SHRM-Atlanta

The most important responsibility of a leader is to ensure the long-term viability of the business. Remember, your company is a reflection of the quality of its leaders. Effective leaders create healthy, cohesive and successful companies that leave positive legacies. The key to leaving a positive legacy is turning the power of one into the power of many. The one critical way this happens is through developing current and potential leaders. On a very practical level, as succession planners like to ask, “If you got run over by a truck tomorrow, who is prepared to take your place and facilitate the long-term survival of your company?”  A well thought out leadership development initiative is essential. This action, when connected to The Core (mission, vision and values), helps ensure your company’s sustainability.

Before you embark on this strategy or update your current leadership development initiative, here is a checklist of critical actions you should have in place:

• Our company has effective leaders in place. ( Remember… people leave bosses not necessarily the organization.)
• Leadership roles, responsibilities, and core competencies (including your own) are clearly defined and communicated according to the mission, vision, and values.
• Leaders consistently demonstrate the core competencies. (And these competencies are included in their performance feedback discussions.)
• Leaders have communicated the legacy they want to leave to the company. (Having a legacy is great. Communicating it is so much more powerful in getting people on board.)
• Leaders encourage individuals to be creative and innovative in helping to meet customer expectations, including problem solving for customers. (A great step in developing leaders at every level in your company.)
• Leaders provide for their own continuing development. (What is your development plan? Do as I do is much more credible than do as I say.)
• Leaders provide for the continuing development of employees. (The whole point!)

What are you doing to develop the leaders in your organization as well as the leaders in HR? Remember, great leaders ante-up first.

Dr. Jane Goldner, president of The Goldner Group, is one of the nation’s leading authorities on talent retention and trusted advisor to Fortune 100 Companies, government and military organizations, and to mid-sized businesses. She is the author of Driven to Success: A 10-Point Checkup for Achieving High Performance in Business, a step-by-step business guide for leaders. Dr. Goldner is a highly rated adjunct professor at Kennesaw State University Coles College of Business. She is a recovering “Everything to Everybody Woman” who focuses on helping other women leaders recognize and address their everything to everybody behaviors in order to lead with purpose & power. Her new book, Women Driven to Success: Integrating Multiple Roles and Defining Leadership Success will be out in 2012.

The Final Four this weekend will feature this season’s four most effective NCAA Men’s Basketball teams; Ohio State, Kentucky, Louisville and Kansas.  A common mission, strong leadership, collaboration and execution helped these teams endure the regular season and win in the NCAA tournament.  Corporate teams require the same elements to perform together and achieve business goals.  Developing a strong team, clarifying roles and creating an environment that encourages collaboration are the leader’s responsibility.  

There are a number of team development models out there that are popular and respected.  I’ve made use of Bruce Tuckman’s “5 Stages of Group Development Model” in my team building learning consulting, as well as Glen Parker’s thought leadership from his book “Team Players and Teamwork.”

A great new resource for leaders and team members is the recently published book entitled “The Secret of Teams: What Great Teams Know and Do.”  The author is my fellow Atlantan Mark Miller, Vice President, Learning and Development of Chick-fil-A. During his time with Chick-fil-A, annual sales have grown to almost $4 billion. The company now has more than 1,500 restaurants in 38 states and the District of Columbia.

What I enjoyed most about the book is Mark’s creative use of a fictitious business and fictitious characters to explore real-world business situations and challenges facing teams.  Through the characters’ experiences we learn that effective teamwork requires a special kind of leadership, a model that is fresh and insightful. 

Mark also provides a “High-Performance Team Assessment” that leaders and their team can take and discuss the results together.  The book was informative but also fun to read, something that isn’t always the case with business books.

I spoke with Mark to ask him a few questions about the book; here is what he had to say:

Q. You describe members of the highest performing teams as having an “all for one, one for all attitude.” What single behavior best describes this mindset at work?

A.  What separates good teams from great ones is a sense of community. That’s what turbo-charges performance. There is no single behavior really. Community is cumulative over time. It’s when you acknowledge great performance or help someone who is struggling on a project that you don’t have to. When you learn about team members’ passions, hopes, dreams, striving and failing when you don’t meet the goal. Communities celebrate together, mourn together and do life together. You can’t force people into a community, but you can create the condition that’s appealing and compelling.     

