ShaneHall.com

Social Media for HR

Shane Hall — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:50:18 +0000

If you are like many HR Professionals, you may be wondering how to utilize this Social Media thing in your HR processes.

Where does Social Media fit in HR, which HR processes can be integrated with Social Media, and what in the world could it do for me and my organization?

Here are just a few ways you may incorporate Social Media into HR processes

Social Media for Recruiting:

While some Social Media platforms are quite known for their recruiting/jobs/sourcing capabilities, don’t sell the other platforms short. Facebook, for instance may be the place where you share your vacation pictures or catch up with your old high-school alumni, but it can be a powerful source to quickly and easily ask the people you trust most if they know anyone that fits your current recruiting needs.
If you are looking for highly talented individuals that are not only good at what they do, but also passionate enough about it to share their knowledge with others, you may look to almost all of the Social Media platforms to supplement your regular HR Recruiting processes: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter all have people chattering 24/7 about the things they love… and not only that but they also self-identify themselves by interest, organizations they like, organizations they work for, etc.
Building on the bullet point above, go to the video sharing sites for real experts. Youtube and Vimeo, for instance are full of individuals not only sharing videos of cats puking (ewweee…, I know, but its true), but if you are looking for an expert on computer programming, biology, math, engineering, janitorial services, etc, etc, etc… I’m certain you can find not only a person posting videos, but whole list of your potential employees commenting and adding value.
Ok, so now you’ve received a few resumes… lets go google-stalking Simply start googling and facebook searching for the candiate’s name, email address, username, etc… If you find that your top candidate is doing keg-stands every night of the week, and constantly posting statuses that indicate they hate their job, are tired, have an aweful boss, etc… it may be time to move on to the next.

Social Media for Community and Fan Building

Many Organizations and HR departments are afraid to build communities (and fans) on Facebook, LinkedIn or other Social Media platforms…. They are afraid of showing a bad image, public bashing of the organization, inappropriate language, etc. BUT, the reality, if you do it right you don’t need to be afraid. Just develop an HR Policy on Social Media and then encourage your employees to participate.
Your Fans and your employees can interact, sharing ideas and making connections that grow and extend way beyond the pushing of the “Like” button. You simply cannot do better than having employees and/or fans talking about you in a good light and spreading the word for you.
“But Shane, what about those negative comments?” Well, first off, I would simply say that if people are leaving negative comments there is a reason for it and the negative comment isn’t actually the problem… the problem is the problem. Really! And in fact, these people are doing you a favor by giving you real world feedback that if you want to succeed, you should listen to.
“But Shane, some people are truly just rude….” Yep, they are. And for those people we have a thing called moderation. Just delete those comments if they get too offensive, personal, or are simply just meant to attack for no purpose but to hurt. OR… better yet, take the opportunity to address every negative comment and let the whole world know that you are listening, responding appropriately, and when appropriate you recognize an issue or a wrong doing and are taking corrective action.
Build a great organization. Encourage and listen to feedback from fans and non-fans, employees and non-employees… and then make corrections. Then, repeat!

Social Media for Customer Training and Collaboration

Organizations and HR departments could wish for no better platform to train customers, receive feedback, and work together with your customers to build the next version of whatever you do whether that is a product or a service.
Hold contests for the best video, blog post, status update, etc… and then invite users to vote and spread the word… Again, can y0u say “free PR”?

I hope this gets you thinking about ways to incorporate Social Media into your organizational leadership and HR processes. I certainly have more ideas, but this post is getting long and I want to hear from you… Please leave a comment.

Make it a great day!
Shane

Onboarding: Beyond the New Hire Checklist to Improve Employee Engagement

Shane Hall — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 02:12:47 +0000

Onboarding is getting alot of attention in HR these days. Much of this attention has to do with Onboarding software, and the importance of creating efficiency to get the employee productive as soon as possible. And while those topics are important, they do not tell the whole story. This post will show you ways to take advantage of onboarding processes, and onboarding software, in ways you may never have thought of.

Onboarding can do a great deal to increase employee engagement, improve the company-employee connection, and ensure productivity comes sooner rather than later.

