The 2011 New Jersey HR Leadership Summit

Posted by Robert Finnis in

 Data & Analytic Solutions

Aug 2, 2011 | Total views: 318

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Robert Finnis
Program Manager, Data and Analytic Services
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On 2nd June, I attended the ‘2011 New Jersey HR Leadership Summit’ organized by Evanta, at the New Brunswick Hyatt. The event was well attended, drawing HR leaders from Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The governing body and event planners did a great job designing the agenda. The day began at 7:30 a.m. with a networking breakfast followed by the opening keynote – “An HR Transformation and the Evolving Role of HR” delivered by Patricia Bradford, SVP – Worldwide Human Resources, Unisys Corporation at 8 a.m. Patricia shared her experience (bumps and bruises included) that she and her HR team lived through recently, having to transform their organization in these challenging and uncertain economic times. Our day continued with eight additional speakers, all seasoned HR leaders with day to day responsibility for shaping their company’s HR strategy and service delivery. The agenda included a 30-minute networking break between speakers. Unfortunately the sessions I attended had active Q&A sessions reducing my break/networking time to 10-15 minutes at best, between sessions.

I am proud to report that MindTree’s President – Americas, Scott Staples’ session on ‘HR Analytics: Harnessing the Power of People’ was so well attended that the hotel staff had to provide additional seating to accommodate the swarming crowd. In addition, much to the frustration of the event photographer, I learned that Scott is not a podium kind of speaker. He prefers to move around the room and interact with the audience. A style he developed during his management consultant days. The audience enjoyed both the energy and information Scott shared with them. Scott’s presentation covered two most common concerns any organization would have while embarking on HR analytics:

1. Are there one or two KPIs that give new users the most bang for the buck?
2. How do I start an analytics program?

And these are no different from the concerns which I often come across while dealing with customers. We always say that there is no one size that fits all KPI or a universal super KPI or a group of KPIs. Leaders need to identify and focus on the pain points in their respective business. So, how does one start an analytics program? MindTree offers an eight step approach to get started with HR Analytics –

Step1: Determine readiness
          Do you have a desire to be an analytics-driven organization?
          Do you know your data?
          Do you have a business sponsor?

Step 2: Pick an area to get started
            Don’t boil the ocean… start small

Step 3: Identify KPIs & Build Models
            Limit to a handful

Step 4: Create Dashboards

Step 5: Soft-launch solution to a select group of end-users

Step 6: Learn & Adjust

Step 7: Full launch of solution

Step 8: Refine & update as needed & start adding new KPIs

Before I end this post, I would like to mention another great session that I attended, titled ‘Aligning Global Talent for Optimal Performance’. This was a panel discussion where all 3 panel members were international assignees – Katrona Tyrell – Global SVP of HR at IDT Corporation, Steven Baert – VP, HR at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Asad Husain, SVP – Global HR at The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. The moderator was Richard Beatty, Ph.D. Professor Human Resource Management at Rutgers University. Professor Beatty let each member of the panel share their thoughts on the importance of cross-cultural training and shared examples of how international experiences can make the difference in today’s global workplace. The conversations extended to the following areas:

• Building on the basics — international differences in organizational structure
• Understanding the nuances of how culture affects behavior
• Global leadership — nurturing diverse teams and fueling innovation

HR Leaders just entering and or actively managing a global talent program picked up some insightful feedback from this panel.

The NJ HR Summit was a great opportunity to meet and talk with HR professionals from the Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania area. I am looking forward to networking with contacts I made at the conference in the near future.