Q. What is the most important action a leader can take to build an effective team?

A.  There are three key actions. 1) Focus on talent, 2) ensure they have the necessary skills and 3) consciously cultivate an environment of community.  A leader can’t pass on one or two of these; they must acknowledge all three ingredients. Like our popular lemonade recipe at Chick-fil-A you need lemons, water and sugar. You need all three. Building an effective team is challenging. It requires courage and discipline.      

Q. How do you suggest leaders and teams use the High-Performance Team Assessment you provide in the book?

A. I’d recommend you 1) Complete the form individually, and talk about the answers as a group. Look for patterns where you agree and disagree. You’re bound to learn something just by starting the conversation. 2) Prioritize critical gaps and have the team decide what constitutes a critical gap. 3) Create an action plan and measure progress. You can complete the form again at the team’s discretion.    

For a free copy of the assessment, click this link to Mark’s Blog, GreatLeadersSERVE.Org under resources to find The Secrets of Teams Assessment. 

Is your team playing at a Final Four level?  Interested in Mark’s book?  Check out “The Secret of Teams: What Great Teams Know and Do.”

I had the pleasure of kicking off this year’s 22^nd Annual SHRM Atlanta Conference Total Rewards track with Achiever’s Rob Catalano’s session: 2012 Trends in Recognition – an energetic session focused on how employee engagement drives revenue.

According to a recent Gallup poll, organizations that recognize employees experience 47% higher profits, 50% higher sales and 50% higher customer loyalty. Wow. So why don’t more companies take this to heart?

Well, they are. Companies realize that connecting the People Strategy back to the team, and aligning HR and Strategy will only improve the company’s chance of meeting and/or exceeding their overall goals, just by implementing recognition programs that motivate and excite. “Focus on employees first,” Rob said. And make it specific, meaningful, and timely.” Great ways to do this include:

Start by creating a foundation built on culture and core values. Be sure to communicate and demonstrate to across the organization.

Consider results-based recognition like personal wins, cost-savings, and innovation, hitting goals, and going above and beyond. (Walk before you run!)

Implement a social recognition platform. 98% of companies believe that social engagement is an important tool for recognition and retention.  One emerging trend is the gamification of recognition. Similar to Foursquare’s badges and leaderboard concepts, a gamification strategy encourages can engage the entire workforce, creating a fun and competitive and productive environment.

So where do you begin?

1. Ask if employees are engaged.
2. Use relevant data to get executive buy-in.
3. Identify behaviors your company wants to see more of.
4. Then Do It! Recognize performance, not presence.
5. If you think you want to recognize, then re-think and re-tool the rewards strategy.

What happens to highly engaged employees? What is the real ROI? You want to make an impact, and you want to make it meaningful. By doing so, the return on this investment is a retention rate of 87% – with this kind of return, why wouldn’t you focus on the people who make your company the success it is today.

Jill Heineck, Principal of Focus Relocation LLC, an independent relocation consulting firm, where connecting HR to talent mobility is the focus. Jill specializes in helping companies identify areas talent and resources may be seeping out as it relates to talent attraction and retention efforts, and helps to find solutions. Companies looking for creative ways to attract and engage top talent, raise its internal and external brand profile, and gain a competitive advantage, partner with Focus, where the goal is to maximize the organization’s return on relocation.

Confidence, Leadership, Influence, and Implementation

I just attended my first SHRM-Atlanta Conference and had the honor of being invited to blog for the Business Acumen Sessions. I knew the conference would be fantastic.  But the rich quality of the content that was offered was even beyond my wildest expectations.  The event was incredible!

I used to work as an HR executive and during this SHRM-Atlanta conference it was fascinating to see how much that role has changed and evolved over the years.  Today it is more important than ever to realize the key components of HR leadership and the vital role that HR management plays within an organization.

I noticed four common themes interwoven into presentations and panel discussions as we heard from the industry’s top HR gurus.  So I thought I would highlight those.

Confidence

Several presenters emphasized the necessity for HR leaders to exude confidence.  They explained that if you can’t envision it, then you will never be able to share that vision with others – and you won’t achieve it.

Confidence is always a key ingredient to success.  You have to trust in your ability and act decisively, knowing how much value you bring to the table.  But before demonstrating confidence on the outside, you have to cultivate it within yourself.

Before you start to construct and fuel a talent pipeline, create and inspire a positive workplace culture, or act as a strategic partner you must first believe in yourself.

