The SHRM 2011 Annual Conference & Exposition is mere days away.  

I know you're excited. You've bought your new outfits from Ann Taylor.  You packed your comfy shoes.  You've been told to take off your badge as you leave the convention center.

However, I have one piece, THE piece, of advice for the 17,000 new and returning attendees that you haven't been told:

KNOW YOUR SURROUNDINGS AND GET OUT OF THE WAY


What does this mean?

1. Slower Traffic Keep Right.
Yes, this is just like the highway, except there is a lot more traffic in a much more confined space.  People are trying to get to sessions, meetings, etc., and walking slowly, in the middle of any pathway, checking your e-mail or Twitter updates on your Blackberry or iPhone is not helping anyone.

2.  If you are wearing a backpack or pulling a rollerbag, be aware of your surroundings especially if you are coming to a stop or turning around.  Most likely, you are going to trip someone, or knock over the $8 Starbucks he or she just purchased.

3.  If you see a friend or colleague, don't stop in the middle of the aisle to start up a conversation.  Keep moving and find a more remote location to continue speaking.  This is particularly true in the crossroads of the expo hall.

If you follow the above, you are not only going to make yourself, but others around you that much happier.

Now, kids, get off my lawn, and enjoy the conference.

In 8 days, I will be flying out to Las Vegas for the 2011 SHRM Annual Conference.  One of the rites of passage associated with registering and attending the conference is the bevy of mail you receive from vendors hoping to lure you to their booth to discuss the latest in HR technology, drug testing, relocation, etc.   Occasionally, they entice you with the promise of a certain geegaw that you can't find at any other booth.  It would not be uncommon to receive 13+ pieces of mail a day in the 3 weeks prior to the start of the conference.

However, the pitch has changed.......
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Last year, at the SHRM Annual Conference I had the opportunity to be part of the 1st "SHRM Blog Squad," where I had the opportunity to highlight many of the conference events.  You can read more details about it here.  Thanks to Curtis Midkiff (@shrmsocmedguy) and Jennifer Hughes (@SHRMPress), I will once again be able to share my feeble thoughts on the conference yet again.  However, because of my registration as a blogger for the conference, I have yet to receive a single piece of vendor mail.

However, I have been inundated with e-mails from vendors asking me to set up appointments to meet with their CEO or hear about their latest product, presumably as a pitch to feature him or her or the product in my blog.   In addition, I have receive numerous calls from these companies following up on their e-mails.

As a courtesy to these vendors, let me tell you about my credentials:
1.  I am an Associate Professor of Business Administration.
2.  In that role, I make approximately .1% of any decision affecting the human resources of our organization.,
3.  In the words of Lloyd Dobler, in "Say Anything:" "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that"

So, I may be the wrong audience to target.

The one thing missing is a little WIIFM: What's In It For Me.  What do I get out of taking time out of my busy SHRM Conference schedule to hear your pitch and feature your product/service/CEO in my blog?  (One company who shall remain nameless did offer a "blogger gift bag;" if it anything like actors receive at the Oscars or college football players get when they attend a bowl game, count me in).


Which gives me an idea......
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In 2010, Morgan Spurlock released the movie "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold:"
In the film, he sets out to finance the movie by getting advertisers to sponsor the film, which is essentially a movie about how advertising is polluting our lives and minds.

Given how many pitches I have received in the past couple weeks, I have decided to become a sell-out myself:

1. Sponsor my blog

If it worked for Morgan Spurlock, it can work for me.  I am more than willing to rename my blog, "(Your company name) presents: True Faith HR."  I'd be glad to include your company logo in every SHRM11 blog post I write.  I'd include your company name in every tweet I issue.  I'd even include pictures of myself in your company clothing line.  As my blog and tweets will likely reach thousands of eyes, what better way to get your name out there.

Just make me an offer.

2.  Draw my name at your booth for your "Grand Prize."

This will be my 11th SHRM Annual Conference in a row.  In my previous 10 years of attending the conference, I have yet to have my name drawn as the winner of a booth's grand prize.  You lure me in with the promise of an iPod, laptop, or GPS, yet each year I leave empty handed.  I remain firmly convinced it is due to the credentials listed above; if I am not likely to buy your product, why give me the prize. 

BUT.....now I have this blog.  Why give the prize to Donna in benefits from Boise, Idaho.  Draw my name instead.  You can be sure as all get out that I will be talking about my new iPad 2 on this blog and I'll be giving your company all sorts of props here.   C'mon, what better way to make your company look magnanimous that giving this here blogger your prize?!?!?

So, vendors, what say you?   I'm not expensive....I'll take an iPad 2, Amazon gift card, Tom Toms, pound notes, loose change, bad checks, anything.   Do I have to come right flat out and tell you everything?

Serious inquiries only!

I serve on the Benefits Advisory Committee for our school.  We meet weekly to discuss many of the aspects of our benefits plan, and I would say that 80-85% of our time is spent on health care and its related issues: switching providers, amending the dental plan, looking for cost savings.   Our benefit administrator spends significant amounts of time dealing as well with employee interaction with that plan.

So, it was interesting to read the news that the flawed McKinsey study that argues 30% of employers wil drop health insurance by 2014 ( for some discussion of the problems with the McKinsey study, click here and here).  It got me to thinking, why are employers in the health care business?  Given how much time, energy, and resources our HR Department spends, is the competitive advantage of providing it to attract applicants worth the effort?

Further, why are employers opposed to a single payer or Medicare-for-all system? Wouldn't HR be freed up to handle more employee performance and strategic issues instead of spending all the time dealing with insurance companies?  Wouldn't employees be more productive instead of fretting over filling out yet another flexible spending account reimbursement form?

