Ultimate Leadership - Influential Power

Human beings experience various forms of power in life. For instance the most common forms of power that are used by people are Bestowed Power and Borrowed Power.

Bestowed power comes with a position, title, role etc. In the professional context it could be a job with authority. Let's call it a Director. So when an individual gets this role, they are able to exercise power that is bestowed upon this role.  A director may be able to approve things, order changes to occur, tell others what is to be done because of how that role is defined.

However the power lies in the role as long as the individual does not separate his / her own persona from it. People will generally obey because the Director said so and not because they believe in what the individual is saying. When such individuals relinquish their role, they may find themselves dealing with an identity crisis. All of a sudden no one wants to listen to them. Why? Because the power they were exercising was by virtue of what was bestowed upon them through the position/title.

Then there is borrowed power where individuals associate a decision with an external source of power. A classic example is when you hear - I want you to follow this instruction because the CEO has asked me to make it happen. Here the individual is referring to another source of power and the association creates power to flow into the situation. Again, people may follow or abide because of the relation to that external power and not because they really believe in what the individual is stating.

Both bestowed power and borrowed power are easy to practice. However over time, an individual loses the ability to use their own conviction, belief, intelligence and become reliant entirely on the external source of power.

REAL leadership is about influence. The power of influence cannot be borrowed or bestowed. It comes from a set a of deep rooted underlying beliefs, values and conviction of an individual. It can manifest in many ways however each time it does, there is humility, genuineness and strong compelling force - all of which combined constitute the influential power.

Think about some of the most successful leaders the world has seen - they do not rely on a title, hierarchy, position etc. - they rely on what they believe in and communicate that belief with conviction. And when those beliefs resonate with others, they follow the leader.

Real, sustainable and lasting leadership at its core always has influential power.

Paranoid delusions about culture

We all have our views and opinions on what an organization's culture is and should be. And then there are those who care about it and those who think culture and all it's buzz is %#^*. Then there exists an industry to service the fears, inhibitions, conditioning and in some cases, real noble intent of culture believers. This industry provides tools and processes and frameworks for culture. To build, measure or transform culture. Ok, so what?

Here's a take. The only real, sustainable, tangible, meaningful culture for any organization is founded on the premise that people come together with a single purpose of doing things to solve others problems. That culture is driven intrinsically by a motive of creating value - that solves a problem, makes lives better, enables and empowers people to do better.

And this can be achieved by living that sense of purpose. By ensuring everything about an organization from its vision, strategy, business model, operating model, KPIs and job descriptions and the endless list of need to have stuff are all continually viewed in light of what and whose problem is this going to solve?

Everything else is inconsequential, good to have but not essential. Paranoid delusions about grandeur, through all the noise about culture, but nothing real - nothing that solves problems.

New thinking needed

Recent commentary in the media allows us to draw  various threads together to weave a picture about the state of business management in Australia.

Two articles in today’s Australian Financial Review, by Jennifer Hewett on skills, and by Jason Murphy on under-performing Australian companies, add to a picture that shows undue caution and conservatism in Australian companies and their managements. (Sorry I can't direct you to these individual articles. The AFR has a firewall in front of each.)

Elsewhere in the same edition of the paper, Malcolm Turnbull also espouses the need to invest and grow businesses with an eye on global markets.

At the centre of these various threads sit the most valuable assets of all: experience, expertise, inventiveness, wisdom, depth, open-mindedness, vision, flexibility.

All of these are embodied in the older, senior, seasoned employee. All are being increasingly ignored in the quest to cut costs under the misconception that younger employees can be developed less expensively than retaining older colleagues.

But it strikes me that if companies wish to improve their financial performance for shareholders by producing goods and services that provide long-term returns and that are attractive to worldwide markets...
if they want to develop the next generation of workers...
if they want to develop new products rapidly, knowing when to take the right risks and when to discard prototypes that won't work...
if they want to train employees and transfer skills...
if they want change agents who have actually experience and then managed organizational change and upheaval...
then tapping 30-40 years of real-life experience embodied in senior managers, scientists, technologists, accountants, marketers and sales executives seems a wise business choice.

(This post also appears on talkingcobblers.wordpress.com.)

'DIS' Engagement - where communications come in

Anand's blog post this week on 'DIS' Engagement reminds us that communication is the glue that binds the HR policies, the organization and the people together.

