HR Strategy and Design

A recent survey by ManpowerGroup’s own Right Management indicates that nearly two-thirds of employees are realllllllly stressed @ work.
Employees across the U.S. and Canada were asked:
How would you describe the stress level in your work environment?
A whopping 64 percent said “High” — more than five times the number that said “Low” (11 percent). Only 24 percent rated their stress level at “Medium.”

Many HR organizations have a desired destination in mind, one where they have the analytics capability to make predictions about their workforce for which they can then develop targeted responses. For example, they want to be able to predict the likelihood of turnover for a particular role or individual, so they can devise specific retention strategies. Or they want to predict which high potentials have the best chance of success as a senior leader. In our experience, there are many steps on the workforce analytics journey and organizations sit at different points along the journey based on their information maturity.

We all know the financial services industry (FSI) has been under the microscope in the past few years, but a new Deloitte Consulting benchmarking study focuses the attention on a different aspect of FSI operations: HR. What’s revealed may seem like piling on to change-weary FSI organizations. But, as the saying goes, the truth can set you free, or in this case, help you understand where significant improvement opportunities lie and how to take advantage of them.

Anyone who has sat in enough teleconferences has experienced a special kind of meeting hell. The discussion drifts and sags until, to try to get things back on track, the facilitator says, "John, what do you think about the proposed initiative?" Then, after an awkwardly long pause, John responds with: "Oh, sorry, what was the question again?"

It’s fitting that 2012 is a leap year, since a number of converging market trends are driving HR organizations to make significant leaps in capabilities and performance. HR faces a critical, dual imperative in 2012 — a focus on enabling both their organization’s overall growth agenda and on driving efficiency in the business of HR. This dual focus demands decisive action as the stakes are greater than ever.
The top eight human capital trends outlined in the report include:

• In 2012 growth is job #1
• Operation globalization
• Fast-track to the top
• People risk is risky business
• Seeing around corners
• #social #mobile @work
• Clouds in the forecast
• Stay in front with an effective sales force

Businesses are calling on HR to leap ahead and help manage change in the face of complex challenges that touch so many parts of the enterprise. Understanding the 2012 Human Capital Trends — what they mean for both leading HR and for leading the business — is a great place to start.

The race for skilled talent is picking up speed and could have long-term implications in the job market. A Human Capital Zeitgeist, is emerging as companies big and small are getting smacked with the realization that talent management is SO critical to competing in a volatile marketplace, they might actually have to throw a bit more respect at the “human” in the human capital equation.

All of the Oscar buzz has gotten us excited over at TalentMinded, so today we have decided to recognize some of the best recruiting videos and strategies from 2011 and years before to create our own mini-Oscars (sorry, no statues).

Throughout the world, laws, customs and business protocols regulate practices of how employers separate workers from their organization— no matter whether the departure is voluntary or involuntary. In some countries, companies that downsize or restructure face strict labor legislation, which can significantly affect the cost, extent and efficiency of the initiative. In other countries, companies are free to lay off workers with little or no government restrictions.

Understanding how severance practices vary by country is a critical component of an effective global workforce strategy. While legal and cultural differences across borders are important to embrace, an organization’s severance practices can also be used as a differentiator in the tough war for talent and should be directly aligned with the company’s business strategy and brand value. This knowledge can be leveraged to manage talent fluctuations, improve workforce effectiveness, avoid costly litigation, deliver on business objectives and maintain a positive brand image. Right Management is uniquely positioned in this area, with global resources in over 50 countries and local knowledge of severance practices gained from working with more than 5,000 clients worldwide.

How do leaders ensure that employees are fully engaged by their work? How do they enhance employee productivity and optimize organizational performance?

In a rapidly changing world of work, leaders face an increasingly complex challenge understanding what motivates employees and drives job satisfaction, commitment, pride and advocacy. Globalization, changing demographics, economic turbulence, narrowing leadership pipelines, evolving business models, transformational communication technologies and the rise of the virtual work place are all trends placing new pressures on leaders and complicating the engagement issue. In a major study involving nearly 30,000 employees in 15 countries worldwide, Right Management recently sought to determine the factors most closely associated with driving employee engagement. The results provide valuable insights into the importance of leadership to engagement and the measures leaders can take to improve the performance of their workforce and their organization.

Most business people have heard the term "BigData," which refers to the analysis of massive amounts of transactional and business data to segment customers, pinpoint marketing, and predict consumer behavior.

While you're planning your expansion, you're going to find that talent is in short supply, especially in these five areas.

What business challenges does your company face? If it’s like most organizations, your operational procedures, products, services, marketing and sales efforts could be enhanced to achieve your objectives more effectively. However, an organization’s ultimate challenges — such as increasing customer satisfaction and sales — depend much more heavily on the specific skills, abilities, and traits employees bring to their daily efforts.

When you think about the human resource arena, the word "risk" rarely, if ever, comes to mind. After all, risk typically connotes dangers such as kidnappings, oil spills, cyber warfare or theft. Recruiting, benefits administration and employee development may be perceived as challenging, but hardly risky.
So it's interesting that the 2011 Lloyd's Risk Index, a poll of 500 C-suite and board-level executives that was released in December by the venerable London-based insurance institution, found "talent and skills shortages" to be the No. 2 risk facing businesses, up from 22nd place in 2009. The No. 1 risk in the latestIndex was "loss of customers," while "reputational risk" was No. 3.