HR means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To me it’s been my career. I’m not sure how else to write this in the moment. I have a lot of respect for HR practitioners that are KICKING it in the trenches every day.
Ask someone on the street and they’ll say, “The lady who tells me I’m hired, gives me my employee handbook and sets up my benefits.” Ask someone inside a company and they’ll say, “The guy who tells me I’m hired, gives me my employee handbook and sets up my benefits.” Ask executive management and they’ll say, “The lady who tells me I’m hired, gives me my employee handbook and sets up my benefits.”
Wait, what? This cannot be….HR is so much more. And yes, this includes talent management and employer branding and…marketing and CEOs. We are all uniting and becoming social. This pretty much includes many different units in the workplace. Why we call #TChat The World of Work. It’s everyone.
Unfortunately lots of people (still) dislike HR departments and many still view them as the office caricature, the resume screener, back office administrator and compliance office police officer that nobody wants to work with, one of the grim realities HR pros deal with on a daily basis. The reality is so many more also know how to keep the hiring pipeline full, how to help deal with difficult or disruptive employees, and how to build and sustain an attractive workplace culture.
But let’s be honest: HR is usually seen less as curators of workplace culture and more as the police brought in to direct traffic or quell a riot. So how do we change it up? What can we do to be seen as core to the management team, positive influences, trusted partners committed to building a rewarding and resilient workplace?
Sociable vs Social – There’s a Big Difference
The key for HR is to become more human; to be more social. This doesn’t mean office birthday parties or the annual holiday party or having a beer with the work gang after work. What it means is that we have to stop focusing on managing risk and start focusing on creating and sustaining social interactions in the workplace — to hiring responsible and accountable employees who communicate and collaborate and all the other buzz “c” words you can think of, as well as doing their jobs (and then some) to help the business grow and thrive.
We have to drop the game face and show our human side. People, after all, work for people, follow people to jobs, leave jobs because of people. We have to be people before we can lead.
Right?
In the interests of exploring what it means to be more human on the HR job and how that pays dividends in small business and the enterprise, we’ve decided to look at what it takes to become social HR leaders in this week’s TalentCulture #TChat World of Work. From using social technologies and tools to spark disruptive change in the workplace to dissecting the qualities of leadership, we’re eager to hear what the community of chatters thinks about what it takes to be a social HR leader.
Susan Avello (@SusanAvello), someone who knows a thing or two about social HR, will be our guest moderator. Alongside her, to field your tweets, will be yours truly (@MeghanMBiro) and Kevin W. Grossman (@KevinWGrossman), as well as Sean Charles (@SocialMediaSean), Salima Nathoo (@SocialSalima) and Brent Skinner (@BrentSkinner). Be sure to join us at 7 PM EST / 4 PM PDT!
This will also be a preview to our first-ever World of Work live #TChat Session at the 13th Annual Illinois HR Conference & Exposition, one of the many HR Super Social Hero events that occur throughout the year. I want to personally thank Dave Ryan (@DaveTheHRCzar), Susan Avello (@SusanAvello), Donna Rogers (@DonnaRogersHR), John Jorgensen (@jkjhr), and many , many other friends who have always supported our efforts to make the World of Work more social. I like hanging out my friends in the trenches and it all starts with #ILSHRM coming up next week August 5-7, 2012. Our live session will be Monday, August 6, from 5-6 pm CST. I’m honored to be here with many of my friends and colleagues.
Here are the questions we’ll be discussing in this week’s #TChat (and next week at #ILSHRM):
- Q1: In HR and the world of work, what does it mean to do the opposite of what’s been done to spark disruptive change?
- Q2: What are the traits that make for a great HR pro?
- Q3: How do great leaders lead in business today and why?
- Q4: What are the cool new HR technology tools and why?
- Q5: Where does social media make sense as an HR and recruiting tool and why?
So join us tonight, Wednesday, August 1, and if you’re in Chicago starting on August 5, come see us at the Illinois State SHRM session! Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman look forward to discussing the above questions with our esteemed panel:
Geoff Webb (
@SocialHRGuy) and Salima Nathoo (
@SocialSalima) will be our special live audience moderators — because like our weekly online #TChat, this session’s all about participation and inclusion — for everybody. Let’s be inclusive and social. We can do this.
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