• Your following on Twitter is growing and your retweets, ratios and direct messages are solid;
• You have hundreds of Facebook friends who nudge, poke, pic and update constantly;
• Professionals are lining up on LinkedIn to connect to you, join your groups and network;
• Your Ning-based social networks are numerous and brimming with interest-specific goodness;
• You keep eight browsers open at once, hot-key between sites and have leveraged online efficiency tools to the hilt;
• Your blog is ripe with comments and people really Digg you; and
• Your seven different email addresses always ensure that messages await your wisdom and wit.

You are a maven, you are in demand, you are everywhere and you are loving every second of it.  Take a bow Rock Star!

But there’s one thing I neglected to mention – all of this is useless if you don’t take things offline.

‘Useless’ Mark, c’mon dude, seriously?  I get mad traffic, huge Technorati authority and am known in the industry man.  You are so 1983 Mr. Roboto, so wake up to the new age and quit your whining old man.

Fair feedback (except the old man bit, although I was recently mistaken for Steve Martin on the streets of DC.  I digress…).  

But listen, there are five reasons that you need to step away from the keyboard and get the hell offline (not the least of which is to return feeling to the fleshy bit of bodice between your hands and your head). Here we go:

 

1. It’s Unexpected: You want to really get someone’s attention? Pick up the phone. That’s right, pick up the ole handset, dial them up and have a conversation. You will be thrilled at how voices, inflection, real laughter, emotion and sincerity fundamentally change the way you connect online in the future.
2. It’s Personal: Online anonymity offers a comfortable screen that you can pull to expose at your own pace. And despite the depth of the online content you exchange – the comments you both laugh at and the heartfelt expressions of goodwill and empathy – it’s still impersonal. To morph from acquaintance to friend, you need to get intimate. I’m not talking hopes, dreams and aspirations, per se, but I am referring to the need to connect at another level.
3. It’s A Test: We don’t like to admit this, but we usually put our closest friends through a series of unspoken feats of relationship strength. Have you ever thought, “If they still like me after [insert awful thing/fact/experience], they are definitely a good friend”? We’ve all been on both sides of that coin, and if you recover it’s a bonding moment that’s difficult to beat. Such experiences can rarely be found online, and I for one have never commiserated over “that wild-ass Tweet” with a true friend.
4. It’s Stickier: How easy is it to drop an online friend? Hell, Burger King counted on hunger trumping friendship when they ran their Whopper Sacrifice promo a few months back on Facebook (and they were right). Bottom line is that one wrong move online and you are unfollowed, banned, blocked and banished in a heartbeat. But the more time you spend with someone offline, the more difficult it becomes to whimsically play catch and release.
5. It’s Meaningful: I have met an unbelievable number of wonderful people via online media and I am so grateful that these tools have allowed me to connect with those I might not have otherwise met. But what made those relationships really bring me joy was the hour I invested in a phone call, or the two hours I spent over a meal, or the thirty minutes grabbing coffee, or the three days together at a conference. These are the memories that turned acquaintances into growing friendships, and I wouldn’t give that up for the world.

If you’re still reading this post, I’d ask you to give it a try. Just pick one person from your multitude of networks and give it a shot. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

What do you think? Share your opinions here (or call me – *grin*) and let’s keep the conversation going.

This is the longest time between posts in the history of our little blog. If you’re thinking, “This is an outrage!”, I agree completely. So who is to blame for this travesty, this lapse in judgment, this abandonment of an HR community whose path is asunder without the wisdom and guidance of our Zen-like posts? I want names!!

Victims of the empty RSS feed, I present you with the cause of our radio silence – JobAngels.

What is this JobAngels thing and how did it begin?

Rumor has it that my crackling cornflakes whispered an idea to me on the morning of January 29th. It was apparently hard to decipher over their milk-drowned voices, but eventually I could make out their message – “help people find jobs”. Their whole-grained wisdom spread to the world and all were saved. (End scene) Wow. So inspirational!

The real story is this. I was eating breakfast and thinking about the economy. We were in the throws of a debilitating week of job loss announcements and things looked to be worsening in all sectors. I had been spending a bit of time on Twitter and had accumulated about 700 followers, a large percentage of whom are experts and professionals in the HR sector. So I wondered, what if each of those followers helped just one person find a job? Could we actually make a difference? Here’s the original Tweet:

“Was thinking that if each of us helped just 1 person find a job, we could start making a dent in unemployment. You game?”

Where did the name come from?

