Human Resources

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 oct 2015

Human resources component of organizations is getting transformed through technology-enabled innovations. There are a number of technological solutions that human resources practitioners are using in areas like workforce management, recruiting, learning management, performance management, analytics, compensation management, wellness, succession planning, collaboration, onboarding, workforce planning, talent management and mobile. According to March'15 survey by Human Capital Media Advisory Group, that polled 127 HR professionals at various levels in organizations of various sizes and industries mostly located in US (85%), a little more than half of talent and HR managers say that their companies have increased spending in HR technology as compared to last year. About 50% of the respondent said that HR systems provide data that helps them to make better talent management decisions. While most of the HR practitioners consider technology as useful but they also heavily scrutinize the technologies that are available and thoughtfully make decisions about which technologies should be considered for investment. Most popular and useful technologies - Mobile HR Software (38% already use, 26% plan to purchase); Talent Management Suite (37% already use, 24% plan to purchase); Workforce Planning (27% already use, 27% plan to purchase). Least popular technologies - Wellness Software (59% no plans to use, 14% already use); Succession Planning (56% no plan to use, 23% already use). The survey also points out that most HR managers (77%) agree that their staff has the skills and expertise to effectively use the HR technologies that are implemented in their organizations. Read on...

Talent Management: Firms Boost HR Tech Spending
Author: Elyse Samuels

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 24 sep 2015

People are one of the most critical asset that organizations have and managing them successfully is not an easy task. Organizational leadership can fail to get the best out of their people as a result of poor people management skills. Organizations can also lose their best talent as a result of their leadership's inability to understand and handle their team members. People have diverse behaviors, views, opinions, working abilities, skills etc and to make them work as a cohesive team towards a common goal require special set of skills. Following is the 12-step process to enhance people management capabilities - (1) Outline Your Goals: Write down the reasons you want to improve. (2) Determine Where You Want to Improve: Take professional assessments and personality tests. (3) Talk to Your Team: Ask your team for feedback on your leadership related information and share with them your intent to improve. (4) Get Organized: Outline areas that need to be organized and use software tools that can help you to organize. (5) Take a Leadership Course: Spend time in a classroom or online course to get knowledge and develop skills on leadership. (6) Read Management Books: They provide new perspectives and ideas on leadership and management. (7) Learn How to Listen: Understand and embrace five aspects of good listening- receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding. (8) Practice Praising and Rewarding: Provide honest feedback to your employees and particularly be specific while praising and be generous and rewarding. Appreciate their performance. (9) Find a Mentor or Coach: Seek an experienced mentor or executive coach who can enhance your capabilities in specific areas that you need to improve. (10) Learn How to Effectively Communicate with Anyone: Master the four communication styles to understand people at workplace and communicate accordingly- Thinkers, Socializers, Directors, Relators. (11) Be More Transparent: Embrace transparency and frequently share relevant and important information with the team to build trust. (12) Create a Feedback System: Seek your employees perspectives and views. Solicit their suggestions and inputs. Read on...

Business 2 Community: The 12-Step Process For Improving Your People Management Skills
Author: Rob Wormley

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 sep 2015

In a highly competitive market, brands can utilize excellent customer service strategies to differentiate themselves. Listening to voice of the customer, understanding their behavior and analyzing their interactions, can provide companies the needs and wants of the customer. Companies can use these insights to better serve their customers and that has direct impact on their bottom line. According to Defaqto Research, '55% of consumers would pay more for a better customer experience.' Study published in Journal of Marketing (2004 Edition) by team of researchers, Prof. Eugene W. Anderson of University of Michigan (now at University of Miami), Prof. Claes Fornell of University of Michigan and, Prof. Sanal K. Mazvancheryl of Georgetown University (now at American University, Washington DC), quantified the consequence of quality customer service on shareholder value. Study points out, 'Among 200 businesses represented in the Fortune 500 across 40 industries, a 1% improvement in customer satisfaction increased a firm's value by US$275 million.' Danny Wong, co-founder of Blank Label and digital marketer, explains the importance of customer feedback and how ecommerce stores can turn this into a competitive advantage through effective engagement, building relationships and developing better products and services. According to him, 'Develop an intimate understanding of what your customers know, want and need to establish a competitive edge that helps you improve how you do business and the value you offer to end consumers. Start by categorizing reasons for why your customers purchase your products i.e. their primary motivations.' He suggests stores to source high-impact feedback and utilize the following tactics to expand the scope of their customer research - (1) Audit the reviews competitors receive (2) Conduct surveys (3) Dive into your analytics (4) Encourage user-generated content (5) Track public conversations. Once the research is at hand, stores need to summarize actionable takeaways and use the following three steps to build a strong business case for doing anything - (1) Quantify its impact (2) Measure its market opportunity (3) Get leadership buy-in. To implement new changes the stores can use gradual strategies to first consider the high-impact initiatives that are easy to do and then to implement moderate changes and finally move on to more resource intensive projects for long-term meaningful outcomes. Companies should incorporate excellence in customer service into their corporate culture and should consider the opportunity of every interaction with customers to build lasting relationships. Read on...

