Put a sandbox in your roundabout

On the other hand, roundabouts shouldn't be so efficient. Especially when you drop a sandbox in the middle of it.

No worries. I woke up early today, so let me explain.

There's a traffic roundabout in Santa Cruz just up the street from the wharf and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk that used to be a four-way stop. When it was a four-way stop, it had with heavy pedestrian congestion and on the busiest beach days would be extremely backed up.

But now that there is a roundabout in its place, which more and more studies have shown globally can actually relieve traffic and create traffic efficiencies, there's still heavy pedestrian congestion and on the busiest beach days is extremely backed up.

On the street, not so good, but online?

We do everything we can to get "passive" marketing prospects and job applicants to stop by our sites. We now know with marketing software automation who's stopping by and for how long and what they looked at and/or did. We make it so easy for them to get in and around quickly and efficiently, otherwise we know they'd bounce.

We talk a lot about talent and lead-nurturing "communities" these days, but yet it's no different that if was over a decade ago. We funnel them through our roundabouts and then harass them non-stop on the other side with phone calls and emails. Then at some point we stop when they never respond.

However, if you watch kids play in sandboxes (which I do a lot when I'm at the park with my daughters), someone always brings toys and tools to play with. One kid starts playing, then another, then another, and soon kids and sharing and playing and their parents are meeting and talking and sharing.

Other kids may be running around and around the sandbox, but for those who are in it, for whatever time that is, it becomes an impromptu community where folks aggregate again and again. They're not coming to the sandbox because you put it there. They're coming because they want to play with the other kids and parents.

They come for community.

What you fill it with will vary, but if you truly want talent/lead communities, you've got to put a sandbox in your roundabout.

Really? Recruiting Communities Nurturing? Hmmmm

I saw press releases this morning by I Love Rewards announcing both The 50 Most Engaged Workplaces in United States & Canada and understand the prestige of being named in this, and similar, awards. In the market of attracting the best and sharpest talent, being known as one of 10/25/50/100 best places to work is like being a Chai Tea Latté instead of just a cup of tea. But there are so many other ways to promote the company and environment to get the right fit to the position.

Where does Nurturing Recruiting Communities fit in this picture?

As you may recall, a couple of weeks ago, I was part of a Blogging Duel with two brilliant people, Jennifer Brogee and Bernie Dyme which gave three very different perspectives on a subject of remote workers. It is happening again! We have dropped the gauntlet by Twitter and challenged each other. Okay, stop jumping up and down so that you can read all of the blogs and get 3 different perspectives, myself, Jennifer Brogee from myStaffingPro and Jessica Merrell of @blogging4Jobs. I am up against some very heavy hitters here.

I guess the first thing to do is to consider the issues that recruiters have in getting a qualified, interested, “form-fitted to the position” person. What are they? Recently I read that the market is changing to a candidate-driven market, and it is more and more difficult to fill those positions with what the client wants. Sure you still have to have access to job boards, ask for referrals, perhaps do some social media filtering and there is always the archaic newspaper ad (really??), but something that could give you the crème du la crème – recruiting communities.

By building these communities, either company specific based, or recruiter based, can help to create a pool of active and excited candidates. But you can’t let the pool get stagnant and begin to get scummy and stinky and not worth being in – and I think you know where I am going with this. You have got to feed it with strong resources, success stories, learning materials and in the case of company specific communities, shouting about all the things that make that company the best to work for. Some of the ways you will want to consider doing this is:

• - a library of resources from creating cover letter, resume, 10 Tips about your interview, competencies assessment, and the opportunity to engage with others in the community. Why not consider including links to podcasts and webinars for that visual play.
• - a Company/Recruiters blog – come on – be bold and tell everyone why you are so great.
• - Candidate success stories – nothing better to win someone over than to tell them about the success of someone else who was right where they are now.
• - FaceBook and LinkedIn groups for support and conversation
• - What is happening in the industry – good or bad. Write about it, comment about it, encourage guest writers, and just share it.

You need to nurture and feed that qualified candidate, move them from passive to active; watching to seeking; wall flower to disco diva; so that when a position comes up, they are so prepared and excited about the opportunity – they will explode out of the gate and into the position.

My opinions for sure – and for some different perspectives check out the other blogs - Jessica's 'Recruitment Lead Generation for Dummies' and Jennifer's "Communities are for Suckers". Thank you so much ladies for being part of this Blogging Duel.

