Many look at SHRM as an influential and extremely valuable organization that commands tremendous power and respect. Others see a highly bureaucratic and largely tactical entity that is increasingly irrelevant to the modern HR professional. This broad spectrum of opinion is to be expected once you reach significant scale, and each time SHRM makes a move, there is bound to be a highly vocal contingent that either praises or laments those specific choices. I myself have travelled many times across the broad continuum between admiration and disdain. And lately I have found myself, like so many others, struggling to identify the true north of the organization.

SHRM, I no longer know who you are or aspire to be.

Your Operational Paradox

You cannot express the criticality of certification yet have two consecutive CEOs who have yet to test for (or pass) HRCI exams. You cannot speak to transparency yet hide your financials and board minutes from the very members who underpin your power. You cannot express the importance of building and sustaining partnerships yet compete with your chapters and state councils for membership, engagement and revenue at every turn. You cannot present yourself to governments around the world as the face of an industry when you establish policy decisions without a means of ensuring a true and accurate reflection of your constituency.

And most of all, you cannot expect the industry to turn a blind eye to the paradox of your current existence without many pausing to question your motives and ultimate destination.

Less Is More

I would love nothing more than for you to go back to your roots, to jettison your lofty growth objectives and instead focus explicitly on the needs of your members over your desire to multiply. I’d like to see trust return to the chapter and state council relationships and for you to leverage these entities (and others) under an overarching strategic partnership program that emphasizes the strength of the many over the strength of the few. I’d like to see a focus on securing only that income which is absolutely necessary to meet your newly narrowed charter and therefore significantly reduce the cost to participate meaningfully in your conferences and events. I’d like to see you treat each member as a valuable and unique individual versus an ever-increasing number on a spreadsheet or chart.

SHRM, I want to you to be so much more by focusing on so much less.

Use Your Senses

I need you to seek ideation from beyond the four walls of your Alexandria offices. I need you to stop talking long enough to listen and listen long enough to hear. I need you to develop an acute sense of what’s happening around you without discounting or dismissing those voices that attempts to break through your highly controlled and oft-impenetrable exterior. I need you to remove the dollar signs from your eyes and embrace the service provider community as something much more valuable than underwriter, sponsor, advertiser or exhibitor.

You’re doing yourself and the market a terrible disservice by avoiding this unique opportunity to do more by doing less. Consider this a final plea from someone who dearly wants to see you overcome the odds and stop trying to be all things to all people. You don’t have to do this alone as there are so many others who are willing and able to help.

This is likely the last time you’ll see me write about SHRM. My position is clear and the challenge I put forth to you will not be easy. Whether you ignore or embrace my words, the future is in your hands.

In her own words:

“After checking into [my] hotel, I proceeded to the wrong bank of elevators and rode it for awhile before realizing my mistake and getting off. Waiting with me for the next car down was a young guy – early 20s at most – with one arm covered in tattoos, and the other arm gone. Beside him was a canvas tote bag with a large prosthetic arm sticking out.

He was not in uniform; rather, he wore a plain t-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap. I wanted to acknowledge him but hesitated, thinking, “This has to be a war injury. But…what if it isn’t? No, it has to be – why else would a 20-something have such an injury?” Before opening my mouth to ask him about it, he asked me a question. “Ma’am, do you know if you have to turn in your room key?” I said I wasn’t sure but didn’t think so. I asked him if he had served and, when he said yes, I thanked him. He replied, “Oh, thank you, ma’am. It was my pleasure and I served with a smile.”

He took his room key out of his pocket and said, “I hate walking through the lobby with this prosthetic arm, getting stared at.” I said, “Let me do it. It’s the least I can do.” He seemed relieved. I felt humbled.

As I walked to the front desk with his key, I thought to myself, “This is what it is going to mean for us.” “Us,” meaning us Americans. Civilians. Going about our daily lives, we may encounter someone with a visible war injury. My friends who work in the DoD’s Wounded Warrior program have said that wounded veterans don’t want pity from civilian employers and co-workers, but a little patience is helpful. “Soldiers are used to being active and they want to be active again, even if they are injured. They will be active again.”” ~ Emily King

Emily is someone you need to know. She’s the founder of MyMilitaryTransition.com, is a nationally recognized expert on military-to-civilian transitions, spent over a decade with Booz Allen Hamilton in HR strategy and holds a MS in OD and applied behavior science. In short, she’s smart, she understands the problem and has developed a wonderful sense of how to address this systemic issue facing America’s veteran workforce.

Emily recently presented as part of SHRM’s wonderful two-day program, Military Veterans: Transitioning Skills to the New Economy. I applaud SHRM for their work in this area, and as their research shows below, we have a long way to go in educating employers on the benefits that our veterans can bring to their organizations.

But beyond hiring, retention becomes the next key issue, and this is the where Emily’s work really shines. Based on her deep understanding of the differences between military and civilian work culture, she translates civilian culture, expectations and behavioral norms for transitioning military personnel so they experience early and lasting success in the private sector. That’s right – early and lasting success, and this helps bolster the dialogue and understanding between both groups so that veterans succeed as civilians. In turn, organizations accelerate productivity and increase retention among this invaluable segment of the workforce. You really couldn’t ask for anything more.