But unfortunately, I don’t see most organizations using or thinking about onboarding in the proper context. Or at least not as completely as they could be. Most organizations think of onboarding soley as their New Hire Checklist, or perhaps they will go as far as to include a nice New Employee Orientation. And these things are certainly important to our jobs in HR, but they aren’t the full story. This transactional viewpoint is limiting, for both us in HR as well as the New Hire.

Onboarding is our only chance to make a good first impression, and our first chance to create a connection with the employee that will increase engagement and retention. If we simply look at our onboarding process as the way we gather all the required documents, record the benefits being elected, and getting someone a desk and a computer, we are certainly missing a huge opportunity.

We certainly should automate and streamline our ability to capture the needed data and forms. We should absolutely increase communications and scheduling of events. And of course, should definitely take the opportunity to ensure we get the employee set up to be productive as soon as possible.

These things are a given. And they are important as well. I’m just suggesting that we should take this a step further….

Here are just a few ideas to improve the effectiveness of your onboarding process, whether you use onboarding software or you use a New Hire Checklist or you if you have a New Employee Orientation or not. These ideas should get you started thinking about how you may change things in your organization. Remember, your job in HR should be one of Organizational Leadership… Leading the organization in culture creation, employee connection and engagement. Don’t just sit back and be relegated to the boring world of transactions and forms.

Remember, this list is meant to go beyond the standard HR Form collection, HR Policy Signatures, etc. I assume you know how to do all that just fine. Not all of these will be relevant, and some will not even be a good idea in certain organizations… but I’m just trying to get your HR brain thinking a little differently.

Send a Welcome Letter (or email), but in addition to show up here and then, etc, really show excitement and be welcoming. Talk to them more like a friend and throw away the “you should feel privileged we chose you and honored to work here” tone.
Place a welcome basket on their desk (think treats, or flowers, etc)
Meet them at the door. Or at least be ready to greet them as soon as they arrive… don’t make them wait!
Buy, and present to them, a Success Package (include books or audio programs, etc that may help them. Such as Sales Training, Leadership, Creativity, etc) to show them you want them to succeed and are willing to help them do so.
Plan the whole first day, and give them the agenda (in writing).
Assign a Mentor. And don’t forget to choose the mentor wisely, train them on culture, and make sure they understand the importance of this assignment.
Assign someone to take them to lunch on the first day.
Ensure a clean work space is ready when they arrive.
Have their computer, phone, voicemail, etc. all set up and ready to go. Don’t make them twittle their thumbs for three days, feeling ignored and unimportant.
Schedule follow up meeting(s) with HR to check in on how they are adjusting
Record a welcome message from the CEO/President/Leader (video would be best… or LIVE if you could, of course). Coach this Leader to stress excitement and culture.
Schedule a tour. No one wants to have to pee badly and then have to impose on someone else to ask them where to go.
Encourage them to decorate their space… Let them choose items from a catalog and buy them, on the company’s dime! If they move in, make it seem like home, and get to put their own personal touch on it… their likely to feel more comfortable, more engaged, and less likely like they may have made a mistake taking this job.
Assign them to a committee. If your HR department isn’t already in the habit of forming task forces / committees to tackle the issues of the organization… start it now. And getting the New Hire involved in the company can serve two purposes: 1. increase involvement/engagement right from the start, and 2. bring fresh ideas and solutions to the table for the committee.
Schedule a Happy Hour for after work.
Ensure they have office supplies to start the day (stapler, inbox, post-its, etc)
Buy them a nice pen, with their name on it.
Give them Personalized Stationary.
Schedule a series of meetings/presentations with different departments so they can learn more about how their job fits into the big picture.
Record their Birthday and send them a card.
… Let me know your thoughts here… please reply with your ideas, or things you have seen work!

Well, if that list doesn’t have something you aren’t doing or haven’t thought of, I would be surprised… and I want to know where you work! Your HR Department must be really with it

Of course, just to emphasize my point a little further about the usefulness of onboarding software and processes…. You can schedule almost all of these events above and incorporate them into your automated onboarding processes just the way you do on your I-9′s and Benefits and Other HR Forms.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Make it a great day!

We ALL Have Talent! Even You!

Shane Hall — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:48:52 +0000

Not much to say about this one… Just watch it. And while you do, just remember that God has plans for all of us. What dreams, talents, and messages has He placed in you? Think about it! What is that nagging aspiration, never ending dream, to do something or be something that you keep pushing down and trying to ignore.

