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ERE - RecruiterGuyLet's just say it... the event was a hit.  ERE Expo 2009 (#ereexpo) was without a doubt one of the best recruitment and talent driven events I've ever attended.

Mad props go out of course not only to the speakers at the event but to the awesome team led by David Manaster of ERE.  His vision of ERE becomes more apparent with each event and interaction with the amazing teams he's put together to pull off these large productions.

So while I could write pages of compliments about the speakers and organizers and provide examples about what worked and was improved upon - I'll think I'll just pull back and shoot from the hip a few things on the top of my mind in relation to what I took away.  Keep in mind that I'll be throwing up some video snippets of presentations with thoughts on small segments - but here are the top items that stand out for me at the moment.

  • I'd like to hear more buzz about what Steve Bonomo at adidas is doing.  His partner in crime, Steve Fogarty is great... but I sense some quiet genius lurking in Bonomo.  Their presentation on building up an employment brand using various resources to impact the job seekers experience was interesting and a great way to kick off the first day - but I think Bonomo would have been a great addition to the final panel if they'd had another seat.
  • Many Recruiters are still struggling to understand how social efforts will cure recruiting challenges.  I blame the rooftop screamers and naysayers for this perception of the impact that social tools like Twitter or sites such as Facebook will have on direct recruiting.  All too frequently a conversation was overheard about social recruiting killing job boards or sourcers or x, y & z.
    This simply won't happen and it's naive to think it will.  I also believe that it's face-time at events like ERE that help convey an evenly weighted message to remind rookies and veterans alike: These are tools, not silver bullets.
  • It was great to see a growing consensus that the Recruiting function is becoming more about brand and attraction - and should not necessarily report in to an HR organization directly.  Mike Grennier, Senior Dir. Corp Recruiting for Wal-Mart earned more than a few exclamations of approval during his session where the topic again came up.
  • What was also great to see and hear from peers was the trend related to how Recruiting teams are picking up the social aspect and interaction with potential job seekers and fielding many of the typical "HR Questions" - where HR is too afraid to respond, and thus contributes to that already dysfunctional perception of being unreachable or distant.  Hey HR folks... paying attention here?  Keyword: PARTNER
  • Analytics are key to everything.  I took on a new role just over a month ago that pulled the AT&T HR/Staffing Reports team into my shop.  What this ultimately meant was that while designing and implementing strategic recruiting initiatives - I'd have complete control in ensuring that appropriate measurements were applied and examined to all of our recruiting efforts.
    So it's great anytime I can talk with or listen to Kevin Wheeler, President & Founder of Global Learning Solutions, about the importance of metrics and understanding how, when appropriately applied, they can have an incredible impact on the business.  Kevin chaired the ERE event and did a great job with the final panel.
  • This event was the most socially interactive ever and I believe this was because of the social tools used during pre-game.  You can't deny it.  With such an incredible spike in first time attendees there was still an amazing sense of familiarity among both the attendees and speakers that I've not seen anywhere before.  People that had never met in person were greeting each other as though they'd been working side by side for months.
    Social tools got the majority of handshakes and initial greetings out of the way - and attendees showed up itching for dialogue.

It was pretty damned terrific to meet some people I've been networked with online for months and even years.  It was fun (and slightly disappointing) to have come in 4th during the charity poker event - I was robbed on the river!  It was terrific to see so many great people really taking advantage of the opportunity to communicate and share ideas.

Solid props.  Job well done.  I'll be back.

 

Comments  

Posted On
Sep 16, 2009
Posted By
Michael VanDervort
0 "What was also great to see and hear from peers was the trend related to how Recruiting teams are picking up the social aspect and interaction with potential job seekers and fielding many of the typical "HR Questions" - where HR is too afraid to respond, and thus contributes to that already dysfunctional perception of being unreachable or distant. Hey HR folks... paying attention here? Keyword: PARTNER"

What kind of "typical" questions could be so difficult that HR people are afraid to respond? Would love to see some examples.

I find this notion difficult to comprehend.
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Jenny DeVaughn
0 Chris:
Your summary is thought provoking. I especially liked this part:
Quote:
It was great to see a growing consensus that the Recruiting function is becoming more about brand and attraction - and should not necessarily report in to an HR organization directly. Mike Grennier, Senior Dir. Corp Recruiting for Wal-Mart earned more than a few exclamations of approval during his session where the topic again came up.

