Destination Nashville #HRTN17

The 2017 Tennessee SHRM Conference will most definitely be the destination for up-to-date and relevant HR industry news, best practices and networking. But in the mean time and in between time, HR folks like to have a good time…and there’s no better place to do this than in Nashville, TN, the host city.

The conference itself is located at the Opryland Hotel, which is located on a major parkway that is conveniently located within 15 minutes of everything in town. When pulling into the hotel, attendees will immediately be impressed with the grounds themselves, but walking in is like walking into a city all in itself. Complete with retail shops, restaurants, canal rides and beautiful botanical conservatories, there really is no reason to ever leave the property!

But if you must venture outside, one does not have to travel far…actually, just across the parking lot…to the Opry Mills Mall, which is on the site of the former Opryland Amusement Park. After spending all of your extra money on the awesome shopping, one can skip across the street to the Grand Ole Opry to catch a concert from any number of internationally renowned country music superstars. If all else fails and you’ve exhausted all of your energy during the day at the conference, just catch a movie at the Stadium 20 IMAX theater or grab a snack and a drink at Dave & Busters!

If you’re feeling adventurous, Downtown Nashville, considered one of the country’s go-to destinations, has a little bit of everything for a little bit of everyone. Looking to see some art, try the Frist Center for Visual Arts. Looking to people-watch and listen to live music, take a walk down to Lower Broadway and chill on a restaurant’s rooftop. You can take a tour on the top of a double-decker bus, Segway, pedal tavern (yes, a pedal tavern) or by foot to see the parts of The Music City that you can read about online!

Nashville has and always will be the perfect destination for the Tennessee SHRM Conference and Expo. With plenty to do, see and hear before and after dark, it’s a guaranteed good time and opportunity to learn from peers and Nashville local industry leaders. We think you’ll enjoy our city so much that you might not want to leave! And we’re cool with that…and actually getting used to it, as Nashville boasts to becoming the home to more than 100 new residents per day. So come on in to town, enjoy yourself and enrich your Human Resources career in the process.

Talent Will Only Get Us So Far

From sports to work, we see so many individuals with an incredible amount of talent that still somehow manage to jack it all up and fall flat on their faces. Whether it be the charismatic new employee that can charm management, the eager recruit that oozes with potential or the biggest and fastest athlete, it is apparent that it takes more than raw skill to survive and prosper in this world. It’s takes a special “it” to move beyond flashes in the pan to consistent, long-term success.

Today I’m over at Performance I Create discussing exactly what that “it” is and how it can take us from potential to the promised land in our careers. Here’s a quick sample:

…listening to sports analysts and reporters talk about the best in the game, they will talk about on-field stuff, but the conversation always go back to what that person does after the cameras go off and their teammates go home. We’ll often hear of how much time the person invests in developing their craft or niche in the weight room, film room or with personal trainers and coaches. They study…

I hope that you enjoy the full post HERE and I asked that you take it to heart and share it with anyone that is relying on talent alone to get ahead.

Check out my post and those of my fellow contributors for relevant, in-your-face, performance altering insight at Performance I Create!

Performance He Created

Two and a half years ago, a group of HR practitioners and bloggers took a chance on me, this rookie blogger that was trying to find his place in the game. After only being in the HR social media space and blogging world or a few months, having anyone notice me, yet alone reach out to ask me to participate in anything, was quite the shock. Thankfully, along with a few of the other contributors, Chris Ponder decided that I would be a fit for the team at Performance I Create.

I didn’t know what to expect, especially since I was the new kid on the block. To help ease me into the group, Ponder (as we affectionately call em) opened up every line of communication to me in case I had concerns, questions, or if I just felt the need to talk ideas through. His openness and his ability to come up with important, relevant and timely HR topics helped to provide a structure for me that I didn’t have at that particular time in my career, especially because of the what I was doing professionally.

Ponder’s ideas, organization and leadership helped me not only write my pieces for PIC, but for this site as well. Because of PIC’s structure, I learned that I could express myself in writing in both formal and informal ways. I believe that it was this balance that enabled me to make a little name for myself in the HR and social media space…growing ruHRelevant, networking with more practitioners at various SHRM conferences and ultimately becoming a “veteran” among our outstandingly thorough and thought-provoking troop.

I am happy that Chris Ponder is finally able to explore things now that he couldn’t previously because of his time commitment to Performance I Create, but I’d be lying if I said that his decision to move on from the site didn’t make me a little sad.

