HR Happy Hour Network

HR Happy Hour 199 - Employer Branding from the Inside Out  Recorded Tuesday January 20, 2015 Hosts: Trish McFarlane, Steve Boese Guest: Jason Seiden, CEO Brand Amper In the latest HR Happy Hour Show, Trish and Steve welcomed back our friend Jason Seiden, CEO of Brand Amper, one of 2014's 'Awesome New Startup' technologies from the HR Technology Conference to get an update on what has been happening with Brand Amper, and to talk about engaging employees in the brand and mission of the organization. Often 'brand' initiatives are drawn up in corporate boardrooms or by expensive external consultants without much thought or acknowledgement of what the actual brand messengers and deliverers, the employees, think or feel or believe. Jason talks about the importance and power of leveraging actual employees and what they actually think and believe and aspire to in creating, communicating, and executing the brand promises and delighting customers. Additionally, Trish and Steve lamented the sorry state of Email in the workplace, (it is NEVER going to die), and Jason shared why he wears the same black H&M shirt everywhere he goes. Steve is 100% with Jason on this strategy, while Trish has some concerns about the mental well-being of both of the gents. Remember to subscribe to the show on ITunes, or for Android devices, using Stitcher Radio. Just search for 'HR Happy Hour' and subscribe to never miss a show. This was a really fun show, and we hope you enjoy listening!

HR Happy Hour 198 - What HR Will Be Talking About in 2015 (and some things HR needs to stop talking about) Recorded Thursday January 8, 2015 Hosts: Trish McFarlane, Steve Boese For the first HR Happy Hour of 2015, Trish and Steve dug into some of the topics that HR leaders will be talking about in 2015, and hit a few topics that (Steve especially) thinks HR needs to let go of this year. Loosely based on a post Steve led off the year with, Trish and Steve talked about some of the big 2015 topics in HR - predictive analytics, retention, talent having the upper hand, and HR as marketing. We also hit some of the the things that HR needs to step back from, whether from overuse, lack of success, or simple silliness.  Additionally, Steve was SHOCKED to find out the actual HR people spend at least part of their Sundays having discussions about HR issues on Facebook, Steve made a case for wearing the same outfit to work every day (Trish strongly disagreed), and Steve was unable to pronouce the word 'ephemeral', As always, you can listen to the current and all the past shows from the archive on the show page, on our HR Happy Hour website, and by subscribing to the show in podcast form on iTunes, or for Android using Stitcher Radio (or your favorite podcast app). Just search the iTunes store or your podcast app for 'HR Happy Hour' to add the show to your subscriptions.

HR Happy Hour 197 - Non-predictions for HR in 2015 Recorded Tuesday December 23, 2014 Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane For the might-be-the-final show of 2014, HR Happy Hour hosts Steve and Trish took a quick look back at some of the big themes in HR and HR technology in 2014, (data, really BIG data. And also analytics too), while coming to a fast agreement while this may have been a trend in 2014, that actually speculating or predicting on future trends is kind of silly. What makes a trend anyway? Do any of these HR predictions matter? We also hit on some thougths about what 2015 might hold for HR and HR tech (Note: these are NOT predictions), and hit upon one of the most interesting current stories impacting work and technology - the recent hack and leak of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Long story short - EVERY HR shop has loads of sensitive HR and employee data getting passed around the organization in Excel spreadsheets. And you put way too much private stuff in Emails. Be careful out there friends. Additionally, Trish staked out a plan to do a live HR Happy Hour Show from the Tournament of Roses parade in 2016 and Steve pitched a potential live New Year's Eve show for next week. This was a fun show about some of the big things happening in HR and HR tech and hope you find the show fun as well. Happy HR Holidays!

HR Happy Hour 196 - Career Management and Technology Recorded Thursday November 20, 2014  Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane Guest: Joe Brooks, CEOZapoint This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Trish and Steve were joined by Joe Brooks, CEO of Zapoint, an HR tech solution provider that focuses on employee career management, individual and organizational skills identification and mapping, and by providing access to learning content to help employees build out their skills and achieve their career objectives. We talked about some of the most common barriers to effective career planning - lack of visibility into existing opportunities, limited ability to assess if you were a good 'fit' for a given role or career path, and lack of transparency and willingness of managers to develop and share talent.  The conversation also touched upon the HR and organziational leader's need to have a better understanding of aggregate skills and capabilities of the organization's talent - to help enable organizational objectives and to facilitate ongoing succession planning. Joe also shared some insights into how organizations can have success in meeting both sets of these challenges - for employees as well as leadership - by leveraging modern technologies like Zapoint and their innovative skills mapping and career management tools. Also, Steve and Trish talked about the potential release of 'Facebook at Work', Steve (finally) remembered what day it was, and we reminisced about the long gone Google Wave produce. This was a fun and interesting show and many thanks to Joe and to the folks at Zapoint for sharing their insights.

HR Happy Hour 195 - HRevolution 2014 Recap Recorded Thursday, November 13, 2014 Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, hosts Steve and Trish reviewed the HRevolution 2014 event, held November 7 and 8 in Grapevine, Texas. Steve and Trish talked about several of the big themes from the HRevolution event - the Disruption of HR and workplaces, the importance of creativity in HR and in business, and the need for HR professionals and leaders to take more time to actively think about innovation and new ways to do both HR and business. This was a great event to be a part of, and in the best HRevolution tradition, the discussions, (like the one Trish and Steve have on this week's show), are ongoing, and the community of HRevolution friends, (and HR Happy Hour listeners), are keeping the ideas and conversations alive. Additionally, Steve forgets what day it is, ('Is today Wednesday?') and Trish tosses out some potential locations for the next HRevolution event to be held in November 2015. This was a fun conversation and thanks for checking out the show!

