The stage at #SHRM15

Hank Jackson, the CEO of SHRM, echoed this theme yesterday. He hit upon a few points during his extended opening remarks as the conference officially kicked off.

Citing the newly released edition of Harvard Business Review, Hank talked about the necessity of HR to lead their organizations and step into roles that define to other executives what is important for the organization’s people. One of the articles in the magazine by Peter Capelli says that “the HR team can show these executives what they should care about and why.” Often, HR pros can conquer the what, but struggle with the why. This must change!

There are many in HR who would prefer to say “it’s the law” or “that is company policy” rather than provide rationale for the reason decisions are made. To me, it’s important to be able to speak to the reason behind a decision – the why of the decision. This concept is captured by Simon Sinek in his book Start with Why. Capelli cites something similar in the article when he says “knowledge of practices is essential, but it’s more important to understand what works when and where.” While this may remind some of you of your elementary school writing lessons (are you answering the W questions?) this practice is still essential in today’s workplace. Workers of today, no matter their generation, are not predisposed to simply follow orders because someone says so. Frankly, if the why can’t be explained, perhaps the decision needs to be reexamined.

Go beyond the what and cover the why. After that, ensure the when and where are correct too. This will bring the ability to thrive to not only to the organization, but to you as well.

Look at this pile of #SHRM15 vendor brochures!

One major vendor (who shall remain nameless here) even has the incorrect hashtag for the conference on their mailed postcard. Not a good way to engage!

The seven (7) that made me sit up and take notice are:

Halogen: I liked their “HR Brilliant” approach and the appearance that their entire campaign integrates with their booth theme and approach to engagement with the HR marketplace.

TalentSmart: Their small mailing came in a silver electro-blocking bag. They are promoting a book (Emotional Intelligence 2.0) that is available at a discount from their booth. The bag was eye catching and books typically catch my attention.

Berkshire: In what is perhaps the best integration of on-line and mailed promotion, Berkshire is promoting #AwesomeHR which is, of course, AWESOME! Love the positivity that they are promoting and the fact that they dedicated their mailing to this approach shows a level of digital marketing integration that doesn’t always show itself in the world of HR vendors (or even HR itself!)

Center for Creative Leadership or CCL: Although the mailing itself was not immediately attention seeking, I did like their integration with a Tuesday 7:00am session and their note that free coffee would be available. For those caffeine needing souls out there, this may lure them in!

IDVille: This mailing integrates a Twitter campaign asking attendees to tweet their secret identity to #IDVSHRM for a chance at some prizes. The use of social media with traditional marketing makes this another that got noticed.

Steve Gilliland: Steve (tweeting as @SteveGSPeaks) is well known by many in the HR community for not others “get his goat”. Well, the postcard from Steve invites attendees to find his goat, which is hidden somewhere in Las Vegas! Hints are to be provided both on-line and during Steve’s concurrent session. In addition to being a fabulous speaker, Steve shows he likes to have fun too!

LifeLock: The final piece I will feature is from LifeLock. This came in a typical interoffice envelope and has inside an ID card  belonging to “Sherman”  Return the card to their booth and receive a $10 Starbucks card.  Not only was this fun, but I am amazed at the expense put forth to send this ($2.54 per piece) and marvel at how captures a scenario that many of us in HR have dealt with, the missing ID.

For those attending, enjoy the conference, visit with vendors, and thank them for being here with us. Great conversations are there to be had and the resources are there for the asking!