Some companies are still of the mindset that social media is a big waste of time, a fad that is only going to pass us by. But is it?
Think about how much time it takes to sort through emails, or prepare and send a fax or interoffice memo that may or may not reach the person in the time needed to receive an answer?
In case you missed it, here’s what happened on We Know Next this week.
For the first time in the 12 years the Law and the Boardroom Study has been conducted, the risk surrounding cybersecurity was chosen by the largest percentage of responding directors and general counsel as the top issue of concern.
The annual survey by Corporate Board Member, an information and education resource for senior officers and directors, and FTI Consulting Inc., a global business advisory firm, found that 55 percent of general counsel and 48 percent of directors listed data security as their primary concern, outpacing operational risk and company reputation.
Some CEO’s get it — most CEO’s don’t. Treating employees with respect and dignity while working to gain their trust; this is the secret sauce to begin an organization’s path to a great workplace.
It is not complicated. The CEO must live by these basic principles.
The One’s Who Get It
Quite often, we get stuck in quicksand in the human resources profession while we endlessly gaze at our navels and debate whether we are in the Strategic vs. Tactical, or the Traditional or Cutting-Edge camps. We read, we discuss, we talk…but at the end of the day it becomes the ACTION we take, as individual practitioners and leaders, that can define HR for now and the future.
Nothing is hotter in the tech blogosphere these days than mobile.
After all, there are currently more mobile devices on planet earth than humans. People are even buying fakes, as status symbols.
On September 26, We Know Next chatted with Kyle Lagunas of Software Advice about “The Consumerization of IT."
In case you missed it, here are all the great tweets from the chat:
With little fanfare, the one-year-old Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has become the chief enforcer of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and has issued revised FCRA forms employers and consumer reporting agencies must start using no later than Jan. 1, 2013.
Can you do for others that which you have not done for yourself?
This is a critical question when we think about the health of our organizations and cultures.
As a leader or manager:
Interview by Joseph Coombs, SHRM Workplace Trends and Forecasting Specialist
Just under three-quarters (73%) of manufacturing organizations reported mild to significant improvement in overall financial health in 2012 compared with 59% in 2011. About the same percentage in 2012 (75%) were currently hiring; however, two-thirds (67%) of these organizations were having difficulty recruiting for specific jobs. One of the strategies for dealing with this challenge is hiring U.S. veterans, which has increased from 44% in 2011 to 59% in 2012.
Change is hard especially at work and studies now show that because we are reluctant to change we are also programmed to fail. In 1995, seventy percent of all major changes in an organization failed. In 2008, we are still sitting at a thirty percent rate of success. The rise of importance and use of change management as well as tactics, strategies, and theory hasn’t changed a thing.
The majority (80%) of respondents from the high-tech industry were hiring full-time staff in the fall of 2011, an increase from 75% in 2010. Of the high-tech organizations that are currently hiring full-time staff, 71% reported having difficulty recruiting for specific open jobs. The five most difficult positions to fill for the high-tech industry are engineers (95%), high-skilled technical (e.g., technicians and programmers) (88%), sales representatives (79%), managers and executives (78%), and customer service representatives (47%).
The consumerization of IT is rapidly evolving the technology we use at work. Social, mobile and video technologies have dramatically changed the way hiring professionals source and recruit candidates. As competition for top talent remains at an all-time high, companies like Ongig are making it easy for recruiters to harness candidates-friendly technology to create a more engaging candidate experience.
Highlights from the Compare the Candidates Panel Discussion hosted by SHRM at the Republican National Convention featuring:
One of my new go-to resources is the IBM’s Global CEO Study. It surveys over 1,500 global business leaders about the business and work on topics of concern and trends for the future. You can download this year’s survey here.
Last year, I was very impressed that IBM’s research included for the first time a companion study from students about their views on inheriting this complex world we’re living in. Very cool!
A large majority (89%) of organizations in the health industry were hiring full-time staff, and of those 50% reported having difficulty recruiting for specific open jobs. The five most difficult positions to fill for the health industry are high-skilled medical (90%), high-skilled technical (e.g., technicians and programmers) (69%), managers and executives (69%), accounting and finance professionals (60%), and HR professionals (46%).
In case you missed it, here’s what happened on We Know Next this week.
A June 2012 “Office Pulse” survey of more than 600 U.S. workers by digital media company Captivate found that what white-collar employees consider acceptable and distracting in office attire varies by demographic factors including age, gender and professional status.
