Showing posts with label Social media. Show all posts

Best Wishes Curtis Midkiff (@shrmsmg)

by Matthew Stollak on Friday, November 22, 2013


I was saddened to hear the news today of the departure of Curtis Midkiff, Director of Social Engagement, from SHRM for greener pastures at the American Red Cross. 

I, of course, am happy that Curtis found an opportunity that he was excited to pursue, but it will definitely be a loss for SHRM.

I first met Curtis when I was chosen as one of five inaugural SHRM Blog Squad members for the SHRM Annual Conference in San Diego.  No one was exactly sure what the SHRM Blog Squad would do, but it was enough of a success, that SHRM brought it back the next year, and again, and again.  And what was just a small endeavor 4 years ago blossomed into an enterprise comprising 50+ members sharing their insight, tweets, blogs, etc. at the Annual Conference each year.  In addition, he was instrumental in bringing a little extra flair to the Monday night SHRM Tweetup, including a party with DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Without Curtis' vision and efforts, I am not sure SHRM would have embraced social media as readily as they have done, and I hope they continue to do.


So, best wishes in the next step in your career, Curtis.  The American Red Cross is lucky to have you.

Coalitions, Alliance, Social Media, and HR

by Matthew Stollak on Friday, June 8, 2012

Today we have a special guest post from my beloved father, Gary Stollak. Dr. Stollak, a Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University from 1967 until 2009, has written many journal articles and is the author of several books on marriage and child rearing, including "What Happened Today; Stories for Parents and Children," and "Until We Are Six: Toward the Actualization of Our Children's Human Potential." He is fond of Stanley Kubrick movies, corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, and ice cream...sometimes even at the same time.


The words coalition and alliance have both been used, mainly, to label groups of nations in war efforts, constituencies of individual politicians, political parties, and collections of business and community organizations and the groups that support and lobby for them. These words have also been used to label those in smaller and larger groups including three or more person families, and of peer groups in childhood and adolescence.  There are also coaches in sports or other activities (think of the cheerleader and choir coaches in the television show Glee), educators, and counselors who attempt to create coalitions or alliances to facilitate learning and behavior change in these groups. These terms are often used interchangeably and most of us may consider them synonyms.

To achieve one or more of our goals in life, we may be members of more than several coalitions and alliances.  We might also encourage and even pay for our children to become members of different kinds of groups (for example, a soccer or debate team, a school band or Girl Scouts) assuming that their participation would advance our goals for them as well as help them achieve their own goals.

The purposes and goals of coalitions
I assume that there are those who are the leaders and followers of many existing—even virtual—groups who experience those in another identifiable group, at the very least, as “opponents.”  I recommend using the word coalition to include those collections of persons who are active or passive members of groups (for example, financial contributors to political parties) whose goal is to defeat another group in some contest or competition. 

In some instances those in another group are despised enemies.  The word coalition also refers to those who contribute to and/or work together to defeat those in other groups who must be defeated in life-threatening battles and wars.  Throughout human history, large groups of armed combatants have come together and have invaded the homeland of others and attempt to destroy and control their population and resources.  And, of course, throughout human history, large groups of armed combatants have also come together to repel those who have invaded their homeland and who wish to control or eliminate their population and possess their natural resources.  Adolph Hitler and those who supported him were part of a very large coalition of those whose “common purpose” and goal was the elimination of persons throughout Europe (and, indeed, the world) that did not possess the characteristics of those he and others decided were “Aryan.”  Some nations have also preemptively attacked an enemy who is perceived as “clearly” planning to invade the “homeland” or the land of an “ally.” 

Sport, political, and business coalitions
The label coalition can also be applied to those involved, directly or indirectly, in significantly less (one hopes) life-threatening and, hopefully, law and rule-following sport, political, and business competitions.  At the heart of capitalism are the various coalitions and teams of executives, managers and blue/gray/white collar workers in very small and very large businesses that seek victory (for example, financial profit or elimination of the competition) in their enterprises.  There are coalitions of “fans” (those on “our” team to which they may feel a deep commitment, an intense passion, and intimacy with the lives of the individuals in the group) against members of the other team (and their fans) who are perceived as opponents who must be defeated in an athletic contest to maintain or obtain school, city, or state “pride,” or to serve “nationalistic” impulses, for example, the “Democracies” (especially the United States) against the “Communist” states in the Olympics and other athletic events during most of the last five decades of the 20th century. 

