At the end of the unconference provided his review of the day’s proceedings . . .

The fourth ConnectingHR Unconference is looking at the power of a socially engaged organisation.

Delegates spent some time discussing the issues around this topic (using the world cafe process) and then posted the issues they wanted to discuss further on to a grid. They then went off in to groups to discuss the issues.

Here is a list of the issues that were put on the grid. They provide an insight into what HR professionals see as the issues around developing a more socially engaged organisation.

1. How do you get the company to trust the people?
2. Social media must not replace face to face
3. Perception of risk – tackling paranoia around transparency and collaboration
4. Culture to maintain/establish a community
5. Social media a steroid to networking of L&D
6. Overcoming resistance
7. You can’t force social – we must nurture and help people to find or see the need and demonstrate the value to individuals and business
8. Fear of mob mentality – moderation – parent/child mentality
9. HR versus IT – challenge the social media policy
10. Social media controls – positive or negative?
11. How to influence the people who don’t believe social networking is a great tool.
12. What to do about individuals who are unable/unwilling to use social media (social media is not for everyone
13. What is the best way to build a community – broad or narrow, with or without context
14. What about blue collar workers?
15. Culture shift? How? What’s the starting point?
16. Can tools change culture? Or does culture change with new tools?
17. We can’t control social phenomenon
18. How can we talk about love, trust, freedom at work, without being laughed out of the room?
19. Do I want to live my life in public?
20. How do we engage people using social media without disengaging those who don’t want to engage with it?
21. How do you engage people with social media without disengaging those who don’t want to engage with it?
22. Balance of power – in authority versus an authority
23. Practical examples of behaviour that improves culture
24. Social: personal versus work life, internal versus external
25. What happens when organisations can’t organise?
26. The mixed messages around ‘forced’ work-life balance and the choice to work when and how I choose . . . I decide.
27. How important is role modelling? Practise what you preach. what behaviours do you reward? How do you reward?
28. Is social media at work a white collar privilege?

I caught up with Julie after her session and asked why these tools are not used more widely.

Clearly, the Olympic Games is a huge project with an enormous audience – as can be seen in he numbers. The project also works within specific parameters that have big implications for the way the organisation works:

• It has a fixed deadline and budget
• It has multiple stakeholders at national and international level
• It is publicly accountable
• It is a project that goes through a range of phases
• It is an organisation with a short lifespan

Owens outlined the HR challenges for the organisation:

• Driving constant change
• Creating the vision and the mindset
• People strategy
• Organisation development
• Challenges of a short life organisation
• Building great leadership
• Engaging employees

The London 2012 vision informed all their HR and L&D activities. All stakeholders  also had to sign up to the vision.

The London 2012 vision is:
To use the power of the games to inspire change
To achieve our vision we must be inspirational
To do this we must be open and respectful
Only by working as a team
Can we deliver something truly distinctive

Respect was the number one value for the construction site workers.

Owens talked through the people strategy for the ODA – see image – which was a way to articulate what the organisation meant when it came to its people. The HR team team brought the values to life through senior buy-in, effective communications, events and were supported with employee surveys.

The L&D strategy took two years to get up and running and working effectively. Key to this was senior team buy-in using coaching. The success of coaching then filtered out into the organisation and was adopted across the business.

The focus was on self-managed learning so all staff were provided with a range of options, from e-learning and learning ‘nuggets’ to coaching. It is up to the individual to attend relevant training when required.

The organisation measures the impact of its HR and L&D interventions on a quarterly basis. It was interesting to note that by changing the wording around staff surveys from performance to development more people got involved.

HR and L&D activities were also supported by a range of health and well being services too.

Owens said that employee engagement was at 92% and sickness absence was at 1.4%.

Here is some brain food for a Monday morning. Last week, I heard a talk  by Mark Brosnan, a psychology lecturer at Bath university. Mark covered a lot of ground including the concept of being alone together.

After some further investigation I found this video of Sherry Turkle talking through what it means.

Turkle is Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT and the founder and current director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self.

Brosnan likened the idea of being alone together to a family sitting together and being on their computers (phones, tablets etc). They are together but quite alone in that they are not interacting with each other but with people online.

