“Social media changes everything. Marketing, sales, customer service – they’re no longer departments. Engagement is now a way of business.”

So says Brian Solis (@briansolis), social media luminary and author of “Engage” and “The End of Business as Usual.”

It’s no secret that social media has become a game-changing influence on customer-facing business functions. The immediacy and transparency of social business requires a whole new level of flexibility and responsiveness from marketing and sales. But along with that shift, organizations are feeling an associated pull to integrate social tools and processes into other business functions, as well.

This is both a tremendous challenge and opportunity — with potential to transform every aspect of business life. So naturally, there are profound implications for Human Resources. But as TalentCulture‘s Meghan M. Biro noted in a recent Forbes.com post (5 Ways to Rockstar HR Leadership), common sense can be a powerful guiding principle — especially when innovation is in the air.

This shift isn’t just about socializing HR operations with new technology. At a deeper level, it’s about the cultural shift that HR can choose to model and champion for others. When disruption is a way of business life, resiliency is its closest ally. Therefore, as change becomes the only constant, HR leaders can play a critical role in moving their organizations toward more adaptive, agile cultural norms.

Talent 2.0 — No Turning Back

This was the focus of yesterday’s #TChat discussion “HR Rockstars – Moving at the Speed of Business,” prompting 340 contributors to step into the spotlight and breathe life into the agenda with a nonstop stream of ideas that echoed across Twitter. In only one hour, 2,100 tweets generated 11.7 million impressions. That loud collective voice, scrolling by at breakneck speed, is a living example of social HR rock stars in action!

The hour was marked with many high notes — most of which are captured in the Storify slideshow at the end of this post (see below). So, rather than trying to recap overall sentiment, the smartest way to honor the session might simply be to get out of the way, and let the highlights speak for themselves.

But before I step aside, I’d like to share several items that resonated with me:

“The speed of business is the speed of the slowest decision…” @IncentIntel

Implication: HR serves the larger organization — it does not control pace, flow or direction. However, it can influence those factors. This is where HR can add value, with proactive guidance.

“In a complex work environment, capacity to negotiate agreements & hold each other accountable is key. Speed can’t depend on hierarchy” @SusanMazza

Implication: By forging relationships based on mutual interests and trust, HR can create a framework that decentralizes decision-making, while minimizing friction and inertia.

“The best talent is not looking for work, but they’re social. Successful HR is networking to recruit talent.” @ValaAfshar

Implication: The strongest candidates are already working at the speed of business. HR must keep pace and catch them in that stream — or face the consequences of letting socially adept talent pass by.

“Create a vision with staying power.” @jesselynstoner

Implication: As illustrated in Jesse Lyn’s post about NASA’s Apollo project, “Where” is important, but “Why” is even more vital — especially in complex, uncertain, fast-moving environments.

The Road Ahead – Are We There Yet?

With so many thoughtful, relevant ideas about how to move HR to the next level, I wonder: How many organizations have arrived or are even close to achieving a 2.0 vision? And how long will it take before it becomes a reality for the rest of us?

Let’s Keep the Conversation Alive! If you joined last night’s forum, which ideas were most meaningful for you? How will you apply them? Please tell us! Add comments below — or if you blog about it let us know by posting a Twitter link with the #TChat hashtag. We’d like to share your ideas with the TalentCulture community here and via @TalentCulture.

Coming Up on #TChat

Join us next week (Wednesday at 7pmET/4pmPT), as we dive more deeply into the concept of Employee Engagement. Look for a full preview next Monday via @TalentCulture and #TChat. Thanks again for your interest and your contributions!

[javascript src=”//storify.com/TalentCulture/tchat-insights-hr-rock-stars-and-business-speed.js?template=slideshow”]

#TChat INSIGHTS: HR Rock Stars on Business Speed

Storified by TalentCulture · Wed, Oct 10 2012 20:45:18