Ideas Wanted: Integrating New HR Staff

What goes around comes around.

Flashing back to when I was living in Germany, on active duty, working with National Guard officers on a (now defunct) theater-wide  exercise. They came for 2 weeks with their "remember when's" and "how it used to be's" and relived the days gone by. I listened while thinking, "times they are a changing, let's get with the program buddy, that was then, this is now and we have work to do." (Did I mention I was a bit high strung at the time?)

Times were changing then - and they are now - right before my very HR eyes every day at the office. 7 of my 14 HR staff members were not with me this time last year and only 5 are in the same position now as they were then. 

We've said good-bye to sounding boards and expertise as they sailed into well deserved retirement or other opportunities. We've said hello to change and all that it brings: new eyes, questions, ideas, and perspectives. And we're putting the pieces in place a little each day.  

I have the pleasure of coming to work each day with 14 professionals who rock - and we have our work cut out for us. Top of my list is bringing everyone together to develop technical expertise and a shared context for what we do, how we do it and why we do it.

So many times we learn by making mistakes and vowing to never do that again. My goal is to short-circuit that cycle for new staff by bringing the details out of the shadows and to discuss and share  past practices,  processes, and procedures  - without getting entrenched in them.

We don't have a lot of "remember when's" and "how it used to be's" within the department yet I don't want wake up one day and realize that I am the one who has to "get with the program."

So, help a girl out. 

What fun and relevant things have you done to bring new staff into the flow of your departments or, if you were a new staff member, what did your supervisor or colleagues do that helped you?

Photo credit iStockphoto

2011 Strategic Advice for SHRM: Make SHRM Matter

Voice of HR invited a number of industry contributors to take a critical look at SHRM and offer their strategic advice to SHRM leadership in a web series, 2011 Strategic Advice for SHRM. 

This is a republication of my response posted on Saturday on the Voice of HR blog. 

MAKE SHRM MATTER

So much of my day, I face more competition for my attention than I have time to give. Let's talk about competition for my attention from within my chosen profession - Human Resources.

I've been a Human Resource (HR) professional for over 15 years and counting. I progressed from an HR department of one supporting 75 employees to an HR Director with a staff of 14 supporting 1500 employees. My career has spanned private, public and federal sectors and is still going strong. I am a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a Human Capital Strategist (HCS), I have more degrees than any one person needs and not nearly enough time.

I read. I write. I conference. I search.

I choose. 

My HR colleagues and friends make a difference every day pushing the envelope, generating new ideas and challenging the status quo. They manage HR effectively by changing human behavior and rally fellow HR leaders to develop workforce strategies to generate talent. They deliver on the plan, they seek out the tough questions and they teach. They are in the trenches, they are at the helm and they practice what they preach.

I follow. I lead. I listen. I learn.

I am inspired.

I am a card carrying SHRM member and have been for over 15 years. SHRM, at it's core, is technical practitioner HR.  It's a necessary and solid foundation that was invaluable to me at the start of my career. As a one-person HR department, I had SHRM on speed dial and the professionals on the other end of the line were beacons in the storm and my one-stop for questions. 

Not any more. SHRM is focusing on and meeting a need - but not my need. I am looking for current, relevant, and emerging ideas.

When I have questions or need information, I am online in business magazines, leadership columns, and blogs. I am in Human Capital spaces one day and Talent Management and Succession Planning spaces on another. I live at the Office of Personnel Management and federal HR sites. I seek out conferences beyond traditional and technical HR.

HR is a dynamic profession yet when I think of SHRM, I see a solid, rigid organization. 

SHRM, create a new reality. Start conversations and let them flow. Let go of being big, of being "the one," of being in charge. Collaborate with other organizations and do what you have to do to provide resources to your members- even of they didn't originate from SHRM. Encourage new ideas, let go of "knowing" the future of HR, and be open to the unknown. Restructure to be nimble. 

SHRM, inspire me. Be the change the profession needs.

Make me choose you. 

*  *  *

The series started on last Monday and runs for another few days. The guidance is respectful, thoughtful, productive, provocative and given with the best of intentions.

Give it a read - all of it - and weigh in with your comments. You have a voice.