Huffington Post: How to Leverage Customer Feedback to Improve Your Ecommerce Store
Author: Danny Wong

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 22 sep 2015

Timing of talent management initiatives and their implementation is critical in defining their success for an organization. Excellence in talent management is to ensure consistent supply of right talent, for right roles and at the right time. Kevin D. Wilde, Executive Leadership Fellow at Carlson School of Management (University of Minnesota), explains 'Over time, I improved by watching and learning from the masters of timing in my organization. The best teachers were often sales professionals or skillful research and development product advocates. The best ones displayed excellence in situational scanning, product readiness and personal preparation.' Situational Scanning: Constant scanning of company environment and key stakeholders. Product Readiness: Ability to judge the readiness of new talent proposal. Finely tuned sense of what degree of product readiness is necessary for success. Personal Preparation: Being ready for the demand of courageous leadership. Ability to take the challenge, thoroughly prepared, committed and humility to be open to learn and adjust when required. Read on...

Talent Management: Be a Master of Timing
Author: Kevin D. Wilde

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 21 sep 2015

The United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 will be held in New York from 25 to 27 September 2015, to adopt the post-2015 agenda for sustainable development. The 2030 agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will replace the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were adopted by 193 UN member states in 2000 to root out poverty from the world. The 17 SDGs continue to build upon MDGs to end poverty alongwith fighting inequality and injustice. These goals will also include tackling the concerns of climate change, global health and hunger. Helen Clark, UNDP Adminstrator and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, says on the UNDP.org, 'World leaders have an unprecedented opportunity this year to shift the world onto a path of inclusive, sustainable and resilient development...If we all work together, we have a chance of meeting citizens' aspirations for peace, prosperity, and wellbeing, and to preserve our planet.' The 17 SDGs are - (1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere (2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture (3) Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation (10) Reduce inequality within and among countries (11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. Read on...

UN Sustainable Development: Transforming our world - The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 17 sep 2015

According to Wikipedia, 'Talent Management refers to the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs. The field increased in popularity after McKinsey's 1997 research by Steven Hankin and the 2001 book "The War for Talent" by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod...Talent management is the science of using strategic human resource planning to improve business value and to make it possible for companies and organizations to reach their goals. Everything done to recruit, retain, develop, reward and make people perform forms a part of talent management as well as strategic workforce planning.' Research from Bersin by Deloitte points out, 'Organizations with strategic talent management programs in place generate more than twice the revenue per employee, have a 40 percent lower employee turnover rate, and have a 38 percent higher level of employee engagement than those without.' Contrary to these findings, many business executives underestimate the value of strategic talent management processes in their organizations. A recent white paper, 'Designing Talent Management to Meet an Organization's Strategic Needs' by Chris Miller (Program Director of Executive Development at Kenan-Flagler Business School of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) suggests the importance of formal talent management processes and identifies the business factors that support the need for creating them. According to him, 'Employers are starting to realize that they should broaden talent management to all organizational levels to develop a deeper talent pool. Deeper talent pools can help widen an organization's leadership ladder and can help channel talent into skill-specific jobs.' He further adds, 'Organizations that have strategic workplace plans are generally more agile in assessing and meeting change than their peers, giving them a competitive advantage.' The paper advises HR and talent management professionals to follow the 4 basic steps to convince senior leaders regarding the value of a formal talent management process - (1) Create a Narrative (2) Create Absolution (3) Identify Current and Future Business Needs (4) Find Champions. Read on...

