Just Joan

If you have read this blog before, you know that I like to tell stories. At my advancing age there are so many of them, and social media connections help me remember and revisit them to see if I learned anything at the time, or can still learn now.

So when a Facebook friend posted this comment (about a picture of an alligator), it reminded me of my own time at the police academy.

When I attended the academy, candidates were required to meet certain standards in the following areas – academic, physical agility, and marksmenship. Each area had a minimum score that the candidate had to reach during a final test in order to pass and become certified. If you weren’t certified, you could not work as a police officer.

The physical agility test was a series of tasks, like running a mile in a certain time, and doing a minimum number of push-ups and sit-ups. When it was my turn, I did whatever minimum number it was to pass, and then stopped.

“Hey!” yelled one of my instructors as I was getting up after doing my minimum sit-ups. “I know you can do more!”

“Sure, ” I replied, “but what for? I’m not going to win any agility award, and I passed. I don’t see the point in doing any additional.”

Then I walked away, leaving the instructor scowling.

HR pundits and bloggers often discuss how important it is to try, and how people shouldn’t stop themselves from achieving more.  But I’m not sure if it’s necessary to always try to be on top. It may be just as important to minimize your effort in some area in order to shine brighter in another (I did win the academic award with the highest score in my academy class).

Sometimes, I think, good enough really is just that.

Do you?

The next monthly #SHRMchat – a Twitter chat to discuss using social media with state and local SHRM chapters – will be held on January 10th at 8 pm EST/7 pm CST. Here are the details:

During the November chat, I was impressed with a comment made by Steve Browne of Ohio, which I will paraphrase here:  Don’t use social media just as a bulletin board for chapter announcements. Use it to create and engage a community.

I’m still thinking about that message and wondering about the best ways to implement it. Consequently, the theme of the January chat will be PLATFORMS. Let’s discuss Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, and blogs and how to use those platforms to build a community – since we all probably know how to make chapter announcements. Here are some specific questions to drive the discussion:

#1.  We all know that the different platforms have their own advantages. Can you identify one specific goal of your social media efforts (example: increase chapter membership) with one platform that works best for that goal?

#2. Which platform has the best time/return ratio? For example, do you find Facebook fast and easy with a high rate of engagement, or is it too cumbersome for the benefits it reaps?

#3. Have you been able to get others in your chapter excited about social media use? Which platform works best for individual member engagement and why?

#4. If you have found a particular chapter to be good at a specific social media site/platform, please share the URL,  account name, link etc.

Don’t forget to identify the specific question- Q1 or A1, for example – in your tweet so we can all follow along.

In February, we will move into a general discussion of how to broaden this chat beyond social media and into a discussion of SHRM chapter issues in general. Stay tuned!

A day or so before I was to depart for college, I became violently ill with what I thought was gastroenteritis, (what people commonly call stomach flu). But it cleared up almost immediately after I met my roommate and settled into my dorm room.

It was really stress, you see, from a girl who had almost never been out of her white-bread, suburban Detroit, lower-middle class community. We were poor, and even restaurant dinners and family vacations were totally foreign to me. The idea of being 90 miles away from my mother and family was sufficiently stressful to induce 2 days of vomiting.

After college I returned to the same suburban community where I grew up, beginning my first career as a police officer and maintaining some old friendships and forging  new ones among co-workers and neighbors. I stayed safely snuggled in those six square miles, leaving infrequently and never going very far when I did.

Then I met and married my husband, and he yanked me out of my safety zone to live in his world. That world was only another suburb about a 1/2 hour drive away, but to me it was like moving to another planet. I didn’t know the geography and, before cell phones and computers, immediately lost touch with many people.  I didn’t get physically sick this time, but I was irritable, argumentative, or crying for at least 3 months after moving. More stress.

So I wasn’t really sure what to expect a few weeks ago when I packed up my dogs and car and  began the biggest move of my life: 1,400 miles and almost 24 hours of driving, from Novi, Michigan to Naples, Florida – from the same 30 or so square miles I had lived my entire life to, as my friend Dave Ryan said, ” just north of Cuba.”