The title of this post is comprised of the seven poorly-chosen words from a Vice President of Operations at a Detroit casino right before the casino terminated a white employee for allegedly botching supervision of a dealer card shuffle.
What do you think? Do we have a live race-discrimination claim? Oh yeah, we do! Details after the jump, as well as thoughts on employers who strive to maintain racial balance in the workplace...
As smartphones and tablets become ubiquitous, multi-tasking behind the wheel has been gaining notice as a grown-up workplace danger rather than the sole province of reckless, texting adolescents.
Along with the risks to life and limb, the trend carries significant financial perils for employers.
A worker who causes an accident while reading e-mail or texting on the job can expose an employer to millions of dollars in liability for loss of life, in addition to the costs of property damage and lost productivity.
HR Professionals from Florida pose questions to Mitt Romney and Pres. Barack Obama.
I admit it, I am a total mark for Business Insider.
A superb mix of business, tech, culture, politics, economics, sports, celebrity gossip - all delivered with bludgeon-like ridiculous volume probably running upwards of 100 posts each day.
A labor dispute that has lasted for three months in Milwaukee pits union organizers against a company that fired workers who were seeking to organize, including employees who failed to document that they were eligible to work.
Palermo’s Pizza said it was merely complying with immigration laws. Activists for the workers have organized a strike and boycott against the company, saying that the terminations amounted to unlawful union busting.
Worker Concerns
The 2012 Workflex Conference is an innovative conference that offers solutions for HR professionals and other business leaders who are actively engaged in building and implementing effective and flexible workplace strategies.
On Aug. 30, 2012, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued new guidance on how to define a “full-time employee” under the employer responsibility provisions of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury also issued guidance on how the 90-day waiting period limit should be implemented for certain variable-hour employees.
Full-Time Employee
Training activities. Classroom participation events. Facilitated group learning exercises. Whatever.
Often, something designed to provide an “a-ha” moment to workplace learners ends up creating discomfort, dismay and even distress. In an attempt to make training FUN (with a capital F!!) group facilitators require attendees to play BINGO or pass oranges with their chins or do art projects. I’ve been there and done that – on both sides of the equation (mea culpa).
To advance women around the world into leadership roles, business leaders should identify—and develop strategies to counteract—specific barriers inhibiting the recruitment, promotion and retention of women at their organization, new research suggests.
The report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm, finds that gender diversity continues to be emphasized worldwide. Eighty-five percent of business leaders interviewed in 2012 see gender diversity as a top priority, and 90 percent see a connection between diversity and their companies’ success.
SHRM's Workplace Trends and Forecasting Specialist, Joseph Coombs, interviews Bruce Tulgan, founder of Rainmaker Thinking.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 13, 2012, passed bill S. 3245, which would reauthorize for three years E-Verify as well as certain immigrant visa programs set to expire at the end of the month. The vote was 412-3.
In a twist on the old punch-clock technology, workers at Beijing Sunrise Technology in Beijing step before a device that scans their faces before they enter a secure work area.
A June 2012 “Office Pulse” survey of more than 600 U.S. workers by digital media company Captivate found that what white-collar employees consider acceptable and distracting in office attire varies by demographic factors including age, gender and professional status.
Nearly half of white-collar staffers said they’ve seen cleavage in the office, and 45 percent of workers report seeing tattoos. While 67 percent of employees ages 35 to 49 think tattoos are acceptable, 61 percent of those over 50 years old find them distracting.
The Families and Work Institute (FWI)—a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that identifies and studies trends in the changing workforce, families and communities—will recognize individuals and employers for their efforts Sept. 19, 2012, at the 2012 Work Life Legacy Award dinner in New York City.
In case you missed it, here’s what happened on We Know Next this week.
Contrary to some reports that working just a little bit longer—to age 70—will allow between 80 percent and 90 percent of households to have adequate income in retirement, new research by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows that for approximately one-third of U.S. households between the ages of 30 and 59, that won’t be enough.
What inspires you to unleash creativity? The big ideas and breakthrough thinking that will move you and your organization closer to the future you want?
In this era of invention it’s worth considering. The artist needs to tap into the source that inspires creativity. Increasingly, so does the Sales Professional, HR Manager and Chief Marketing Officer. As our problems become increasingly more complex and the pace of change continues to accelerate, everyone needs the ability to create what is next and new.
Only in the government would a strategic plan be adopted in order to develop a strategic enforcement plan, which was the case when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) adopted a strategic plan earlier this year.