I find comfort now in knowing that the team that he helped to assemble is a determined and strong one…one that will take Ponder’s vision of Performance I Create and build on it. While we were working to improve performance in the workplace, Ponder helped to create performance in me as this site stretched me to do things I didn’t really know I was capable of. Because of the outlet he created, I know that we will continue to grow and Create Performance, 500-800 words at a time.

Please continue to support me and my PIC family at Performance I Create; as our best is definitely yet to come. Thank you to Chris Ponder for everything you’ve done for me, the Human Resources profession and the entire social media space and blogasphere!

#ThanksPonder

Forget HR! I’m Going To Work For Starbucks

Is the grass always greener on the other side? Not necessarily. But I can tell you when it comes to employee incentives, benefits and having executive advocates, the coffee may be stronger and sweeter on the other side…at Starbucks.

Today I’m over at Performance I Create discussing how retention is no longer just about pay…it’s about emotion, support and advocacy. Once you find good employees, they have to be invested in, not just given stuff…as stuff fades away. Here’s a quick sample:

…most employees would be thrilled to even know that a President or CEO took the time to consider doing something for them…even if it couldn’t necessarily happen. Feeling like an employer is going to bat for them makes a huge difference in the way employees view the company. And those considerations and those thoughts go much further than just throwing some empty, non-relevant award someone’s way.

I hope that you enjoy the full post HERE and I asked that you share this post with any decision maker that may be struggling to keep great employees.

Check out my post and those of my fellow contributors for relevant, in-your-face, performance altering insight at Performance I Create!

Workplace Astigmatism

For the last 10 years, I’ve boasted that my vision has not changed. I laugh at optometrists when I walk into their examination rooms because I know that the result is going to be the same…”Well Mr. Harris, everything is fine…no difference…here’s your prescription.” to which I say buttholishly, “I know! Told ya things are the same.”

Because of this status quo, I take eye exams for granted; only going when I actually need new glasses due to wear and tear…which is like every 5 years. I actually get tired of putting myself (and my money) out there to have my time wasted…until my visit a week ago.

This trip I entered confidently as I usually do, preparing my normal giggle and forming my mouth to say my usual know-it-all words, until Dr. Eyedude says, “Your right eye has changed. We’re going to switch your prescription and it may be a little drastic.”

When you think that nothing has changed, everything has

Not having had to look through “different” lenses for so long, I found myself being uncomfortable on my way home. The change was making my head hurt. Things were blurry. I didn’t like it. Was it because it was unexpected? Was it because something was different? Was it because it was unwelcomed? Maybe it was because I had gotten too comfortable. Too used to knowing what everything looked like and how everything was supposed to feel. The moment a new process was introduced, a new person was brought aboard, a new policy took effect…wait, am I describing your office or my eyes? Hmm? Maybe both.

As we get older, more experienced, more tenured, we must face the inevitable fact that things must and will change. Our vision, our surroundings, and the ways our businesses must operate all change. We can either roll with it, adjust or we can resist and remain in denial. That denial stems from the fact that we think things are fine just the way they are and we think that if we don’t acknowledge it, it’ll just go away.

Resistance to change can be costly

If I had paid regular attention, not been so arrogant and stubborn, maybe a drastic change could have been avoided or eased into. The gradual change would’ve helped me to make better adjustments. Being open to changes in the way our companies must do business will help our employees make better decisions as it relates to the new normals. Maybe they need regular examinations and consultation…I mean evaluations and one-on-ones…so that any issues can be identified early before they become problematic and cost us in the end.

What’s better? One or two? Two or three?

The next day, I could see things better. The headache had gone away. Those moments of temporary discomfort turned into my new, clearer reality. It took me getting broken down and taken out of my cocky comfort zone to realize that acceptance, flexibility and acknowledgement helped the headaches to go away and for things to seem clear again. I had to be humbled by the fact that I don’t know how bad things are until someone shows me something better, different, clearer.

Does your job give you “headaches”? Is it them or is it you refusing to adapt? 

Let’s not wait until it’s too late to let someone check us out. Let’s take some feedback and let it make us better. Let’s understand that us becoming more seasoned is when more changes need to occur…as opposed to things always having to change to our liking. Yielding to necessary adjustments may be blurry at first, but it can ultimately help you to see your vision more clearly in the end.