He touches on communications in his section on "D" - disconnection. Here's a bit more about how communications will add to removing the "DIS".

First, consider your employees as your ambassadors and advocates, not just as recipients of updates and bulletins. Those unaffected directly by any particular policy should still be briefed on what's going on. They can help explain the changes to others, including those outside.

Next, today's communications environment moves too quickly to manage as we used to. Lids can't be kept on things. People will Tweet, post and share information the second they've left the office or the briefing room. It's naive to expect them not to. So the trick is to consider, plan for and understand how these news channels will work and then package your communications to take advantage of that momentum. It's a bit like communications judo: use the momentum of their communications to carry your message.

Next, set context, a never forget the positive business objectives. There always is a bigger picture, and survival and growth are equally legitimate alternative objectives.

Next, be clear, concise and cogent. Often. "Often" means different channels, as well as more than once. People absorb information differently, from short bursts of information to more reflective reading, and from listening to someone to reading words.

Next, don't forget the emotional component of communications. Effective communications means facts plus emotion. We all know that a data sheet or a PowerPoint presentation never quite do the trick. The authenticity, passion, and personal elements all play their parts.

Finally, create value, then help people find it. If you have great news to impart, a new project for example, create a new section of your web site devoted to this project, so that employees can readily find the updates. The same tactic applies for bad news too. Consider having a crisis web site in readiness (and firmly under cyber lock and key) so that you're ready to go should the need arise. This preparedness also helps you think through the pre-crisis comms that can help carry the day.

You can overwhelm employees with communication. But done effectively, you can never over-inform them.

'DIS' Engagement

Employee engagement (EE) is a critical lever that has direct and significant impact on business outcomes. Productivity, customer retention and satisfaction, cost and process efficiencies are just a few of such critical aspects of business impacted by employee engagement. And a DIS-engaged workforce can weigh heavy on a business and if not managed or addressed swiftly, can bring the business down.

OK! So that's common knowledge. Is there a non-rocket science model to ensure EE is on track? In fact that answer lies in the "DIS" of disengagement.

"D": Disconnection from the purpose is a fundamental reason why some organizations despite investing in talent, are unable to achieve outstanding results(read more about this in an earlier Post titled Outstanding HR in volatile times (http://evilhrdirectors.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/outstanding-hr-in-volatile-times.html?m=0)

And an organization can ensure this connection takes place through communication. As many types, methods and tools of communication you have at your disposal - use them, deploy them and consistently do so. From the purpose behind why the organization exists to the purpose behind strategic choices and tactical decisions - if it can be communicated, then communicate it.

"I": is about not feeling involved. Democracy is a great concept however not every move an organization makes can go through a ubiquitous democratic process of decision making. Having said that, things such as soliciting opinions and forming focused groups that involve employees in various aspects of business, can improve engagement.

"S": is about straying away from simplicity. The world of employees does not have to be a complex one, though in reality, in many organizations, the processes make it so. HR has played to that complexity in many ways, and I guess one of the reasons why it earned the "evil" title !!! Reminds me of a verse from a song by Eagles - "... we make it harder than it has to be ... and baby I can't tell you why"

Our (HR) job is and should be about removing barriers, defusing conflicts, resolving issues and simplifying processes for employees - so that they can focus on their Prime Directive - which is to do their job and do it really well.

Removing the DIS out of disengagement is not a complex science nor does it have to be.

Customer Retention in tough times

Tough business environment poses the risk of losing customers. Most businesses across the world recognized customer retention as a priority, focus, risk and or challenge during, and also post GFC era. And one of the most powerful levers impacting customer retention is engaged employees.

Employees impact customer service levels, customer relationships, satisfaction indices and in fact almost every aspect of a business' relationship to customer. In fact there is direct correlation between employee engagement/satisfaction and customer retention.

 It pays to have happy and engaged employees as they create happy and engaged customer relationships. And when risks are high, specially with economic volatility, bring employee engagement and satisfaction to the top of your business agenda! Nothing new about this, yet overlooked by so many.

Workplace lessons from the healthy gut

There's a lot of attention these days about keeping healthy & staying fit. Lots of remedies to keep the gut free from toxins and humming like a well oiled machine. After all, there is a lot going into it, so if some does not come out at the other end, problems start to crop up. OK, so where am I going with these gross gut cleansing therapies? Well, workplace can benefit much from these principles. Across industries, economies and work cultures, there is so much emphasis on doing more and more and more.