HR Happy Hour 194 - Small Improvements Recorded Wednesday October 29, 2014 Hosts: Trish McFarlane, Steve Boese Guest: Linda Jonas This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve and Trish were joined by Linda Jonas, International traveler, and Director of Marketing for Small Improvements,an HR technology provider of tools that provide a simpler, easy to use, and more engaging approach to performance management, workplace feedback, 360-degree reviews, and more. We talked about Linda's annual 6-week world tour where she meets with customers and partners, her Small Improvements colleagues, and attends events like the HR Technology Conference and the upcoming HRevolution (of which Small Improvements is a sponsor).  Additionally, Linda shared some insights into emerging and ongoing trends in employee performance management, and the need for both software providers and organizations to keep these processes clear, easy to adopt, and valuable for employees, managers and organizations overall. Everyone seems to hate on Performance Management and one of the reasons is that the process has often been overengineered and over-complicated. Check out Small Improvements to get some insights into how you can change that in your organization, while improving (pardon the pun) both the process and the desired outcomes. This was a really fun show - thanks to Linda and to everyone at Small Improvements!

HR Happy Hour 193 - Humanizing Data Recorded Thursday October 23, 2014 Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane Guest: Paul Hebert This time on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve and Trish welcomed long time show friend and expert on influence and recognition, Paul Hebert back to the HR Happy Hour Show. Paul is the Vice President of Solution Design at Symbolist, one of the first to create a blog for the incentive and reward industry – called “Incentive Intelligence” – now hosted here at Symbolist. In addition, Paul writes for one of the top Human Resources blogs – Fistful of Talent, is a founding member of the Editorial Advisory Board at the HRExaminer. On the show. Paul, Trish, and Steve talked about the importance of the human element in things like employee engagement, recognition, and motivation strategies in organizations. While we are talking A LOT in HR about data these days, it is really critical that we don't lost sight of the human element.  This was a really fun show and many thanks to Paul for joining us and to Symbolist for sponsoring the upcoming HRevolution event.

HR Happy Hour 192 - DataNow Recorded Tuesday October 21, 2014 Hosts: Trish McFarlane, Steve Boese Guests: Mollie Lombardi, Rachel Cooke This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve and Trish were joined by two of Trish's colleagues from Brandon Hall Group - Mollie Lombardi, VP and Principal Analyst of Workforce Management Practice; and Rachel Cooke, COO. On the show Mollie and Rachel shared details about DataNow, a new research-based and data-driven product that can enable HR leaders to have better and deeper insights into research data, organizational benchmarks, and relevant insights. Additionally, the upcoming Brandon Hall Excellence Conference, set for January 2015 was previewed. This event is shaping up to be a great opportunity for HR leaders to learn from, network with, and engage with their peers as well as the experts at Brandon Hall. Additionally, Steve shared his indifference towards household pets ('They are sort of houseguests that don't really help with anything and just get into trouble'), and his need to escape the dreary Western New York weather. This was a fun and informative show about a innovative new approach to share HR and HCM research findings and insights and we want to thank Mollie and Rachel for joining us this week.

HR Happy Hour 191 - HR Technology Conference 2014 Preview Recorded Thursday September 25, 2014 Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, hosts Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane gave their preview of the upcoming HR Technology Conference that is set for October 7 - 10, 2014 in Las Vegas. Steve and Trish will  be co-moderating a panel of CHROs at the Conference, (we are not officially calling this session a live HR Happy Hour, but just between us, that is what it really will be!), and Trish will also be leading an Expert Discussion session focusing on HR technology implementations.  In addition to previewing these sessions, on the show, Steve and Trish also previewed some of the other highlights of the upcoming Conference - the keynotes, the sold-out Expo Hall, some of the concurrent sessions that attendees don't want to miss, and even a little bit about the fun and social events that are surrounding the show. Listeners of the HR Happy Hour Show can still make their plans to attend the HR Technology Conference at a discounted rate - register with code 'HHH14' (case sensitive), to receive $550 off the full, on-site Conference registration rate. Trish and Steve hope to see and meet lots of HR Happy Hour Show listeners out at HR Tech - be sure to say Hello if you see us there!

HR Happy Hour 190 - LIVE From Achievers ACE: Reskilling Your HR Team Recorded LIVE from the Achievers ACE event in Toronto, Canada Wednesday September 10, 2014 - 1:00PM ET Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane Guests: Achievers ACE Attendees Join Steve and Trish for a special LIVE edition of the HR Happy Hour Show being broadcast live from the stage at the Achievers ACE 2014 event in Toronto. Titled: Reskilling Your HR Team for the Modern Workplace, Steve and Trish will take on some of the most pressing and important changes and challenges impacting the modern workplace, and what that means for the skills development, expertise, and mindset for the modern HR professional. The changing nature of work, the emergence of amazing new technology, and a workforce shifting in makeup as one generation cedes power and influence to the next are just some of the ways work and workplaces are shifting, and the HR pro of tomorrow is tasked with staying on top of these and the many more ways work and workplaces are morphing. In this fun and interactive session, Trish and Steve will take comments and questions from the ACE attendees as well as look for your questions on the twitter backchannel - use hashtag #HRHappyHour. It should be a fun and exciting show and we hope you will join us LIVE from Achievers ACE!