In their new book, 'For the Win': How Gamification Can Transform Your Business, Kevin Werbach and Dan Hunter take a closer look at games and work. Next Official Blogger blogger Ross Smith got a few minutes with author Kevin Werbach for a few questions:
What is your background?
One of the most exciting things about working in HR is that the field is always changing, constantly bringing about new trends and technologies to our daily operations. While this means that we must always be on our toes and be committed to learning new things on a regular basis, each new development that we embrace will help to make our jobs easier and bring greater efficiency to the entire HR function.
We all know that a strategic human resources function is critical in today’s competitive global market, but many top-level executives still believe that HR is ineffective and consistently fails to provide value. You can read all about HR’s continued woes in a new report from The Economist Intelligence Unit/KPMG. They obviously didn’t interview your CEO, who would have told them about all the amazing things you’re doing at your organization.
My very first job in HR was based on what I knew. Every other job offer after that was because of who I knew.
The rules about getting ahead at work haven’t changed. According to a survey from Right Management, 44% of employees believe the key to their success lies in “who you know”. Not far behind was job performance (39%).
Senior executives say they understand that a strategic human resources function is crucial in today’s competitive global market. At the same time, however, the C-suite believes that HR is ineffective and consistently fails to provide value to the organization, a new report found.
A changing workforce, global competition, advances in information technology, new knowledge, the 2008 global recession and demands for sustainable performance have forced corporate leaders to examine and re-evaluate how they manage and operate.
In response, they are utilizing new technologies, changing their organizations' structures, redesigning work, relocating workforces and improving work processes. These changes have significant implications for how their human capital should be managed and how their HR functions should operate.
Embrace that which makes you different, and use positive deviance as a means to showcase your full potential.
Everyone has individual qualities and life experiences that make them unique and separate them from the crowd. And yet, we often find ourselves tempering our differences in order to fit in…..
Any quality that makes someone different can become an advantage.
Michael was a Director at a medium-sized company. A self-proclaimed perfectionist, he had equally high expectations of his direct reports. He began with the company when they were first formed and had the luxury of hiring and training his own team. Like so many young leaders, he struggled with delegation. Michael was a work horse. He could crank out work like nobody’s business, and many times, found it easier to do things himself rather than engage the team he had hired. His team of professionals was relegated to less than fulfilling work for much of the time.
It wasn't the first time Pamela Howze, SPHR, was proposing an unorthodox solution to her human resource manager. Howze, a training and development manager for Siemens Energy Inc. in Charlotte, N.C., looked across the table at her boss and tried to establish some context. "I have a training idea," she said, "and I know it's going to be a little out of the box."
This time, her colleague was prepared. "Pam," he replied, "you don't even have a box."
What have you done for me lately? It's a vital question for both manager and employee.
The answer is readily apparent with increasing ease and frequency. As information flow and transparency become ubiquitous in the workplace, managers have everything necessary to provide real-time feedback.
We can be nimble and, in turn, help our teams and companies do the same. The days of the regimented quarterly and annual performance reviews are over.
This survey commissioned by and conducted in collaboration with Globoforce examines employee recognition programs and their return on investment (ROI). Findings revealed that nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) agree that employee engagement is a “very important” challenge that their organization is currently facing. Organizations that have employee recognition programs in place were more likely to indicate that employees are rewarded according to their job performance (64%) and that managers effectively acknowledge and appreciate employees (55%).
Less than a third of HR professionals believe that employees are satisfied with the level of recognition they receive for doing a good job, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)/Globoforce Employee Recognition Programs Survey released April 12, 2012.
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Auditing Your Human Resources Department