My role as HR Director found me entering into negotiations with labor unions for the first time. All five unions reached agreements (some more easily than others!) and one of the five groups even decertified as the year progressed.  The beginnings of a departmental restructure are now underway and I look forward to continuing some of the good work in hiring the best and brightest to be part of our organization.

My outside professional interest also had a few highlights.  Although I purposefully reduced my speaking engagements and conference involvement, it did not stop completely. I had the honor of being part of SHRM’s social media team during the annual conference in Orlando. My involvement in HR Indiana continued (and I am thankful they still accept this Michigander!) and I added the additional role of being a presenter at this year’s conference. One valuable lesson I learned was not to try that again as I did not feel that I brought my best game to either effort. This year, HR Indiana will firmly stay on the planning side. We have lots of great people who can present!

On top of Mt. Baldy at Philmont!

The BIG thing for the year was in my personal life. Spending 2 weeks in the New Mexico mountains hiking at the Philmont Scout Reservation was certainly an adventure. It was difficult at times and certainly challenged this creature of luxury living, but I did it and look back on the time as precious. Even though I will likely not try such an adventure again, the preparation (including running several 5k’s) and time with my son will do my soul good for years to come.

With that, it’s farewell to 2014 as we see what 2015 brings. While I hope for more time with my esteemed friends and colleagues, I also look forward to the unknown that beckons all of us to journey forward one day at a time!

As I spoke to other attendees and asked them about their conference experience, I frequently get one of three reactions:

1. Who are you and why are you talking to me?
2. A story about the great session they just went to.
3. A comment about how little new information has been learned, but how they are hearing and getting refreshed on things they already knew.

It’s this third point that catches my interest. I believe this provides an opportunity for the HR pros who attend conferences to leverage their own knowledge in their organizations and build their credibility in the organizations.

We know that outside “experts” are often believed more than those who are embedded within organizations. This gaining of knowledge from the outside can be leveraged to help position HR as true knowledge partners throughout the organization.

When you hear a speaker talking about something that you believe and sharing information that you want your organization to use or implement, take note. When back in the office, share what you’ve learned. A simple summary of points can go far in helping convey points that need to be made. Giving credit to others brings both enhanced credibility to you as a learner and shows the value that attending conferences or other learning experiences is for the organization.

So, if you’re heading to state conferences in Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, or Michigan in the next few weeks, don’t let the information gained reside only in your mind. Spread the knowledge and share the wisdom!

First, there are some “official” learning opportunities at stages set up by SHRM with a set schedule of demonstrations and short talks. These are focused on technology and can provide a good overview of a product’s features and usability. This doesn’t even count the new “SmartStage” that made its debut this year with 20 minute talks on a variety of subjects with some of the best minds in HR.

Several large booths have their own presentation spaces and also schedule times with industry leading speakers providing information on a variety of topics. These provide great opportunities to ask questions in a more intimate setting than can be found in the concurrent sessions at such a large conference.

Finally, many vendors provide great education just through conversation. While having fun and creating conversation is intended to generate leads, the vendors who attend this conference are frequently well informed and willing to engage in information exchange. Even when not necessarily interested in a product or offering, a few minutes chatting with a vendor can provide information to take back to our organizations or prompt new thinking on an old problem. Don’t be afraid to talk, even if there no use for a product or service. I learned about a recruiting strategy for a large public school system from an immigration assistance group. Although I do not intend to reach out to foreign teachers, the information shared started me thinking about an approach that I could use for harder to fill teaching positions.

A few other random thoughts that occurred to me while roaming:

• There are numerous companies offering to create employee engagement programs for your company. If you need an outside company to do this, you’re doing it wrong.
• Creativity with booth themes attracts attention. I see this at every conference I attend yet so few vendors are willing to go outside the traditional banners and information on a table. While budget can certainly play a role, a little bit of outside the box thinking can be cheaply and attract attention.
• Why was there a booth selling aloe cream?
• Yes, many booths had giveaways of Coach or Michael Kors purses. The target audience is clear and in many cases, disappointed that they didn’t win.
• Kudos to the SHRM booth for having extra padding under the carpet. Relief for the feet.
• If you’re going to use the scanner to collect leads, please take a few moments to learn how to use it. I showed two different vendors how to use their scanner. You’re welcome!

The nice person at CareerBuilder asked me if I wanted my picture on their roller coaster. I laughed, said of course, and waited for a real coaster. I did come up with the staged picture below before referring them to RollerCoasterHR.com

This does not count as coaster #104…

My current organization tends to be quite formal in their approach to systems, people, and communication. This formality was quite a change for me from my previous workplace and my own informal approach has caught some people off guard. Previous HR leaders in the organization rarely left the administration building, interacted minimally, and relied on the hammer of power to get their way. Needless to say, this is not my way and rather than bend to the formality, I am out of my office, talking to people, and building bonds that go well beyond the formal structure that is in place.

When I requested permission to send an organizational wide e-mail, it was met with a bit of uncertainty. Rarely did anyone do this in the past. I tend to be very open in information sharing (oooh, it’s confidential…) and assume that people want to do the right thing. This is a powerful combination that requires faith in others and ultimately faith in yourself that you are embarking on the right path.

This is the minion who lives in my office! It’s part of who I am.

