The Other Side of Life 24/7: The Cynical Girl: B2B Advocate Marketing in the HR Tech and Conference Community

Friday, May 31, 2013

The Cynical Girl: B2B Advocate Marketing in the HR Tech and Conference Community

B2B Advocate Marketing in the HR Tech and Conference Community

Posted: 30 May 2013 03:45 AM PDT

Just a few years ago, HR technology companies and conferences felt broken. Out of ideas. Low on cash. Innovating out of their assholes. Laying off staff. No money for marketing or sales. Doing more with less.

No, wait, doing more with less would have been an improvement. They were doing less with less.

This is when I started writing on Punk Rock HR. I saw executives jumping on Twitter and Facebook just to kill hours in the day. Reaching out to bloggers and independent consultants to create cheap content (white papers, webinars). Asking bloggers to participate in guerrilla B2B marketing campaigns (tweet-ups and unconferences). Asking consultants of all stripes to show up at events for free and talk about cool new things (social recruiting, mobile apps) with a promise that business would eventually follow.

For awhile, things worked out. Everyone seemed happy.

But as the economy strengthened in 2011, companies and conference organizers started to worry about associating their brands with bloggers and consultants. Some people referred to social media personalities as celebutards. And I started hearing the words “conflict of interest” and “negative brand association” from people who hadn’t cared about those issues from 2007-2010.

I did what I do best when things look dire: I changed tactics and got a marketing job just to understand what the hell was happening in my industry.

But many of my fellow bloggers and independent consultants continued to work for free. When they were paid, it wasn’t in a transparent or obvious way. They lived and died by the free conference pass and continued to do speaking gigs and webinars for very little cash.

And when marketing budgets were finally reinstated at tech firms and HR conferences, the first place that money was spent was back with credible consultants and firms. You know, the ones who didn’t give away the goods for free.

I tell you this story because I was inspired by Mark Organ‘s talk at Influence HR. His organization is on the forefront of aligning and measuring B2B advocate marketing with broader marketing and sales strategies. It might not make sense for every B2B HR tech firm and event planner to embrace bloggers and social media rock stars like it’s 2009; however, it is still important to manage and leverage your army of unpaid fans and supporters.

But those relationships are being killed off in my industry. Very smart men seem to have a very immature and myopic understanding of brand, reach, resonance and digital media. I look at these men and think — If you can’t manage a once favorable relationship with a blogger or a social media guru, you probably can’t manage relationships with your own employees.

I expect to see some turnover.

Anyway, I have been telling trying to tell marketing executive and event planner who will listen: The economy is a funny thing. What seems like an economic rebound can just be a lull. And your brand advocates are yours for the asking. They dance like there’s nobody watching, love like they’ve never be hurt, sing like there is nobody listening, and believe in your brand like it’s heaven on earth.

Mistreat and abandon them at your own peril.

The War for STEM Talent is a Lie

Posted: 29 May 2013 03:45 AM PDT

Click to view slideshow.

Did you catch a recent study that says the war for STEM talent is a lie? The authors believe that there are enough scientists and technical people in America to fill our jobs.

This goes along nicely with the progressive HR conspiracy theory that this whole STEM shortage is a myth meant to drive down wages. Some recruiters and HR professionals believe that there are plenty of American workers who are qualified for STEM jobs; however, these candidates are overlooked because they are too old and too expensive. It is cheaper to import immigrants than to employ and train Americans.

I don’t like the implicit race-baiting of these theories; however, I love that people are crunching the numbers and suggesting that we can fill STEM jobs with American workers.
And I love it when people suggest that not all STEM jobs are really STEM jobs. Just because you use math in your job doesn’t mean you are a STEM worker. The label has the potential for abuse. Companies could invoke the STEM label for all kinds of goofy reasons and request more H1B Visas to find cheap labor.
And I like when HR professionals and academic researchers suggest that the way to address the so called “talent shortage” is to invest and train in American workers instead of importing workers from overseas.

Some of my Human Resources colleagues are sick of being told that they can’t find good STEM workers. This is especially true when they present a decent slate of candidates and have them turned down based on concepts such as fit and likability.

Do you need to be likable to work in a lab? Do you need to be fun and engaging when you code?

And many of my progressive colleagues want to play a part in getting Americans back to work. They want to solve the alleged talent shortage in the STEM industry. They urge their leadership teams to dig deeper. Invest in training. Where a talent pipeline doesn’t exist, they work to create their own.

I like that, too.

Human Resources sits at the intersection of work, money, power and politics. I believe that is true. Every HR professional should work hard to create an economic environment that is so amazing that the war for talent is a real problem and not just an outcome of a mediocre educational system and an inefficient hiring process.

But I am dreaming, of course. It is easier to jump on the hysterical bandwagon and bemoan “the war for talent” — especially for STEM workers — than to do something about it.