Golden Nuggets from The Strip

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!

Tired of Your Job? Maybe It's Time to Ask the Tough Questions

You may have wondered, as I did in a previous post,  "am I tired of my job, or just tired?"  So you took a nap, had a long, restful night sleep, had a nice weekend off, did a little soul searching and guess what, you are still tired. What is this all about? Maybe, just maybe it is your job. Let's play with this a while, I will.

All things considered, I have been thinking about my job lately.  What things considered? The lack of time to do anything beyond the day to day, the attention the day to day details demand and more directly, the fact that I have very little energy left for myself or my family. I threw out the idea of me taking the summer off and going back at it in the fall. My husband's response, "how about me?" Ahh, the over stressed, over committed family of today. Needless to say, although we  both continue to work , there was value in opening the way for a committed approach to family focus.

I found value at the SHRM Annual Conference here in Vegas this week. I participated in the course "HR Issues in the Public Sector: Meeting Critical Challenges" sponsored by Harvard Business Review Publishing. Believe it or not, I considered withdrawing from the course and conference a few weeks ago when I felt overwhelmed by work demands coupled with recent business travels. The monetary cost of doing so on such short notice was too high so off I went to Vegas, begrudgingly.

Needless to say, I was very impressed by the conference - it was superbly organized, the attention to detail was second to none, the service and the presentations first class. There were many "golden nuggets" thrown my way during the conference (worthy of a post of their own) but there was one in particular, thrown to me at about 5:00 p.m. today, that I now believe was the reason I was here. This nugget was presented by Robert M. Galford, Center for Executive Development, and co-author of Your Leadership Legacy in his presentation, "Legacy and the Public Sector Leader."

The nugget was presented in the context of strategic and personal questions to ask yourself in consciously planning your legacy. Without further ado, here they are:

• Is it fundamentally possible to make the impact that I hope to?
• Are the challenges/requirements to accomplish this at my present job or in my present role insurmountable or achievable
• Is this how I want to continue my career?
• Is there something next, something greater, or more exhilarating, or perhaps less or "differently" frustrating?

Where am I now? My current role is not the role in which I want to continue my career. I am seeking something greater and more exhilarating. There are aspects of my role that I enjoy and get value from and there are distinct contributions I make to the organization.  Personally, the totality of my role and contributions are not what I want for myself. It is time for a change.

Asking myself the questions above, yes, it is fundamentally possible to make the impact I hope to and no, the challenges in my present role and within the organization are not insurmountable. There is one main reason why people leave organizations and for me, this is the very reason why I will stay: my supervisor. 

Now is the time to take HR to the next level and I can bring it there. I have to bring it there. Is it where the organization wants it to go? I don't know. What do I know? I am confident that when I bring the ideas to the table, they will be listened to. Unlike the odds at the casino, this is one thing that you can take to the bank and I can't ask for any more than that.