Influence

It is critical that HR executives master the art of “influencing those who are influential.” You have to convince senior decision makers to invest in recruitment, development, retention, succession-planning, and a dynamic, positive culture.

But HR results are not so easy to quantify. Providing metrics related to profit margins, sales volume, and the number of widgets manufactured every quarter is a whole lot easier.

So HR executives need to figure out innovative ways to illustrate the value of having the best people and the best working environment. You have to draw convincing correlations between HR initiatives and the accomplishment of organizational goals.

Leadership

But to be perceived as a strategic senior partner, you need an executive mindset.  Move beyond any psychological limitations that restrict you to playing a smaller, less important role.

As Pat Bernard explained, “Take the administrative part of HR and make it a non-issue. Don’t be seen as the administrator or taskmaster.”

I also loved the insight shared by Nancy Vepraskas who said, “To become a more strategic leader, you have to have a leadership mindset.  Don’t assume that you are a strategic partner and then get asked questions and find yourself in the weeds.”

Implementation

While addressing HR challenges, the conference simultaneously empowered all the participants with innovative tools, intelligent strategies, experienced insights, and sustainable inspiration.

A powerful team of HR experts shared a veritable library of wealthy tips and insights.  They told us how to improve employee engagement and create healthier and more productive work environments.  They explained dynamic ways to get involved on a leadership level to exert progressive influence across all facets of your organization.

Now we have to focus on developing specific competencies that deserve our attention.  We have to commit ourselves to our individual leadership, and begin to take steps toward mastering the tools, strategies, and techniques we gained from the conference.

I came away enlightened, enlivened, and rejuvenated.  I had a wonderful, transformational experience at my first SHRM-Atlanta Conference.  I want to congratulate SHRM-Atlanta and all the participants for their commitment to lifelong learning and professional development.

Sarah Hathorn, AICI CIP, CPBS is an internationally distinguished executive coach, corporate consultant, professional speaker, and the founding CEO of her own company, Illustra Consulting.  A career acceleration and leadership presence expert, Hathorn created the innovative Predictable Promotion System, a 10-step proprietary process she uses to coach managers aspiring to be directors, directors seeking vice presidential promotions, and VP’s eager to ascend to the C-suite.  Hathorn served as a senior level executive for a Fortune 100 company for 25 years, and she has more than 30 years of experience mentoring high potentials for rapid career advancement and extraordinary success.

Sarah’s tips, insights, and advice on professional presence, career acceleration, and executive leadership development have appeared on Forbes.com, msnbc.com, The Huffington Post and in features published by numerous newspapers and magazines including the New York Times and Money Magazine.

Jimmie Johnson’s #48 Chevy needs gasoline in order to race. My son’s 2001 Mitsubishi Gallant also needs fuel if he is to make it to school. Amazon needs an IT system in order to process the magnitude of online orders they receive. Yet, the 3 person CPA firm hustling to complete tax returns in April is equally in need of effective IT.

When it comes to HR we know large corporations like Coca Cola and UPS need HR, but is effective HR critical for small business? I contend that small business, any business, requires effective HR in order to be successful. It’s a wrong assumption to think the larger a business grows, the more vital HR is to the success quotient. HR is always vital—always!

Sure, size does matter when it comes to the application of a limited selection of HR regulations such as COBRA and FMLA. However, humans play a role in every organization and, therefore, Human Resources is critical for success.

Many small businesses fail to understand the scope of HR. For many, there is a shortsighted view of HR. For these, HR is simply hiring or payroll. This was my understanding before I was introduced to SHRM-Atlanta 7 years ago. I had been doing HR for years in small organizations—I just didn’t know it was HR.

Last week I participated in the 22^nd Annual SHRM-Atlanta HR Conference, (SHRMATL12). I, as an HR professional in a small business, am glad SHRM-Atlanta welcomes small business. The nearly 50 sessions at the SHRMATL12 gave a glimpse at the breadth of influence HR has on the overall business. The 1,000+ HR and business leaders who attended the two-day conference were trained and taught on Business Management, Technology, and to how attract, engage and motivate employees to bring about success in the workplace.  Any business, of any size, would have benefited from the opportunity.

SHRMATL12 was a microcosm of what is offered to business leaders and HR professionals throughout the year through SHRM-Atlanta.  By using SHRMATL12 as an example, below is a synopsis of just 7 of the many ways participation in SHRM-Atlanta benefits small business.