We may not just have enemies threatening death to ourselves and the destruction of our nation but many of us do have sport, political, and business opponents who “challenge” us, make us “angry,” who are “feared,” who must be dehumanized in more or less ways, described as not worthy of respect, and deserving of a literal or figurative “crushing,” “thrashing” “whipping,” and “humiliation.”  As in sports, there are also political, business and financial “contests” and conflicts and even “reality” TV programs (from “Survivor” to “The Apprentice” to “Top Chef”) that create coalitions between and then within groups with only one member of a group achieving the final “victory.”

The purposes and goals of alliances
I recommend the use of the label alliance to refer to temporary or long-lasting groups whose purposes, common interests and actions do not include responses to any real or hypothetical “enemy” or “opponent.”  For example, an alliance is the appropriate label for groups of persons who come together wanting nothing more than to “be” together, to be intimate as the only goal, to celebrate, to grieve, to arouse and maintain joy and good spirits (for example, via dancing, family and communal meals, and community festivals and parades), to engage in an activity for itself rather than to engage in a competition to determine a “winner.”  For many of us, our relationships with those in our immediate and extended families and nearby neighbors are often long-term even lifetime alliances. 

I would also apply the label of alliance to those groups that respond to accidents, illnesses, and disasters as well as to environmental threats to the lives of others including the lives and habitats of the world’s non-human species.  Sometimes the threat and enemy is “nature” or threats to the health and survival of one or more persons because of illnesses or injuries caused by accidents, physical attacks, or self-inflicted.  There are voluntary and paid groups of persons who work together to provide food and medical supplies and services to those who are needy or disabled, to protect life and property, and to help others survive confrontations with an existing or predicted threat of famine and starvation (sometimes just hunger), extreme heat and cold weather, tornados, hurricanes, droughts, storms, floods, earthquakes or fires.  These include members of rescue services and human and animal shelters, the Red Cross, Red Crescent, World Health Organization, UNICEF, Salvation Army, America’s Second Harvest, and Doctors without Borders.  Others come together to build and rebuild structures after disasters and accidents (for example, Engineers without Borders).  “Victory” is sometimes nothing more than helping others to survive for at least another day.

Cooperation and uniting of individual skills are often critical for a group, even in many coalitions, whether they are members of a basketball team, armed force, business enterprise or political campaign, to achieve and experience the thrill of victory.  However, in alliances, such as those noted above, the cooperation is directed toward the achievement of different kinds of outcomes, different kinds of victories.  As noted above, one kind of goal is solely existential, the experience of consummate Brotherly Love described by Fromm.  The sense of family and community may be achieved by nothing more than participation in bantering, gossiping, verbal play, and the pleasure of humorous and more serious discourse especially, for me, around a table of delicious food. At their best, religious and civic celebrations as well as those celebrating marriages, birthdays, and anniversaries, or traditions engaged in after the death of someone, create a temporary community, a time of reflection on the meaning of the events and people in one’s life, reminiscing about the good times, and expressing joy, thankfulness, or grief.  There is only the present to be celebrated in song and sometimes in dance, verbal and other gifts to be given, or tributes and memories shared.  At their best, there is no focus on enemies and opponents defeated and no recriminations about past slights and rebukes.  These are alliances.  Compare the memories you have of your experiences, words, and actions on such occasions to the motive, goal, and outcome of Mark Antony’s oration to the citizens of Rome over the body of the murdered Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s play.

If there is a motto that best describes an alliance, it is “We are family” but only when it is making note that other families and other groups are not competitors, not opponents, not inferior in any way, not an enemy.  Similarly, the motto, “We are all in the same boat” refers to an alliance only when the word “We” means everyone in a family, group, community, city, state, nation or the world and that no one is to be excluded from the safety of the boat.  Some may believe that “A rising tide lifts all boats” but are not necessarily concerned about those in more less seaworthy crafts.  Many may wish for the recognition that all of us are—literally—brothers and sisters.  Many of us believe that all of us are children of an attentive and caring God. 

I hope that each of us is part of a large number of alliances as we go through the days of our lives.  How many of the smaller and larger groups we freely join are ones in which we feel intimate and safe, authentic and vulnerable, in communion and secure with, and in which the activities result in the creation of joy and beauty?  How many alliances do our children belong to?  What specific school or after-school activities that they are involved in are directed to creating and maintaining alliances?  My guess is that many of us, and our children, may not belong to more than a few.   It is also possible that in comparisons with some of the coalitions we belong to and support, for many of us, our involvement in alliances may last even longer.