That's cool, however if something somewhere does not stop, drop off or move out, toxicity builds up leading to stress, lowered productivity, performance and the list of symptoms is endless. To do more, to do better, learn first to take out something.

If you add 5 new things to work, balance it out with stuff that can you can stop doing, move elsewhere etc. Concepts such as work life balance don't often work because it's one way - add more work without balancing out what goes out. Create a healthier, more productive, richer work life around you - keep the guts of work well balanced.

 So, what would you take way or out of your work tomorrow when you add something new?

Innovation pill

How many times have organizations looked outward to learn about and imbibe what it takes to be innovative. Or other flavours such as skills or competencies to promote innovation in an organization. Creativity and innovation do not have pills and potions. However they don't mandate rocket science either. It is a conscious state of mind that, when practiced, becomes a way of life. Best way is to experimenit with it and see for yourself if it works.

If you are in HR or a line manager, try this tomorrow - what is the one thing you would do that would have a positive impact on your employees? Do it. Then repeat the feat next day, with something different. Just this one experiment would show the impact you can have on different aspects of business. If Innovation is a way of life, imagine the positive impact each of us could have and, collectively it could be even more powerful. 

Give it a go.

Succession syndrome

Almost every HR mob I've come across does some or other acitivty on the subject of succession planning and usually as part of a talent framework. The focus seems to be on finding a pool of candidates or an individual to fill in a position that falls vacant, and is critical to business. Whilst this is one aspect of business risk mitigation, it's not just about finding a successor to a role. Succession planning should be viewed as an organization's ability and preparedness to respond to a change caused due to planned or unplanned movement of people performing critical roles.

Depending upon the pressures and demands of external and internal business context, the organization needs to respond to the change. This may imply role or structural redesign, new business strategies and model, or rehashing work or all of these and other things. Treating these situations with a single lens of 'replacing the incumbent' may miss opportunities to do something more valuable. However this demands the ability to live and deal with ambiguity and nebulous concepts which defy the 'clarity' aspects of traditional succession models. For tangible value creation through sussession plans, HR needs to consider broader business implications and opportunities thereof.

On a different note, every individual is unique so logic suggests replacement would really be someone different, relative to the previous individual. All the more reason to look at the change from a different perspective !!!

Sustainable differentiation & competitive advantage

There has been much discussion over the years about what really is or are the "real" competitive advantages of an organization that provide lasting and sustainable differentiation. Schools of thought and models that try to capture, encapsulate or create a replicable concept known as "the competitive advantage".

No doubt, there are various aspects to such differentiation that maybe based on product, value creation, service quality, talent etc., providing varying degrees of differentiation under a variety of business contexts. The one that is sustainable, difficult to replicate and adds tangible substance to competitive advantage under any business context is Leadership. Investing in developing leadership depth can provide a unique differentiator and lasting, sustainable differentiaion through this 'IP'.

And really, there is no 'off the shelf' leadership model, if ever such a thing existed to conjure leadership depth for an organization out of thin air. Have to get your hands dirty. There are several tools to capture, measure and communicate how leadership impacts, however the framework of and value from a leadership model is always unique to an organization - a huge opportunity for HR and Boards and CEO's to define and design.

I.T needs to wed HR

We are at the cusp of yet another technology game change, in an ever evolving world of technology. Young emerging 'stars' such as Cloud computing and cloud based architectures will yet again change the way information is stored, shared, accessed, processed and across devices, devices and living beings, living beings and the information universe and so on.

A decade and more ago in history, shifts in technology provided organizations the 'choice' to adopt and internalize the impact of such changes. To varying degrees organizations leveraged these shifts, some capitalizing and some simply adopting for the sake of doing so. However, the was a choice - and the cost of inaction was not death. In the present time, technology changes are tectonic, and the choice of not getting impacted is low.

From the fabric of workplace to privacy of personal space, every strand in the DNA of our existence is touched by technology. Adopting, imbibing, spawning and embedding technology to varying degrees within the myriad of ecosystems that we are part of, is inevitable. From a HR perspective, technology has and will ever more profoundly impact human interaction with anything and everything - at all times - be it work or at play. And yet in several organizations the CIO and CHRO are not dancing together, in harmony, in love, wedded. There will be several factors dictating the evolution of good organizations from to great, and great to remarkable and outstanding.