1. Small businesses need to apply best practices in hiring. Any growing business will eventually see the need to acquire new talent. In a small business, making the right hiring decision is critical as each employee makes up a larger percentage of the workforce than in a larger organization. Ken Winkler, in his presentation at SHRMATL12, emphasized the need for organizations “to prevent  stupid in the workplace” by making good hiring decisions, including conducting background checks. SHRM-Atlanta provides training and opportunity for members to learn best practices in talent acquisition.
2. Like any organization, small businesses need to know how to properly terminate employees. While it is not something we want to do, terminating employees is sometimes necessary. Whether the termination is “for cause” or due to business downturns, when it comes time to tell an employee goodbye we want to know how to do it legally, correctly and with the employee’s dignity intact. However, the employer must also protect itself. For instance, Greg Hare in his session at SHRMATL12 asked this question: When terminating an employee do you give them a lump sum check or use salary continuation as their severance? His answer of “salary continuation” surprised me, but his explanation made sense. He went on to emphasize that “one size doesn’t fit all” when it comes to severance agreements.
3. Small businesses need engaged employees. A trending topic at SHRMATL12 was employee engagement. Various presenters pounded us with discouraging statistics regarding disengagement of employees. Not only is absenteeism a critical issue for employers, but also presenteeism which is defined as employees who are on the job but disengaged. Jennifer Keaton shared that presenteeism costs American employers over $1 Billion a year. As Greg Smith emphasized, don’t be overly concerned about the employees who quit and move on, rather be concerned about the employees who quits and stay on the job. Disengagement is a concern of all businesses—small business included.
4. Employees in small businesses need to feel appreciated. Rob Catalano at SHRMATL12 emphasized that often our attempts to express appreciation to our employees fall short because our attempts to recognize them are not specific, meaningful and timely.  To illustrate this truth he showed a clip from an episode of Seinfeld. Anyone looking for a vivid example of how to show thoughtful appreciation will want to view “The Economics of Seinfeld.” This brief video will soon find its way into a staff meeting I will be leading—perhaps you can use it too.
5. The Law matters for all businesses. Attorney Greg Hare, in his presentation at SHRMATL12 listed several key “Non” documents every business should implement: Non-Competes, Non-Solicitation of Customers, Non-Disclosure of Confidential Information and Non Pirating of Employees. Heeding his advice, employers have opportunity to protect themselves from fines, lawsuits brought on by disgruntled employees, or losing a large share of their revenue via a key account manager going to work for a competitor. Often, it’s the small business that experiences the greatest negative impact of not having the right documents in place –and signed!
6. Small businesses need effective training of their employees. Successful organizations have trained and equipped players. However, training isn’t only for those with obvious deficiencies in their work. As Jim Bulger affirmed at SHRMATL12, “If you are only coaching your poor performers, you are doing a disservice to your other employees.” The benefits of training, however, go beyond increased performance; it can also prevent legal trouble. “Smoking gun comments,” stated Greg Hare, “and inconsistencies by managers and employers” often lead to trouble in the courtroom.  To stay out of trouble, train your managers and supervisors.
7. Small businesses need expert advice. While I have a PHR certification and a level of HR expertise, I often find myself needing counsel. I may not know all of 2,500 SHRM-Atlanta members, but I know enough of them to know where to go if I need answers. When I returned from SHRMATL12 I came back with another To-Do list that, if implemented, will make our firm stronger, safer, and more profitable.

All organizations are involved in HR. And yes, we who are in small business “do” HR, too. The question, however, is “Are we doing a good job of HR?” Thankfully, because of participation in SHRM-Atlanta hundreds of businesses and organizations, of ALL sizes, throughout metro Atlanta are doing a great job with HR. We invite you to join us.

Jack W. Bruce, Jr., as Chief Operating Officer at BIS Benefits, (Alpharetta, GA), provides general oversight in Finance, HR, Operations, Team Building & Strategic Management for this employee benefits firm. His role is to continually lead the firm by proactively enhancing the service, communications, human resource assistance, and technology for the benefit of their clients. Jack has earned a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) designation.  Jack has a few connections on LinkedIn and also enjoys an occasional tweet (Twitter: www.Twitter.com/jackwbruce &  www.Twitter.com/BISbenefits.  He is a member of the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and SHRM-Atlanta—where he serves in a volunteer position as Vice-President of GEMs.