Coalitions, Alliances and the Internet
            The internet has become increasingly relevant and even necessary in business, political, and in our personal and social lives.  There are “virtual” coalitions and alliances existing there too.  Visiting various website chat rooms and blogging, involvement in text- and video-messaging, including tweets, are examples of social networking and is a daily part of the lives of larger and larger numbers of older children, adolescents and adults.  Some websites and text messaging services now serve as locations that permit and encourage on-line, person-to-person interchanges, with or without photos or video.  These include Facebook, Twitter, and dating sites that may result in two or more person group meetings (even “flash mobs”) where all parties are physically present.

            All political parties, possibly every elected person in city, county, state and federal governments, and every candidate for office, has a website and uses it to be in constant communication with those interested in his or her candidacy and positions about issues…and to raise money.  It is much cheaper than phone calls, television advertisements, and direct mailing and allows immediate response to attacks from others including politicians and commentators.   Further, a very great number of dead or living public figures including actors, and musical and other artists (even fictional characters such as Sherlock Holmes) and college/university or professional sports team have websites created by public relation firms, devoted admirers, or for those still living, themselves, where they, too, can communicate with their fans and, more importantly for the present purposes, with each other. 

            Material and messages on some websites can also support and encourage hate and provide information that could be used for individual or group actions that can lead to violence, destruction, and death of others. 

            There is no doubt that using the internet and photo- and text-messaging services will be an increasingly important means to create and maintain both virtual and face-to-face personal, national, and international coalitions and alliances that will be affecting our own and our children’s lives in the coming decades.

Impact on HR
The question I have for you concerns how do HR policies, responsibilities, programs, and activities go about creating coalitions and/or alliances for any organization and how do social media contribute to helping an HR service achieve one or more specific goals?

Carpe diem!!

Try All You Want

by Matthew Stollak on Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Soon, the glossy brochure with the great HR stock photos will arrive from SHRM HQ on Duke Street promoting the SHRM Leadership Conference to take place in Arlington, VA, November 17-19.   Often cited by the SHRM C-Suite as "their favorite" SHRM Conference, the Leadership Conference is designed for SHRM volunteer leaders to gain professional development as well as share best practices across chapters and state councils.

To SHRM's credit, they provide free registration as well as two-plus nights of housing for many volunteer roles, including Chapter Presidents, Chapter Management Professionals, State Council Directors, State Council District Directors and State Council Core Leadership Area Membership Directors.

However, left to fend for themselves are State Council Social Media Directors.   So, here are a few reasons SHRM should include Social Media Directors to the above group:

1.   Social Media Directors volunteer work is significant.
I've served as a SHRM volunteer leader for over 12 years in a wide range of roles (Area/Regional College Relations Director, State College Relations Director, State Foundation Director, Chapter President, State Conference Co-Chair), and I can say without hesitation that the volunteer work performed is on par, if not exceeds, many of those roles.  Such work includes, but is not limited to:
*Setting up and blogging on a regular basis
*Posting on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn on a regular basis
*Visiting and speaking to chapters about how they can utilize social media for their chapters as well as their own personal development
*Speaking about social media at the state leadership as well as the state SHRM conference
*Helping and mentoring volunteer leaders and chapters set up LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook accounts

Given the immediacy of social media, the Director role necessitates vigilance on a daily basis.

2.  It would legitimize the role
Kudos must go out to the concerted efforts of SHRM's own Curtis Midkiff in his capacity as the social media guru for the organization.  From the Bloggers' lounge at the SHRM Annual Conference to the Tweetups and blogtour at various state conferences, Curtis has demonstrated SHRM's dedication and support for the role social media can play for SHRM chapters.   Supporting State Council Social Media Directors would serve to continue the legitimization of this volunteer role.


3.  Social Media Directors are the voice of SHRM and the profession
Social Media Directors provide the PR for the chapters, the state council, and by extension, SHRM itself.   We are the ones trumpeting the latest efforts of the SHRM Foundation on Twitter.   We are the ones highlighting the latest piece of legislation impacting HR from Governmental Affairs on our blog.  We are the ones providing on-the-ground coverage of the state legislative conference or state HR conference.  We are the ones promoting the Pinnacle Award to members and non-members alike.   In the end, SHRM is shown in the most positive light.


So, SHRM, support you Social Media Directors at the SHRM Leadership Conference in November.


Tighten Up

by Matthew Stollak on Friday, July 8, 2011

Like many of you, I have trouble keeping up with all of my contacts on all the social networking platforms as well as the information that accompanies them and it.  Twitter, Facebook, Empire Avenue, Quora, etc. and now Google Plus has entered the picture.   I limit my followers on Twitter to around 500, as I have difficulty keeping up with my Twitter stream if it exceeds that number .  Unless I have met you in real life, I am unlikely to follow you (apologies to those who have recently followed me and I haven't reciprocated).  Even as I try to put a cap on all this, it is still difficult to separate the signal from the noise.  Am I effectively using my network to hear about the latest and greatest information?  What is the must read set of blogs for the day?  Am I missing something crucial?

