Happy New Year Impact99 Trailblazers! 

We have so many exciting things to share with you about our brand and movement! 2011 was a fantastic year, and we hope for 2012 to be equally as exciting.. stay tuned in the next month for our 2012 event details!

We are kicking off the year with two bits of news for you. 

The first news is that Jeff Waldman (@jeffwaldmanhr on twitter), one of the Impact99 co-founders has some exciting new opportunities within the Social HR space (he will be making his own announcements in the near future! stay tuned..) and will be stepping away from Impact99 to pursue those. 

Even though he is stepping away from the day-to-day Impact99 operations, he will remain one of our biggest fans and I know I speak for everyone who was involved in Impact99 as volunteer, coach, speaker or attendee….we wish Jeff the BEST of luck with his journey and look forward to hearing what he has in store for 2012, and beyond.  

Second, Impact99 welcomes Pam Ross to the team. Pam, Christine and Jeff met on social media in 2011 and Pam attended and volunteered for both Impact99 events last year. As Jeff steps up to new opportunities, Pam is the perfect fit to step into Jeff’s shoes! Pam brings over a decade of senior HR & OD experience not to mention a passion for social media. Pam and Christine will be bringing you a Vancouver and Toronto event  and have a few other exciting things brewing too around Impact99 they will share shortly with you. 

Pam is the founder of PamRoss.ca, a consulting and training organization whose vision it is to create exceptional customer experiences through developing more connected, engaged workplaces. Please join me in congratulating Pam- you can find her @pamelamaeross on twitter

Stay tuned for more details on the Impact99 conferences, if you have any inquiries please contact info@impact99.ca.

In the meantime, if you have not already done so… head on over to http://www.impactpeopleproducts.com and re-live BOTH conferences… for less than the price of your lunch today!  

Have a great day,
Christine (@impactresults on twitter)

On behalf of Jeff, Pam and the whole Impact99 organizing team

“No Tweeting!” How Restricting Social Media At Work Affects Productivity [INFOGRAPHIC]

Does your workplace allow tweeting? Or has your boss blocked access to Twitter, Facebook, and the other social networks thought to utterly decimate worker productivity?

This infographic from Socialcast takes a look at the state of social media access policies at various workplaces, and how that impacts employee productivity.
 
According to the 1,400 US chief information officers interviewed for this infographic, only 10 percent of US companies allow unlimited social networking while at work. 19 percent allow access for business purposes only, while 54 percent of respondents said their firms do no allow employees to use social networks for any reason while at work.

However, the infographic points out an interesting contradiction between what these workplaces believe about social media and the impact that social media actually has on their employees.

According to a University of Melbourne study cited in the infographic, those employees who engage in “workplace internet leisure browsing” such as watching videos and keeping up to date with friends while at work at 9 percent more productive than those who don’t.

There are a few other interesting takeaways from this infographic, including how Europe is doing social networks in the workplace differently. Check it out below (click to enlarge):

Next week Contingent Workforce Solutions (CWS) is sponsoring Impact99, a one day conference that focuses on better leveraging social media in the workplace. Jeff Nugent, founder and president of CWS, is an advocate for social media, saying “Social Media has changed everything – Marketing, and, most recently, HR”. Nugent believes that companies need to integrate a social media strategy into their traditional hiring practices in order to stay competitive in recruiting the best talent. Therefore, one of CWS’ services includes consulting with clients about how to better integrate social media into their current HR and recruiting strategies.

Impact99 will help HR leaders develop a Social HR strategy, and explain why it’s the most important thing HR can focus on in a digital age. Attendees will learn how to stand out as a top employer, how to find staff in a digital, and social media world. The conference will cover social media basics, and discuss lessons real organizations have learned on their social media journeys.