I love conferences. It’s great to gather with a group of other professionals interested in learning something new and connecting with colleagues.  I was thrilled to be invited to attend SHRM-Atlanta to tweet and share some written insights.  I’ve been to many conferences, and this one was particularly well run and organized.  As a participant, I appreciated SHRM-Atlanta’s online resources to help me prepare to make the most of the event.  Vendors were friendly and forthcoming with information, and there seemed to be food or a meal every time I turned around!

I was struck by a great lesson in the first session I covered.  Coincidentally, the same theme permeated three sessions I attended!  Getting Talent Management Right, Now That’s the Power of The Home Depot showcased speakers Clarke Peterson, Principal Consultant, Atlanta Leadership Consulting and Gretchen Lumsden, Senior Manager, Talent Management, The Home Depot.  The session focused on a “do-it-yourself” theme, as Home Depot is the mecca for do-it-yourselfers.  Peterson said something that really resonated with me.  He explained, even if you are a do-it-yourselfer, “You don’t need to grow the trees” if you want to build a deck.

It’s true, isn’t it? You can be a DIYer, but you can still go out and buy your wood to build your deck.  What does this have to do with HR?  The session focused on how The Home Depot customized a commercially available tool to help them identify the best talent to hire.  The presenters explained how a company used to doing everything themselves, from scratch, realized they could benefit from metaphorically “buying the wood to build the deck” for their talent management tools.

This lesson was also evident in Mark Toth’s keynote, “Everything you always wanted to know about employment law.  He illustrated employee scenarios and shared information that made it clear organizations need to train their employees and managers to prevent potential legal problems before they happen.  Toth described how stressed the workforce is, costing $200-$300B in losses each year due to “stress-related absenteeism, burnout, decreased productivity, workers comp claims, turnover and insurance costs.”

But, do you need to create something new from scratch to address it?  Implement new policies?  Organize new task forces?  Toth (while he may have intended this as tongue in cheek), answered these problems with one word: “Love.”  He says, “Be nice to your employees.” (Did I mention he cited a statistic – per Right Management – “84% of employees plan to leave their companies in 2012?”)

Yes, in reality, everyone (especially Toth) knows there is more to it than just “love,” but it’s significant that the presentation ended on that note. There is something powerful about breaking down all the problems and lawsuits to a simple principle – one that doesn’t involve growing your own trees to build your deck.

Matthew Grabell, attorney, president & CEO of Employee Relations Solutions presented, Social Media and Legal Implications – How to Avoid a Lawsuit.  This session further illustrated how big problems can be prevented with simple solutions, and you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. One of the biggest problems?  Employees don’t seem to understand ramifications of sharing unprofessional details of their lives and opinions online.  These details become the manager or HR office’s problem when they (inevitably) go public.

A basic (no need to cut down trees) solution?  Train the employees.  Let them know, as Grabell explained, their Facebook passwords can be subpoenaed in a lawsuit if it were found they lied under oath about a topic related to what they may have posted there.  My suggestion?  Show employees how to use social media for the good – train them and encourage them to be brand ambassadors.  Do you need to grow your own wood to build this deck?  Do you need to write your own guide to social media use?  No, you don’t.  If you identify an expert who already understands social media to train your team, you will save tons of time and effort.  This coach should encourage your employees to use social media professionally and explain why it will be a boon to their careers.  The consultant can remind your staff why unprofessional information they post online may make it difficult for them to market their skills and expertise.  Will this solve every problem?  No, of course not, but it is a step in the right direction, and a step that does not require growing your own trees.

What are you doing in your daily job or business that effectively has you “growing the trees” to build your “deck?”  Are you trying to create a program or system someone else already provides?  Are you moving ahead, dogmatically ignoring people or tools to make your life easier?  Did you take the time to research options to make your plans into reality before you started effectively “planting seeds to grow your own trees?”  If so, maybe it’s time to take an all-important step back.  Stop sprinkling seeds and give a good look around to make sure there aren’t better resources or solutions that could improve upon your homegrown approach.

Miriam Salpeter is a social media strategist and author of Social Networking for Career Success (LearningExpress, 2011) and 100 Conversations for Career Success (LearningExpress, expected fall, 2012). CNN named her a “Top 10 job tweeter” and she contributes to U.S. News & World Report’s “On Careers” column. Featured on CNN and quoted in major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for her cutting-edge advice, Salpeter is an in-demand coach, writer and speaker regarding job search and social media. She teaches clients to take advantage of online tools and creates and optimizes social media profiles and professional websites. Learn more via her blog, Keppie Careers, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+.

