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And So It Has Begun – #SHRM Conference Season

April 12, 2013 in Business, hr fundamentals, SHRM, Social Media by newresource | No comments

Okshrm

Well it’s on, folks. April 7th in Baton Rouge, LA, the 2013 SHRM Conference season officially kicked off. I couldn’t make it but it looked swell.  Watching the pictures and tweets from the conference got me excited for my 2013 conference debut which is May 8th – 10TH in Norman, OK. It’s the Oklahoma State HR Conference and I am honored to be invited. I won’t belabor and bore you with a bunch of chatter about this and that, I’ll cut to the chase.  I am not excited to go just to be going – I’ve gotten a few invites to conferences and they are all flattering and special, however I like to have a purpose.

That’s right, I party with a purpose. Here’s why I’m excited to go and participate in OKHR #okhr in May.

  1. I want to meet Bryan Wempen – Bryan is the co-founder and co-host of Drive Thru HR, the #1 HR blog talk radio program.  Bryan and William have had me as a guest several times and even a co-host, so I want to meet Bryan – I’ve already met William. Bryan is also part of Social Media team and the OKHR conference.
  2. I want to meet Cat Carlos – Cat put this social media team together and I want to hit a home run for her because I understand how important it is to have a social presence during the State Conferences…TN, I’m looking at you.
  3. I’ve never been to Oklahoma before and I’d like to meet and interact with some of the attendees and talk HR with them.
  4. I am going to enjoying hanging out with the rest of the Social Media team, connecting with them, and getting to know them better.

I intend to check out some sessions being presented by people that I may not know too well, because it’s all about learning new things. I will also make time to meet Jessica Miller Merrell, she’s kinduva big deal.

Will there be pictures? Will there be socializing? Will there be networking? And will there be other shenanigans, who knows – could be or could be not. I’m not coming to party, I’m coming to learn, contribute, and I’m coming to help change any incorrect perceptions of SHRM conferences. It’s a lot of work, it’s a sacrifice but it’s rewarding.

I hope to see you there. (May 8th-10 th Norman, OK – Oklahoma State Conference -#okhr)

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Get ya SHRM on! #ILSHRM

August 1, 2012 in Business, HR Advice, HR principles, SHRM by newresource | No comments

So for my readers that are not familiar, SHRM stands for the Society of Human Resource Management. It’s the biggest of the HR professional association around. They have small state chapters and even smaller city chapters. Then once a year they have this big ole National Conference. In 2012 the national conference was held in Atlanta, and next year it’s going to be in Chicago. I don’t have to wait till 2013 because right now, August 5-7th the State of Illinois is having its SHRM state conference and I’m going.

I rant about what it takes to be competitive and relevant in today’s job market. I’ve discussed the importance of having a skill, trade, education and or certification. And I’ve talked extensively about how paramount it is to have a network. Well part of your network should be some sort of professional association or affiliation, for most careers there is something out there. You can’t just get a level of success and quit. IT’S NOT ENOUGH. You have to keep connecting and growing.

I digress…

Anyway as I prepare to attend the 1st of what I hope to be many SHRM conferences, I can’t help but to think about how we (all of us workers) tend to fall short of professional associations. I was watching television the other day and there was “Professional Organizer Association.” A what? Yes, organizer, as in categorizing and storing stuff. Hey, I ain’t knocking it but if there is a certification and association for organizing crap then I am certain there is one for your profession. Get involved people!

Pay the dues, read the books and attend a couple conferences too. It’s all worth it. I didn’t realize the value of SHRM until I was laid off and contacted them. They were super supportive and accommodating.  Later this year I will be taking the SHRM certification test but that’s another article for another time.

Right now, I’m about to get my SHRM on and I’m amped to meet a few people…In no particular order:

Susan Avello, Dave Ryan, John Jorgenson, Sabrina Baker, Nicole Ochs, Sara “Buzz” Williams, “The Doc” Dr. Crosby, William Tincup, Jason Lauristen, Joe Gerstandt, Brad Galin, Curtis “SM Guru” Midkiff, John Hudson, Mike VanDerVort, Jeff Waldon, Geoff Webb, Dwane Lay, Victorio Milian…

Man, who am I missing? Charge it to my head and not my heart.

Let’s get our SHRM on!

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No Ultimatums, Just Conversations

July 11, 2012 in Business, HR Advice, hr fundamentals, HR principles, Leadership, SHRM by newresource | 1 comment

One of my pet peeves is when I hear professionals (doesn’t matter the industry) use passive terms to describe the career situation. Let me give you an example, person says, “I want to move up in the company because I gave them all these years but they won’t give me a promotion.” UGH! Okay I get it, you want the dream. You want the fairy tale but listen to Maroon 5 as they sing their hit song “Payphone”, “All those fairy tales are full of sh*t..”

