Golden Nuggets from The Strip

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My shuttle will be here shortly to take me to the airport to the plane that will take me home and back to reality so before I get caught up in the madness of reentry into the office, I wanted to take a few quick minutes to share some "golden nuggets" I am taking away from the SHRM conference:

  • Self sealed leadership. If your organization was a "self sealed" system as is the US military (and Hell's Angels!) and you could not bring in leaders at levels beyond entry from the outside, what would you do differently. Thanks to Robert Thomas, c0-author of Leading for a Lifetime during his presentation on "Building the Next Generation of Leaders." Also from Robert, knowing how you learn is more valuable than what you learn.
  • Metrics in three directions  Develop metrics that manage up to senior managers, metrics that manage out to hiring managers in the organization and metrics that manage down to measure HR performance to ensure your measures are tailored to the needs of your audience. Thanks to Jeremy A. Shapiro, vice president, E-Recruiting Solutions, Hodes IQ during his session, "When Good Metrics Go Bad, and How to Fix Them"
  • Volunteer opportunities with SHRM. I credit the lady on the bus on the ride back to the Venetian Hotel, SHRM volunteers present throughout the conference, those special panel members I met in conferences and SHRM staff at the SHRM booth in the exposition hall. What  a great way to be involved with HR and contribute in a completely different way!
  • Internal Branding. Differentiating (there's my new favorite word again!) the employment experience at your organization to answer the question, "why work here" and, for me,  the notion that you can successfully create a positive local brand even though your brand is taking a hit nationally. The national scrutiny will pass but the good things going on and the reasons employees stay will not. Capture that! Thanks to Susan L. Hill, vice president, Communication, Talent and Rewards, Aon Consulting during her presentation, "Internal Branding: Defining and Differentiating the Employment Experience at Your Organization."
  • Continual learning. Never underestimate the value of time away, continual learning and being open to the idea that there are things out there that you simply just don't know.

With that, the shuttle will be here in 10 minutes so my time is done. Good bye Las Vegas!