By Michael D. Haberman, SPHR

What do scary news, leadership training, networking, tweeters and a guitar playing attorney have in common?  Give up?  The answer is the SHRM-Atlanta 2012 conference which was held on March 13^th and 14^th.  But that is not sufficient information to fully understand what occurred, so let me explain.

I am sure you are curious about the guitar playing attorney.  That was Mark Toth of ManpowerGroup North America. He was the keynote presenter on Tuesday the 13^th.  He regaled with facts like 32% of companies will have a lawsuit that will cost them up to $50,000.  Another 28% will have one that costs up to $100,000, while another 39% will pay over $100,000.  Many of them well over $100,000.  And 1% will pay over a $1,000,000 because of the number of people involved in the lawsuit or the facts of the case or both.  His presentation was not one of joyful news, but he presented it in an entertaining manner, and he pulled out his guitar and led us in a song at the end that had as its subject matter employment law.  Very creative and entertaining.

There were many, many people using Twitter, some of us as “official” and some not.  Everyone was encouraged to broadcast the message via social media.  So it is good to see HR and HR organizations embracing social media use beyond what we outliers do.

Of course there was a lot of networking going on with old contacts and making new ones.  Many a business card was traded.  The marketplace was well run and set up to encourage meeting people.  If you did not then it is your own fault.

The scary part I mentioned?  Well, I was assigned to follow and write about the Law and Legislation track.  All the presentations were informative, some were entertaining, but all of them were scary.  Let me give you a sample or two of what I am talking about.

• A thumb drive is the most likely way your employees can steal your date, with the typical 8 gig drive holding over 80,000 documents.
• Disability has moved from the realm of equal opportunity to being affirmative action.
• Lawyers can make you look like a bumbling fool in a deposition if you have not crossed every “t” and dotted every “I” and even then you will be miserable in the process.
• 88% of your IT staff said they will steal data or sabotage your data if they are fired.
• There are more ways your data can be leaked than you can probably count.
• Sending documents to your home computer to work on them may violate HIPAA.
• Enforcement efforts by both the EEOC and the USDOL are on the rise for the third year in a row.

So much for the scary and bad news. There was some good news as well. This included:

• Handbooks can be crafted to allow you flexibility and not box you in.
• The State of Georgia has made agreements such as non-competes and non-solicitation much easier to use than they have in the past.
• Mandatory arbitration agreements can actually protect you from wage & hour class action suits.

All told the law and legislation track was very educational as was the entire conference.  So put next year’s conference in your budget and plan on joining us.

Michael (Mike) D. Haberman, SPHR is a consultant, writer, speaker and co-founder of Omega HR Solutions, Inc.  He has been in the field of HR for 30 years as both practitioner and consultant. He specializes in compliance issues for his small business clients.  He is the author of the blog HR Observations which can be found at www.omegahrsolutions.com and he has been writing blog posts on a full spectrum of HR topics for almost seven years.  He is an active user of Twitter and can be found at @mikehaberman or @HRComplianceGuy.  He has been an instructor in HR for 14 years and has helped many people achieve their PHR or SPHR during that time.

Months of planning, weeks of campaigning and days of setting up and just like that it’s over!  OR is it?  The 2012 SHRM-Atlanta HR conference left a lasting impact on many that attended (in person or via twitter streams).  The impact will continue as video is loaded to our YouTube channel, more fans join the Facebook page, the Twitter page grows and people continue to share the knowledge accumulated in 2 short days.

Below are 10 things I learned and plan to share with others from the 2012 SHRM-Atlanta HR conference;

1. Over 300,000 veterans transition ever year
2. You need a separate performance plan for your top performers because they are motivated by different components
3. Greatest threat to a company is NOT employees who quit & left but the ones who quit but are still on the job
4. 88% of IT workers would take sensitive data or passwords if fired
5. 51% of employees do not feel fully utilized at work
6. Many employees would say the last time they had 1 on 1 talk about the goals of the company was during the hiring process
7. Effective exit interviews focus on why the employee wanted to leave, not why they chose another opportunity
8. If you only coach your poor performers about how to improve, you’re doing a disservice to your other employees
9. Enable your website with social plugins, make it easy to let customers/fans spread the word for you
10. HR people can cut loose and have fun

Guess where I came up with this list…..the #shrmatl12 twitter stream!  Granted, I did learn all of this information, but retained it via the stream!  2 days, but a careers worth of information!  Imagine what you can learn and retain by revisiting this year’s conference via our many social media channels.  Video will be added over the next several weeks and the Facebook fan page will be buzzing (and you can access YouTube and Twitter from the side panels on the page) OR you can wait till March 2013 for the next SHRM-Atlanta HR conference…..

