GMA SHRM HR Link

By Belinda Weber, GMA SHRM President

Imagine 12,000 Human Resource Professionals gathered together to network, learn, and grow professionally. Imagine concurrent sessions in five different tracks including compensation, compliance, benefits, business strategies, and skill development. Imagine keynote speakers such as Bill Cosby, Malcolm Gladwell, Moshe Rubenstein, and David Ulrich sharing their humor and insights about the future of HR. Well, that was the overwhelming experience of this year's National SHRM Conference in San Diego that was held last month.

Having attended many of the sessions and listened to the keynote speeches, I was reminded what an important role HR plays in the organizations we represent and what a bright future there is ahead for our profession. This feeling was represented in three key themes throughout the conference: a profession in flux, HR as the conscience, and HR as the soul of the organization.

The first was a common theme throughout the sessions - one of a profession poised for change. Each speaker had their own ideas on what those changes are and innovative approaches for responses, but it was clear that, as David Ulrich urged, HR is becoming "more than yesterday, less than tomorrow". Ulrich described, in great detail, the importance of a customer centric view on value. He reminded us, just as our counterparts do everyday, HR needs to connect their value proposition to the needs of our internal and external stakeholders and measure our value by the customer's definitions not our own. Another approach to the idea of change came from Moshe Rubenstein as he encouraged the audience to "challenge conventional thinking" to achieve great results. Both very powerful approaches and directions for our future.

Not surprisingly, there were many sessions related to compliance, ethics, and the value of diversity. For me, Malcolm Gladwell had the most thought-provoking session, illustrating our role as the conscience of the organization. Through his story-telling style, he shared examples of intelligent and well-intentioned individuals who subconsciously were discriminating against individuals in various ways. He encouraged the audience to be wary of the assumptions and biases that are present everywhere and challenged the profession to help leaders see past them in order to make more intelligent, thoughtful, and careful judgments about others.

The last theme was the most uplifting theme shared at the conference - the vision of HR as the soul of the organization. In his keynote address, David Ulrich articulated this theme when he spoke of HR, "offering meaning, hope, growth, and relationships to those we serve. Ultimately, we create organizations we are proud of, not just for the business value, but for their personal values. We create value for each individual who crosses our path or who is touched by our efforts. And as a result of our work, their lives are a bit richer and more abundant".

I am proud to be in HR and to serve all of you in our endeavors to provide value. I would encourage each of you to take a moment to appreciate the important role you play in your organization and the connection we have with both the business and the people.