The response was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. Within several minutes, the discussion evolved to the use of a hashtag to help those in need locate those willing to help on Twitter. But what to call it? A few ideas floated around and then I sent this message on a whim:

“Wish we could come up with a site/plan to link all this positive energy to. How’s #jobangels sound? ”

And thus JobAngels was born. It was literally that simple. This was not rocket science and there was no divine intervention. It was one simple idea that somehow tapped into people’s desire to stop being victims to a seemingly endless stream of angst, depression and relentless negativity. When faced with hundreds of thousands of job losses, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless. But if the idea is for you to simply aid one person – a friend, a family member, a colleague or a complete stranger – that somehow not only seems possible, it seems probable.

How have people responded?

It has been four months since that original message, and in that time, a movement has begun. In this short period, over 18,000 JobAngels have already assembled across Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Over 500,000 JobAngel messages have been sent across a myriad of online platforms. Angels have donated their time, their networks, their expertise and their hearts to this grassroots initiative (and we are just getting started).

Let me be clear about one thing. JobAngels is not my movement, but it has changed my life. I am blown away by everyday people deciding to step up and aid those in need of employment. This is a chance to truly impact someone’s life and it is amazing to watch the goodwill grow at a time when it’s tempting to thrust your head in the sand.

Please join us if you haven’t already. I’m humbled to be part of this initiative and look forward to hearing your stories of success in the weeks and months to come. Thanks to those of you who have joined thus far and remember, just one Angel can make a world of difference.

NOTE: Five “Guardian Angels” have gone well beyond the call of duty in helping JobAngels become a reality. A warm and heartfelt thanks to Mark Cummuta, Chris Connolly, Deirdre Honner, Charee Klimek and Chris Bailey. Our current and future success would not be possible without their generosity and commitment to this cause. I’d also like to thank Greg Grigoriou of VanPaul Design for creating the JobAngels logo on such short notice.  Coming soon - JobAngels.org.

Since we’re making predictions, I thought I’d turn to the Chinese Zodiac for guidance. The Year of the Ox begins on January 26th, so let’s agree that 2009 starts then, shall we?  It’ll give HR most of January “off” as you’ll be buried in strategic planning and budgeting, performance reviews, merit increases (if you’re lucky), follow up on open enrollment and the initial throws of the annual health plan review.  You’re also likely to be contemplating additional layoffs and planning to do more with less, the mainstay of the modern HR function.

So the real question for 2009 is this – Can HR benefit from the Year of the Ox?  Let the predictions begin!

1. HR Will Add Tremendous Value, But Not in Areas They Desire 

• The Ox: “The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work… As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.” (Wikipedia)  
• HR: To the external observer, you should thrive in 2009 against these Ox-like tendencies. Executives will turn to you to tackle some of least desirable work in the enterprise. They will count on your discretion, ability to navigate tricky waters and keep them out of trouble, and to do so without a single complaint. Training and experience will matter most and you will perform well. However, this is not what you hoped to be doing with your HR career as transactions will supersede transformation at almost every turn.

2. For Many of You, This Will Be Your Last Year in HR

• The Ox: “Ox people are truthful and sincere, and the idea of wheeling and dealing in a competitive world is distasteful to them. They are rarely driven by the prospect of financial gain.” (Wikipedia)
• HR: This is a tough one, but 2009 will really test your patience and intestinal fortitude. You will be viewed by many as judge, jury and executioner. And in some cases, you’ll be the last one to turn out the lights. There is a price to be paid for this work and you ultimately may question the meaning of it all. There is a certain burden to being “in the know” all the time and you may eventually seek greener and more positive pastures.

3. HR Vendors Will Take a Beating

• The Ox: “Behind this tenacious, laboring, and self-sacrificing exterior lies an active mind. The Ox is not extravagant, and the thought of… being in debt makes them nervous. The possibility of taking a serious risk could cause the Ox sleepless nights.” (Wikipedia)
• HR: The name of the game in 2009 is cost control and risk mitigation. As a result, vendors must have an extremely clear and concise value proposition, in-year ROI, a rapidly deployable solution and plenty of cash reserves. There will not be a lot of time or patience for flashiness, vaporware or finger pointing. If possible, vendors should be prepared to offer flexible payment arrangements that emphasize amortization over big upfront costs. 

4. Welcome to HR 2.0

• The Ox: “It is important to remember that the Ox people are sociable and relaxed when they feel secure, but occasionally a dark cloud looms over such people and they engage all the trials of the whole world and seek solutions for them.” (Wikipedia) 
• HR: With travel budgets frozen and the value of industry associations in question, many HR professionals will seek more creative means of information gathering and networking.  Whether it’s via HRMToday, Twitter, Facebook or others, HR will embrace new media for both themselves and their populations. This may initially be more from necessity than design, but peer networking will be critical to sustaining knowledge sharing during what is likely to be a very challenging twelve months.

So what do you think? Can HR benefit from the Year of the Ox? Please share your thoughts freely and let’s keep the conversation going.  

P.S. I hope most of my predictions are wrong.