In the spirit of pushing the boundaries of an unconference for the recruiting community, the first Recruitfest was a small, grass roots event in Toronto. It was a funky gig by all accounts but it was transformative.  As a session leader I had the joy of engaging three groups in free flowing dialogue around talent acquisition practices to build a compilation of the trends, influencers and desired outcomes that were shaping the talent landscape.  As only Jason Davis could do, the event wrapped with a drum circle and party at Jason’s home.  Imagine that!  Jason and Michelle, his wife, opening up their home to everyone that attended.

Having just wrapped my second Recruitfest experience I feel like this was another first.  Two years and the maturing of RecruitingBlogs has made a tremendous difference to the scope and format but the spirit was the same.  Perhaps two years ago Recruitfest was like a rebellious teenager and this year it was more like a spunky, young adult not content with the status quo and still pulsing with the persistent determination to make a difference and carve a new, experiential path to learning.  Jason’s team has grown to include Miles Jennings and Ashley Saddul – the genius behind the quality live stream.  Personally, I like events that push the talent agenda and serve as a format for discussion and learning, and Recruitfest 2010 certainly delivered.  In partnership with Monster and through the support of a number of sponsors, the Recruitfest live stream reached thousands of people globally – 38 countries, and every state in the U.S.

Eric Weingardner was invaluable as coordinator and host.  His passion and wit delivered engaging commentary throughout the day.  Eric’s and Jason’s onsite teams delivered a flawlessly executed event.  Is there room for more, sure!  Enhancing the virtual experience by making it more interactive or hosting simultaneous live stream events that bounce from geo to geo will come.  But, the value and meaning of Recruitfest cannot be underestimated.

Three areas that made a difference:

The people and the conversation. The mix of presenters brought a diverse, progressive and dynamic dialogue to life.  The panel discussions were some of the best I’ve seen and participated in.  They were unscripted, candid, authentic and dynamic.  Real and raw.  It was the fishbowl concept and it worked beautifully.

The reach. We are part of a global community.  Talent is increasingly a global marketplace.  Pushing the conversation globally to challenge the state of talent acquisition to share, learn and advance the practice is not only timely but necessary.  After all, our work is about people and business.  Its about the passion and ability to enable both to accomplish more together than is possibly otherwise.

Purpose. What was perhaps most energizing for me about Recruitfest 2010 was the raw authenticity.  There was a common thread of people and purpose, something that all too often gets lost in the crazy, day-to-day pressure of recruiting.  And, that is also the problem.  We cannot lose sight of people and the power of connecting people to purpose and business to people.  Yes, we have the persistent emergence of new tools and technology to manage.  But, when the focus on people is lost we dilute the value of our profession and dilute the value of our brand, whether it be the individuals or organizations.

The dialogue:
The event kicked off with Chris Hoyt of PepsiCo speaking about their glocal brand strategy and the power of a simple question – “Why do you do what you do?  The Candidate’s Bill of Rights Panel with Gerry Crispin, Chris Hoyt, Charlie Judy, Jason Lauritsen and Mike Ramer could have continued for days, which demonstrated the critical importance of getting refocused on the candidate experience.  I think too often the importance of the candidate experience gets overcomplicated.  My question – what’s getting in the way?  Is it the very essence of the talent philosophy, the technology and embedded functionality, or how the function is resourced?  If you want to get to the heart of what gets in the way start with these three areas.

Sarah White and John Nykolaiszyn led a discussion on the importance of blending and articulating personal and organizational brand, which has quickly become a topic worthy of more time, understanding and intention.  Tim Dineen’s quick hit preso on SEO to enable better search results demonstrated the continued importance of a topic and technique the industry has room to leverage further.

I was honored to participate in a discussion with Joe Gerstandt, China Gorman and Jason Lauritsen on the true value of social recruiting.  If you didn’t catch us live I’ll give you a hint – its not just about the technology.  In fact, the over emphasis on technology has resulted in minimizing the power of social recruiting to just another tactical tool – watch for the video archive to be released.  I also had the pleasure of presenting with Master Burnett on the future of the talent acquisition function.  Apparently my comment on just-in-time (JIT) recruiting too resulting in just-behind recruiting caused a few sparks.  I suppose that’s the risk of a 20 minute teaser conversation. With respect and admiration to Glenn, he is one of the few who frames JIT with specifics and intention so I can understand his response, although we definitely need to have a conversation on the value of talent communities! Well, let me clarify again the context of JIT during my preso.  When recruiting functions operate with an “in the moment” on demand philosophy or approach it has been called  JIT, absent of course a complete reference to the full significance of the model.  When recruiting operates as a reactive function JIT becomes just-behind  because its just that – reactive, and your behind by the time you begin given the process time and absence of an anticipatory approach and alignment with the business strategy and a workforce plan.  A proactive approach can also be framed as an adaptive strategy.

Oh, and my take on the future of the talent acquisition function? The Function is positioned to be the talent broker for the organization but only if its pursued with intention, strategic action and alignment with the business strategy – more to come!

