The Rebirth of SHRM Connect

I mentioned in a previous post that I was invited to attend a SHRM sponsored Taskforce meeting in Washington DC. The discussion was centered around SHRM Connect, the member exclusive social networking platform that was introduced close to 2 years ago. I attended along with Ben Eubanks, Jessica Merrill, Sharlyn Lauby, Bryan Wempen, Michael VanDervort, John Jorgensen, and other high profile social media users in the Human Resources space. I honestly had high expectations in terms of networking and low expectations regarding updates to SHRM Connect. Call me cynical or arrogant but I didn't believe that SHRM was truly going to listen to our suggestions on how to improve the platform.

In the end I was pleasantly surprised-SHRM is listening (who knew?). There was a diverse group represented at the Taskforce meeting. There were SHRM members from various levels (state, local, and at-large) and departments at both the Thursday meet-up and the Taskforce meeting on Friday. Aside from the chance to contribute to the further development of SHRM Connect, having the pleasure to meet these individuals in person was a personal highlight for me. Some standout moments for me include: convincing Pamela J. Green, SHRM's Chief Membership Officer, to switch mobile Twitter applications; talking technology with SHRM's Chief Information Officer Heidi Byerly; and putting Project: Social earworms in Curtis Midkiff and Laurie McIntosh's heads.

Other professional associations members were invited to participate in the meeting as well. They were:

• Ted Simpson, Executive Vice President, Higher Education Users Group
• Heather McNair, Vice President of Marketing and Social Media, American Association of Nurse Assessment
• Shari Rager, Assistant Director, CAE, Child Life Council

This was a great move on SHRM's part as it allowed us to see what similar institutions had done in the area of internal social media platforms. All 3 spoke of the successes and failures that their organizations went through. No one had the magic bullet; it was a work in progress to figure out what their respective members wanted and how to deliver it to them. The other consideration was how to use these platforms as a way to facilitate more or greater interactions between members. So SHRM is not alone in this.

As far as upgrades to the site there was a lot to look forward to. The mock-ups look good. Navigation and functionality concerns seem to be addressed. HR Talk, their forum site, will become integrated with SHRM Connect. This will enhance the experience in both arenas. Human Resource professionals will continue have a robust forum for discussion and finding answers to their questions. Having HR Talk as part of SHRM Connect should drive more traffic to it and should result in more connections and interactions there.

There was also an energetic discussion around whether or not SHRM Connect should be open to non-members. Most agreed that the site shouldn't be fully accessible. "This is for us!" was the overwhelming sentiment in the room. The general consensus was that the site could be structured around a "freemium" model. Non-members could gain access to certain areas and if they wanted greater benefits they could subscribe for a fee, meaning the cost of SHRM membership. Revenue generation was interwoven into a lot of conversations. SHRM does have to pay for these things somehow! This opened up the possibility of a more flexible payment model than is currently available.

Will a new and improved SHRM Connect drive me away from LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook? Probably not. But I'm not the target audience in many respects. Many HR pros are departments of one. Many are new to their roles and need a well-known and trusted resource. SHRM is an excellent clearinghouse of HR related services and information. Need a white paper or toolkit? The website probably has it, or the HR Talk participants can point you in the right direction. If a better SHRM Connect platform can get more members to embrace and leverage social media tools for improving the profession then I will gladly support it.

Good luck SHRM, and thanks for the opportunity to be heard. And kudos to Gary Rubin, Steven Williams, Anne-Margaret Olsson, and the rest of the SHRM team for putting together a well run Taskforce meeting!