Meghan M. Biro, Author at TalentCulture

Social Software: Will Leaders Decide To Adapt?

The key to collaboration is communication: we need to be able to talk to each other to get stuff done. And it’s a compelling facet of the global, hyper-networked, social and mobile new world of work that we are nevertheless in dire need of better ways of communicating with each other. That’s what makes the emergence of social software such a remarkable and powerful gift — with profound implications for fostering innovation, driving collaboration and deepening engagement. It’s fast and scopey, enabling everything from messaging to team-mailing to live chats to file sharing to all of the usual. Yet as far as user adoption does, the

Talent Analytics: Predicting HR’s Way Out Of The Fog

Here’s the average amount of time recruiters spend looking at a resume: 6.25 seconds. That’s how long it takes to evaluate, by brain, whether or not a candidate is the right fit for a job. And here’s another stat: this is the thirteenth month in a row when 200,000 plus jobs have been created. So, theoretically, to fill 200,000 jobs would require 347 hours of brain time. That doesn’t count all the other candidates who didn’t make the cut. Or what happens after the hire. The variations on success or failure in HR are always endless: we’re human, not robot, for one thing.

Recruiting In-Demand Talent Is About Relationships And Trust

Assumptions and expectations change with time and technology. We all know the If you build it they will come principle; an essential tenet of innovation that’s abundantly apt in this age of rapid innovation in the world of work. When social, mobile, analytics and the cloud exploded out the four corners of the business universe and transformed the ecosystem with a resounding SMAC, they also spawned a bazilliontrigoogolplex of new ways to find talent. Assume and expect this: job seekers and potential employees expect and assume that the best and more competitive brands are looking for talent along multiple platforms, using a range of strategies, and

Is Your Company Ready For Email Collaboration?

Are mobile and email holding us back? I’m beginning to think so. In the department of What Happens Next In The World of Work, they’re what has to happen: We need to have seriously better ways of communicating both via mobile and via email. Both need to catch up to the way we want to work, which is more collaborative, interactive, agile, and fast. Yes: mobile is a great big shiny new awesomeness. But it’s shiny and fast like a speedboat: not much room inside that racing machine. And no matter what we may have speculated, email is simply not going away. But mobile

#WorkTrends Preview: Creating a Culture of Wellness

Health and wellness extends far beyond preventing the spread of germs in the office during cold and flu season. It is a combination of keeping your mind, body and mental wellbeing in good standing to reach a higher level of productivity. Companies should prioritize the general health and wellness of their employees because it can impact productivity and the bottom line. Recent research indicates that the availability of a wellness program is a selling point when looking for a new job, but many indicate their workplace doesn’t offer one. In a wellness program, employees report they’re looking for fresh foods, onsite

Five Ways to Foster a Wellness Culture

I’m going to say it loud and proud: I love workplace wellness programs. And I will shout it from the rooftops until every company in every industry finally understands how invaluable they are to overall corporate success. Here’s the thing—a happy, healthy employee is good for profits. In fact, the American Heart Association found that for every $1 invested in workplace wellness, companies could expect to receive up to $3 in return. That’s fantastic ROI. I also love technology, but it’s true that technology has disrupted our work lives and our family time. And while that slow-creeping crossover has had (some

#WorkTrends Recap: Clashing Cultures During M&As

Mergers and acquisitions happen in business. Combining businesses with different staffs and cultures can be cause for concern. It can go really well or go extremely wrong. On this week’s #WorkTrends podcast and Twitter chat, Host Meghan M. Biro was joined by Patrick Morin to discuss how to handle clashing cultures during mergers and acquisitions. Patrick is a Managing Director with Transact Capital Partners, a Virginia-based investment banking firm that specializes in the mergers and acquisitions of privately owned companies. He is also a founding partner of BrightHammer, LLC., a global consultancy that assists in post-merger cultural integrations. Here are a

Data Security Must Be a Top Priority for HR

In today’s world of digital transformation, mobile business, interconnectivity, and remote workforces, there’s one word that must be top of mind for any organization: Security. Especially when employees and proprietary business data begin to mix. I’m not just talking about malicious hackers or ransomware attacks, either. Here’s the thing, and it’s something that we tend to forget as we go about our busy workdays. Employees are prone to human error. They’re human beings, not machines, after all. Also, with the mainstreaming of BYOD (bring your own device) policies, the window for error widens every day. The average company already uses more than

Spock: The Ultimate Chief Culture Officer

RIP Leonard Nimoy, the actor who brought Star Trek’s Spock to life. Nimoy’s characterization of the Vulcan-human hybrid turned him into the moral compass of the Enterprise — and the enterprise. Despite his internal conflicts, Spock was the invaluable right hand to Captain Kirk. The Enterprise was its own organization, predictive of today’s world of work: global, multigenerational, never-a-dull-moment, constantly disrupted (Oncoming!), and led by a brilliant, stubborn, charismatic captain / CEO. Seen in that light, Spock was a Chief Culture Officer (CCO), and he set the bar high. His judgment calls bolstered Kirk’s bravado decision-making and (often) reassured the crew. His sense of

6 Ways Vision Will Inspire Your Employees And Culture

Even as kids, we developed radar on leadership. Consider the classic schoolyard game, Follow the Leader. Everyone has to do exactly what the leader does, or they’re out. Growing up, I remember watching that game dissolve time after time. The leader would start doing scary climbs or huge leaps, and the followers felt put at risk. The leader would make seemingly pointless changes in direction, the followers got frustrated. Finally someone would yell, What are you doing? You’re a terrible leader! And set off a culture mutiny. Since we left the playground for the workplace, what’s changed? Not much. Though these days, vision’s

Employee Engagement 101: Does Your Culture Value Humans?