One of my daily website destinations is Quickish.   Launched in early January 2011 by former ESPN Page 2 writer Dan Shanoff.  Shanoff used to write the "Daily Quickie," which highlighted the important stories from the previous day in sports, as well as previewed the potential big stories of the day ahead.   Quickish attempts to take that to the next level by providing real-time sports tips as the day progresses.  It could be a blog, it could be something on Twitter, it could be a must see highlight on YouTube.  While there are a lot of news aggregators, the key difference for Quickish is that is editor-vetted.

Something similar is needed in the HR arena (perhaps there is, and I am simply missing it, making this whole post moot).  While there are sites like paper.li or Twyleh, they are too reliant on hashtags and do not filter the wheat from the chaff.

Take the recent SHRM Annual Conference, for example.  With the increased emphasis on social media, the content being produced was enormous.   Someone following the #shrm11 hashtag was likely to be overwhelmed.  What was needed was someone choosing the best tweets and blogs at the particular time.  A Quickish for HR would serve that purpose.

So, if any venture capitalists are out there...this might be something worth pursuing.

#shrm11 - Melinda Riechert - Social Networking in the Workplace

by Matthew Stollak on Saturday, July 2, 2011

When I looked at the title of the presentation, "Social Networking in the Workplace: Untangling the Web of Employer Risks, Employee Rights, and Management Best Practices"  and the person presenting the session was a lawyer, my hackles were immediately raised.  Would this be a balanced presentation on social media, or one dominated by the dangers that would immediately strike fear in the audience about these tools.   Unfortunately, the session was the latter.

I have no doubt Ms. Riechert is an excellent lawyer.   She had a firm grasp of the case law; many of the audience members were truly engaged in her talk, and laughed at many of her more light-hearted remarks.

She discussed what is social media.  She discussed the rights of employees in terms of working conditions, whistleblowing, privacy, employee monitoring, and legal off-duty behavior.  Similarly, she discussed the risks to employers from social media, including damage to reputation, loss of priviliged information, defamation, violation of FTC rules, and loss of employee productivity.  She concluded with a discussion of management best practice to minimize risks and how to structure a social media policy.

So, what was/were the issue(s)?  First, her social media understanding was limited, by her own admittance. She noted that she signed up for Twitter only recently, and she was unfamiliar with many social media tools that might, for example, restrict protected information during the recruiting process.   Further, if I were a neophyte in regards to social media usage, any thoughts of leveraging the benefits would have been thrown out the window.  For example...

*She mocked Tony Hsieh and Zappos social media policy, which is to be real and use your best judgment.
*She advised supervisors not to friend subordinates on Facebook
*She warned against giving a LinkedIn endorsement to a colleague

After a SHRM Conference that seemingly embraced social media, from it being mentioned in the keynote addresses of Tony Hsieh and Arianna Huffington to the vibrancy of Social Media Lounge, this session was certainly a sour way to end a conference after such positivity.  And, who knows how many potential voices were silenced because of the cautionary approach endorsed by Ms. Riechert?

#SHRM 11 - Day 1 Highlights and Trends

by Matthew Stollak on Sunday, June 26, 2011

The first of the four and a half day SHRM 2011 Annual Conference is in the books.

Most of the day was spent with the Student Conference.  The consistent theme running through out the day was generational differences.  From Aaron Kesher's opening session to Joshua's Fredenburg's keynote address to the social media session to close the day, generational differences were on everyone's mind.

Highlights include:
*The social media session moderated by SHRM's Social Media Guru, Curtis Midkiff, featuring panelists John Nykolaiszyn, Robin Schooling, Matt Charney, and Laurie Ruettimann, certainly delivered the goods.  They focused on how to network, the importance of a MBA, how to develop a backbone in HR, how you get into HR, and a few HR horror stories were thrown in for good measure.  More importantly, the students were engaged and drew a lot of good knowledge from the panel.

*Continued support of student programs and the future HR leaders of tomorrow.  An excellent colleague, Dr. Jeff Walls, was selected as the 2011 Advisor of the Year.   He is a shining example of the great work advisors do to help students pursue careers in HR, and is a sterling choice to be recognized.  Similarly, there were nearly 300 students, advisors, and guests attending today's conference, and it is wonderful to see strong passion for human resources at a young age.