The 22nd Annual SHRM-Atlanta Conference wrapped up yesterday — and I have to be honest, I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it went.  First, I love that we moved the conference to the Spring, instead of the Fall.  After coming off a week of colder, rainier weather, the warm temperatures were welcome — and it was a great time to get out of the office for some sharing, learning, and networking.   As VP of Social Media for SHRM-Atlanta, I had especially been looking forward to this Conference.  For the weeks leading up to the event, I had the opportunity to interact with  many of our Speakers, Sponsors, and Exhibitors for our first ever Speaker and Sponsor Blog Series.  Our goal was not to just TELL our distinguished members and conference attendees how great the content and the expertise shared would be, but to SHOW you.

I am so grateful to all of our Speaker and Sponsors who contributed — and who, in partnership with Meeting Expectations and our amazing SHRM-Atlanta Volunteers, made our Annual Conference such a success.  When I ask myself if we lived up to our  Conference theme of Working Towards A Better Atlanta — my answer is a resounding YES!  How you ask?  Let me sum it up in two words — Voices…and Love!

VOICES

I personally attend, speak, and/or somehow participate in conferences every year — I will even check out a live stream or search for video of an event (if available) that I am interested in, but perhaps could not attend.  I am also a voracious read of books and blogs…I even co-founded a blog, Recruiter Chicks, with our own incredible SHRM-Atlanta EVP of Marketing, Teela Jackson.  I find all of this is very important to my professional growth because of the insights, knowledge, wisdom, experience, best practices, and lessons learned I have gained — and why I also choose to share and contribute as well.

What is clear to me from my participation in SHRM-Atlanta — and never more prominently than after being a part of this event especially — is how many amazing voices we have that are speaking at our events and living right within our own membership.  There were so many takeaways, but for me the biggest one was I want to hear more from our community.  The level of talent is high and the voices are strong and should be heard and shared.

Through next week you will find a blog each day from each of our Conference Press Corp, who brilliantly chronicled highlights from each of the conference tracks/sessions via Twitter (hashtag #shrmatl12) and their own blogs.  The posts will highlight their overall thoughts, impressions, or even just focus on a particular session(s) that stood out for them.  I want to thank each of them personally for their outstanding coverage and invite you to follow this series over the rest of this week and next.  Please check out their personal blogs and tweets as well:

• Jack Bruce – Jack in the Team Box – Twitter: @jackwbruce
• Mike Haberman – Omega HR Solutions – Twitter: @mikehaberman
• Sarah Hathorn – Illustra Consulting – Twitter: @SarahHathornm
• Chris Havrilla – Recruiter Chicks – Twitter: @havrilla
• Teela Jackson – Recruiter Chicks – Twitter: @teelajackson
• Alex Putman – Social TRex – Twitter: @alexputman
• Miriam Salpeter – Keppie Careers - Twitter: @keppie_careers

So many other of our attendees also contributed to the robust participation we had on Twitter — thanks to all of you!  The tweets utilizing our  conference hashtag, #shrmatl12, were being followed by people all over the country, many commenting on the impressive content based on the tweets alone they were reading.  My one hope is that we can continue to hear from all of the amazing voices we clearly have within our SHRM-Atlanta community.  I want to continue to showcase great content and the expertise of our membership via our SHRM-Atlanta Social Media Channels, and especially our blog!!  In conjunction with my Co-VP of Social Media, Alex Putman, and our incredible SoMe team, we will continue reaching out to our community and encouraging participation.  If you do have an interest in guest blogging, see our blog site for guidelines and ways to submit.

LOVE

Love, you ask?  How is that working toward a better Atlanta?  What does love have to do with HR?  We were so fortunate to have Mark Toth, Chief Legal Officer of Manpower North America, as our keynote speaker this year.  In one of the most engaging, insightful, interactive and just plain fun keynote addresses I have ever seen — Mark laid out a fantastic case for boiling all of HR and Employment Law into one simple word — that is right, LOVE.