I’ll leave you with a final thought from Emily King. It was one of the most important lessons she shared and I’d encourage you to truly ponder the meaning of her words. After that, please share your thoughts, comments and stories below. We need to speak more openly about our returning veterans and the challenges associated with their transition into sustainable employment post-service. In my opinion, silence and inaction are simply not an option.

“For those of us civilians who have only experienced war through the media…where we might want to look away, we need to look ahead. Where we want to be silent we need to say thank you. It is only our own discomfort that stands in the way. My encounter today with the young serviceman who had lost his arm showed me a bit about what the war meant for him. Bearing witness to it as we welcome soldiers home is what it means for us.“

• Charlie Judy offered terrific coverage, including, What (the ‘f) were you thinking? A new calling for HR.
• Monster.com had a terrific team on the ground this year, so be sure to check out posts such as Jennifer McClure’s, What HR Wants to Know About Social Media CAN HR Them, and Ben Eubanks’, Creating a Culture of Engagement: HR Leader’s New Strategic Role.
• Mary Ellen Slayter of SmartBrief partnered with Monster to produce a wonderful series of SHRM 2010 interviews for the Monster Thinking Series.
• Laurie Ruettimann used to offer fantastic hotel-cam observations of her world travels, and this year she’s back! Be sure to check out her fashion insights from the show.

Ok, let’s get down to business:

The Venue/Location

I’m a big fan of San Diego and the convention center really did offer a terrific venue for the event. There were plenty of places for exhausted, swag-laden HR pros to find a little corner to relax and even catch a brief nap (I saw more than a few sleepers). Although San Diego was geographically too distant (and therefore costly) for many, the convention center was conveniently located within walking distance of several hotels, dozens of restaurants and nightlife, as well as on the shore for those who needed to get away from the chaos of the expo hall. My only nit is that there were not enough coffee shops as the lines were very, very long. If there’s one thing to know about HR, we love our java.

SHRM’s Organization/Speakers

I said this last year and I’ll say it again – I really can’t imagine the difficultly in hosting more than 11,000 attendees, coordinating hundreds of sponsors, securing hundreds of volunteers and making it look relatively effortless. My hat goes off to the organizing committee for another terrific job. Moreover, this year we saw some new offerings including the introduction of a social media lounge and what I felt was a much more comfortable press room. With plenty of power strips, good high-speed internet, pre-configured laptops and desktops and all the beverages and snacks you could handle, our merry band of misfits were connected, caffeinated and ready to roll. A personal “thank you” to SHRM’s new social media guru Curtis Midkiff for doing a great job in his inaugural appearance.

Now let’s talk about presenters. Regardless of your political views, nearly all attendees I spoke with were thrilled with Al Gore having spent the time and effort to truly tailor his speech to human resources. It wasn’t just a casual mention but a full-blown call to action. My suggestion is that SHRM work with Michael J. Fox and Sir Richard Branson (SHRM ’11 keynoters) to ensure that their presentations are similarly on point. It is member dollars that are funding these speaker fees and they deserve to walk away with something relevant.

My last point on speakers is this – where is the diversity?? I’m hoping someone kept score but it appeared that only white males were available for a trip to San Diego in late June. Of course I’m exaggerating, but I did not see a proper representation on stage. Hell, SHRM itself only has one female executive leader in the hopper, and she hasn’t started her job yet. In an industry dominated by women, we need to do a better job of lifting them up and celebrating their contributions and accomplishments. This picture does not do the membership justice (and people really do take notice).

Executive Presence

I want to hit this on two fronts.

First, SHRM rolled out their entire leadership team and we witnessed some (unfortunate) dancing from a few of them. Much to my surprise, CEO Lon O’Neil even launched his Twitter account (although he had some phantom tweets appear while he was on stage). However, I did not walk away feeling the level of transparency and openness that we saw under prior leaders such as Sue Meisinger. Where’s the annual financial report? Where are those heartfelt and unscripted moments? And Lon, where in the hell is your SPHR certification? You can’t claim that it’s a tremendous asset to HR leaders while never having secured it yourself. It’s been almost two years, so either acknowledge that it’s not important (which will never happen) or make this a top priority. Pot, meet kettle…

Second, I was sadly disappointed by the attendee reaction to a keynote featuring a panel of HR leaders, including Google, Northrop Grumman, Kaiser Permanente and Deutsche Bank. SHRM’s membership is generally not comprised of the senior-most HR professionals from the world’s largest firms, so when they actually take the time to show up, share best practices and offer advice, you damn well better pay attention. Attendees swarmed from the session, first in 2′s and 3′s and then by the dozens. Are you there to listen to Steve Forbes and Al Gore or should you perhaps learn from those who have theoretically arrived at your career destination? And if you did walk out early, you missed a gem from Deutsche Bank’s Conrad Venter when he predicated that HR will be obsolete in ten years if we stay on our current course. I tend to agree.

