We 1^st heard about this from the perspective of Mike Rowe. He pointed out that we have 2.8 million unfilled jobs yet have record amounts of student debt piling up. Was his conclusion that we are training people for jobs that they don’t want or don’t exist anymore correct?

The Tuesday morning keynote featuring political pundits Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson touched on this as well. Both speakers talked about the rising inequality and the stagnant wages that many in our country are suffering from.  The startling statistic from that chat was that 47 percent of people who consider themselves middle class could not come up with $400 within 24 hours.

Do you want to drive a school bus?

My own organization has challenges with certain jobs. Number one on the list, school bus drivers! Even when offering sign-on bonuses, paid training to obtain the necessary CDL and certifications, and as much or as little work as one wants, these positions are incredibly hard to fill.

As our companies have gotten better at improving productivity, there has been a human capital cost to that. While we in HR talk about finding better ways to do things and doing more with less, there are jobs being left behind and these tend to be some of the ones that are hardest to fill.

So, what and where are the solutions? Is there one?  Based on the conversations taking place here in DC, no one has yet discovered one.

• On the keynote side of the house, Amy Cuddy (author of Presence) is the one I am most looking forward to hearing. I know several people who heard her speak during May’s WorkHuman event in Orlando and all had only good things to say. My own conference, HR Indiana, looked to have her but alas our conference coincided with the start of her term teaching at Harvard.
• I’ve not spent the time reviewing the concurrent session grid to know with certainty everything I am attending. My friend Karl’s session on Tuesday, Advanced CFO Wisdom is likely one you will find me attending. Given the changes coming out of the NLRB (just down from the conference site!) I expect to get some updates on those activities as well.
• One of my favorite things during the SHRM Annual Conference is time spent with the SHRM Foundation. I know they are releasing 2 new reports during the conference, and are partnering with Fitbit on a step challenge. Anyone who has attended SHRM before knows that walking is constant and achieving 50,000 steps during the time the conference runs is a realistic goal. I hope I remember my Fitbit charger!
• Of course, no SHRM conference is complete without the after hours social events. Don’t discount them and the learning and sharing that occurs!
• Speaking of social – the time with my SHRM Blogging friends (and yes, they are friends!) will be a highlight and will serve to recharge my HR batteries. There is no greater group of people than these smart and accomplished HR professionals. I am honored to know them.
• Finally (and most importantly!) I am being joined in DC by my wife and daughter. They will be tourists while I “conference”, but I will have some time to spend with them as well as some family who live in Northern Virginia. It’s my daughter’s 1^st time to our nation’s capital and I hope she enjoys it as much as I do each time I have the chance to visit.

If you’re going to be there, please send me a note. If we haven’t met, I would love to meet you! Reach out via twitter @bradgalin or come by the SHRM Bloggers Lounge (room 102A)

When you’ve spoken at 20 SHRM conferences, you’ve seen and heard many things!

Many people know Karl Ahlrichs after seeing him speak at local, state, and national SHRM events. For all but 2 of the last 20 years, Karl has been a fixture at SHRM Annual Conferences and returns to Washington DC (his favorite conference city!) to present two (2) sessions this year. During a recent meeting in his hometown of Indianapolis, we sat down to talk about his time as a SHRM speaker and some highlights of his sessions.

In his 20 years presenting at SHRM annual conferences, Karl has been to many cities and heard many speakers. This year’s host city, Washington DC, is his favorite. No where else can you hear a session on the FMLA or an update on the latest from the Department of Labor and then leave the conference and see the Capitol and directly engage with those making our lives more difficult (or occasionally easier!) The energy in DC is unmatched and when fortunate enough to be in town during big events, it’s even higher. Karl was in DC on the day the ACA ruling was released by the Supreme Court and stood outside with the dueling protestors as the ruling came down!

A couple of SHRM keynote speakers that Karl found remarkable were Christopher Reeve whom he described as “amazing” and Madeline Albright when describing her worst moment as Secretary of State kissing Yassar Arafat.

In 2016 Karl is excited to return to the SHRM Annual Conference after a missing Las Vegas last year.  He did not mind missing the conference in his least favorite conference city where messages in the conference about wellness are followed by seeing masses of people sitting, smoking, and drinking!

This year, Karl is presenting two topics. First is Communicating Total Compensation and Benefits to Millennials http://annual.shrm.org/sessionplanner/session/18639 where Karl will talk about communicating complex subjects to people who do not care! Karl believes that it’s important to know that much of what we in HR have been told about generational differences is now dead and there are benefits to making messages simpler.

Karl’s second session is Advanced CFO Wisdom: The Art and Science of Communicating HR and Benefits with Finance

http://annual.shrm.org/sessionplanner/session/18703 Karl talks about the fact that many CFOs have become experts in the ACA. CFO’s are typically fast learners and are quickly becoming expert in engagement and retention since theses are parts of the HR world that affect bottom line. While many HR metrics are evolving, partnering with your CFO can yield tremendous results to the field of talent management.

Karl shared that he speaks to many different types of groups. Karl is a frequent speaker at CFO, CPA, and engineering groups. When stacked against those groups, Karl will take an HR group anytime describing them as engaged, wanting to learn what works (as opposed to what doesn’t!) and are willing to share ideas about what works. HR audiences also tend to forgive poor platform skills in exchange for good content.

What class (in high school, college, or grad school) influences you now in a way that you did not anticipate at the time you originally took the class?

There have been so many great classes with so many good lessons. How can I settle on just one?

Thinking back to high school I could go with my biology classes (some inspiration from last week’s post,) my English classes for the writing skills they inspired, or even my time in band, which is still the only part of high school I would be willing to experience again!

College brought more fabulous classes. For majoring in biology though, the memorable or impactful classes had nothing to do with my chosen field of study. The personal finance class taught lessons I use to this day while my interest in political science can be traced back to Dr. Hershey and the class I took from her my junior year at IU. Environmental law, limnology, and my risk assessment course are also contenders.

However, after much thought around impact, I think I find myself finally deciding to settle on one of my graduate school classes. Introduction to Systems Thinking brought to clarity some of the factors I had always thought about. I could finally put words to the influence of one event upon another as well as the creation of both virtuous and vicious cycles. We experience these systems in all aspects of our lives and being able to apply the tools of systems thinking (primarily through the work of Peter Senge) has made me a better leader and HR professional. Being able to graphically and verbally explain what is happening to a group or process and the presenting some options to consider a change are now essential tools in my own leadership and consultative approach.

The base elements of systems thinking, the archetypes, have become more ingrained as I use them and rarely does a day go by when I do not think through a situation from a systems perspective.  Judging by impact, the systems thinking part of my grad school curriculum has provided me with not just theory, but a practical approach that I use in my HR world as well as seeing the larger scope of public education (my current industry) through a whole new set of lenses.

Thank you Claudia (my instructor) for providing a solid foundation that many other elements of my MBA were able to build upon.

What class (in high school, college, or grad school) influences you now in a way that you did not anticipate at the time you originally took the class?

I know I need to think on this one for a bit. I hope you do as well!

My answer comes in my next post! Feel free to chime in.