ATD: 4 Steps to Creating a Formal Talent Management Process
Author: Ryann K. Ellis

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 11 sep 2015

Human resources are a source of competitive advantage for organizations. They compete with each other to acquire and retain the best talent. Start-ups and small companies find it more challenging and difficult to attract and retain talent as compared to large and established corporations. According to Gallup's '2013 State of the American Workplace Report', 'Employee engagement in the workplace can affect retention and even a company's bottom line. Millennials are the most likely of all the generations to say they will leave their jobs in the next 12 months if the job market improves.' Other highlights of the report are - 'Opportunities to learn and grow' at companies as an important factor for millenials and members of Generation X deciding to stay with a company; 70% of American workers are 'not engaged' or else are 'actively disengaged' at their jobs, costing U.S. companies US$ 450 billion to US$ 550 billion per year; 22% of U.S. employees are engaged and thriving at work. Gregg Pollack, serial entrepreneur and founder of Code School, explains that policy-driven culture of 'self-improvement' and 'betterment' is a competitive advantage and how better employee engagement at workplace can minimize the chances that they will leave. He says, 'People want to be engaged at work, and one way to increase engagement is through policies that help employees nurture personal growth.' Following are some employee engagement concepts that he implements in his company - Giving a day in a month to employees to encourage them to work on something that would make them better at their job. This may include exploring a new technology, learning a new language, reading a book, building a tool that helps business or taking an online course; Paying employees to attend conferences; Paying for learning materials like books, online courses and workshops. Read on...

Entrepreneur: Why a Culture of 'Personal Betterment' Is a Competitive Advantage
Author: Gregg Pollack

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 08 sep 2015

Healthcare industry in US is undergoing transformation driven by multiple factors that include technology, changes in consumer behavior, rising costs, legislation etc. Employees are becoming more independent in making their healthcare decisions that were earlier influenced by their employers. Healthcare providers are now dealing with more proactive consumers. Healthcare marketers need to understand consumer preferences, adapt to the changing needs, create products and services that fulfil needs and satisfy customers and utilize consumer insights to develop effective marketing progams. Brent Walker, Chief Marketing Officer of c2b Solutions, explains the drivers that are leading to shifts in healthcare and how marketers should adapt and succeed in this new healthcare scenario. According to him, in addition to rising costs, the three main reasons that we are evolving towards consumer-driven healthcare are - (1) Demographic and Socio-Economic Realities: More pronounced health issues and chronic conditions of aging Baby Boomers; Lack of health insurance for a sizeable population; Heterogeneous population; Expensive healthcare products and technologies. (2) Legislation: Healthcare system is adapting to Affordable Care Act; Health insurers have to deal with individual consumers; Healthcare providers are investing in infrastructure; Integrated Electronic Health Records and Big Data technologies; Reimbursement based on medical outcomes and patient satisfaction. (3) Technological: Digital media is a catalyst of consumerism; Informed consumers due to internet and mobile apps; Improved transparency; Better ability to assess cost and quality, and research about products and services with more choices; Inclination towards prevention and wellness. He explains three implications that healthcare providers have to plan for - (1) Massive investments are required for technological upgrade and update of systems to facilitate integrated patient record sharing and also reporting care quality. (2) Business models must change. Physicians are leaving smaller firms to join large healthcare systems due to IT investments and scale necessary to control costs and manage risks. (3) New competitors are entering as a result of advancement in technologies and consumer-driven approaches. In this changing healthcare landscape marketers have to continuously evaluate and assess their direction. He suggests four dimensions to do so - (1) Data: Right data to understand and reach the target audience. (2) Systems: Infrastructure to understand consumers, create insights and build valueable customer-firm relationships. (3) People: Have consumer marketers in team with experience in latest web and mobile technologies. Combine industry experience with consumer insights and customer behavior understanding skills. (4) Processes: Newer sales methods. Analytics and measurement of marketing effectiveness. Focus on analyzing consumer acquisition, retention and satisfaction. Read on...

