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Picture of Meghan M. Biro

Meghan M. Biro

Like most people who gravitate toward HR, Meghan loves people. Early in her career, Meghan realized she was a rare people person who understood tech. As a high tech recruiter, Meghan worked with hundreds of companies, from early-stage startups to global brands like Microsoft, IBM and Google. Meghan founded TalentCulture in 2008 to lead a conversation about the future of work with her peers in HR and leadership. These days, she is consistently included in lists of top online influencers and writes about HR tech and talent management at Forbes.com, SHRM.org and a variety of other media outlets. Her career background spans recruiting, tech, marketing, branding and digital media. As an HR tech analyst, author and brand strategist, Meghan is sought after for her ideas about the future of work, is a regularly featured speaker at global business conferences, and serves on boards for leading HR and technology brands.
Picture of Meghan M. Biro

Meghan M. Biro

Like most people who gravitate toward HR, Meghan loves people. Early in her career, Meghan realized she was a rare people person who understood tech. As a high tech recruiter, Meghan worked with hundreds of companies, from early-stage startups to global brands like Microsoft, IBM and Google. Meghan founded TalentCulture in 2008 to lead a conversation about the future of work with her peers in HR and leadership. These days, she is consistently included in lists of top online influencers and writes about HR tech and talent management at Forbes.com, SHRM.org and a variety of other media outlets. Her career background spans recruiting, tech, marketing, branding and digital media. As an HR tech analyst, author and brand strategist, Meghan is sought after for her ideas about the future of work, is a regularly featured speaker at global business conferences, and serves on boards for leading HR and technology brands.

Will Extended Parental Leave Ever Exist in the US?

The United States lags behind when it comes to parental rights. We’re on a shockingly short list of countries that offer no paid maternity leave and are one of just a few developed nations with no federally mandated parental leave. This isn’t a good thing for workers or companies. It leaves many people torn between health, family, and paycheck. For those who can’t afford to take time off, recovering from childbirth or adjusting to new routines can impact their performance at work. New parents who can afford not to go back to work after having children often don’t—leaving employers with vacant

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Make Social Technology Count In Your Workplace

A friend, who was involved in developing early word processing systems (imagine a world without Microsoft MSFT +0.44% Office or Open Office), was talking about the productivity-improvement claims made by fans of word processing. I’m like WHAT decade are we in? Smiles. I’m GASPing for air. By moving offices and workers away from typewriters, Dictaphone machines and stenography, businesses were supposed to see huge productivity gains. Employees would be empowered and secretaries (try finding a few of those today—know what I mean?) would have time to work on projects of higher value to companies. There would be no reliance on White-out,

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#WorkTrends Preview: Don’t Quit Yet: How to Create Your Perfect Job

Do you dream about finding the perfect job – the one position out there that has everything you could ever want and need? During this #WorkTrends show, author and keynote speaker Ben Fanning will join us to talk about how you can turn your current job into one you love….and in the process, keep the great benefits. Part of the secret to success? According to Fanning, it’s giving yourself permission to love your work. In the process, you create a space for exploration and possibility. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? In addition to learning how to love your work, we’ll dive into

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5 Ugly Myths About Changing Career in 30s

You are in your 30s, they say. You should already know what you want from this life and your career, they say. Oh, really? According to the research by Vodafone, people of 31-35 years old are the most unhappy at work. They feel undervalued, unfulfilled, demotivated, and they experience a mid-career blues, thinking of career change more often than others but still worrying if it’s worth making a swap here and now when you are not so young and promising as those graduates, full of energy and ready to do everything a boss tells. All those stories about 35-year-old Mary who

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5 Ways To Rock Star HR Leadership

One of the dirty little secrets of HR – Human Resources as a professional practice – is that it’s not always about the people and humanizing brands. Not really, anyway. Some HR professionals have more in common with the Governance, Risk and Control department of the enterprise. HR sometimes gets a bad rap for being more concerned with limiting risk to the corporation than it is with making sure the employees – people, everyone – are working well and that the company’s culture can sustain its people in a fast-paced business. As a talent management practitioner and speaker, I spend a

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#WorkTrends Recap: Where Have All the Mentors Gone?

Today’s #WorkTrends show addressed the risks and rewards of mentoring, identified some of the reasons mentoring is disappearing, and explored how to reintroduce these important business relationships. There are a myriad of benefits to well-designed and well-executed mentoring relationships in the workplace. However, it appears that the practice of mentoring is starting to taper off and, in some cases, disappear altogether. Along with our knowledgeable guests Jonathan Segal, a partner in Duane Morris’ Employment Group, and Sue Meisinger, a consultant and speaker on HR leadership issues, we also discussed: What exactly mentoring is (as well as what it isn’t) The importance

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The Disconnect Between our Educational System and Organizational Demand

Does our educational system leave new graduates at a disadvantage? The U.S. educational system has long been considered one of the best in the world, but in recent years, it’s stagnated. According to the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (a triennial global study), the U.S. was the lowest-performing industrialized country—below average in math, and only hovering around average in science and reading. Middle of the road won’t cut it in this global economy. The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently ranked the U.S. as third on the Global Competitiveness Index, behind Switzerland and Singapore, pointing to the quality of education

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Time For A New Leader In The C-Suite?