What’s the distance between your company culture and your brand? Answer: There shouldn’t be any. A company culture that’s authentic and deep will translate through the employer brand, conveying the same tone, the same mission, the same values to job seekers and new hires that it does to fully entrenched (and hopefully engaged) employees. But if we’re out of the dark ages in terms of the new World of Work, we’re still in the dim outskirts. Consider employee engagement, a key indicator for one thing, more quantitative data (such as career satisfaction) can be gleaned by employees already at a workplace than

#WorkTrends Preview: Clashing Cultures During M&As

Mergers and acquisitions happen in business. Combining two businesses with two different staffs and two different cultures can be cause for concern. Join Host Meghan M. Biro and Guest Patrick Morin to discuss how to handle clashing cultures during mergers and acquisitions. Patrick Morin is a Managing Director with Transact Capital Partners, a Virginia-based investment banking firm that specializes in the mergers and acquisitions of privately owned companies. He is also a founding partner of BrightHammer, LLC., a global consultancy that assists in post-merger cultural integrations. Together, we will discuss: Bringing different corporate cultures together amicably; The Buy-In vs. Performance Matrix;

The Future Of Work Has No Boundaries

Among the many facets of this new way of working: a not-always smooth shift from officemates to virtually connected nomads who communicate and work via all sorts of virtual channels: social, mobile and video. A statistic that’s been reverberating since I first read it: by 2015, which is now, 1.3 billion of us worldwide will be working remotely. That’s about 40% of the global workforce. Another: HR technology alone is a market worth more than $15 billion. That’s a whole heap of screen time for your personal brand. In this virtual, hyper-connected and hyper-competitive culture, body language is more critical than ever. There’s plenty of coaching to

#WorkTrends Recap: Meaningful Communication’s Impact on Happiness and Morale

Meaningful communication has a dramatic impact on happiness and morale in all facets of life. On this week’s #WorkTrends podcast and Twitter chat, our guest Mike Lindstrom discussed some powerful communication tips and tools to help you better understand the impact of your words on others. We covered why engaging people around you on a deeper level actually triggers happiness in the brain and creates a strong rapport. Here are a few key tips Mike shared: There’s a difference between hearing someone and listening to someone Listening to someone is being present Put down the phone and technology to be truly

The CMO Personality vs. The C-Suite Personality [Study]

Looking into the C-Suite of any successful organization and discovering it was populated by strong personalities and characters probably wouldn’t surprise anyone. But it might surprise you just how much the psychological make-up of different top-level roles manifest themselves, how they can affect the dynamics of the executive suite, and how they might inform the career prospects of those who aspire to rise to the top. That’s what a recent study of the personality profile of the average Chief Marketing Officer—how CMOs compare themselves to their C-Suite peers—explored, and the results are fascinating. The study, Inside the Mind of the Chief

Employee Benefits in 2016: Perks or Expectations?

Are employee benefits today considered perks, or are they expected? It’s a question many ask these days. Not surprisingly, the history of employee perks involves World War II, the burgeoning tech industry and women. I say not surprisingly because these same key elements like a reduced workforce, new technology and women in the workforce are still driving factors in why many businesses today are upping their game when it comes to employee perks. But let’s back up a minute. When World War II broke out, Hewlett-Packard’s David Packard, at the request of the War Department, stayed behind to run HP’s test

How To Be A Good Leader? Get Real

Labor Day’s coming up. To me, national holiday not only reminds me of honoring the workforce (which we’ve been doing as a nation since 1894), it also signifies the start of a new season. I may have left my school days behind, but that feeling of sharpening my pencils for some serious buckling down has never left. What’s on the curriculum? In the university of HR, celebrating the workforce is more important than ever — and celebrating them every day. That requires good leadership, with a human face. I’ve been spending a lot of airtime on Talent Acquisition’s need to keep pace with the

Is Your Brand Telling Meaningful Stories?