It was refreshing to hear Mike's discussion about a few recruiting hot topics, including the harsh treatment of an agency recruiter which are usually off-limits, especially on a stage like the ERE Fall Expo.
Thanks for being a respected ambassador for our industry. I know you will win the charity poker event one day!
Regards,
Jenny
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Keith Robinson
0 Chris, great piece, as a 50 year old Brit, I spent 2000-2005 attending ERE and Kennedy events and set up in Europe their "Global Conference" they are, I agree top guys.
Back in 2000 I "went on the road in the UK" with a message "recruitment is 101 sales and marketing" so why does it have to report into HR the skill set, the DNA and therefore "the recuiter" has no real affinity with "HR". The importance of talent on the P&L and the futre of a companies success is "people". So great to see and hear over here a really message to that effect.
Brand is everything "but not as is often perceived" ie not a "preatty visual etc". Brand starts with the CEO and cascades down through the organisation...everyone is a recruiter. If a great CEO says great things about the people in his compny watch the hits on the career site go up, it happens.
Agree re social it is atool or channel depending on how you us it, funny have a TV/Live web cast going on next week, just on recruitment...kinda fearful but first debate with a great panel Job Boards are not dead but will evolve. Recruitment is now like TV in that we have multi channel opportunities and the bad news is they "fragment" the audience, the good news is we have choice.
Whoops sorry long rant but loved what you wrote.
The old Brit.
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Jason C Blais
0 Great recap! I'm glad to hear your thoughts on the reality of social media, in contrast with the hype. As someone who works in the HR and employment branding space, I'm also very happy to see recruiters moving in that direction as well. I've always felt that the best way to affect a company's profits is to increase the quality and performance of the employees. If HR and 3rd party recruiters can work together more effectively, we'll all be better off for it!

I just wrote a recap for the association of Employment Websites that happened the day before ere, and many of the same issues are being looked at by this group as well. It's always good to see smart people moving in the same direction.

IAEWS RECAP jasonblais.com/.../...
jasonblais.com
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
laurie ruettimann
0 Great wrap-up. I'm pretty sure that attending ERE made me never want to use the words "social media" again. Is it social media? Or is it media? Or are these platforms too diverse to lump them into one category?

I also now believe that recruiters need to be working in R&D labs to develop the latest technologies. When someone creates a teleportation device, I want a recruiter there -- giving feedback -- before it's beta tested in the public.
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Patti Yaritz
0 Chris,

It was a pleasure to meet you in person at the Indeed event. I must agree with your thoughts on ERE Expo. Compared to the spring conference the mood was greatly improved. As someone who believes that we can do a better job of managing candidate experience I was thrilled to here both Steve Fogarty from Adidas and Marvin Smith from Microsoft talk about the "black hole" and no prospects left out of the communication loop even if they are not hired right now. This is a model that when truly aspired to will change the perception of recruiting for the better.
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Kat
0 GREAT recap, Chris. You are hands down the most personable and nicest recruiter I've ever met and I have been doing this for almost a decade. I really appreciated the time you took to talk some of us through some of the different aspects of recruiting with today's technology and measuring return even though I know we made you late for your call.

Michael, I think that some of the HR questions that typically go unanswered are simply staffing related and touch on the hiring process, interviewing or even just something as simple as resume status.I know that not only does our Human Resources team not want to engage with external job seekers outside of the application process for fear of liability, they go so far as not allowing us to blog or even tweet if our identity is tied to the company. Chris hits the concern on the head that the missing partnership is fear based and does contribute to the perception that there isn't much H in HR anymore.

I did not get a chance to meet Laurie in person but I thought she was as smart as I thought she'd be. Her comment about teleportation and recruiters just confirms this even more. I'm a lover of the Punk Rock blog for sure.

The only thing I'd disagree with Chris on is more Bonomo over Fogarty. I'd enjoy more spotlight on Steve Fogarty at any session. CUTE! (no offense Steve B. as you are both adorable.)
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Jason Sadler
0 You are a good man Charlie Brown. It was great to meet you and "socialize".... that is the whole part of social media that people skip out on right? I'm not even in the biz, but looking forward to attending ERE Expo in San Diego in March!

And... I'm coming to Dallas soon.
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Sarah White
0 Great recap! It was great seeing you again and look forward to seeing all the SM innovation you are doing at AT&T in your new role!
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Sheila
0 Thanks for the recap of key highlights, couldn't agree more.
Great to see you again!
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Mike Grennier
0 Great summary Chris. One of the best summaries I've read about ERE. (thanks for the mention too). It was great to meet you - guys like you give this recruiting biz an even better name. Thanks for all that you're doing.

I refuse to weigh in on the "which Steve is cuter debate" though. LOL. No comment.
Posted On
Sep 17, 2009
Posted By
Jennifer McClure
0 Great recap Chris. I'm always very interested in your thoughts and take-aways - because I either agree with you, or you make me think about things in a different way. I talk with so many HR/Recruiting folks from small companies and also large companies (that are small in comparison to your employer) and hear about all of the reasons why they can't use many of the social tools or can't be progressive in their employment branding efforts, candidate response, etc. because of rules, policies, procedures, whatever... Clearly, if you guys can find a way (and Walmart, adidas, Microsoft) then it can certainly be done in a much smaller organization. Thanks for leading the way - and I hope to see you on the speaker list for Spring ERE!

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