This time, though, I didn’t get physically sick. I haven’t screamed, cried, or other wise acted out. I’ve been tired, sure, but peaceful. Calm. Happy. This time, my friends and family have been with me the entire time:

• Driving across the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, when I thought of Eric Weingardner, Jennifer McClure, Benjamin McCall,  and several others who live there.
• Hearing “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone on Sirius/XM Sixties radio in Kentucky, which I will forever associate with Steve Browne‘s broad smile and ready hug.
• Driving by the I-71/Louisville exit and recapturing the HRevolution #1 post-lunch walk with Lisa Rosendahl.
• Thinking of Mike Krupa when the rakish young man in a Mini Cooper flashed me a bright smile as he passed in northern Tennessee.
• Watching a family walk their GSD puppy in a Georgia rest area and wondering how Deirdre Honner was.
• Driving through Atlanta and remembering everyone from HRevolution #3, especially Neil Morrison, James Papiano, Tammy Colson, and Frank Zupan.
• Hearing Jason Danieley sing “You Walk With Me” from The Full Monty, who is forever associated in my mind with Trish McFarlane.
• Having several Floridian Facebook friends reassure me that I will get used to, even welcome, having geckos skitter across the kitchen floor.

Last week I went to my first Florida HR meeting. I was inevitably asked by a tablemate what I did for a living. I explained a little about me and my social media venture.  One of the people at the table made the standard complaint about social media and “not wanting to read about what people eat for breakfast.”

I don’t mind hearing about your breakfast; I find it endearing. I want to see pictures of your kids and grandkids, too. Tell me about your good days and your bad – I’ll try to be there for both, because the gift of fellowship I get in return is worth it.

Social media changed my life, and it is the greatest gift I have ever received. Thank you.

Have a wonderful holiday season and the best New Year ever.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I wanted to step back a little for the December SHRM Twitter Chat (our second) and start over. So, as announced, we began with a discussion of format, and which Twitter chat format would best facilitate communication among the participants.

Some people didn’t have any opinion at all, but those that did felt that the best format was the predetermined theme or subject, with 2-4 related questions. This was the same format I tried in the first (November) chat, but I am willing to give it another try. Hopefully, as people get used to the chat and the format, it will be comfortable for everyone.

Because it was suggested that we have a SHRM staff member present to answer questions, the discussion moved into one of SHRM and their social media efforts and assistance in general. Thank goodness that Curtis Midkiff,  SHRM Director of Social Engagement, was present at the chat and helped facilitate this portion of the discussion. He has been an invaluable part of SHRM Chat and will obviously continue to be.

The major points from this part of the chat were

1. We all (volunteer leaders and SHRM staff) need to collaborate on collecting best practices to share with SHRM and chapters/councils that are social media newbies.
2. Many volunteer leaders are highly resistant to social media and we need to get them more involved in activities (such as SHRM Chat).
3. Making social media use a SHAPE requirement instead of an option would help increase social media use.
4. SHRM field leaders need to be more proficient in social media if they are going to encourage and help their regions.
5. SHRM needs to teach State councils the technical aspects of conference sharing such as live stream, and they need to be taught and understand why those sharing strategies would be a source of revenue and engagement.

One of the best comments on the whole subject of SHRM and social media came at the end of the discussion from John Jorgenson of ILSHRM: “We Know Next” needs to be more than a slogan.” Social media is clearly part of “the Next”, but SHRM seems to be behind when it comes to the knowing. It was agreed by all that Curtis is doing a great job, but he needs help. Let’s give it to him.

Please join us on January 10, 2012 at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central (same time the second Tuesday of every month) for our next SHRM Chat (Twitter hashtag #SHRMChat).

So what happened to SHRM Chat – November 2011? Lots of things.