How this type of behaviour will affect our relationships – both between fellow humans and humans and technology – is the stuff of Turkle’s work (and Brosnan’s).

In the video she makes many provocative statements, some of which I have included here:

• Connectivity offers for many of us the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship.
• Online connections bring so many bounties but our lives of continual connection also leave us vulnerable.
• Are we too busy communicating to think and create? Are we too busy communicating to connect with others in the ways that will truly count?
• We are comforted being in touch with a lot of people who we also keep at bay.
• If we don’t teach our children to be alone they will only know how to be lonely.

I’m fascinated by the impact of my behaviour with my mobile when I am around my children – I can be with them and also with others online almost at the same time. Is that good or bad (I think it is bad for my children if I am doing it while they want my involvement)? Is it different to talking to a friend face to face rather than being in an online conversation?

You may or may not agree with Turkle’s ideas but they are important and worth considering.

I tend to be more glass half full on some of this as I have built great connections with many people through social media. A key part of this is being able to come together face to face.

Last week reminded me of what you can achieve through networks and I am looking forward to meeting my co-collaborators this Wednesday at an event (the ConnectingHR unconference) which has only been made possible through social networks.

Only time will tell how all this impacts on my children.

HR Journalist of the Year – National Media
Winner: Andrew Hill, Financial Times
Highly Commended: Peter Crush, Freelance

HR Journalist of the Year – Professional/Trade Media
Winner: David Woods, HR Magazine
Highly Commended: Nick Martindale, Freelance

HR Journalist of the Year – Regional Media
Winner: Chris Holland, Telegraph and Argus, Bradford
Highly Commended: Niki Chesworth, Evening Standard

Best HR Newcomer
Winner: Gabriella Jóźwiak, Payroll World
Highly Commended: Calum Di Lieto, askGrapevine HR

Recruitment and Engagement Journalist of the Year
Winner: Jane Bird, Financial Times
Highly Commended: Dee Dee Doke, Recruiter

Business and Executive Pay Journalist of the Year
Winner: Alex Blyth, Pay & Benefits
Highly Commended: David Woods, HR Magazine

Employee Benefits and Pensions Journalist of the Year
Winner: Debbie Lovewell, Employee Benefits
Highly Commended: John Greenwood, Freelance

Talent Management and Career Development Journalist of the Year
Winner: David Woods, HR Magazine
Highly Commended: Niki Chesworth, Evening Standard

Online HR Publication of the Year
Winner: HR Review

Print HR Publication of the Year
Winner: HR Magazine

I am a big fan of Donald Clark and was fortunate enough to grab a short interview with him at Learning Technologies 2012. This TEDx talk is recommended watching if you want to understand the impact of technology on how we learn.

Donald talks a lot about the ‘psychology of learning’, the way we actually learn, and how technology is enabling more ways that ‘fit’ with that.

Donald blogs at Plan B.

When I set out the idea I didn’t realise it would come together so quickly, so thanks to all those who helped – see below. You can see the result of our efforts on the Google doc. Now I will turn the text into a Pecha Kucha presentation for next week’s ConnectingHR unconference.

I have been really buzzing at this achievement and most importantly the fact that some free social tools enabled this to happen across geographical boundaries (UK, US, Canada, beach in Barbados) by people who represent different business disciplines such as OD, HR, L&D, recruitment and internal comms.

As such, it really is a story as told by many of the key stakeholders in a business.

My thinking was always to try and make something happen (in this case co-create a story) to show the potential of these tools and demonstrate what people can do collectively. So thanks again for those of you who made it happen.

Now we have the story I am working on the images to go on the slides. More on that soon. In the meantime, many thanks to my fellow collaborators for writing the story of a socially engaged organisation

1. Sukh Pabial
2. Sinead Carville
3. Robert Weeks
4. Pam Ross
5. Rob Jones
6. Karin Wills
7. Doug Shaw
8. Mervyn Dinnen
9. Alison Chisnell
10. Gareth Jones
11. Meg Peppin
12. Rachel Miller
13. Sam Lizars
14. Neil Usher
15. John Costello
16. Kevin Ball
17. Jon Ingham
18. Niall Gavin
19. Jon Bartlett