CWS truly believes that social media will become an integral part of recruiting and HR, which is why it has created platforms that make it easy for recruiters and HR professionals to use social media. SimplicityVMS, which was developed by CWS, is a payrolling and contractor administration software system. This system seamlessly integrates with social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, which allows HR professionals to usethese sites along with their traditional recruiting methods. SimplicityVMS empowers HR professionals with the tools they need to keep up with the rapidly changing recruiting landscape.

Impact99 is a great opportunity for HR industry thought leaders to come together and share ideas and experiences, learn about innovative practices, and develop an effective social media strategy of their own.

Click Here for more information about Impact99.

For more information about how SimplicityVMS can integrate with your business, contact:

Impact99 – November 7th – Will you be there?

Impact99 is like a fresh new breeze in the HR community. The focus of the event is HR and Social Media, two topics I’m pretty pumped up about. When looking at social media within an HR context, it is often focused on parameters, guidelines, and policies around the use (or abuse) of social media in the workplace. And this conference is focused on looking at social media as something to be embraced by HR and business and as a tool for engaging employees. It is interesting to note that several of the speakers, sponsors, and guest panelists are colleagues I had already connected with on Twitter, so it will also be very nice to meet them and network IRL (in real life)!

There is a fantastic speaker lineup and an impactful and participative day planned including “HR Trailblazer Speed Learning Pods.“  The key note speaker is Sidneyeve Matrix. Besides having a pretty awesome name, Sidneyeve is a Queen’s University professor and eCommunications strategy and design consultant at MatrixMediaFX! I first heard about Sidneyeve from my son who had taken one of her courses. Knowing my involvement with Twitter he recommended that I “follow” her. Then this summer, I went to an orientation session at the university with my daughter, where I had the opportunity to hear Sidneyeve speak. After her motivating address to the students, I had a huge lump in my throat and goosebumps thinking about the wonderful journey my youngest child was about to experience and the knowledge she would gain.  

It’s never too late to continue to grow and learn. Whether you are new to social media or not, continue the learning journey by attending Impact99! The event organizers, Christine McLeod and Jeff Waldman, say that Impact99 is for HR Trailblazers. I like the sound of that, don’t you? If you are interested, register soon. I hope to see fellow HR colleagues and business leaders there and I’m looking forward to meeting some of my fellow Twitterers at the event which, by the way, is being held at the beautiful Evergreen Brick Works  location in Toronto!

Best regards, Joanne Royce, HR Trailblazer 

  shareshare

I get asked all the time- What does engagement LOOK like ?

Engagement is about BRAIN CELLS. Brain cells that are firing. Brain cells that are multiplying. Highways of innovation lit up. Connecting the dots, creating, making sense of two unrelated pieces of information, problem solving.When I think of engagement, I picture these images.

Brain Cells and Leadership:

When I think about one of our great responsibilities as leaders, it’s about creating the space and conditions for those brain cells to start firing…. and then keep on firing every day.

Before I tell you why we should be mindful of this as leaders, How do you know when your brain cells are firing on all cylinders? here are some ways you can tell

The clock stops mattering:

When you are fully engaged in something, you don’t notice the clock.

You feel a bit buzzed:

When you are fully engaged, you have a heightened sense of energy inside you

You see ideas and opportunities all around you

When you are fully engaged, you are more creative and innovative

You are more positive

When you are fully engaged, negative energy around you (people especially) can’t touch you

You elevate your game.

When you are fully engaged, you can achieve things you never thought possible.

You navigate around challenges, you push your boundaries and those of what is possible. You can achieve anything.

So my question to all leaders out there (and by leaders those who know me know that I don’t mean Leaders only who have the TITLE of leader. Leaders to me are EVERYWHERE in an organization):

If engagement does all these things for people, what are YOU doing to create the space and opportunity for someone around you to feel more engaged than they currently are? the question is… when someone interacts with you, are you helping their brain cells fire?

If not, there is a fair chance you are doing the opposite without even knowing it.

What kind of Leader are YOU? One who gets brain cells firing or dying?