Authentic storytelling in the workplace (and outside of it in social media channels) is an amazing way to impact talent strategies. It’s part science: apparently, we respond to storytelling with a change in brain chemistry. It’s part social: a great way to build trust and confidence, and to increase your audience. It seems like a soft skill — it’s called storytelling after all. But companies and leaders that don’t explore their own authentic stories face a hard lesson when faced with more candid competition. Storytelling is about sharing goals, expectations, and experiences. For an organization’s talent strategy, storytelling has a multi-tiered payoff: It’s an ideal way

How to Stop Your Bad Hiring Decisions

I’ve heard it said before that if you end up with a bad employee, you’ve probably made a bad hiring decision. Now, please understand, I’m not excusing an employee’s poor work ethic or a “less than engaged” employee, but more often than not, there’s a good chance that person wasn’t the right fit in the first place. Bad hiring decisions are costly. Beyond how an under-functioning employee affects team morale, workload, and deliverables productivity, the wrong hire also hits hard from a financial perspective. How costly? Take a look at these turnover costs as percentage of actual salary: Position Type Percent

#WorkTrends Preview: Meaningful Communication’s Impact on Happiness and Morale

Meaningful communication has a dramatic impact on happiness and morale in all facets of life. Join us for this #WorkTrends podcast and Twitter chat as our guest Mike Lindstrom discusses some powerful communication tips and tools to help you better understand the impact of your words on others. We will also cover why engaging people around you on a deeper level actually triggers happiness in the brain and creates a strong rapport. Get out of your own way and join us to discuss this very important topic with Host Meghan M. Biro and Guest Mike Lindstrom on 8/31 at 1pm ET.

Doing Good Work Matters More Than Your Personal Brand

There’s still a lot of chat on the topic of personal branding. Particularly for people just entering the world of social media, there’s major pressure to create a distinctive personal brand now more than ever. For those in a career flux, there’s major pressure to catch up with the sexy branding thing and seize the new networking and career opportunities that social media can offer. For someone looking to jumpstart their way into a new career adventure, crafting a new personal brand can seem like a shortcut to appearing to already fit there. But I’m going to dispense some advice here: regarding the issue of

#WorkTrends Recap: Be Your Customer’s Hero

Too many organizational leaders are scared of employee empowerment, often coming from cultures of command and control; fearing what can happen if they give up that control. However, the greatest customer experience companies empower their teams to solve issues in real-time, resulting in more satisfied customers and fewer escalated issues. On this week’s #WorkTrends show, our special guest, author and customer service expert, Adam Toporek spoke about customer service examples from Starbucks, Ritz Carlton and his own experience as a small business owner. Here are a few key tips Adam shared: It is crucial for employees to remove the hassle from

What to Do Now About the Widening Gap in Data Skills

With the rise of our technology driven, increasingly mobile society, as well as the steady march forward of the Internet of Things, big data is everywhere. And when I say big — I mean big. And many people are wondering just what to do about the widening data skills gap. Here are some eye-opening stats: Big Data is big news:There has been more data created in two short years than in the entire history of the human race, and 73 percent of companies have already invested or plan to invest in big data this year. Big Data means big money:For a typical

You’re Hired And It’s Mutual: 5 Ways Employee Culture Is Great For Leaders

In the world of work, there’s a new type of relationship agreement to be forged — a win-win built on trust between employer and employee that reflects a clear shift in workplace and social media culture. It’s mutually productive, an entirely different way of viewing work, and it should form the core of your new talent strategy. I’ve come to this conclusion based on two disparate poles in talent strategy making news: one encouraging, one discouraging. I’ve been accustomed to this wacky weekly swing lately. On the plus side is The Alliance, the groundbreaking new book by Reid Hoffman (co-founder and CEO of LinkedIn), Ben

The Old Ways Of Working Are Not Working

The future of talent has arrived. Today’s businesses are competing for the most innovative and the brightest, and it is time to step up to the plate or step aside. What does it take to recruit, evaluate and retain a 21st century workforce? Well, here are some things you need to consider: 1) The Old Ways Won’t Work: Cultivating top talent is essential if you want your business to adapt and thrive. According to a recent survey just 34% of executives believe their talent acquisition efforts are up to the job of preparing the workforces their companies will need in the future. They’re right. Executives need to

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Meghan M. Biro

Meghan M. Biro

Talent Analytics: Predicting HR’s Way Out Of The Fog

Recruiting In-Demand Talent Is About Relationships And Trust

Is Your Company Ready For Email Collaboration?

#WorkTrends Preview: Creating a Culture of Wellness

Five Ways to Foster a Wellness Culture

#WorkTrends Recap: Clashing Cultures During M&As

Data Security Must Be a Top Priority for HR

Spock: The Ultimate Chief Culture Officer

6 Ways Vision Will Inspire Your Employees And Culture

Employee Engagement 101: Does Your Culture Value Humans?

#WorkTrends Preview: Clashing Cultures During M&As

The Future Of Work Has No Boundaries

#WorkTrends Recap: Meaningful Communication’s Impact on Happiness and Morale

The CMO Personality vs. The C-Suite Personality [Study]

Employee Benefits in 2016: Perks or Expectations?

How To Be A Good Leader? Get Real

Is Your Brand Telling Meaningful Stories?

How to Stop Your Bad Hiring Decisions

#WorkTrends Preview: Meaningful Communication’s Impact on Happiness and Morale

#WorkTrends Recap: Be Your Customer’s Hero

What to Do Now About the Widening Gap in Data Skills

You’re Hired And It’s Mutual: 5 Ways Employee Culture Is Great For Leaders

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Meghan M. Biro

Meghan M. Biro

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