*The volunteers.  Kudos to the nearly 700 volunteers who assisted everyone today as they helped register, hand out bags, and direct people to the proper location.  Without their assistance, the conference would fall into chaos.

*The networking.  Its great to catch up with people in real life who you may only chat with on Twitter and Facebook.  Over dinner at Fiamma, the conversation was strong as we talked HR and other matters, reflected on who unfortunately could not attend, and laughed.  Special, special thanks to Matt Charney and Monster.com for supporting the dinner.

On to day two.

Close Range

by Matthew Stollak on Thursday, December 9, 2010


I was perusing my alma mater's student newspaper when I came across this article:

"Re-posting on WikiLeaks could affect job prospects."

The reporter, Summer Ballentine, writes:

For some students, posting links to WikiLeaks on social networking sites might be another hurdle to landing a job in an already competitive job market.

WikiLeaks, an organization working to provide government and leaked information to the public via the Internet, released additional confidential government documents to numerous media organizations last week, and has since sparked a worldwide debate.

Students planning to find work or internships in the federal government after graduation were recommended not to post about or comment on WikiLeaks on social networking sites by college career advisers across the country — including at MSU.

Jaimie Hutchison, field career consultant for James Madison College, said an e-mail was sent Friday advising MSU students against posting statements on social networking websites about WikiLeaks.

However, the information in the e-mail is not based on any official James Madison College or MSU policies, she said.

Although the decision is up to students, they should be aware of possible implications of their actions, Hutchison said.

“I don’t know what the outcome of this will be — I just want students to have a heads up,” she said.

“The important thing for me as a career adviser is to make sure students have the information I do.”

The statement was influenced by a similar letter sent to some students at the University of California, Berkeley, Hutchison said.

A couple of thoughts:

1. The article gives opponents of social media yet another reason to strike fear into the hearts of those who use it. It once again signals that using social media can be an unwise proposition....be careful what you post or you won't get a job.

2. Are recruiters/HR managers really using postings of a political nature by candidates to influence their decisions? Are career advisers going overboard in expressing their concerns to students about such postings?


Crystal

by Matthew Stollak on Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The use of social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, in the classroom is growing, as is student time spent on exploring such sites. However, little research has been done to examine the impact on grades. Does actively participating in social media (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, YouTube, etc.) impact one's academic performance? Is social media usage impacted by the ownership of smart phones?

This fall, a colleague, two students, and I attempted to answer these questions. An online questionnaire asking students about social media, and its usage, was sent by e-mail to all students (approximately 2,100) at a small, liberal arts college.

The following hypotheses were posed:

Hypothesis 1a: Students with smart phones are more likely to be involved with social networking than students without smart phones.

Hypothesis 1b: Students with smart phones will spend a longer amount of time on social networking than students without smart phones

Hypothesis 2: Social media use will differ based on class standing.

Hypothesis 3: Social Science majors will utilize social media more than Natural Science or Humanities and Fine Arts majors

Hypothesis 4: A negative relationship exists between social media use and grade point average.

What did we find?

Of the approximately 2,100 surveys sent, 430 were received (20.47%). The primary respondents were freshman (42.5%) followed by sophomores (21.6%), seniors (19.8%) and juniors (14.8%). Gender was queried, but more than two-thirds (69.6%) chose not to answer. A significant majority (83.4%) had a grade point average (GPA) above 3.00, with 45.1% self-reporting a GPA above 3.50, 38.3% with a GPA between 3.00 and 3.50, 13.3% between 2.50 and 3.00, 2.7% between 2.00 and 2.5, and 0.5% below 2.00.

31.7% of students were able to access at least one networking site on their phone, with 98.5% able to access Facebook, 72.7% able to access YouTube, 58.3% able to access Twitter, 49.2% able to access MySpace, 45.5% able to access blogs, and 34.8% able to access LinkedIn.

Of the 430 respondents, 97% use one or more of the following social networking sites: Twitter, YouTube, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, or MySpace. The largest percentage of respondents used Facebook (95.4%), followed by YouTube (90.7%), reading blogs (27.6%), Twitter (17.6%), LinkedIn (7.2%) and MySpace (3.9%). Given the small sample size for MySpace, we chose not to include it in our analysis.

The time spent on the social networking sites echoed the order listed above, with 78.3 % indicating they spent the most time on Facebook, followed by YouTube (58.4% ranked it 2nd), reading blogs (41.7% ranked it third), Twitter (26.3 % ranked it fourth), and LinkedIn (43.0 % ranked it last).

