Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and CEO of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. With over 300,000 members in 165 countries, SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world, impacting the lives of 115 million workers. Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work. He is frequently asked to testify before Congress and authors the weekly "Ask HR" column in USA Today.
He is a member of the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and was appointed by President Trump as Chair of the President’s Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He serves on the boards of the University of Miami, Jobs for America's Graduates and the American Red Cross.
President Donald Trump said no one wins when people with criminal backgrounds are unable to adjust to life outside prison. It’s a waste of human capital, he said.
With today’s near record-low unemployment rate, HR professionals and employers are increasingly willing to tap underrepresented groups to fill the skills gaps in the American workforce.
The war for talent hasn’t spared HR. The leaders of our organizations are constantly working to recruit and develop the best and the brightest for this dynamic career. However, when I speak to audiences of business majors and ask how many of them want to pursue a career in HR, few, if any, raise their hands. Our profession has a prestige problem. That is our challenge.
People are the competitive edge in organizations. Winning companies are capturing the best talent, while others are falling behind because they can’t let go of their preconceived notions about hiring. By clinging to long-standing biases, leaders risk losing out on valuable employees who don’t fit the mold.
Today is Equal Pay Day, and SHRM has an important new public policy statement on compensation equity, the result of months of work by HR professionals led by SHRM.
Our prisons are broken. The United States is home to 4.4 percent of the world's population but nearly 25 percent of the world's inmates. And while the goal of incarceration is to produce law-abiding and rehabilitated citizens, 75 percent of released prisoners are arrested again after five years.
This morning, I challenged over 650 SHRM members and employment lawyers to elevate our profession. SHRM must fill a broader space than just the practice and procedures of HR.
Right now, Washington legislators and lobbyists are drafting proposals that will affect every American worker and family. HR professionals understand better than anyone how laws impact the real world of work today and tomorrow. That is why no major piece of U.S. legislation should be written without our say.
Friday night I had the honor to deliver the University of Houston’s 2018 Elizabeth D. Rockwell Lecture on Ethics and Leadership. This biannual series, created in the wake of the Enron scandal, exists to remind us that legal solutions are never enough to stop ethical failures. Culture always trumps compliance.
Amid the #MeToo discussions, the same question keeps cropping up: “Where was HR?”