Here’s the thing though, it works! Even in a formal organization, by connecting with people on a personal level the formality may exist but it gets tempered and allows the work to happen on a level that formal structure and policy can’t dictate. Yes, one may have positional authority, but that shouldn’t mean that is the only way you can get work accomplished.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, find a process that typically requires formality and break it down so that a new, more informal and personal approach can be used. Run with it and get to know people and connect with them on a personal level. It doesn’t hurt and will bring a new sense of enjoyment and engagement to you and your work. After all, life is too short to be miserable!

Traveling at over 500 mph is certainly NOT ordinary

Many people who practice in the area of human resources will either never have or never take the opportunity to learn from others in a setting like a large HR conference. For many, the way things are being done in their company or organization is the only way that HR is done and to veer away from that would require a leap of faith and a willingness to push beyond ordinary. Going beyond one’s comfort zone is essential to beating what is ordinary and making things, if not extraordinary, at least at little less ordinary.

This will be only my second SHRM Annual conference, although I am a veteran of several other SHRM conferences and remain heavily involved with a great state SHRM conference, HR Indiana. To me, these conferences are a valuable opportunity to learn from others, expand horizons, and challenge my own conventional thinking.

It’s been an interesting year for me professionally. A little more that a year ago, our family relocated to Portage, Michigan from our longtime home of Bloomington, Indiana. We moved as my wife pursued a tremendous opportunity to join Stryker, a leading medical device company. I am happy to say that move continues to be a positive one for her! This leap of faith then brought me an opportunity that I could not have imagined even a year ago.

That pursuit of things beyond ordinary leads to new experiences and the dissolution of barriers that I myself once imposed upon myself. For example, as an HR professional, I had never worked in a unionized environment. Now, I serve as the HR Director for a public school with five bargaining units with contracts that all expire June 30, 2014 and a sizable non-unionized workforce. A year ago, I would have told you that I couldn’t do this type of work as it’s too different from what I had done before. As it turns out, applying the same principles that worked well for me before provide great benefit now.  3 of our 5 groups now have tentative agreements, we are seeing success of our students in so many ways, and I’ve witnessed great development on the HR team I lead.  I count among the good fortune a great superintendent to work for, dedicated people in leadership focused on educational excellence, and another organization that has wonderfully dedicated people in every role!

One of my goals while at SHRM in Orlando is to find other HR professionals working in public education so I can learn from them and their districts.  Naturally, unconventional thinking is welcomed and I hope to find some kindred spirits who want to focus on the new and build greatness into their organizations. If you’re looking for, you will not find me in sessions on FMLA compliance or getting updates on the Affordable Care Act. These (to me at least!) are ordinary and will not help push my organization to the world-class level I know it can be.

So, if you have a session that pushes boundaries and will prompt new ideas, let me know. Life should always be less ordinary and more extraordinary!

Bradley Galin, MBA, SPHR is the Director of Human Resources for the Portage Public Schools in Portage, Michigan and serves as an official WeKnowNext blogger and member of the #SHRM14 blog squad! Follow him on twitter @bradgalin and subscribe to www.RollerCoasterHR.com for the latest updates.

The ‘H’ in HR stands for “human” (at least in most places!) and we as HR professionals do not always do a good job reaching out to those who can help us when we face situations that we haven’t encountered before. Building relationships is essential to learning and seeing things from a different perspective. While chatting with people in sessions and on the exhibit floor can begin the process, establishing genuine connections takes more time and sharing common experiences can lead to continued dialogue and bring people closer.

Even if big parties and crowded events are not your thing, there are many opportunities to connect with small groups of people and expand your own network and build the value you can bring to those you support in your business.  If you’re not one to find people on your own, I can certainly recommend the Meet to Eat Program that SHRM does each year. My own network benefits from people I met during a SHRM Diversity Conference at such an event.

One important reminder; take off your SHRM badge before you go out! Introduce yourself in person, not by your credential.

The recent announcement by SHRM that they are launching their own “competency based” certification has many in the HR world feeling uncomfortable. While discomfort comes to some with any change, there appears to be a much greater reaction here than typically would be found among those who get apprehensive with any change.

What is interesting here is the different tones being used by the organizations involved in the HR certification world.  For SHRM, who started this with their announcement on Monday, there has been a divergent communication strategy to the HR community. This tweet was among the more unusual messages.

@DustinHaverkamp We asked members about competensie. The question is why HRCI doesn’t t want to move toward compency-based certification.

— SHRM (@SHRM) May 16, 2014

First, spell check would be nice. Second, and more importantly, this reflects an antagonistic message toward a member asking questions (Dustin Haverkamp) and really highlights the schism that has erupted between SHRM and HRCI. Many (even most) of the statements by SHRM have highlighted their desire to move to this model. As more details emerge, it still remains to be seen what this new certification will look like and how it will continue to push the human resource world forward.

The HRCI response has basically been, we are here, we have 135k certified professionals, and we do not intend to go anywhere.

As for my own level of discomfort, it really resides in my role as an active conference planner for state and local HR associations. I will be anxious to learn more about the new certification while striving to ensure that my state council and local associations are positioned to best serve the HR professionals who wish to stay current and competent in their role. To that end, I’m not certain any certification can prove that. If there are letters after my name that should demonstrate that, it’s not SHRM or SPHR, it’s the MBA. Yes, I have my SPHR and have had it since 2003, but I firmly believe that it’s my performance day in and day out that demonstrates not just my HR competence, but my confidence in knowing the business that I lead.

Questions remain and I hope that time will bring answers and a sense of comfort to all those feeling out of sorts.  In the meantime, keep learning no matter what it entails.