David Kovacovich is an Engagement Strategist, Organizational Culturalist, and Behavioral Economist. He has been a member of the SHRM Annual Conference Social Media Team since 2013 and is a keynote speaker in the NCHRA lecture series.
David is on Twitter at @DavidKovacovich and blogs at Dave's Weekly Thought.
My phone awakens me that it is 4:45 am. Time to shake off a weekend worth of Dead Shows and head to Sin City to hang out with my Sisters & Brothers in the Human Resources profession. What could possibly go wrong?
Having been to the SHRM Annual Conference nearly 10 times, my event navigation is far more streamlined than a first time attendee. I head to the Dice Bloggers lounge to pick up my badge.
I've been a youth sports coach for several years. I've coached a number of successful teams: sometimes we win sometimes we lose. Wavering focus and the direction in which the ball bounces are unpredictable. What is always predictable is that the sidelines/bleachers will be filled with people who have not volunteered their time to help but are full of opinions as to how to manage the game. The easiest thing to do is to never devote yourself to anything but pretend you know everything.
It’s that time of year again! 30,000 of the smartest people in HR will be heading to Sin City to talk employment policy, certification process, succession planning, performance management, employee engagement, hiring, firing and a whole lotta generational stereotyping. Indeed friends, #SHRM15 is upon us!
The terminology Employee Engagement has been over-used to the point that the inspiration behind the phrase has become a commodity. All those stupid studies that say only 10% of the workforce are engaged are total bullshit!
Really.... 1 in 10 people enjoy their job?
Really.... 9 out of 10 people would rather work somewhere else?
It seems as though we have been atop the crest of a wave in workforce planning for quite some time now. Today, we question the inevitable....
We tend to segment our organizations: by generation, by department, by location, by tenure.
There is no silver bullet for performance management: not an app, platform or systematic flow chart. It turns our that managing performance is as much about knowing your people as it is knowing the metrics of their performance.
What is it that engages people in their work? It certainly isn't something that can be packaged or sold.
Some people see their job for what it is worth and are driven to make as much money as possible. Some people want to use their profession as a social network. There are people who live to create extraordinary products and those for whom a pay check will validate a higher personal purpose.
We've all grown tired of generational stereotypes in the workplace. Baby Boomers are giving presentations on how to manage Millennials, Millennials are sick of being picked on, and Generation X has all but vanished. I recently read an article sighting the behavioral traits of Generation Z (now the Millennials have someone to pick on). It's all a stupid attempt to simplify human beings into manageable categories to limit our desire to transcend simplicity. People are not simple!
The debate has raged on....
Is cultivating Employee Engagement the duty of Executives or Middle Managers?
What if the answer is: neither!
If we are being honest with ourselves, we can genuinely determine our own level of engagement.
The sun has set on the 3rd day of programming here in Orlando and those of us who were lucky enough to attend the 2014 Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference know how the US Soccer Team felt playing in Brazil. Through our blood, sweat and tears we got closer to (re)certification, attained an exorbitant amount of knowledge, found solutions to unmet needs and made a few new friends.
The second day of the Society for Human Resource Management's Annual Conference is in the books and I figured I would share a few highlights from this divinely inspiring day.
The Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference is upon us. How do I know? Because my inbox is flooded with requests for interaction from the world's finest sales people. If you haven't attended the SHRM Annual conference in the past, the Exhibitor Hall can be a bit intimidating.
It's official, the Society of Human Resource Management is in the certification business. The recent announcement has sent shock waves through the human resources community. HR professionals are, in equal parts, confused and excited over what was and what will be their future employment qualifiers.
Hank Jackson has delivered a bold message:
"Certification should amplify an applicable professional skill set. It should not include memorization and regurgitation for the sake of qualification."
I take my profession seriously. This, because, I am in the business of Human Relations. Somehow, some way, I lucked out and found the best job in the world. I am able to help people do their job better, to assist them in finding what is genuinely important, to help share their success, and to attach business results to all of it.
I was asking a friend what made his company so remarkable. He replied:
