HR Reflections

SHRM Discussion Post

Technology

Technology has dramatically changed the way business is conducted and how businesses operate. One thing that resonated from talking about technology stems from my HR interview. When asked how HR has changed over the last few years, she did not hesitate to say that technology was probably the biggest factor. For HR it has created new tools and challenges that they must deal with. For example, social media is a huge thing right now. For HR this means a lot of different things but a big use of social media in HR is for hiring and recruiting. Currently, in my organization HR uses social media to seek out the passive job seeker through sites such as LinkedIn. The HR department in my organization also handles all internal and external communications. Therefore, technology also has big effect on this aspect. For example, HR professionals are in the midst of developing a company blog which is a change from company newsletters. The HR professionals must adapt their skills to both understand from a technical standpoint how to leverage the different technological tools. Technology is also important to HR in that it can help both from a cost savings standpoint to a time savings standpoint. Using technology can help HR streamline processes so as to make them more cost and time efficient. A good example of this is employee self-service benefits page. Using technology to save HR and employees time can then free up those resources to focus on more important tasks.

Metrics

This week we discussed analytics and metrics with regards to HR. Many departments such a finance use analytics often but we might not necessarily recognize how valuable these tools can be for HR. This part of the course really fell into place at the right time because we recently had a meeting with the VP of Actuarial and Research Analytics. This meeting really helped me understand how analytics and metrics really help to shape and drive business decisions in an organization. Since HR's goals are best aligned with the business strategy, using analytics can help HR shape and drive business decisions with the strategy in mind. One example that I believe relates to this had to do with some metrics within my own organization. At my company, there is a big push for hiring people who fit within the culture. Having the right employees and highly engaged employees is a big part of the strategy and vision for the company. Since hiring, training, developing and retaining are all aspects in which HR are heavily involved, they are responsible for doing those with the culture in mind. Every employee who goes through the application/interview process is required to take a predictive index. The HR department has researched what specific answers on the rest correspond with the type of employee they want to hire. With this research they have been able to use this test as a big decision factor in the hiring process. In my interview with the Susan Glynn, Director of Talent Development and Communications, she confirmed that hiring was based more on personality/behavior factors than technical skills. In this situation, its clearly seen how analytics are used in HR to shape and drive business decisions and align with the business strategy.

Change Champion

During this weeks reading and discussions we learned about change champions. I have always heard of change agents but change champions is quite a new term for me. After reading through the text I can better understand why being a change champion is important. Since many change initiatives fail, its imperative to have change champions that can help better facilitate the change. Many initiatives die out for lack of support or resources but a change champion would be able to focus on preventing or correcting such issues to increase the likelihood of successful implementation. My one question with change champions is are there specific qualities that someone has that makes them a change champion instead of just a change agent? If so, what are the qualities and skills needed to be a change champion and can they be taught and learned? I have heard so many debates about whether leadership itself is an inherited or learned talent and maybe both. A change champion has to be a leader and therefore makes me wonder exactly what makes someone a good change champion. How can the company invest in hiring talent with the qualities that make them a change champion?

Communication Audit

In chapter 7 of our text this week we learned about the HR Innovator and Integrator. There are 5 competency factors for the HR Innovator and Integrator. The five factors are: optimizing human capital through workforce planning and analytics, developing talent, shaping organization and communication practices, driving performance and building leadership brand. In addition there are five core HR practices areas that are the focus for innovation and integration and these are: people, performance and reward, information and communication, work and organization, and leadership. One of the real important aspects in an organization is communication. Little or bad communication practices can lead to misunderstandings and inefficiencies. A tool called a communication audit can be a useful tool to gather information as to how well people or messages are communicated. As states in the book, "the quality of ongoing communication can provide a powerful measure of work and organizational effectiveness." There are various methods that can be used to conduct a communication audit. Some common methods are survey's, interviews, observation and focus groups. Using a communication audit can provide valuable information into how effective or ineffective communication is within an organization. On a personal level, I have seen many communication audits being used within my organization. One of HR professionals conducted surveys that were completed by each department. After the survey's he conducted focus groups to better clarify and understand the survey results. The last focus group was centered around communication with management. These communication audits within my organization seemed to have no only benefit managers but also employees and the organization as a whole.

Capability Audit

If I was to do a capability audit for my organization I would score it as follows:

Talent: 4
Speed: 3
Shared mindset: 4
Learning: 3
Collaboration: 4
Innovation: 3
Accountability: 4
Leadership: 4
Strategic unity: 4
Efficiency: 3
Customer connectivity: 5
Social responsibility: 5
Risk: 4

In choosing the most critical I would say: customer connectivity, social responsibility, and shared mindset. These three being very important aspects to the culture of the organization. Customer service is one of our top priorities. In addition, charitable work is also a big part of the culture and a value in which most employees share. Lastly, shared mindset connects employees and engages all to work towards the greater good of the organization.

Resources - Week 2

Jose, G., & Mampilly, S. (2012). Satisfaction with HR Practices and Employee Engagement: A Social Exchange Perspective. Journal Of Economics & Behavioral Studies, 4(7), 423-430.

Erickson, T. J., & Gratton, L. (2007). What It Means to Work Here. Harvard Business Review, 85(3), 104-112.

Ulrich, D., Brockbank, W., Younger, J., Ulrich, M. (2012). HR from the Outside In: Six Competencies for the Future of Human Resources (Kindle Locations 1657-1658). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

Turk, W. (2011). Are You Trusted by Your Employees?. Defense AT&L, 40(4), 72-75.

HR Skills Are More Critical Than Ever to the Bottom Line. (2007). HR Focus, 84(6), 8.

Signature Experience

In this weeks readings, I felt particularly interested in reading about creating a 'signature experience' and the chapter capability builder in the textbook. I think I connected to these readings because I can relate them to my current organization. My organization really prioritizes and makes customer service both internal and external a big part of the environment. Since there is no shortage of insurance companies, providing stellar service is what has to set us apart. However, good customer service has to start on the inside in order for it to succeed on the outside. Each employee from executive level to entry level and internal and external facing have to go through this program. In addition, we all have to attend a culture of engagement workshop as well that communicates the culture within the organization with a focus on customer service as well. It was clear from my interactions during the hiring process that it was the type of environment that fit who I was and what I valued. This environment was communicated to me in every step of the interview/hiring process. This communication allowed both me and the organization to determine through the hiring process whether we were a 'good fit'. I am very happy and satisfied with my job and feel very connected to my organization. I believe this is a result of the organization creating a signature experience which can help improve recruiting, hiring and retaining employees.

This has been an informative and educational first week of class. Its been a while since my last HR class in undergrad so I've been taking extra time to refresh my knowledge on the subject. This weeks discussion boards consisted of the following questions:

The need for HR to be a strategic partner to sustain competitive advantage is widely espoused, but appears to be less often enacted. IT, Finance and even Marketing are all facing similar challenges. What is it about these functions that lend themselves to this criticism? Is it deserved, or simply a result of the fact that they are not part of “operations” end of the business?

This was an interesting discussion amongst the group but the main sentiment was that HR is not a function that deserved to be overlooked. A lot of the responses touched upon how HR plays a critical role in an organization. Its a shame that its overlooked at times because it truly plays a big role in just how successful a company is. Just thinking about the one aspect of HR which is hiring and training employees, if not done correctly this could lead to not properly trained employees or employees who are not a fit for culture. It costs the company a good amount of money to hire and train employees and therefore can be financially impactful to lose employees or let employees go who are not the right fit. If a company has a thorough hiring process and strategy in place it can prove to be a cost savings for the company. This also includes a good retention strategy to keep these employees and their knowledge inside the company.

Assume the role of a business user being supported by HR, to answer the following: How is it advantageous to understand HR’s internal structure, focus and key processes? Provide examples from within your own organization to support your answer.

This was another interesting discussion and I enjoyed reading the myriad of responses my from classmates. I saw the a lot of classmates reported that understanding the internal structure was important for employee support and I think that is a key point. Often times many employees interaction with HR is limited to support reasons whether its for benefits consulting, training, etc. Therefore, its through these interactions that employees may gain perspective and understanding of HR and its role. However, in order to get to that point, the employees must understand how HR is structured so that they know who to go to for support. Personally, it was through my recent interaction with HR that I was able to gain a clearer picture of both the internal structure as well as how HR contributes to the organization as a whole.

I thought that the discussions themselves bring a lot to the table because not only do you varying opinions but you get to hear how other organizations are structured/how they handle the HR function.

In addition, I found 'HR from the Outside In' to be a very informative read for the first few weeks. The notion of 'Outside In' was a term I haven't heard in this context before. This particular quote from the book stuck out because it explains they are getting at with 'outside in', "Outside-in HR is based on the premise that the business of HR is the business." However, as I am reading through the text I hope to get a better understanding of this 'outside-in' HR concept.