The Day HR Tech Stood Sexy Cool

When The Last Starfighter came out in 1984, I remember reading that to create the special effects with computer-generated imagery (CGI), one of the earliest films besides Tron to use extensive CGI for the big screen, it took an amazing amount of software code as well as dozens and dozens of servers in Walmart-sized buildings.

I thought, Mercy, I’d really like to be that someday.

The last starfighter, not a software developer. Sadly neither of those occupations has occupied my workspace to date. But I can certainly write about it from an HR B2B marketplace perspective. That much I got right.

What is literally amazing today is that I can control my entire virtual office via my laptop, tablet computer and smartphone. And that’s because of software – software that takes up a gig or two of hard drive space, if that. And it’s also software-as-a-service (SaaS) that allows me to purchase and use software online without having to download anything. And it’s also cloud computing where the software is delivered more as a service rather than a product, giving me access to software, data access and storage services.

The glitz and glamour of big-screen entertainment, consumer software, apps and the social cloud we play in (and don’t even really know we’re in clouds) – these are all sexy cool and rich in marketing romance.

HR business software? Not so much. But that really doesn’t matter when software runs the world these days. Or, when it’s eating it according to Marc Andreessen, who co-founded Netscape and is now a general partner of the venture capital firm Andreessen-Horowitz:

More and more major businesses and industries are being run on software and delivered as online services—from movies to agriculture to national defense. Many of the winners are Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurial technology companies that are invading and overturning established industry structures. Over the next 10 years, I expect many more industries to be disrupted by software, with new world-beating Silicon Valley companies doing the disruption in more cases than not.

Why is this happening now? Six decades into the computer revolution, four decades since the invention of the microprocessor, and two decades into the rise of the modern Internet, all of the technology required to transform industries through software finally works and can be widely delivered at global scale.

Eating the world, running the world – however you want to view it, it’s happening, sexy or not, in Silicon Valley and many other places around the world, although I did have an interesting discussion last week with startup TribeHR co-founder Joseph Fung. They provide HR management software for small to mid-size companies. He argued that HR software can be sexy cool, especially if you’re focusing on the customer and end-user experience as well as creating an emotional connection between product and consumer. Tough to do, but with the innovative software mash-ups I’ve seen this year alone addressing multiple business problems, he may be right.

But long-time purveyors and surveyors of HR tech sexy cool like Bill Kutik, co-chair of the HR Technology® Conference and leading independent analyst of the HR technology marketplace, know it’s not just small startups that innovate. His latest article talks about the software smack down between long-awaited Oracle Fusion and Workday. Plus, for those of you attending, exhibiting and/or sponsoring at this year’s HR Technology Conference & Exposition, you can check out the Awesome New Technologies for HR session on Tuesday, October 4, from 4:00-5:15 p.m. PT. And you’ve also got Jason Averbook, Co-Founder & CEO at Knowledge Infusion and Naomi Lee Bloom, Managing Partner at Bloom & Wallace, battling it out in the Great Technology Debate earlier that same day. This is just day two of three amazing HR tech days.

What a birthday I’m gonna have. Heck, HRmarketer.com may even have something shiny and new to share.

Now, once HR business software self-configures and adapts automatically once deployed, event providing talent acquisition and management recommendations automatically like an Alfred on AI steroids, that’ll be the day HR Tech stood sexy cool.

Or when I become software developer, or the last starfighter, whichever comes first.

It is clear as mud - JUST SAY IT!!!

I don’t think that there is any industry out there that doesn’t have it’s lingo, language, jargon and superficial conversations weighted with phrases and correspondence that is rifled to confuse and drag you off the track of the discussion so there is no way that you can fully understand the reasons for the dialogue in the first place, and recall an understanding of why you are associating with this particular intercourse initially and what exactly the meaning of initiating the actual ……. STOP - WHAT???? Oh please, just say it!!!

Clear messaging has got to be the most important, and often the hardest aspect of any companies goals so that it clearly is included in promotion, PR and marketing outreach – really, until you have a clear message – Who you are – What you offer – How the solution fits into pain points – Identifying your target audience - you are absolutely lost. And the messaging has got to be universal from the Homepage to marketing to PR to sales pitches. We all know that this is what needs to happen but it is easier said than done. But it really has to start with UNDERSTANDING what the heck you are offering and what is going to resonate for your audience.