How much time do students spent on social networking sites? Students, for the most part, spend less than 15 minutes a day on most social media sites. However, Facebook is the exception. A significant majority of students (77.2%) spend more than 30 minutes a day on Facebook.

FINDINGS

There was general support for hypotheses 1a and 1b. Students who have smart phones were more likely to both access social media tools and spend time engaging with others. From an educational standpoint, this means there may very well be a “digital divide” between those who are making connections with others, and those who might be left behind. Similarly, professors may have to be wary of assigning projects involving social media to students as some may have an advantage in completing the work than others.

There was partial support for hypothesis 2. Juniors and seniors were more likely to use Twitter and LinkedIn, and read blogs, then their younger colleagues. However, other than Facebook, there was no significant difference in the amount of time spent accessing these sites. As expected tools such as Twitter and LinkedIn have more relevance to older students as they try to connect with others in their job search or find work. Similarly, perhaps younger students use Facebook longer as they are building their social connections, whereas older students already have a well-established network of friends and colleagues.

There was also minor support for hypothesis 3. Social science majors were more likely to use LinkedIn and spend more time on Facebook. However, it was the Humanities and Fine Arts majors who were more likely to use Twitter and read blogs. Perhaps the difference lies in the emphasis placed on the written word, and Tweeting and reading blogs has more appeal to this group.

Finally, there was little support for hypothesis 4. GPA did not play a role in the use of any of the major social networking tools, and minutes spent on several of the sites did not differ. The major difference lay in time spent with Facebook, which did show a negative relationship between time spent on the social network and one’s grades. As noted in table 1, while most students spent 15 minutes or less accessing that particular tool, Facebook was the only social networking site where a majority of students spent more than 30 minutes of their time accessing. Students and teachers should be concerned about its impact on learning.

60 Miles an Hour

by Matthew Stollak on Monday, October 11, 2010


Last week, I finally got to meet the HR Capitali$t himself, Mr. Kris Dunn, as he was the keynote speaker to close out the WI SHRM State Conference. We were able to chat before his presentation, and the conversation turned to the many individuals we have been able to meet over social media. It occurred to me that there is no one I haven't met and maintained a relationship with on the various social media mediums that I haven't liked. So, it begs the following question:

Is likeability a necessary precondition to success in social media?

Anyone who is reasonably successful and gains a lot of followers on Twitter and/or Facebook must be worthy of being followed. We rarely maintain a relationship or follow someone who ends up being mean, hateful, etc.

So, it follows that if likeability is a necessary precondition to success in social media, why, then, are people reluctant to get involved in social media (beyond the artificial barriers placed on social media tools by employers)? Do people feel that the Social Media world is much like Heathers and they feel like they will be picked on like Martha Dumptruck? Where does the fear derive from?

This is all prologue to the plug I am making for the Social Mentoring project being put together by Ben Eubanks and Victorio Milian. If you fear getting involved in social media, or need help getting started, this project is for you! Don't hesitate in joining, either as a mentor or a mentee, as everyone involved is truly likeable.

Get Ready

by Matthew Stollak on Thursday, October 7, 2010

This past Monday, I was fortunate to appear on Bryan Wempen's daily blog talk radio show, "Drive Thru HR," to promote the Wisconsin SHRM State Conference, currently going on in Appleton, WI. The conversation turned to the topic of social media.

Of late, social media has become a growing component of the conference experience. The 2010 SHRM Annual Conference had their first annual blog squad to highlight conference activities, and a social media lounge. Illinois SHRM, HRFlorida, and Ohio SHRM had bloggers and heavy activity on the Twitter stream. As expected the HR Technology Conference was rife with social media experience with a number of bloggers and the HR Happy Hour. HR Southwest is starting up soon and it, too, will take a stab at carving up a part of the social media pie. You even see wonderful companies staking out a claim in this area, such as the Stelzner/Ruettimann powerhouse, "Voice of HR."

However, two major state HR conferences are going on this week, with relatively little fanfare: the 2010 Michigan SHRM Conference and the aforementioned 2010 WISHRM conference. While I can't speak for Michigan, WISHRM10 has over 1100 attendees, exhibitors, speakers, and guests....all with limited promotion on social media avenues. No major bloggers....no social media sessions....a relatively quiet Twitter stream.

So, I posed a number of HR bingo-type questions on Bryan's show: What is the return on all this social media activity? Is it creating a buzz? And is this buzz creating increased revenue to the state council? Are more people attending? Is it creating interest for future years of the conference? What is the bottom line of this activity?