Attendee Behavior

The oddity began the moment I arrived on Sunday. While walking through the expo hall, a senior VP of HR locked eyes with me from fifty yards away. She was trashed on free margaritas from one of the vendor booths. Swaying down the red carpet, she made her way toward me as I looked over my shoulder to assess who in the hell she was looking at. When she grabbed me by the shoulder, I realized I was her target. Holding my shoulder with her left hand, she then silently stroked my cheek with her right. (Yeah, this really happened.) Then gravity took over, she swayed around me to the left and continued her bumper-car journey of bliss.

She never said a word.

I know, you’re thinking this must be one out-of-control attendee from a sea of well-behaved professionals. But let me tell you something. I have been to well over one hundred HR conferences in my career and this is more “normal” than you might expect. HR people get shit-faced, misbehave, rant, party, dance and flirt to excess at these shows. My theory is this – all year long they have to model behavior as the dream corporate citizen. So, when the opportunity arises to hang out with their peers and finally let their hair down, they take full advantage. In some respects, I can’t blame them, but I would ask that people get their act together and maintain some dignity. While walking to my car last evening, I saw two thirty-something SHRM 2010 attendees, one rubbing the back of the other while she threw up in an alley. Both were still wearing their badges.

Engagement

This continues to be SHRM’s number one challenge. Many attendees came for the party, others came for the HRCI credits, and others probably realized they needed pens, dolls, stuffed animals, notepads and bags of other bizarre tchotchkes. I saw droves of attendees just sitting around, doing crossword puzzles, checking email, walking in and out of sessions and generally moving listlessly through the convention center. Some were just simply overwhelmed by the sheer size and scope of the event, and that really concerns me. I suggested to some SHRM staffers that they consider a pre-event orientation (via video) that can be viewed remotely and help prepare first-time attendees for the experience. Heck, this would even help the veterans understand the venue, logistics and surrounding areas. Or, how about a mentor/protege program where more experienced attendees would help their newer peers?

Although this is SHRM’s biggest revenue generator, something needs to change. Attendance does not guarantee learning or action, and if SHRM truly intends to use this event to advance the profession, the issue of engagement must be addressed. I know, I know… it’s difficult to meet the specific needs of 250,000 members and over 10,000 live attendees. But when dozens of people say to me, “maybe SHRM is just too big?”, you know that there is a groundswell of discontent and a questioning of value.

And this brings me to my last point – member voice. I am very concerned that SHRM is no longer capturing the true needs of its constituency. For example, I asked at least twenty SHRM staffers how the legislative agenda is set. No one knew. So when millions of dollars are being poured into lobbying and policy changes, is SHRM confident that it’s voice is truly that of it’s constituents, or is this an educated guess made by a sequestered committee? I’d like to know.

What Do You Think?

Whether you attended or not, I’d love your thoughts. My goal with this 1,500+ word post is not to rant and complain, but instead to bubble up some of the systemic issues facing our industry. I implore SHRM – the largest, most influential body in our industry – to read these words with an eye toward member value (versus top line revenues), engagement (over sponsorship) and the future needs of the profession (over certification credentials). We’re all in this together, and we must keep an open and honest dialogue going. I’ll look forward to your comments.

Yesterday I was pleased to present these thoughts in a SHRM webcast entited, The HR Outsourcing Evolution. If you’re an active SHRM member, the archive can be accessed here. If you’re not a member, I’ve included the presentation below (and it can also be downloaded via SlideShare by clicking here). Thanks to Phil Fersht of Horses for Sources from some terrific content on sourcing and innovation.

I’m certain that I’ve missed some important items in my presentation and you may not agree with all of them. That’s okay. My objective with this deck is to simply stimulate your thinking as you prepare to engage in HR outsourcing activities.

If you’d like to receive a clean copy of the deck, feel free to drop me an email and I’ll happily forward it along. If you have comments, suggestions or experiences you’d like to share, please feel free to do so and let’s help keep this DIY conversation going.

Let’s face it folks – times are tough, no one is immune and fear is spreading.  Even the hope for change cannot seem to stop this runaway train.  So what the hell are people supposed to do?  

Here are a few quotes that caught my attention for those caught in the fray.  I’ll let you decide for yourself between arrogance and empathy.  Enjoy and let’s keep the conversation going.

“Remember, this is not my company, and this is not our investors’ company. This company is all of ours, and it’s up to all of us where we go from here. The power lies in each and every one of us to move forward and come out as a team stronger than we’ve ever been in the history of the company.”  - Email from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh following an 8% layoff

“Tell them to take the afternoon off and give them a gift card for free pizza. For someone working for $14 or $15 an hour, getting a $50 restaurant card is a big chunk of change.” – SHRM member and Intelligent Compensation President Bob Cartwright on incenting employees

“Any serious businessperson knows that a contract is a contract.” - Danny Donohue, President of the Civil Service Employees Assocation, in response to New York Gov. David Paterson’s call for $5.2B in budget cuts, including union renegotiations

“The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.” – Andrew Lahde, former hedge fund manager who quit after making a 800+% gain last year

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