November was the inaugural month of the Twitter #SHRMChat, where interested folks could spend an hour on Twitter discussing how to leverage and use social media for the benefit of their state and/or local SHRM chapter. Before the first chat, I spent some time researching the different ways chats were conducted and the formats people were using successfully. Being a boomer with slowing reflexes and arthritic hands, I thought that having a specific set of questions would work best.

I was wrong.

There were a lot of enthusiastic and knowledgeable attendees, and they wanted to TALK. I was trying to tweet from two different accounts, my personal account and my SHRM local account, and I just couldn’t follow the conversations sufficiently to gain any in-depth insight. Also, people wanted very much to add to the published questions, and either did so with abandon, or were shy about intruding on the format.

I also promised to blog a recap of the discussion. That didn’t happen, either. Too much personal stress and a massive time-suck caused by a cross-country move.

This month I hope to do better.

I would like to back up a bit and sort of start over. I would like to discuss the chat format itself.  The topic is: “How can we use #SHRMChat to intelligently and effectively discuss how to use social media for betterment of our state and local chapters?”

If you have some insights and suggestions that you would like to share before the chat, please leave your thoughts in the comments, or email/FB message me directly.  Even if you can’t attend the chat, I will make sure your voice is included.

Join us on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13th, from 8-9 pm Eastern (7-8 Central) on Twitter using hashtag #SHRMChat.

Let’s do this right – together!

My daughter Amy recently published a book. (Yes, that was a shameless plug for this. )

Her official launch party was this week, which meant we needed to make a run to Costco for beverages. Before we went, we were standing in my kitchen discussing exactly how much wine we should buy for the crowd by determining how many ounces were in a standard 750 ML bottle, and how many ounces a crowd of 100 – getting free wine -was going to drink.

During this discussion, Amy was working furiously on her iPhone, converting milliliters to ounces and doing other forms of math. Since I really, really suck at math, I looked at her and remarked how nice it was that we had the capability to do these complex equations right here and now, without mistake.

She said, “I know! Can you imagine what it would be like without it?”

Um, yeah.

I don’t even need to imagine, because I remember the days when calculators didn’t exist at all. You used a pencil and paper and did the math by hand, or used a slide rule.  How many ounces in a milliliter? Dunno – better go the library to find out.

Back in those days I really couldn’t imagine a world with microwave ovens, or video games, or portable phones. But now that I live in an era with some of the most amazing devices and conveniences, I try to stop and remember what it was like without them, because it makes me so much more patient and appreciative.

Today I was pitching social media services to a potential client and he asked me what the future was going to bring. Maybe social media will be gone in 5 or 10 years, he said, and something else will replace it. I responded that I had no clue what the future was going to bring, but that wasn’t going to keep me from embracing and advocating what we need and have, right here and now.

I can imagine it’s just going to get better and better.

(Friends – some of you know that I am starting a new life chapter. I am in the process of moving to Florida, where I hope to meet and work with a whole new group of HR and social media people. But packing and moving is time consuming, so I am going to apologize for not posting my blog for the next month or so. Bear with me – I’ll be back!)

www.someecards.com

Some of you may remember that I poked fun at SHRM a while back for booking Michael J. Fox as a keynote speaker. He’s a purely inspirational speaker, and my argument at the time was that there were more pressing issues concerning the field of human resources to be discussed, and that he wasn’t the person we needed to discuss them.

This week, while looking into Transform, the new conference hosted by TLNT, I sadly discovered another reason to argue against the use of  high-end motivational or inspirational speakers: they drive the cost of conference attendance too high for the average HR practitioner to attend.

Now, to be fair to TLNT, I can’t say for sure that their speakers are purely inspirational in content, and maybe they all will have some real world, practical solutions that a practitioner can take back to work and immediately implement.

Okay, the moon is made of cheese.

I know this for sure, though – their 2 day conference cost is a whopping $1200-1600. That’s as high as SHRM’s national conference, with far fewer sessions and speaker choices. They don’t even have Hall & Oates or Keith Urban.