Just to start, I decided to search Performance Management and then pulled descriptions from 3 very large and well known Performance Management vendors, to prove my point – I will call these companies 1/ WHAT??? 2/ Not mud but foggy 3/ AHH, crystal clear – lush!

#1 (Vendor company name appeared here) unique and highly efficient talent management suite is purpose-built, from the ground up, to assure all your talent management processes support and drive employee performance.

With our truly seamless suite, your HR and C-Level executives can roll out a cohesive end-to-end talent strategy that’s fully aligned with their core business initiatives.

#2 Performance management includes processes that effectively communicate company aligned goals, evaluate employee performance and reward them fairly. Clear goal planning, skill development and a true pay-for-performance culture are talent management practices that successful companies use to demonstrate their employees are valued. Effective performance and talent management has been proven to increase employee morale and overall productivity.

Engage, productive employees are essential to any company outperforming its competition.

#3 Effective performance management solutions improve employee goal planning, career development, competency assessment, performance appraisal, compensation management and organizational alignment. With effective performance management software, you can automate performance management in your organization to improve employee engagement, retain top performers, and improve performance at both the individual and organizational level.

By aligning your workforce on key goals and performance measures through performance management software, you can identify career paths for employees, create development plans, and identify developmental resources, tasks and ideas to encourage individual development and enhance organizational performance.

I only gave you these examples to prove my point – and I do agree that #2 and #3 may be somewhat “long-winded” - they are helping to crystallize the understanding and remember, it isn’t all about the short and sweet. But if you have to explain it to thoroughly guide the reader to the best understanding, then that is what you have to do.

From this understanding, a company can strategize their industry, target market, SEO keywords, PR and media outreach, all marketing activities, collateral, sales pitches and so much more, but securing this message is essential.

So on your mark, set - Know it and just say it.

If you really don’t know it – then I guess - jargon it?

POSTED BY: Rita Jackson

Event Marketing Webinar: The glitz and the glamour is a lot of work

Regardless of the glitz and glamour for attendees, event marketing is more than just high-end giveaways, a few glossy brochures and high-tech opulence.

It's a lot of work -- from strategic planning to detailed execution. How many times have to gotten your booth and booth team to an event and then shouted from the venue rooftop:

"Why did we forget to do that and bring that?!? Why?!?"

The fall HR B2B trade show season will be kicking off soon and there's no better time to review your event marketing strategy and tactics than now. And don't forget that 2012 is right around the corner...

Join HRmarketer.com's expert guests Audrey Johnson, Visibility Manager at WorldatWork, and Fred Kurst, Exhibit Sales Manager at Human Resource Executive® Magazine, for a detailed look at trade show marketing best practices on Thursday, August 25, from 10 am - 11 am PT (1 pm - 2 pm ET).

Audrey and Fred will review:

• How to make sure you're selecting the right show
• Best practices in pre-show planning
• Planning your booth for your audience, not you
• Booth staff communication
• Onsite etiquette
• And much more

They might even share a wise tale or two that all of us could use when it comes to event marketing. Plus, the HRmarketer.com team will add their own event marketing best practices to the mix at the end of the webinar.

Could you ask for more? Well no, you don't get an iPad for attending, but come join us anyway on Thursday, August 25, from 10 am - 11 am PT (1 pm - 2 pm ET). Lots of great marketing takeaways.

Register today for Best Practices in Trade Show Marketing.

The new golden age of wireless: online talk radio

In essence, it's the new golden age of wireless: online talk radio.

Radio of old changed the way the world communicated and listened to itself forever. The internet today has been even more dramatic, democratizing the way we communicate further, and wallah -- talk radio reborn.

Sure video is the hip and happening medium that the world has grown to embrace -- 71% of online Americans use video-sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, up from 66% a year earlier.

However, according to Pew Internet Research from 2010, the overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms to get their daily news and the internet is now the third most-popular news platform, behind local and national television news and ahead of national print newspapers, local print newspapers and radio. Getting news online fits into a broad pattern of news consumption by Americans; six in ten (59%) get news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day.

While video and reading are still the primary methods of news consumption (and yes, there are times when we use the term "news" loosely), for those of us who are listeners and auditory learners, internet talk radio is where it's at. Between live streaming audio and downloadable recordings (think on-demand podcasts), the online "radio" realm is as diverse as the world's population, and the content delivered just as diverse.