However, to the outstanding ones, perfect harmony between people and technology practices would be a given. The new generation of workforce will need it and demand it so IT strategies would have to be embedded into HR architectures of workplace. This is the moment of awakening for both enabling functions to engage, collaborate and design the future of workplace and workplace dynamics.

As always, there will be early adopters, emulators and laggards, the latter paying a price for being late or never making it.

2012-13 Leadership Challenge

The singlemost important expectation from leaders in the current global situation is, and will be, TRUST. Gaining trust, maintaining and propogating it so that people can look up to leadership not just to feel good that there is someone up there, but that someone can be Trusted to lead us through uncertain times. This is when trust is demanded the most !!

Outstanding HR in volatile times

These are volatile times with most economies exhibiting patchwork characteristic traits - skewed industry growth, high in some and flatline or negative in others; financial uncertainty and cautious spend as well as investments etc. And these characteristics are here to stay for a long time, so dealing effectively with the changed economic context is a priority for leaders, as well as HR functions supporting the leaders and the organization.

There are 3 principles I have tried and tested with HR teams whilst they dealt with the internal and external organizational changes and issues. And they have worked, added value, produced some exemplary stuff.

These are, (in no order of priority):

1. Focus on and alignment with the purpose. Especially in tough times, organizations working under stress and facing frequent changes to business tend to lose sight of the "why", or, the sense of, and alignment with the purpose. And this could range from the purpose of existence of the organization to the purpose of a specific strategy. And losing sight of this purpose, to focus entirely on the "what and how" of things often causes the "connection" between the business and staff to be lost. Simon Sinek has demonstrated this through an awesome video "start with why" available on Ted.com.

2. The second principle has to do with living comfortably with ambiguity, a transition from the age old quest for clarity. Traditionally the management schools have loved the word clarity and several principles have been founded on the objective of seeking and providing clarity. Nothing wrong here, except the fact that in present and predictable future, there will be more chaos and ambiguity in everything around us. That's what volatile times are about. So helping people understand change, uncertainty and supporting them to live with ambiguity is more critical, as opposed to seeking clarity about everything.

3. And the 3rd principle is about Conflict. This word has zillions of connotations in both personal and professional contexts. During uncertain times and under stress situations give rise to more conflict than ever before. Outstanding leaders have an innate ability to defuse conflicts and focus on solutions, specially in turbulent times. For HR professionals this principle has a very special place as they are looked up to by organizations as the masters of conflict resolution (well .... at least I do have such an expectation).

 Uncertain and volatile times are just a different set of perspectives and businesses will learn to adapt, thrive or fade away through such times, as with other phases of economic, political or human evolution.

Relying on these 3 principles to govern and direct our actions in my opinion and experience would provide a solid foundation to anchor and deliver something outstanding, while the seas and boats rock around us.

Selecting and determining the true value from your coach

Would you entrust the design and construction of your new home to an architect with no experience of having designed a house? And would the architect’s qualifications in print become a deciding factor for your selection or rejection? Or how about the chap who is keen to design your home however has only designed bridges all his life?

What about taking yourself or a loved one to a medical specialist – what would give you the confidence to choose one medical professional over another? And if a specialist has a couple of medical disasters to his or her credit and has great qualifications, how would that influence your decision?

Most of us seem to have within ourselves an innate ability to make these choices in several different aspects of life. Many would call it just plain common sense.

However, when applied to a career or professional situation not everyone seems to have that same innate ability and therefore find themselves in situations where the experience does not yield much value.

Take executive coaching for example. Try Googling ‘executive coaching’ and you’ll be amazed at the myriad of flavors, colors, shapes and sizes the coaching world has on display and offer. However if we go back and apply that fundamental question we started off with – would you entrust your career counsel to someone who has no experience, or relevant experience or a track record of shaping careers – even one’s own career? Wouldn’t the answer to these questions seem obvious?

The fact however is that there are thousands of dollars being transacted in the name of coaching every day, all round the world, with no true value being generated for the one undergoing coaching or for the business that is paying for it.

Some would argue there is no right or wrong for soft consulting – intangible pieces of advice backed by some form of accreditation that can never carry a guarantee.