Business is remaking itself, and a concern for company culture appears to be high on the list of must-have skills (led by people who can add and subtract, of course). This truly makes me happy. What about you? I’ve been touting the benefits of company culture for a many years now and am very interested, but a bit skeptical to be honest, to read of this change in direction. Isn’t the C-Suite crowded already? There’s the CEO, CFO and COO, usually long-term appointments, flanked by the CIO, CSO and CMO, with average job tenures of two years. Usually the top HR

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The Impact of Technology on HR and What’s Ahead

Rapid changes in technology have affected businesses in more ways than we can count, from globalization and organizational adjustments to a workforce clamoring for remote and mobile job opportunities—and human resources has had to adapt swiftly. If HR wants to continue to play a critical role in helping businesses anticipate and manage organizational change, it must have technology at its core. With Millennials making up more than half of the current workforce—and predicted to make up 75 percent by 2020—HR is going to have to embrace and build on technological advancements to meet both employee expectations and business requirements. Talent analytics

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Social Learning Leadership: A New Panacea For Ignorance?

A dear friend’s TWINS (yes all caps) just entered a prestigious New England university. They are bright, driven, focused students and they’ll do well. They’d better, because it will cost my friend north of $100K a year to keep them in New England college splendor. Smiles. It would have been more costly at Harvard, which in 2012-2013 provided cost guidelines for undergraduates in excess of $62,000. Of course a recent graduate, if he or she were fortunate enough to find a full-time job (almost half are not so lucky, according to a recent study) might expect to receive an annual salary

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#WorkTrends Preview: Where Have All the Mentors Gone?

There are a myriad of benefits to well-designed and well-executed mentoring relationships in the workplace. However, it appears that the practice of mentoring is starting to taper off and, in some cases, disappear altogether. During this upcoming #WorkTrends conversation, we’ll discuss the risks and rewards of mentoring, identify some of the reasons mentoring is disappearing, and explore how to reintroduce these important business relationships. Along with our knowledgeable guests Jonathan Segal, a partner in Duane Morris’ Employment Group, and Sue Meisinger, a consultant and speaker on HR leadership issues, some of the things we’ll discuss include: What exactly mentoring is (as

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Who Owns Your Company’s Brand

I’ve written a lot about the positive aspects of brand, brand humanization, allowing employees to be brand ambassadors, and to free up their personal brand to evolve just as real people do. What I haven’t talked about as much is who owns your company’s brand. Does the organization? Do the brand ambassadors? Where do you draw the line, and when? I’ll tell you a story about a software technology company (one of my clients) which hired a well-known thought leader to be the brand ambassador for one of its product lines. The company allowed the brand ambassador to Tweet and blog

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#WorkTrends Recap: Diminishing Unconscious Bias in Hiring

Today’s #WorkTrends show addressed the topic of how to diminish unconscious bias in hiring–a topic that constantly plagues HR departments. Every day, unconscious biases influence hiring decisions. This issue undercuts the culture and success of many companies, from start-ups to Fortune 500s. According to our guest, author Gail Tolstoi-Miller, companies must build awareness of the biases that take place in the recruitment and hiring processes and take action. We discussed the reality that organizations need to implement formal, on-going training for people in decision-making functions, and she also shared how to combat and diminish bias throughout the hiring process. Some of

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Want to Recruit Great Talent? Focus on Your Online Presence

There’s no question that technology is a game changer today—no matter what your industry. One of the greatest changes happening with the advances in mobile technology, for example, allows businesses to both find and work with employees located quite literally around the world. While this opens up millions of hiring opportunities for recruiters, it’s also a bit of a Faustian deal. While recruiters may be able to pick and choose from a vast pool of talent that pool is so huge, that you can end up wasting time while attempting to separate the wheat from the chaff. What do you need?

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What HR Technology Can Learn from Minecraft

Minecraft, a video game that lets you build things with virtual blocks, has been a huge sensation since it hit the market in 2009. Everyone, children, and adults, seems to be obsessed with it; the game currently boasts more than 100 million players. Of course, there are behavioral and parental experts concerned that too much screen time playing Minecraft may affect social skills. However, contrary to this belief, experts have found that video games can offer quite a few benefits—including building social skills. Building social skills is important for children, but children aren’t the only ones who can benefit from the

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How HR Teams Can Use Cloud Technology for a Competitive Advantage

Nothing kills a good mood like a pile of administrative paperwork—a mark of many interactions with the human resources department. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Paper-based systems for everything from onboarding to attendance to payroll are moving to the cloud using new systems that can help HR work better. A vast majority of businesses are already using cloud technology in one way or another; in fact, one industry watcher observed that it’s quickly becoming the norm. Including HR in the transformation can automate and streamline critical functions like payroll and benefits administration—a move that can save money, improve

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Will Technology Replace HR in 2016?

