Our team recently attended the Indiana SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Conference, and we’re excited to share a recap of our time there with you! SHRM serves as “the voice of all things work,” and the annual Indiana state affiliate conference at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis brought together 15 local chapters to discuss new ways of working post-COVID, recent legal developments in the HR world, and more. Check out our top 3 takeaways from this year’s conference.
1. Never say “that’s how we’ve always done it”
The past year-plus has really taught us to think again when it comes to remote work, marketing strategies and even products and services to offer. In the first keynote speech from Adam Grant, he discussed these assumptions — and how to rethink them — based on his new book, “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.”
Released in February 2021, Grant’s book studies companies like NBA, Pixar and NASA from the lens of an organizational psychologist. His entertaining style of delivery and first-hand experiential evidence was interesting, and offered great tips to open our own minds and the minds of others to create an organization that is always learning, rather than one that is stuck in its old ways.
2. Use Experience Age strategies to hire better
In a session with Ed Krow, Talent Transformation Expert and professor at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, we learned more about the workforce transition from the Information Age to the Experience Age. With the advent of the internet in the Information Age, we became rapid consumers of more information than ever before. But with an oversaturation of information and more ways than ever to use it, the transition into the Experience Age began.
These days, employers no longer just want their company to give them information. They want to connect with others and grow personally and professionally. With help from this session, we look forward to helping employers better attract new talent, offer compensation and benefits that fit what Experience Age candidates really want, and sustain a culture of experiential knowledge to allow employees to grow and become the best version of themselves.
3. Bring more empathy to the workplace
How many times have you used the phrase “these unprecedented times” over the last year? In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brad Karsh’s session on empathy and accountability was a helpful reminder of how to juggle the stress we all face both in the workplace and out. The “new normal” requires employers to hone the skill of balancing empathy with accountability in order to build better relationships with employees.
With simulations of real employee experiences, we learned how to better show empathy in the workplace, while also trusting in employee productivity. Emotional well-being and workplace performance don’t have to be at odds, even during a global pandemic.
We look forward to sharing these helpful tips with the employers on our roster, and to attending the next annual SHRM conference! If you have questions about how our team can help you implement new hiring and management skills, contact us online or at 317-469-4141 today.