Wisconsin SHRM enters its first full day of conference activity today. 1100 individuals will be busy enjoying the activities and learning, oblivious to the social media world's comments.

Chemical

by Matthew Stollak on Monday, September 27, 2010

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to sit in on the SHRM Membership Core Leadership Area webinar, "Social Media for Chapters and State Councils: The Rules of Engagement" (powerpoint here; membership may be required), led by SHRM's Manager of PR & Social Media Relations Curtis Midkiff. As described,

Learn how to use social media tools like SHRMConnect, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to engage your members and recruit new members. If you are new at using social media in relation to promoting and communicating information about your chapter, you won’t want to miss this webinar. SHRM's Social Media Manager Curtis Midkiff will provide an introduction to these tools and how they can assist you in reaching your goals.
The session was repeated on Thursday and over 270 people attended one or both sessions.

It is apparent that SHRM is taking a step forward in adopting Social Media, as evidenced by the hiring and work of Curtis, the creation of the SHRM Blog Squad and Social Media Lounge at the 2010 SHRM Annual Conference, and webinars such as the one presented above. However, if SHRM really "knows next," the next step is to make social media a critical component of SHAPE.

The SHRM Affiliate Program for Excellence, or SHAPE, is SHRM's volunteer centerpiece, ensuring that chapters and state councils align and engage with SHRM's overall objectives, as well as focus on activities and initiatives which are more strategic in nature. In addition, "SHRM depends upon each of its affiliates to operate in a professional manner; effective manage its finances; maintain affiliation standards; communicate with members, the community and SHRM, and promote SHRM. (italics mine)" Adopting social media with SHAPE would seem to be a strong fit with these objectives.


So, what would it take to make social media a component of SHAPE?
1. Top Management Commitment - SHRM has already shown some commitment to social media as already mentioned. Let's hope it continues.

2. Creating a Core Leadership Area (CLA) - SHRM already has a number core leadership areas to support the mission, including:
*Membership
*College Relationship
*Government Affairs/Advocacy
*Workforce Readiness
*SHRM Foundation
*Diversity & Inclusion
*Certification

While each of those areas could have a social media component (i.e., promoting membership initiatives locally and nationally, highlighting a SHRM Foundation silent auction, bringing attention to a particular piece of legislation), a Social Media CLA could spearhead, as well as support, each of those areas.

3. Adopting social media at the chapter or state council level for SHAPE- This would require:
  • having a volunteer person on the chapter or state council board, or as a director, responsible for advocating social media
  • creating and maintaining a Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn page at the chapter level
  • creating and maintaining a Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn page at the state council
  • ensuring that all chapters have a Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn presence (if the person is at the state council level)
  • this volunteer person would participate in SHRM-sponsored conference calls, SHRM-sponsored live webinars, state-council sponsored conference calls, and share best/successful practice discussions with CLA peers
4. Adopting a number of initiatives to support the chapter or state council - these could include, but are not limited to:
  • conducting, hosting, or sponsoring a social media seminar, conference, or social media-focused event
  • Contribute to an article or write and submit an article on the topic of social media
  • Maintain and write a chapter or state council blog
  • Be a speaker at a student chapter event
As evidenced by the 270 people attending the webinars last week, there is a demand for an increased social media presence for chapters and state councils. As it was geared to Membership CLA individuals, it does not come close to the number who might have attended but had time conflicts, or were simply unaware of the session. Given this demand, and the growing importance of social media in contributing to chapter growth, it only makes sense to make social media a required component of professional chapters and state councils.

Regret

by Matthew Stollak on Monday, July 5, 2010

Last week, I participated as an inaugural member of the SHRM blog squad as part of the 2010 SHRM Annual Conference. Here are a few blogposts that haven't been published (to date) that highlighted some of the sessions I attended:

The Why of Work

For the past two weeks, “The Why of Work,” by David and Wendy Ulrich has been prominent on my mind. First, the excellent Blog Talk Radio Show, “HR Happy Hour” (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/steve-boese) hosted by the incomparable Steve Boese and Shauna Moerke had Dr. Ulrich on as the guest on June 10 (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/steve-boese/2010/06/11/hr-happy-hour--episode-49--the-why-of-work). Then, I perused the book on the flight from Green Bay to Minneapolis to San Diego. Finally, to cap it off, I went to see their Monday Mega-Session

In their session, the Ulrich’s attempt to answer the question, “why does meaning matter.” They presented a number of bleak statistics, such as the rise in mental health disorders and the majority of workers (59%) who are thinking of resigning. People find meaning in a variety of sources – home, social groups, hobbies, friends, and, their focus, the workplace. To generate meaning, they find that leadership is crucial. They use a TV example, comparing “The Apprentice” and “Undercover Boss.” Whereas “The Apprentice” winnows a pool of candidates to a single winner, the “Undercover Boss” uses a single example of good employee engagement to enrich thousands.