And internet talk radio is yet another viable channel for delivery news and information by way of content marketing, and of course, brand marketing (think radio advertising spots and sponsorship). It may still be a smaller audience, but as we always expound, you must employ a wide array of marketing tactics these days to reach your target markets that includes your buyers and influencers.

Closer to home in our glorious HR B2B space, there are a few radio shows of note listed below (and more are being launched each month). These shows give voice to variety of practitioner and vendor types alike as well as providing sponsorship opportunities for some. If you know of any I haven't mentioned that are of the newsroom / talk show variety, then please let me know.

And hey, you could launch one today with platforms like BlogTalkRadio, or interactive expert sites like Focus, or simple audio recording and distribution technologies to create and deliver podcasts. There's a bazillion options these days.

The Bill Kutik Radio Show

The Bill Kutik Radio Show is a bi-weekly talk show featuring unedited and unrehearsed conversations with key HR thought-leaders. Hosted by Bill Kutik, the leading independent industry analyst, the program airs at noon EDT every other Wednesday.

HR Happy Hour

The HR Happy Hour show is a weekly show hosted by renowned HR technologist Steve Boese and focuses on human resources, management, leadership, and workforce technology.

TChat Radio

TChat Radio is monthly radio show hosted by yours truly and TalentCulture founder, Meghan M. Biro. It's all about the re-engineering of business and business leadership today -- aptly named The Business World of Work. Each month our guests will cover how we acquire, empower and retain our workforce today.

TLNT Radio

TLNT Radio is a weekly call-in show and podcast series to supplement the in-depth coverage provided daily on TLNT. They host experts and thought leaders in HR and workforce management and cover the latest news, insights, and topical information impacting talent management in real time.

The DriveThruHR Show

The DriveThruHR Show shares an inside and colorful look at what (1) one thing keeps the Trench HR warriors up at night. The daily 30-minute program airs at 12PM/CT, hosted by Bryan Wempen and William Tincup features interviews with exclusively (HR) human resource professionals. Their HR guests have embraced all that it takes to get HR done day-in-and-day-out.

Bite Size B2B Marketing Talk

Of course we're going to mention our new series as well -- actionable marketing and PR tips to help you with your HR B2B marketing and PR. Soon with guests and more!

Keep your gamification promos simple and straightforward

The game is afoot.

Gamification is one of the hip-happenin' concepts today as it applies to behavioral econimics and getting folks to adopt software applications, services and just about anything. It takes advantage of our competitive nature and our sometimes insatiable need to be rewarded.

Badges, points, miles, vacations, gadgets, toys, candy, flowers, music, money -- the game is afoot indeed. Promotionally speaking, that is.

Which is why marketing promotions and their giveaways can be so powerful. Not always mind you, but they can be, if they're simple and straightforward.

You may have heard of the gambler's fallacy, the fact that if I toss a coin 10 times in the air and it lands on heads, I may incorrectly think that the next toss will have to come up tails. But the odds are the same either way no matter what.

This is what keeps us finding our gaming heads "back in Vegas with a handle in your hand" (thank you, Steely Dan), and why lotteries have become as big and powerful as they have, and why "bingo parlors" are the second oldest profession of all time (wink).

Somebody wins, but most of us lose, and mercy do we like to play the game. Especially live and in person. Since the fall HR B2B marketplace conference season is about to begin, I think it's important for companies on the hunt for visibility and leads to keep their gaming promtions simple and straightforward:

Stick with what works -- bingo. I've seen attendees dash excitedly from one exhibit hall booth to another to get their bingo cards filled in order to win a prize.

Wheels of fortune. How much simpler can you get? Paste prizes on the wheel and let people spin and salivate.

Brain teasers, quizzes and trivia. "Don't make it New York Time Crossword" difficult, but make your brain teasers challenging enough so not everybody wins the big prize. This isn't the Gen Y school of "Why I'm the mostest special" (I know, that may get some calls).

Scavenger hunts of mystery and intrigue. Make it light-hearted, fun and accessible to all parties, but don't over-complicate with WWII Navajo code talkers and secret decoder rings. And make sure it can be accomplished in a reasonable timeframe.

The prizes and tchotchkes you give away are another subject entirely, so make sure they're not brand damaging pieces of junk.

However, if you're ever giving away a vintage Star Wars pinball machine, I'm game.