If this blind, autistic young child born with virtually no advantage in life can share his talent… what can you do? I hope this inspires you!

P.S. - If you are a parent and a Christian… and you don’t cry a little watching this…. well, I bet you can’t!

Steve Jobs Quote

Shane Hall — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:12:05 +0000

Well, thank you Steve Jobs. You’ve inspired a great number of people and its sad to see you’ve left us now. May you rest in peace and feel much more comfortable now.

I just thought I’d post up this quite popular commencement speech that Steve Jobs delievered to Stanford University. I won’t post the whole transcript of his speech, but I did want to point out of my favorite parts…

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

No matter who you are, or where you are in life right now, I think this statement above is worth reading a few times. Think hard about this message and the take action toward becoming who YOU are. Know yourself. Be true to yourself. Be authentic.

Be Thankful!

Shane Hall — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 05:08:09 +0000

Here is a quick, but funny video that had me thinking how we should all be thankful for all we have. Now stop and think how great it really is to be alive right now. Be thankful! Perhaps you’ve seen this already as it is a little old, but I only just found this… so here goes.

How To Be More Productive

Shane Hall — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:14:33 +0000

Time Management is a myth… Productivity is what we are really after when we say we need better Time Management skills. We can’t manage time, it just keeps on ticking no matter what we do. So we need to learn, and use, productivity skills.

I’m sure you would like to have more times for your family, friends, hobbies, or just relaxing. We all do, right? Well, in this article I’m going to show you how to do accomplish more (no matter if we are talking about work, household chores, or whatever), in less time. How to be more productive in anything, and everything, you do.

This is a simple, but powerful plan. I’m sure you’ve heard (and maybe even used) some of this before. There are no “secrets” to being a more productive person. There are a ton of books and products that teach productivity skills and everyone has their best way to teach you these skills… So, I’m not promising that my methods below are the very best, I’m just showing you the methods and processes that work best in my opinion.

Productivity starts with planning, and there is no better time to plan than ahead of time (duh, right?). So I start this plan, before you go to bed. You can use this plan every day, all the time, but it really starts with your time just before going to bed. Each night before bed take a few minutes to think about your goals and contemplate the actions needed to take you where you want to go in life.

Then, take out a 3×5 card (or an iphone app, or journal, or whatever works for you) and write down the top 6 things that will move you closest toward your long-term and short-term goals (more on Goals in a future post).

Write down these 6 tasks in order of importance (and in case this isn’t obvious, “taking out the trash” is not a proper task to move you toward your goals and should never be in your top 6 priorities). Put the list aside and go to bed thinking about you life as you will be in the future. Imagine it as if it is already the way you want it to be. Really think about all the details of your dream life, from how you dress, who you hang out with, what you do, where you go, what you eat, what your house looks like, what color your car is, etc, etc… The more detailed the better. Do this visualization exercise every night. Spend at least 15 minutes on this at the end of your day, Every Day!

I know, now you are saying… woah… I thought we were talking about Productivity here, what’s going on? I know, I know, but if you are going to be productive in the truest sense, and in a way that makes the most sense for YOU, then we must be spending your most productive efforts on YOUR GOALS. Not on your boss’s goals, not on the meaningless chores, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should ignore these other tasks… I’m just saying they are NOT your priority. There is plenty of time to fit these things in.

OK, so now you’ve created your list of prioritized tasks for the next day. You then went to bed visualizing your dream life as if is happening now. You felt it, smelled it, and saw it vividly in your head. You fell asleep peacefully and had fantastic dreams where your subconscious mind is finding ways to make it all happen and ways to make it all come together, right now.

Now each day, you follow the steps below to accomplish your greatest and most productive tasks (as planned the night prior).

As soon after waking as is possible, start work on Task 1 of your list.
Do not stop working on task 1 until is is complete (turn off the phone, close your email, remove all distractions.. this is important!
Move to the next task and do not stop working on it until it is complete (* or time is up, whichever comes first).
Repeat this process until all 6 tasks are complete.

Note: In some cases, you may need to set an appropriate amount of time to work on a task, as opposed to completing the task outright. That is fine… some of our biggest goals, require commitment over time. This is one of the best benefits of being more productive… You’ll accomplish your long-term, and most important and life-changing goals this way! Most people have great ideas and know exactly what needs to be done, but they lack the mindset and fortitude to stick with it for the long haul.

