekers.
Don’t get me started on lists. Instead, I’d rather talk about action.
Performance That Matters
I’m back on HRExaminer this week. It’s education, performance, frogs, Long John Silver’s and taking a long-lens look all in one post. Jackpot, right? In all seriousness, the best thinking often comes well outside my area of expertise. In this case, it’s a special education, middle school science teacher that really got me thinking.
Hop on over to HRExaminer to get the story.
8 People Who Changed My Life in 2011
I could and should be looking ahead and making resolutions for 2012. But before I do, I’m looking back. And for good reason. I’m about to return back to my entrepreneurial roots as a talent strategy and brand consultant. Like any brand shift, it happened slowly and evolved over time as I thought about where I can best make an impact in a way that fits my talents and work style the best.
But change doesn’t happen in a vacuum. And as I look back over 2011—a year of many firsts for me, I realize there are some key people who’ve had a serious impact on my life, my thinking and my work. These are people you should watch, follow, listen to and take note of. They’ve changed my way of thinking and can impact your world too.
I’m Out Of The Office
Dear Sender,
Thanks for your email. I am out of the office until January 3. That’s right. I work so hard and am so important to this company that I haven’t taken any vacation this year. So now it’s December 22 and I have four weeks to use. Since I work 24/7, taking the next 13 days is like taking four weeks.
College Football is a Brand Business
If you know me, you know that I love (American) football season. I grew up in Philadelphia where I think the hospitals do something to newborns to make them like football. I did my undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech and it just made my fan status rise. There’s nothing like jumping up and down to Metallica as your team enters the stadium. But people, it’s a business and the 2011 BCS bowl game selections remind us of that more than ever.
Cross Post HRExaminer: Lists, Naughty or Nice?
People love a good list. In HR, we’re obsessed with them. I prefer the kind of list I can check off. But everyone wants to be on top of a good list. But how do we actually use them?
I didn’t want to do a scathing review of the methodology behind them (though like most, I have my own opinions). I’m more interested in what people actually learn from them. Jump on over to HRExaminer to read more.
What’s Your Place?
I had a great discussion over dinner last night with some friends about the “place.” The one place that makes you feel most at home–the place that is the core of who you are. For one it was Prague, because that’s where she fell in love. For another it was Vienna because that’s where he was born and spent his formative years. For me, it might be Nashville or Geneva for two very different reasons. But the core of the conversation, was about where you feel most you, most impactful or most impacted. What if we took that sentiment and applied it in another way?
Get Your Learnin’ On
I love speaking at conferences–mostly because it means a free pass. And I get to hear some super fab people and really listen and learn. Take MediaBistro’s Career Circus earlier this year. Before and after my musings, there were stars like Richard Cho from Facebook, Saul Colt from FreshBooks and Laurie Ruettimann, the Cynical Girl.
Brand: Jerry Leo
If all I watched was Top Chef, The Millionaire Matchmaker and Inside the Actors Studio, I’d be a happy couch potato. And, I’d only need the “Bravo Channel” package from Comcast. From a channel that brands itself as every show being the next big thing (and then delivering) comes the brand of Jerry Leo. The Senior Vice President, of Program Strategy and Acquisitions for Bravo, Jerry has the enviable task of figuring out what happens next. How did he get here? A great personal brand for starters.
It’s You.
“Why do people want to work with you?”
“I have significant experience in these types of projects and demonstrated evidence of execution from start to finish.”
“Great, now why do people want to work with you?”
The University of Sumser
Class is in session at the University of Sumser where the Dean is opposed to idea that there is a quick fix to everything. If you’ve taken a class here before, you know that staunch opinion and firm beliefs always make an appearance. But there’s always an interesting discussion in the works. Read More…