I don’t need to pay a huge sum of money to be inspired. Inspiration is all around me, cost-free. Here are some examples of every day people who have inspired me recently:

• Jennifer DuRocher – a flyball and Facebook friend who recently lost over 140 pounds. Her incredible story was recently featured on a local news station.
• Bryan Wempen – as the host of Drive Thru HR he is familiar name to many of you. Bryan (a grandfather!) decided to get fit and start running, so he could participate in a memorial race for a friend. He recently completed his first 1/2 marathon.
• Branden Ginsberg – yes, he’s related (stepson), but after a long battle with drug addiction and a prison term, he is drug-free, healthy, and has kept his job for over 2 years.

All of these people motivate and inspire me to do better things. I don’t have to pay a cent or pack a suitcase.

What about you? Is there someone in your life that you find inspirational? Leave a comment and share the story.

Today my blog is 2 years old.

My first blog was the typical “I’m gonna try this blogging thing”, but my first substantive content blog came a few days later with “What HR Can Learn From Good Pet Ownership”.  It was about my dog Freckles (far left in the picture), who had just died.  Thinking about that first post made me realize that this blog has become a big part of my life, just as my dogs are.

If  Just Joan were a dog, it would be leaving the clumsy-uncontrolled-spontaneous-lots of accidents phase, and settling into a more adult behavioral pattern. Energetic, but not spastic. Curious, but not destructive.

I think I have made it past the puppy stage and into the big girl pants. Part of the reason for this is that I have had some great trainers along the way. They are HR pros, bloggers, friends and others who I admire, and who have encouraged me with comments, fellowship, and advice. If you have ever left a comment on my blog or Facebook, or tweeted, re-tweeted, liked, or +1′d me, then you are a person who has helped me come this far, and I am deeply grateful to you.

Woof.

(I am also posting today for the Human Resource Association of Greater Detroit – www.hragdblog.org – “Do You Have A Paul Revere Or A William Dawes Network?”  It would be great to hear from you there, too!)

HR people love to write about customer service. I’ve blogged about it before, and so have many others. TLNT blogged just last week about the importance of customer service to the business bottom line, and why ensuring that employees have the proper customer service skills is ultimately the responsibility of HR.

But while HR is quick to discuss how important customer satisfaction is to employee satisfaction, someone else is telling a lot of companies that good customer service means continually and meaninglessly apologizing to the customer.

A couple of weekends ago the power in my house went out for 5 hours during a wind storm in the metro Detroit area. Maybe not exactly a wind storm, because winds were about 16 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph. Call that “medium windy”, at best. It’s not unusual for me to lose  electric power when the weather is windy. Or snowy. Or rainy. Or just about anything, because I lose power all the time.

The next day I received a pre-recorded call from DTE energy. The recorded voice said she “hoped my power was back on”, and apologized for any inconvenience that was caused. Does that mean their company doesn’t even know if they’ve fixed the power, but it’s okay since they apologized?

I don’t even care if they apologize (especially with a pre-recording) for causing me inconvenience, I just want them to fix whatever is causing my power to go out so frequently.

Other companies have the same “tell them you’re sorry and they won’t be unhappy” attitude.

About a month ago I began experiencing difficulties with AT&T U-Verse, after a couple of years of pretty exemplary service. It took several phone calls and 4 different technician visits to finally fix the problem. One of those phone calls took almost an hour, during which time I was placed on hold several times. Each time the customer service rep apologized profusely to me for placing me on hold. Each technician that visited my home was apologetic for the one who came before and for the multiple mistakes that were made. The AT&T employees were exceptionally c0urteous.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think that the multiple apologies from those employees were helpful at all, given the inability of this company to fix a service problem over a month’s time, several phone calls, and several visits to my home. In fact, those apologies are annoying when you have heard them 4, 5, or 6 times without results.

HR, tell your employees to apologize to customers once, and then spend the bulk of their time cheerfully fixing the problem.

Unless your employee sings like Brenda Lee.