So, as simple as this seems, it is a very, very powerful tip. I hope you’ll use it starting today (tonight ). If you do try these steps to be more productive, I hope you’ll please write a comment and let me know how this has helped your productivity overall, and your movement toward accomplishing your long-term goals. I suspect you’ll be well on your way to success (whatever you’ve defined as success for you)!

Make it a great day!

Just One Guy (can start a movement)

Shane Hall — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:33:44 +0000

This is from the Sasquatch Music Festival 2009… This guy was all alone in his own little world, while many made fun of him (secretly jealous, mind you) and laughed as he entertained everyone without a care in the world.

Next thing you know… The Tipping Point, which appeared to me to be guy number 3. Guy number 3 was definitely the catalyst, and when guys 4 and 5 joined… it was on! People not only wanted to join, they ran to join.

This lone, crazy guy started a dance party all on his own at the top of a hill at the Sasquatch Music festival, as far away from the music and main crowd as you could be….

What can you do? What can you start?

In order to understand just how far from the stage this guy was, and how small this one guy was on the outskirts of a sea of people… see a longer version here showing the bigger picture…

Elegant Themes (WordPress) Review

Shane Hall — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:43:04 +0000

I decided to review Elegant Themes WordPress Themes because I use them so much and recommend them all the time to friends, coaching clients, and other folks interested in keeping a blog or building a website for business or fun. I’ll just tell you now, that this Elegant Themes Review will be telling you how these Wordpress Themes are fantastic. I just don’t see any negatives in joining Elegant Themes.

The best thing about joining the Elegant Themes WordPress Theme “club” is that you get access to an ever growing and improved set of themes. Nick actually improves all of his themes all the time. If you downloaded a them in the past, but notice that one of the new themes has a feature or capability that you think you want… no fear, Nick will almost certainly bring that feature to the older themes with an update in the very near future. I know, I know… this sounds like he might have paid me to write this review of Elegant Themes… He didn’t, I’m just a huge fan.

Another thing I really like is the fact that that these themes can be used for blogs (of course), but they can also be used for regular websites, or professional business websites. Many of them come with option of not looking too bloggy, if that’s even a word . I’m always looking for WordPress Themes that don’t look too much like a blog, but instead can be used for professional business websites.

There are so many options for the use of these themes that its crazy… I used them in many different niche websites that I build or manage. And, of course, if I need to customize these themes, no problem. They are built so nicely that some customization can now take place in the actual admin area of the theme itself… Elegant Themes have built in what they call the “epanel”… which is basically just a boatload of options built into the WordPress Admin area for the theme options. The page, post, front page, and widget options are numerous and helpful!

Lastly, once you become a member… you get access to the forum. Each Elegant Theme has its own board and where you can discuss or showcase or get support for each WordPress Theme. I have even asked for help customizing, and Elegant Themes will actually just upload a new version of the code for me… This wasn’t expected, or asked for… they just did it. That is awesome! Now, they aren’t going to customize the crap out of your sites for you and you should’nt expect this either… but I can say that they do go above and beyond… big time!

Well, I can honestly say that I hope you end up joining the club… because I know you’ll be satisfied… it will surely be the best 20 bucks you have spent on WordPress in a long time!

Best of luck! I hope this review of Elegant Themes and their WordPress Themes has been helpful! Once you join, let me know what you think… leave a comment.

Make it a great day!
Shane

Creativity & Collaboration (and fun)

Shane Hall — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:43:29 +0000

Its amazing to me what we as humans can do when we put our heads together. I know this is just a simple, silly little video lip synching… but I believe it is these moments (especially when you can put yourself on the internet for all to see) that really make memories. I find it motivating and inspiring when regular people work together (without even being paid for it), even if it is just for entertainment and fun.

Enjoy…

Royalty Free Music

Shane Hall — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:38:42 +0000

If you create podcasts, produce short films, make training videos, or any other type of format/use that might have a need for music as an intro, closing, or background…. you need to check out this site for Royalty Free Music. There are full songs, clips, intros, closings, etc… It has every type of music category and style and is even categorized by feeling.

This is a great resource for royalty free music songs and clips….

http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

Enjoy!

Make it a great day!
shane