Day 1 – SHRM 09 – Enlightenment & Irritation

I didn’t really have a full day here at the 2009 SHRM conference but did want to share my initial impressions and reactions. Given that my flight arrived in to New Orleans toward the late afternoon, I unfortunately missed the Jack Welch presentation (although I heard it was “impressive”… I’m certain other bloggers will cover it, sorry).

The enlightenment portion of my trip took place at 30,000 feet when I had the pleasure of chatting with a very pleasant woman sitting next to me. Like most on the flight, she was traveling from Washington, DC to New Orleans for the SHRM event. But in her case, she was flying in to accompany her husband for his last professional conference.

He is a 38-year tenured employee of the Federal government and currently works for the Department of Treasury. In May, he was driving to work and started to feel pains in his chest. He wisely exited the interstate and found the nearest fire department, a godsend given that they were able to rush him to the hospital before additional cardiac damage occurred.

I asked her if this event helped put everything in perspective. With warm eyes smiling, she said yes, and that they were finally going to retire in a few weeks to a Missouri homestead that has been in her family for generations. This would be a second retirement for her, the first being when she decided to leave her job as an HR expert many years ago out of frustration with the profession. The first retirement “didn’t stick”, and she found herself running a payroll consultancy with an impressive list of clients. She explained how she’s been transitioning her clients away the past few months in anticipation of their move. And their home in DC? It sold in two days (much to her surprise).

I share all this detail for a few reasons. First, it is rare when you meet a complete stranger who is so open and candid about her life and experiences, but you will never know if you don’t make yourself open to meeting new people. Second, because life will eventually be taken from you, so embrace the cliche and live every day like it’s your last. Third, it made me think of my wife and how much I love her and hate to be away from her for long. And finally, because this lovely woman reminded me that a job is just a job. At the end of day, we leave our “careers” behind to be with the ones we love. But I ask you this – why do we wait so damn long to start living?

On the irritation front, there were several things that chaffed me from the moment I arrived at the actual conference:

1. The heat. My cab’s gauge put it at 102 degrees (plus humidity). Why did SHRM pick New Orleans in late June? Was the surface of the Sun unavailable this week?
2. The press briefing. A number of bloggers were invited to the show and therefore participated in SHRM’s press briefing. Here’s a bit of advice – don’t brief bloggers on things they are not allowed to blog about for several days! It takes away from the idea of blogging, don’t you think?
3. The research. Research was released by SHRM stating that 86% of employees surveyed are happy with their current jobs. I’m sorry but I find this extremely hard to believe. In fairness to them though, I need to read the study frame before I hammer on this too heavily. However, based on what I hear in the market, this doesn’t seem to gel.
4. The language. I predicted that I would lose my mind if I heard one of a few phrases that drive me insane about this industry. Sure enough, it only took thirty minutes of attendance to hear that HR should be “strategically aligned with business objectives”. And from a senior SHRM leader no less….ugh.
5. The poor response. I’m sure she’s exhausted, but when asked why SHRM CEO Lon O’Neil is not offering a “State of SHRM” address like his predecessors, SHRM’s media affairs manager chalked it up to a “scheduling conflict”. C’mon now. This is your annual conference and you can’t find a slot to speak to the state of the organization but can manage to schedule, “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm”?? Not a good answer.

That’s it for tonight folks. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we tip back toward the enlightenment side for Day 2. And for those interested, you can follow me on Twitter for real-time thoughts. In the meantime, stay tuned for more perspective tomorrow and let’s keep the conversation going.