But hang on, when that disease did not get cured, you could knock the door of your doctor again and again till you got somewhere. So why can’t one associate some sort of success to a coaching experience as well?

The fact remains, like any other professional service, coaching must deliver results – tangible outcomes.

In my two decades of courtship with the concept of coaching, I’ve gathered three golden nuggets about selecting a coach. This by no means is a claim for ultimate truth or the only set of selection criteria for a coach. This is offered in the context of assuming you know what coaching is and why it is needed – either by yourself or for someone else. More importantly this is the quintessence of what I could derive from years of observing exemplary coaches and from talking to those who attribute exemplary results from such experiences.

Criteria for selecting a coach:

1. Experience counts: Human experiences are unique –for every one of the six something billion of us on the planet. If a coach has a track record of creating positive professional experiences with a degree of consistency across many people, it is likely you would have a similar and positive experience when coached by such an individual. Experience does not make the coach a domain expert or subject matter expert in a particular area (although a coach may have such expertise) – it does however provide a level of expertise in the approaches used to solving problems, resolving issues and making things happen.

2. Acknowledgement of failure is a pre-requisite: Someone who has not survived through professional and personal failures may not be in the best place to coach you to deal with similar experiences. The one coaching you should have experienced and dealt with failures in areas more relevant to you. For instance if you are a business leader, the relevance of such experience could imply the coach has experienced success and failures with running a business or even in the same industry as yours. However what is even more pertinent is for the coach to acknowledge the failure as a part of his or her learning experience. Believe me, there are a multitude of coaches that boast a flawless, impeccable professional track record with no acknowledgement of any sort of failure. And they can assure you that it is possible for you to deliver a failure- proof professional track record. Acknowledgement of such experiences (failures and success) in life is a testimonial of the coach having had the courage and conviction to deal with it.

3. There is no “canned” solution: Another interesting feature on offer is the concept of tested solution. This particular coach has such extensive experience that he/she is now able to put the ultimate solution in the box just for you to unwrap and indulge in. Coaching IS NOT a product and human experiences cannot be put into a box. However, the process or approach could have some degree of predictability. One could also and arguably deploy and redeploy the same tools across several coaching experiences. However, these need to be restricted to bring some structure and clarity to the coaching process and not be treated as the true value of the coaching experience itself. The latter, has to be unique – every time and at both ends of coaching.

Coaching, like any other professional service, should deliver economic value to the individual and through the individual.

If you are about to embark or have embarked on this journey, I hope these nuggets of experience should assist you to make choices that will ultimately determine the true value from your coaching experience.

How to Leverage Insight from Your HR Team to Make Smart Hiring Decisions

For those that have worked in the Human Resources field for more than a few years, we've learned some things about people...namely that they can be our greatest asset or our biggest pain, but mostly what we learn is how much we have in common. We all have strengths and development areas, the key is to be a life-long learner.

Having been in various HR roles over the past ten years, and specializing in coaching and development, training and recruitment the past few, I've become somewhat of an expert in the business of people...that at the end of the day we all want the same thing...to go to work everyday, do a good job, provide for our family or love ones, and hopefully have fun while we're doing it. And in my case, it all begins with the hiring process...

In particular, there's a certain level of people knowledge that comes along with sourcing, screening, interviewing, negotiating with candidates...then hiring, coaching and mentoring (or onboarding) new employees once they come into a company. Hiring managers that partner with the HR team, listen to valuable insight gained over the years, and that ask questions along the way can benefit during the screening and interview process, especially around things like engagement, attitude, and follow through.

Infact, there have a few occasions over the years, where I have had to remove a candidate from the process because of impatience, attitude or arrogance...where I saw their "true colors" shine through toward the end of the recruitment process. I remember one occasion in particular when the VP of Sales at a prior company asked me to remove a candidate from consideration after I told him how rude and inconsiderate he had become. The VP's response was "if he acts that way toward you, he'll most likely act that way toward customers, receptionists, co-workers, etc. so cut him loose." That was one hiring manager that knew bringing someone on board with demonstrated behavioral issues at the beginning of the process (when they're supposed to be on their best behavior) was likely an indication of predictable behavior problems going forward.

That is great example of a hiring manager partnering with his Human Resources team by capitalizing on their background, experience, knowledge and intuition to help his company build on a great team, thereby improving the company's culture and fortifying their employment brand now and into the future, which is critical to your company's long term success.