I understand the cost implications of it, but what would be the disadvantage(s) purely from the standpoint of operating your business?

Thoughts?

Tonight I watched the GOP Presidential Debate from New Hampshire on CNN.  In an effort to get to know the candidates, a series of "fun" questions, known as This or That, were asked as CNN went to commercial.  For example:

Herman Cain, Former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, was asked "Deep Dish or Thin Crust" (Deep Dish was his answer.

Newt Gingrich was asked, Dancing with the Stars or American Idol (Idol was his definitive answer)

Mitt Romney was asked Mild or Spicy Chicken Wings. (Mitt took a bold stand with spicy)

Ron Paul was asked Blackberry or iPhone (He went Blackberry, losing the crucial iPhone vote).

So, in that vein...what would be your HR This or That?
Organizing company picnics or giving performance reviews?
Seat-at-the-table or culture?
Team-building or organizing a wellness program?
Coach purses or flip-flops?
Drive Thru HR or HR Happy Hour?

So, what's your HR This or That?

Today, I have a guest post at XpertHR where I take a light-hearted, truly Coperican take on the question "If I could change one thing about HR...."

Check it out here

I know you come to True Faith HR for hard hitting HR analysis...and what could be more hard hitting than an analysis of SHRM Hotel costs.  Last June, I examined the cost of hotels at the 2010 SHRM Annual Conference, and found some significant differences.  Do those differences remain in 2011?

Once again, I looked at selected SHRM conference brochures (i.e., the ones that I still possessed) over the past 11 years to see what it was cost a person to book a single room on a per night average. Clearly, prices in 2001 will be different than in 2011, so I used an inflation calculator to adjust costs to 2011 dollars. So, how does Las Vegas compare to years past?

Cost of an Average SHRM-Affiliated Hotel (per night)
Using a typical Sunday-Wednesday night as a baseline:
San Francisco (2001): $251.47 (standard deviation = $55.44)
Chicago (2008): $247.23 (sd=$28.46)
San Diego (2010): $243.59 (sd=$41.93)
Washington DC (2006): $225.81 (sd=38.80)
Philadelphia (2002): $214.47 (sd=57.34)
San Diego (2005): $201.03 (sd=$49.02)
Las Vegas (2007): $162.58 (sd=$31.34)
Las Vegas (2011): $126.25 (sd=$17.51)

As expected, Las Vegas is statistically significantly cheaper than every other in the sample.  Its even statistically cheaper than 4 years ago.

Never has there been a better time than to attend the SHRM conference than today with hotel prices at their lowest prices by far.   Even adjusting for inflation, it is $36 cheaper to attend today than 4 years ago.    Once again, you'll be able to nab a 5-star hotel such as the Bellagio ($199 in 2007; $149 in 2011), Venetian ($189 in 2007; $139 in 2011) or Wynn ($215 in 2007, $139 in 2011) for a price of a hotel in the bottom quartile in San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, or San Diego).  

But...you better start saving your pennies for 2013, as the conference will be in Chicago, and you'll likely be paying twice as much for hotel rooms as you are today.

See you in Vegas!

I watched the film Waiting for Superman with great expectations, and, not surprisingly, those expectations were not met.  Directed by Davis Guggenheim (director of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and husband of actress Elizabeth Shue) , the documentary focuses on the failing U.S. school system, placing the blame on teacher unions coddling poor performing teachers and a system of tracking that makes it impossible for lower performing students to ever catch up with their higher performing peers.   Interspersed with these attacks is a look at 5 children hoping to stake their claim on one of the coveted spots in a charter school, the alternative which Guggenheim appears to champion.  While the film is to be applauded for raising questions about the state of education, and its heartbreaking to watch dedicated students suffer, the film has a number of flaws, particularly from a human resource perspective.

First, the film never explores what exactly defines "good teaching."  Guggenheim never mentions what turns people into better teachers what is the superior content that they deliver, as well as how they teach.  We are presented with two excellent teachers who are frustrated with their current school, start up a charter, and suddenly everything was hunky-dory.  But, it never demonstrates how and why they are better, and what barriers existed that made being superior so difficult in their former school.

Second, the process of hiring teachers is never explored.  How are charter schools hiring "better" teachers?  Are they offering a better salary? Better benefits?  Greater autonomy?  I checked out US Charters: Staffing for Success to see what the recommended approach to recruitment and selection might be and they offer 10 steps:

1. Write a role description for each staff role.
2. Identify required and desired qualifications and characteristics.
3. Identify potential sources of staff.
4. Promote your school.
5. Recruit 
6. Determine how you will screen candidates.
7. Prepare materials and organize assistance. 
8. Make initial selections.
9. Notify all candidates of outcomes.  
10. Draw up the contract
    

So, where is the magic?  What are charter schools doing differently in hiring than their public and private school counterparts in identifying and selecting superior candidates?

Finally, the last 20 minutes focuses on the lotteries for the 5 families mentioned above.  For the charter schools those families, Guggenheim cites that the school has "x applicants for y slots" (i.e., 142 applicants for 40 slots).   You can feel the tension in the air as the ping pong ball exits the hopper, and the families await their fate.   However, the scene ultimately fails in that Guggenheim doesn't tell us how many applicants did NOT apply for the lottery.  What is the percent of applicants to the total pool of students?  

Given that each lottery applicant represents a dedicated parent or set of parents (they would not have applied if they did not care about their child's education), the untold reason for the success of charter schools may very well be the 85, 90, 95% plus of involved caring parents.  As a result, are teacher unions and tracking really to blame when public school educators  are dealing with students whose parents are too busy or indifferent?