Forbes: The New World Of Healthcare Marketing: A Framework For Adaptation
Authors: John Greenfield, Kimberly A. Whitler

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 08 sep 2015

The relationship between consumers and businesses is continuously evolving. Technology is playing an important role in creating a shift in consumer behavior. Smartphones are providing consumers with connectivity that is driving this change. Ori Karev, US CEO of Gett, explores the reasons that are leading to transormations in consumer dynamics and how they interact and connect with brands. According to him, 'Consumerism has shifted from a world of physical images and personal communication to a world of imagery and perception. Regardless of industry, product or service, vendors that enable instantaneous access and deliver on their digital promise will survive.' Consumers have become more pragmatic. They have access to tools and services to research for best solutions at best prices that are available with just a tap on their phones. Online consumers have become more like business-to-business consumers. But they do have emotional attachment to brands that can provide them with the best experience. The power is shifting towards consumers and businesses are getting more and more consumer dependent. Mr. Karev explains, 'On-demand industry has gone through such a rapid change of behavior within a mere five years. The swift change stems from two factors: the availability of smartphones, and people's desire to maximize the convenience and efficiency of procuring services and products.' He further points out that certain fundamentals of consumer-seller relationship will remain - 'Shoppers want to do business with companies that are fair, so this treaty must hinge on veracity, transparency, credibility, honesty and good will.' Today people place most value on fulfillment and satisfaction. They have concerns regarding how a vendor treats its employees and suppliers and would get influenced by these factors while making purchases. Online research, decision and purchase behaviors have now made consumers a strong part of businesses. Companies that understand and fulfil the consumer expectations - real-time, always-on support; competitive pricing; respect and transparency towards vendors and suppliers; ethical corporate culture - in the current on-demand environment will be the one that survive and succeed. Read on...

ReadWrite: The Changing Face Of Today's Consumer
Author: Ori Karev

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 07 sep 2015

Technology provides automation, efficiency and scalability to businesses, thus improving processes and saving costs. Moreover technology also has a sizeable impact on the human resource aspect of businesses as it takes over certain tasks and works that were earlier performed by humans. Technology's affect is now even felt in knowledge related work. So will the technology replace humans and be the competitive advantage? Prof. Thomas H. Davenport of Babson College and Julia Kirby of HBR argue that although technology has a critical role to play in success of businesses but people will continue to remain as the source of enduring competitive advantage. While citing example of Southwest Airline, they explain, 'Industries like airlines have been obsessed with asset utilization as the key to competitiveness. And making the minute-by-minute decisions required to maximize asset utilization is unquestionably done better by smart machines. But optimizing asset utilization isn't enough to sustain a competitive advantage. Once smart machines are built to solve problems in asset efficiency (or indeed any area of operations) they very rapidly spread and become pervasive across an industry. Therefore, they cease to provide a competitive advantage.' They also cite Geoffrey Colvin's book 'Talent is Overrated' in which he makes a point that talented people always succeed in the context of a system. And star employees often get more credit then they're due. Boris Groysberg's research also points in the same direction that high performance may not be replicated in a different environment. It's often a well-designed system that brings out the best in people and makes them valuable. They mention Geoff Colvin's recent book 'Humans are Underrated', in which he explains that effective organizational system isn't just a mechanistic one of capital investment. It's a human system that relies heavily on unique human capabilities. So collectively, human talent is not overrated; it is extremely valuable. There are unique human capabilities like empathy, storytelling etc, that will keep them employable even if technology is taking over jobs. And even in cases where humans are competing with technology, there will still be certain tasks and decisions that will remain with humans. Prof. Davenport and Ms. Kirby conclude, 'To create an enduring competitive advantage, you will always need people. And you need a system that engages them and allows what is unique and valuable about individual people to be leveraged - not a system that compels people to perform standardized acts in the same way and therefore commoditizes them as undifferentiated human resources.' Read on...

Harvard Business Review: Automation Won't Replace People as Your Competitive Advantage
Authors: Thomas H. Davenport, Julia Kirby

Latest             ⊲ Newer Posts             Human Resources             Older Posts ⊳             Last