On Sept. 4, 2012, the agency released a draft strategic enforcement plan, highlighting the agency’s national priorities:
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On September 12, We Know Next chatted with Jennifer McClure about “Why Personal Branding Is Important for Career Development in HR.”
In case you missed it, here are all the great tweets from the chat:
Aaron Kesher, Principal Consultant for deepSee Consulting, explains how organizations can flourish by leveraging a workforce with a wide range of age groups.
U.S. employers often treat “the holiday season” as the period from November to January each year, says Mark Fowler of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, and design policies to fit U.S. norms. But these practices can exclude those with other religious beliefs.
Now in its eighth year, the SHRM Strategy Conference is one of the most exclusive senior-level HR conferences in the world. Held this year in beautiful Palm Springs, this must-attend event will give you proven, practical tools and resources to help you implement the most effective strategic HR practices in your organization.
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Ask some human resource managers what type of work they conduct virtually, and they might look at you with disdain before providing answers that clearly show they find the assumption behind the question outdated.
"Almost everyone has a virtual component to their job," explains John Cassida, an HR project manager for Sprint Nextel. With roughly 40,000 workers, Sprint employs about 625 HR professionals, about 40 percent of whom have offices at headquarters in Overland Park, Kan.
If someone were to ask you to write what you believe your "personal brand" is today, what would you write? Are you excited about it? Does it really describe your character, personality and passions?
Most of you have heard the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” or something to that effect. Basically, the idiom advises us not to discard something valuable in our eagerness to get rid of some useless thing associated with it. If you are not careful, this can happen to businesses going through a rough patch.
Benjamin Braddock, who walked away from a career in plastics and a fling with Mrs. Robinson in the 1967 movie “The Graduate,” could be the grandfather of high school students who graduated in the spring of 2012.
Born in 1994, these entrants to today’s workforce and college campuses come with a different set of cultural touchstones and references.
Contrary to some reports that working just a little bit longer—to age 70—will allow between 80 percent and 90 percent of households to have adequate income in retirement, new research by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows that for approximately one-third of U.S. households between the ages of 30 and 59, that won’t be enough.
“Good, but not great” is how most federal government employment reports are tagged each month when they’re released. But when it comes to workers’ earning power of late, “good” isn’t all that great.
In September, for the second consecutive month, the hiring rate will rise in the manufacturing and service sectors compared with a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for September 2012.
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In case you missed it, here’s what happened on We Know Next this week.
Experts say leaders need to step up their communication efforts to fill information gaps that exist in some workplaces. Reframing the importance of communication can help.
In September 2012, for the second consecutive month, the hiring rate will rise in the manufacturing and service sectors compared with a year earlier, according to results from the latest Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey.
When asked to rate their manager on a list of specific behaviors, most employees agreed their boss is open to suggestions, acts in an ethical manner and listens to employees’ concerns. However, 41 percent disagreed when asked if their boss handles workplace conflict effectively.
In June 2012, Healthy Companies International, a management consulting firm, surveyed 2,700 employees from its in-house database of senior managers, HR executives and C-suite leaders to examine employee perceptions of 20 specific manager behaviors.
Social media can be a valuable tool for organizations looking to recruit military veterans who are transitioning to the civilian world, according to Lisa Rosser, a military recruiting expert.
Rosser, founder of The Value of a Veteran in Herndon, Va., has 25 years of military experience—10 of those on active duty—and 14 years in staffing and consulting.
She and Neil Costa, of Boston-based digital recruitment marketing agency HireClix, were presenters during an Aug. 9, 2012 webinar, “Recruiting Veterans Through Social Media.”
Whether to tell high-potential candidates they’re on the fast track can be a tough decision. Some organizations skirt the issue for fear that egos will erupt or that the motivation of those not selected for leadership development will wane. Others argue that having a defined protocol for communication and transparency when it comes to high-potentials is key to organizational success.
A recent study finds a slight increase in the demand for leaders with skills in multiple languages, combined with a spike in employers providing language training. Yet experts say that language skills alone are not enough to ensure global business success.
Maryland was the first state to enact a statute in the employment context prohibiting employers from requiring or requesting that applicants or employees provide their employer with their passwords to their private social media sites. Illinois has become the second.
Raising awareness about the human resource profession is one of SHRM’s most important missions, and the 2012 Presidential election provides an attentive audience of policy makers and business leaders with whom we wish to communicate.