Maybe you’ve heard of someone who was given a promotion and you want that same thing. The acceptance and validation. Well buckle up buttercup, it ain’t happening. So take control of your career.  If you are not happy then get happy. Go after what you want aggressively. It’s no longer good enough to be smart. It’s no longer good enough to have references. It’s no longer good enough to be certified. You need all of that and a personality and a professional network. Good companies want it all; smart, attractive, highly sought after certified employees that have good personalities.

You cannot allow your employer to dictate your career path. If you’ve been dating your company for 4-5 years now and no one has approached you about upward mobility, let me tell you, they ain’t thinking about you. I hate to be the one to tell you but you are NOT in their future plans. They are just as content to let you come to work every day and do the same thing as you are coming to work doing the same thing.

You feel like you deserve better? Well deserves got nothing to do with it. Go after it.

It’s okay to have conversations about your career goals with your employer. Let it be known that you are looking for more money and challenges. Don’t be bashful and don’t be rude. You can have a lunch meeting with your superior and discuss career goals respectfully. You don’t have to give any ultimatums. Just have a conversation, but pay attention the politically jargon and direction of the conversation. If it doesn’t seem as if you all are talking the same language then dust off that resume and start looking for something else. If you are as good as you think you are, you will find it.

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HR Matrix: I’m plugged in!

April 30, 2012 in Business, HR Advice, hr fundamentals, HR principles by newresource | No comments

I read an interesting article about there being more African American bloggers than Caucasians bloggers. Well, I have only found a couple of African Americans in the HR blogosphere. But this article got me to thinking about why I like to blog and why many others may gravitate toward it too. I think it’s because blogging allows us to do things that the corporate world sometimes does not allow us to do.  Many of you know I started blogging out of necessity.

I use my blog to showcase my skills and expertise of HR and to be helpful to practitioners and employees alike. I love blogging because I can be whatever I want.

Remember the ground breaking “Matrix Trilogy” movies? I hope so; it’s the movies that compare us all to being computer programs living in an unreal world that is controlled by the limitations of the mind. Once you accept this reality you are given the chance to unplug from the digital world and live in the real world known as Zion. Here’s the cool part for me. If you can handle the reality that your world is a computer program and you are digital projection of your mental image then you can plug into and out of it, “the Matrix”.

Once you’re plugged in you can do amazing things, like fly, jump hundreds of feet, dodge bullets, or kick the snot out of 200 agents. (Watch the movies)

Blogging for me is like being in the Matrix. When I am blogging, I am not Chris Fields, a black man from Memphis, without a ton of corporate experience. I am not a Generalist. I am not a marginalized HR employee. I can defy the basic human need to define, categorize and contain.

I can fly all over the HR world using my skills and knowledge to speak intelligently and practically about Diversity, Employee Relations, Engagement, Recruitment, Leadership, Benefits, Training and Social Media. I’m not limited by YOUR imagination and YOUR idea of what I can do or be. On this blog, I am a CEO. I am a CHRO, I am NEO. I’m free.

Don’t let anyone or any organization define you. We should all be free in our careers, we should not feel as if we are not being challenged, effective or utilized properly. Find your freedom.

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99 Problems but HR ain’t one

April 9, 2012 in hr fundamentals, HR principles, Humor, Uncategorized by newresource | No comments

If you want to get a healthy discussion going ask a group of HR people about following your passion as a career path. Lots of them don’t believe that you should, they think it’s bull and you’ll end up chasing waterfalls. Even Mark Cuban, who happens to be one of my favorite business minded people, does not believe the follow your passion model. (Mark’s POV) That kind of surprises me because he seems so passionate about basketball and anything he touches.

I happen to believe that you should follow your passion and pursue your dreams. You only live once and I look at it this way, whatever you want to do in life there is someone doing right now and making a living (getting paid) to do it. You name it; someone’s doing it for money. You like to eat? Be a food critic. You like sex? Well it’s the oldest profession (that’s a joke I don’t condone prostitution or tricking in any form).

For me. I have enough things to worry about in life already; wealth, health, managing relationships, tracking down and developing projects, time management, family matters, bills, cleaning etc. you get the picture.

For my snarky skeptics

No, I do not know everythng about HR and being a consultant can be feast or famine (especially early). You can’t know it all because it’s changing so rapidly. The laws, the guidelines, the technology, the motivating factors of employees are constantly evolving. But I love it, its a passion, its so interesting. I love learning about it. Human Resources is the one area in my life that remains constant.

To borrow a line from Jay-Z , “…. I got 99 problems but HR ain’t one.”

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