HR Professionals Come Together at SHRM 2015

The Society for Human Resources Management is gearing up for its annual conference, which will be held June 28-July 1 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
HR professionals around the country are preparing to present and discuss the latest issues and innovations in the world of human resources, many of which have been driven by technology.
On the conference floor, attendees are likely to be bombarded by the numerous tech solutions available, and it’s important to know how to evaluate them all. As potential customers, you’ll have buzzwords tossed at you left and right and it’s easy to be dazzled by them, but the best way to show your business savvy is to ask those vendors the important questions.
In this week’s SHRM blog, contributor Alex Alonso, PhD. SHRM-SCP recommends evaluating potential vendor relationships by asking the following four questions:

1. What is the core service offered by this company? Do they have a solid solution to suit my needs or am I being sold the promise of that solution?
2. What would be the makeup of my account team? After closing the deal with the senior team, will I be dealing with a less experienced team so the vendor can cut costs?
3. What are their customers saying? Check out reviews and get references from past and/or current customers. (Plenty of chances to get vendor feedback while networking at the conference!)
4. What are my “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves” and how does my vendor selection stack up against them?

Also among the conference attendees will be CHROs—Chief Human Resources Officer—a position that is itself a fairly recent development in the industry. Forbes contributor Meghan Biro argues that the CHRO should be a standard role within the C-suite given the diversification of talent and the way modern companies manage their teams, which includes technology. Teams can be separated by states and even countries and brought together by virtual office technology. Even when all employees are under the same roof, the office culture under that roof is even more important than it used to be.
As Biro points out, the CEO might be the “face” of a company, but the people on the front lines are the ones interacting with customers, partners and prospects, and managing human capital is on the same level of importance as managing the finances. So expect to see more and more CEOs on the SHRM conference attendee list in the coming years.
HR Ringleader Trish McFarlane offers up her survival guide for the conference, which should come in handy between hitting the sessions and exhibitions at the event and enjoying the sights and sounds of Vegas. Many of her tips can apply to any conference-goer, including staying some distance from the conference hotel so you can get some real down time, remembering to eat and hydrate, and to take advantage of opportunities to have fun. McFarlane also stresses the importance of making the most out of your attendance by exploring new topics and sessions, taking advantage of networking opportunities and keeping up with conference buzz on social media.
Human Resources has undergone significant changes over the last several years to keep up with an evolving workforce, and talent management is a big deal for today’s companies. SHRM’s annual conference is an opportunity to get ahead of the curve when it comes to innovations in HR and ways to strengthen and support your team.
Image via Society for Human Resource Management