We’ve been hearing about technology replacing humans in HR for more than five years. Algorithms, Talent Analytics, and Predictive Behavior Technology are certainly having a significant impact on HR, and making it much more of a science. Yet there’s an issue because technology is fallible too. What about the other side of the argument, that HR is an art because, at its heart, it’s about people? Which is it? Art? Or science? I say both. Today’s human resources professional resides somewhere between the warmth of personal relationships and the cold truth of data. For years, we’ve watched HR change before our

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#WorkTrends Preview: Diminishing Unconscious Bias in Hiring

During this #WorkTrends, we are going to discuss how to diminish unconscious bias in hiring. Every day, unconscious biases influence hiring decisions. This issue undercuts the culture and success of many companies, from start-ups to Fortune 500s. According to our guest, author Gail Tolstoi-Miller, companies must build awareness of the bias that takes place in the hiring process and take action. She will share why organizations should implement formal training for people in decision-making functions, and how to combat and diminish bias throughout the hiring process. #WorkTrends Event: Diminishing Unconscious Bias in Hiring Tune in to our LIVE online podcast Wednesday,

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Leaders: America Needs You To Be Its Batman

If you’re under 50, there probably hasn’t been, in your memory, a time of such paralyzing uncertainty. Sure, each decade since the 60s has seen its share of unpleasant news. The 60s saw JFK assassinated and the ramp-up of the Vietnam War. The 70s had Watergate, the fall of Nixon and the undignified scramble out of Vietnam. Jimmy Carter’s botched Iran hostage rescue marked the 80s, and the 90s saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. 2000’s Y2K was followed in close order by the dot-com bust and 9/11. While each of these periods

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#WorkTrends Recap: Quicker & Better: The Importance of Speed & Productivity in Recruitment

Today’s #WorkTrends show addressed the importance of speed and productivity in the recruiting process – a topic that is constantly relevant. In a tight labor market with high demand for top talent, speed is critical to landing the best possible talent. We were joined by Kurt Jones, Director of Product Marketing for PeopleFluent. According to Kurt, recruiting leaders need to focus on all of the areas in their control to make sure their teams are performing at peak productivity and with a constant sense of urgency. Some of the things we discussed included: How much wasted time costs an organization Why

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Five Reasons Why Social Media Should be On Your HR Radar

Social media has become an incredibly valuable part of HR recruiting efforts, both for relationship building and to identify and vet top talent. And truthfully? If you’re not building social media into your recruiting efforts at this point, you’re not really recruiting on par with today’s industry standard. The HR industry is using social media to source and recruit top talent—and, social media is where the candidates are. In fact, two-thirds of hiring managers say they’ve found successful candidates through social media. Social media, already so effective at digitally bringing people together, facilitating the sharing of ideas, and spurring conversation, is

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5 Truths: Insourced Leaders Promote From Within

Insourced focused leaders should be tuning into ways to recruit and retain talent from within for strong results and increased employee satisfaction. When my parents started in the world of work, there was an unwritten rule: put in two to five years on the job with a set job description and title before making your next move. Impress people, work 50+ hours a week, learn everything, and become essential to the organization. It was a recipe for success pulled straight out of 50s movies, and it was the way to move up the corporate ladder. With every promotion, the interval between

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Are You A Social HR Leader?

The Olympics provide us with a way to celebrate our great human triumphs. During the Olympics, eyes from across the world are glued to television screens featuring the best in human athletic achievement. In all of these sports, there are great athletes (“employees”). Behind every great athlete, however, is a great coach (“manager”). These coaches don’t deal with attributes, issues, or algorithms – they deal with people, and their people have reached the pinnacle of athletic achievement. As companies become more driven by social communication and less by hierarchical interactions, HR becomes a center of risk rather than a risk manager.

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5 Leadership Behaviors Loyal Employees Trust

Is any relationship ever completely reciprocal? Not really, because one party always wields more power over the other. This is a human behavior dynamic that is tough to ignore, especially when we look deeper at workplace culture and team dynamics. There are leaders and followers, loved ones and lovers, employers and employees. We might like to think equality, common goals and unquestioned commitment are the norm but it simply doesn’t happen. It’s true in personal life and in the workplace. I recently spent a weekend at a high school graduation where teachers glowingly described the fairly small class as a group of

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#WorkTrends Preview: Quicker & Better: The Importance of Speed & Productivity in Recruitment

During this #WorkTrends this week, we are going to address the importance of speed and productivity in the recruiting process. In a tight labor market with high demand for top talent, speed is critical to landing the best possible talent. According to our guest, Kurt Jones with PeopleFluent, recruiting leaders need to focus on all of the areas in their control to make sure their teams are performing at peak productivity and with a constant sense of urgency. Guest host Cyndy Trivella and Kurt Jones will discuss: How much wasted time costs an organization Why speed and productivity should be top

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