Summed up in a succinct list of action items for us all to follow for 2012:

Know the law

Focus on key Priorities

Investigate and document all claims

Beware of retaliation

Use the toolbox

If we have love for our people, process and just plain doing the right thing — Always investigate, don’t procrastinate, never retaliate — Prepare, be consistent and fair — happier employees and employers will prevail (and stay out of court)!!  If it sounds like a catchy tune…you are absolutely right:

Thanks to Alex Putman for capturing that classic!!  Be sure to keep a watch on our website and YouTube channel in the coming weeks to see Mark’s full keynote address posted.  It is truly a don’t miss!!  If like me, that is just not enough – please follow him on the Manpower Employment Blawg, or on twitter at @manpowerblawg!

Most companies today appreciate the benefit of outsourcing and automating Payroll and HR functions.  They partner with companies that provide specialized services and solutions in those areas in order to:

• Reduce costs
• Expedite processing
• Enhance accuracy
• Mitigate the risk of non-compliance
• Increase employee satisfaction with reliable payouts
• Ensure that taxes are paid correctly and on-time

These are just some of the reasons why companies choose to partner with a payroll provider.  They see the benefits and they want to leverage that expertise and protection to their best business advantage.

That’s all well and good.  But is Payroll the only consideration?  What about Time and Attendance (also known as Time and Labor Management – TLM)?

Historically, TLM took a back seat to Payroll.  Payroll was seen as the “must-have” service, while TLM was typically relegated to a “nice-to-have” service status.  That trend was partly due to the Payroll providers who sell and provide payroll.  From their point of view, Time and Labor is an “add-on”; it is not their core business or focus.

But in fact TLM is a foundational sub-set of Payroll.  The two services go hand-in-hand, each one feeding information to the other.  And because of that, companies are now realizing that if they take their automated Payroll and HR system and feed it with either a manual process or an outdated TLM solution, they are certain to encounter problems such as:

• A lack of seamless integration
• No checks and balances for DOL compliance and internal policies
• A slowed Payroll process of gathering, compiling and calculating data
• Inability to capture historical data
• PTO requests and the related tracking and approvals are often manual, tedious and error prone
• No simplified scheduling tool to integrate with time sheets or Payroll
• Lack of visibility between locations; failure to take advantage of Cloud technology

So with all of these challenges and limitations looming, your automated (and expensive) Payroll solution can become bogged down, inefficient and less accurate.  It stands to reason that if you are automating only one side of the equation (and not the other), you are likely losing money!  The rationale for partnering with a Payroll company stands true for Time and Labor as well.  You need to manage one of your biggest expenses: your people.

TLM delivers the best return on your investment when it is integrated with Payroll and/or HR, not as an add-on, but rather from the ground up, built to manage and track your people’s time.

The two processes work together seamlessly, and it is an affordable and preemptive strategy that keeps the DOL out of the picture so that your business can be more focused on growth, profitability and scalability.

Not only does TLM eliminate most problems on the front end, but it also serves as an amazing tool to handle anything from an employee inquiry, to a Union dispute or a full-on DOL audit.  Imagine having anyone’s punch data, from any time frame, with a full audit trail at your fingertips, without ever leaving your desk.

Now imagine if you could do that in a minute or less?!

So rather than asking “Why Time & Attendance”, I urge you to consider the more obvious question, “Why not?”  Why wouldn’t you integrate TLM solution alongside Payroll?

The truth is, you would be foolish not to…

To speak with a TLM Consultant or to learn more about SaaSTime and their comprehensive TLM solutions, be sure to visit booth number 236 in the Resource Partner Showcase at SHRM-Atlanta’s Annual Conference March 13 &14 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA.

David Nixon is a Workforce Management Sales Consultant with SaaSTime.  He has spent the past 16 years in the Payroll outsourcing world.  Half of that time was spent as implementation specialist and support specialist for 200+ companies, and the last 8 years have been spent as a Workforce Management Sales Consultant, helping companies cut costs, streamlining internal processes and staying in compliance with the Dept of Labor.  David was formerly a top producer at ADP, a Solutions Engineer and Subject Matter Expert at Perquest, and is now the Sales Consultant for the SaaSTime WFM product line.