Appetite for HR Disruption in Calgary

DISRUPT is an information exchange designed to energize, inform and empower people in the HR field.

Appetite for HR Disruption

At Avanti, we pride ourselves as being proponents to showing Canadians how technology can change how you manage your people and processes. This is driven by our insatiable appetite for disruption. On Thursday, May 19th, we joined 100 other people management professionals to satisfy that appetite and we were not disappointed.

9 people bravely took the stage and, one-by-one, presented their 5 minute disruption covering a wide range of topics from employee engagement to change management and company culture to technology.

Here's our recap of last month's #DisruptHRYYC event. Staying true to form of Adam Czarnecki's disruption, this is the 5% that we feel is really relevant to people management and technology.

'Stopping the Cycle'

Chuck Bean - CEO, The Method Effect

We need to wrap our head around change because it’s here to stay.

Here’s how:

  1. Hug the lion: embrace the fact that things have changed.
  2. Set the new vision.
  3. Train our people for the change in the economy.
  4. Set lots of goals because goals inspire people and drive performance.
  5. People will either choose synergy or discord, and sometimes you need to cut ties with those who choose discord.

What Olympics do you have in your organization?

'Your Corporate Values are Full of S#!+'

Michelle Berg - CEO, Elevated HR Solutions

Your HR values become your strategy – so make sure they weren’t just created by your marketing team!

Challenge your core values by asking the following questions:

  1. Can you rattle off your core values?
  2. Do you talk about them when recruiting and in interviews?
  3. Are they part of your performance management?
  4. Do you live your core values even when they are a competitive disadvantage?

Core values need to be an everyday event at your company – build your people programs on your core values and you won’t find yourself terminating people who don’t live your core values.

Just like Apple, be okay with saying no.

'Culture Trumps Advertising'

Chris Kneeland - CEO, Cult Collective

So whose job is it to improve culture?

Culture considerations:

  1. Your culture is not your social club.
  2. Your customers can’t love your brand more than your employees.
  3. Culture is too important to be delegated to HR alone.

Culture trumps advertising. HR and marketing need to work hand in hand to build and execute culture.

Nokia failed because they did not have a culture.

'Why We Need to Talk About Shame and Vulnerability'

Jenn Lofgren - Leadership & Executive Coach, Incito

Vulnerability is not weakness; it inspires innovation.

Being adaptable requires vulnerability.

Shame can be overcome by empathy, avoid secrecy, silence and judgement.

Being vulnerable allows you to achieve better business results.

'Hiring the Right Kind of Lazy Employees'

Shawn Freeman - Entrepreneur & Thought Leader, TWT Group

Lazy people find better ways to do things.

They invented really helpful things like the “select all” button.

Lazy people are an asset to your business because they are efficient and find the simplest ways to accomplish complicated tasks.

Look for people that are practical, creative and intelligent, people who don’t overthink things.

Read more from Shawn on this topic in an article from Huffington Post.

'Why We Need to Stop Leaving Our Baggage At the Door'

Shane Wallace - CEO, CultureSmith

  1. Mood is the forgotten child of employee engagement.
  2. There is gold tucked away within your employee's mood, if you know how to mine for it.
  3. You cannot be afraid to ask, “how are you feeling?”
  4. People solve work issues WHILE solving personal issues, not in spite of them.
  5. Stop leaving your baggage at the door!

'Cultivating Confusion'

Dr. Melanie Peacock - Associate Professor, Mount Royal University

Setting clear policies, expectations and goals makes HR the organization's scapegoat and the 'no fun' police.

Let's embrace uncertainty and follow our gut feelings, aim for ambiguous targets, enjoy the confusion when learning and stop determining exactly what roles people will, and will not, fulfill in our organizations.

Let's learn to thrive within chaos, which truly then lets people be creative and find deep meaning in their work.

There's so much more to what we do than just data.

'Flash Mobs for Effective Teambuilding'

Dina Grskovich - Strategic Human Resources Consultant, DMG Strategy

  1. A shared purpose/vision
  2. A framework that provides autonomy (and breeds creativity)
  3. A sense of wonder/play

'Learning Shouldn't be a Football Game'

Adam Czarnecki - Human Resources, Health & Safety, IT, GreatWest Kenworth

  1. Focus on the 5% giving working competency
  2. Make training repetitive, relatable, and relevant
  3. Independent modules (5 to 15 minutes).
  4. Record it (use your phone) and then speed it up.
  5. Coordinate so they can apply what they've learned right away.

What a fun night this was! Thanks again to Rob Caswell, Matthew Murphy, and Saira Gangji for organizing it.

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