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I had an opportunity to sit down with Peter Clayton while we were attending the ERE Expo this past March.  We talked about a variety of trends and events influencing the talent landscape, including:

• business cycles and their impact on talent management
• talent leaders and the C-suite
• internal talent management
• community and social media
• generations
• developing an integrated brand strategy
• talent planning
• mind shifts and transformation
• caring for talent

Just a few of the things I’m passionate about!  Visit Peter’s site to listen to our discussion. You’ll also find interviews with leaders from a variety of disciplines across the talent industry.

Curios about Peter’s title for our interview?  Here’s a glimpse into what we were up to at the Future of Talent Booth as covered by HRMarketer.

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If you’ve read my last post or follow me on Twitter then you know I’ve been on Retreat in Mexico. Before I dive back into writing about getting to the heart of talent and business I wanted to share a few pictures (you can find more on my Facebook page), some thoughts on  acclimating back to the daily flow of life – electricity, news and chaos, and today’s excerpt from one of my favorite teachers.

Yes, that’s right – electricity.  The Retreat space I was at had no electricity, except in the main kitchen.  Oddly it never felt like an inconvenience and the simplicity of it was quite refreshing.  No electricity also mean no news.  Although, there was one place we could stand on the property to pick up a cell signal and heard a few bits here and there.  But certainly not the persistent deluge of gloom and doom that has become too regular a part of our lives.  So, to go away someplace warm, with reliable daily sunshine (keep in mind its winter and I live in Portland so the sun is a rarity), and spend time doing something I love with great people was a true gift.

Each time I step onto my “mat” to practice yoga it feels like a homecoming.  There is something very grounding about it and very powerful as the mind, breath and body come together for a singular purpose – to move with intention.  I always return from a yoga retreat feeling a bit lighter (physically and mentally) and ready to take on more, but also ready to let some things go.  This Retreat and subsequent immersion back into “reality” has left me thinking more and more about how we set our intention and, when we do it successfully, what it brings us in return.  I’ll be writing more about this and how it relates to business and the unique relationship with talent, but for now let me just say that if we allow the bad news to seep in too deeply and dictate our destiny we are certain to feel the weight of the world more significantly and miss opportunities to to think differently and focus on the where we want to be in the future.  That’s not to minimize by any means the impact and significance of today’s times – many friends and colleagues from my Macy’s Inc. days are feeling the full effect of this now and I feel for them deeply.  However, we are resilient beings and thrive on survival – which translates to being future-focused and oriented to innovate, create and re-imagine what could be….and then act on it.  Our world is undergoing a tremendous transformation, which brings both excitement and uncertainty.  Having something that keeps us grounded, comforts us, reminds us what home base feels like and nurtures the body and the mind, nourishes the imagination to help us reimagine the future.

I’d like to close this post with an entry from one of my favorite books, Meditations From the Mat, by Rolf Gates.  Rolf is one of my  yoga teachers and his book offers daily reflections on the practice of yoga but also provides an opportunity for deeper reflection on the daily flow of life.  This entry was about coming home and the hero within each of us.  After all, we only know what we can truly accomplish if we allow ourselves to imagine it, believe it and act on it.

“On these sands and in the clefts of the rocks, in the depths of
the sea, in the creaking of the pines, you’ll spy secret footprints
and catch far-off voices from the homecoming celebration.
This land still longs for Odysseus.
Homer

I am struck by the pervasive desire for homecoming in this passage, an ancient, secret longing.  Here is a sadness and an emptiness so profound that it is felt by rocks and trees.  It is in the air – a sadness that is bittersweet because it is a reminder of better days, an innocence lost.  Before yoga, each of us is like the land that longs for the return of its hero.  We can feel this longing in our

muscle, in our bones, in the movements that were once fluid and natural but that have become prematurely stiff and unreliable.  There is a presence, a life force, that is conspicuous in its absence.  But over time, this sense of loss becomes just another aspect of the subtly shifting backdrop of our lives.  Yes, we were once possessed of a youthful vitality, but many of us forget we ever had such vigor and energy long before we came to our first yoga class.  And then the moment of homecoming arrives.  Unbidden, unsought – we hear the familiar footsteps on the porch.  For me it occurred ad the end of one of my first classes.  I was in a knee-down twist moments before shavasana.  I don’t remember the rest of the class, but I do remember a sudden opening and sense of suppleness in my spine that I’d never expected to experience again.  I felt well in a way that I had let go of ever wanting to feel again.

There is a wisdom within us that is more powerful than our despair.  There is a movement toward health that our intellect can merely glimpse, once in a while.  It is the same impulse that causes plants to face the sun, animals to take care of their young, people who say, “I never sweat,” to try a hot yoga class.  This life force has provided us with the priceless, miraculous opportunity of our yoga practice.  All we need to do is cultivate an open heart, to express our gratitude both on and off the mat, and to celebrate the return of the hero.”

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