Executive Coaching

Much noise about "executive coaching" (eventually) improving business performance and impacting retention of senior leaders. Several "global" companies are including "executive coaching" as a part of the executive remuneration package. While I haven't heard of instances where coaching has not worked, there do not seem to be too many success stories around either.

Personally, the managers and leaders I have coached over the past several years claim to have found value from the association - not as much to improve their performance but more to do with having a sounding board to their ideas and strategies. Is executive coaching something that should be ingrained into the leadership development DNA?

Remunerating NEDs - changed expectation

There is much greater "risk" associated with being a member of the Board than ever before. Role and expectations of the non-executive directors (NEDs) are evolving to be much more engaged with the company's culture, strategic direction, leadership development and compliance. These changes are driving the remuneration model for NEDs as well as the professional expertise required of NEDs.

Experienced, vigorous and genuinely independent non-executive directors, as one of the most important and effective safeguards against harm in a free-enterprise system. Investors will not have confidence in companies or the capital markets, unless they trust the governance structure and culture of companies and markets.

Given the integral role that independent non-executive directors play in corporate governance arrangements, it is essential that the office of a non-executive director remains attractive to experienced and skilled individuals. It is in the interests of companies, shareholders and the capital markets that non-executive directors are remunerated appropriately.

Although non-executive directors should clearly be accountable, the role should not be overburdened with excessive or unreasonable legal liabilities and other risks which discourage competent individuals from contributing to keeping corporate processes open, prudent and trustworthy.

Board remuneration is shifting away from "fixed term" fee to participate in meetings toward a pure retainer approach to compensate for involvement. Greater differentiation in compensation for committee service to recognize the unique qualifications and responsibilities associated with
certain roles, such as audit committee membership.

So the question is - how should the remuneration be structured to drive the expected outcomes from the boards of the future?

Some of the cool things that are working for several companies are:

- Less reliance on stock options and greater use of full-value equity
vehicles
- Committee chair meeting fees as different from committee member fee
- Fee associated with a specific role - e.g. Driving the Leadership Philosophy or Setting the vision of succession management

Other best practices are welcomed

Cool trends in hiring (smarter)

Professional job portals - the next "in thing" in recruitment & cost modeling - the gaining popularity of monsters and linkedin aside, several companies have factored in non-traditional (traditional = recruiter based search) sources to attract talent / hire into their business plans. US Fortune 500 and top 100 tech sector companies in Asia show a clear "shift" to using professional networks to source new hires - even for senior positions.

What's been your experience so far as HR Leaders? - In my organization, we were able to cut the recruitment budget by 50% during fiscal 2007-8 and yet be able to meet the hiring needs - just through effective deployment of job portals (most of them costing a few hundred $ for full membership). We were able to redeploy those funds for development planning and some cool employee work life betterment services.

For those in the (traditional) recruitment business, how is the business model changing?

Welcome HR Directors (and those who are not from HR are welcome too)

Hi - This club is for those tough minded, resilient, hard working, passionate leaders in HR who are relentlessly pursuing the goal of delivering true value from this function.

There is a mob out there that still believes HR is a waste of time and does not add value, CANNOT be a business partner, promotes the philosophy that HR should be invited to the table only when there is no choice etc. etc.

However there is also another mob out there - a mob of die hard HR leaders who are innovating with strategy, creating new and out of the box solutions, championing business transformation, introducing wild, wild, wild ideas - that work, that create better employee and customer experiences etc. etc.

The idea is to get these die hard HR Leaders to share & collaborate best practices and use the forum as a sounding board for more wild ideas - that work. And at the same time, keep it fun.

I've been somewhat impulsive in calling it Evil HR Directors Club - but this club is definitely not restricted to HR Directors only. The "evil" thing is a bit of a paradox. I have been honored with the (evil) title as HR Director myself but have also tasted the other side - when wild, wild, wild ideas change the perception of evil to good. (Due credit to my colleagues who with pun intended, pointed out similaries between me and Catbert and in a way, motivated me to name this blog what it is)

That's what this club is about - changing perceptions of evil to good to great to cool.

Feel free to ask questions, raise issues, share challenges or best practices in any sub discipline of HR. And if you have a wild, wild concept or idea for making HR really cool, please share.