They also try to answer the question of what does it mean to have an “abundant” organization. What truly is a meaningful organization? It comes down to three things: 1) meaning for ourselves, 2) value for stakeholders, and 3) hope for humanity at large. They referenced Victor Frankl’s classic book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” where Frankl was able to find an ounce of humanity even in a concentration camp. Can workers do the same in a much less horrific environment – the workplace?

In the end, how many times have you said, “I enjoyed the movie, but the book was much better?” Here, a familiar sentiment arose. While the Ulrich’s touched upon the highlights of their book, you’d be better off heading to the source and reading their tome. And, if you weren’t able to catch the Mega-Session, catch the HR Happy Hour session with David Ulrich cited above.


The Ultimate HR Booster Shot:2010/Cases, Trends, Impact

In “The Ultimate HR Booster Shot,” presenter Mindy Chapman provided an energetic and funny look at the panoply of traps organizations may encounter that may run them afoul of the EEOC.

Chapman used the metaphor of popcorn – a single piece is small and insignificant, but a lot of those small pieces may add up – and your company is increasingly becoming a target. Since 2009, when new leadership entered the EEOC, the number of charges has been on the rise.

This is particularly problematic for a number of reasons – the high cost of defense and the negative impact on culture, brand, and stock will be the same regardless of outcome. Further, your name can appear on a Google search long after the case has been arrived.

To “salt” the popcorn, Chapman noted 17 non-monetary requirements the EEOC may impose, such as annual nationwide EEOC training of the entire workforce, rewriting EEO procedures, providing new employee training within 30 days, and hiring an outside party to conduct the investigations. Even worse, the penalties can last up to 5 years and the EEOC can make you call customers. Looking at the “kernels” more closely, Chapman looked at the primary and secondary characteristics that can make a company more vulnerable.

Finally, Chapman presented an EEOC check-up of nearly 50 cases where companies have failed to live up to their EEO obligations. Using clever terms such as “No More Horseplay” (where a male supervisor was pulling on an employee pants, eventually leading to a female’s pants falling to the ground) and the “ZipLipper” (where a supervisor was making derogatory comments about an applicant’s physical deformities), Chapman did an excellent job of engaging the audience on a topic which some might find boring.

The one thing that was missing was the mention of the significant absence of human resources in preventing many of these cases. Was this a failure of training or selection? Why was the organization finding itself getting sued despite the fact that the primary EEOC laws were written in the previous century? One can only hope that the practitioners in the session will take the warning signs presented by Chapman to be more vigilant in their own workplaces.


Digital Quicksand: Avoid Time-Sucking Habits in a Web 2.0 World

As someone who spends a lot of time on social media (the selection to the SHRM blog squad might be one manifestation), Laura Stack’s session on managing social media OCD was particularly appropriate.

Stack highlighted 10 ways to make social media a value-added activity, rather than a suck on one’s time. These included such items as:

1. Understanding why you’re doing it – one should be purposeful and focused by establishing meaningful goals

2. Establish a routine – dedicate blocks of time to check your social media.

3. Avoid distractions – turn off those notifications, such as the “chirps” you hear while using Tweetdeck, or the phone buzzing when you have a new Facebook message.

4. Don’t use real time – use technology such as Hootsuiee or Social Oomph to schedule tweets

5. Don’t do anything manually – use autoresponder programs such as Aweber

While these were helpful suggestions, the presentation was a mixed bag.

· I would have liked to have seen more research on time management. For example, in Dan Ariely’s new book, “The Upside of Irrationality,” he cites studies that show that completing undesirable tasks in a single block is preferable than breaking it up into chunks. Meanwhile, breaking up tasks we enjoy (such as showing commercials during TV shows) actually increase one’s enjoyment of the task.

· The setting would have been more appropriate in a classroom where people had their laptops/desktops in front of them. She showed some excellent step-by-step instructions on certain social media tools, but the transfer of learning was diminished as few in the audience were able to apply the knowledge directly.

· During the Twitter backchannel, Eric Winegardner (www.twitter.com/ewmonster) of Monster.com made an astute point; that while scheduling tweets or using autoresponders might save time, they miss a crucial aspect of the social media experience – engagement! Its tough to build rapport and relationships without that real time interaction.