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01.

2018
Vol.6 No.01

PRESENTED BY

HR Trends In 2018
Good business means putting
employees, culture first
Jewell Parkinson

FEATURED RESEARCH

Workforce 2020: Building


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tomorrow’s needs
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01. 2018 Vol.6 No.01

PRESENTED BY

Index Features

08
HR Leadership Trends 2018
ON THE COVER More voluntary benefits. More
technology. More mobile.
HR Trends In 2018 David Reid
Good business means putting employees,
culture first

11
In 2018, we will see continued focus on Don’t Fall Behind In The
Evolving Workplace
the importance of culture, reputation
Five ways the gig economy will
and socially responsible technology change in 2018
engagement. Marion McGovern
Jewell Parkinson PG.05

15
Handle With Care
How to mindfully address a
Articles sexual harassment claim
Leah Weiss
06 How Far Have We Come? 21 Is 2018 The Year AI Will Build Our
The state of strategic HR Best Teams?

19
Brian Anderson Say goodbye to your low-tech excel Get Ready For The Workplace
spreadsheets Of 2018
09 Digital Transformation And HR Phil Alexander Top 10 predictions
What does it mean and why should you Kevin Sheridan
pay attention? 22 Alexa - Can You Manage My HR?
Bill Donoghue Will AI make HR professionals redundant
or resilient?
13 How Technology Helps In Making Mehul Pandya
HR A Strategic Partner
The changing role of HR 25 How An Integrated Contingent FEATURED RESEARCH
Gunjan Bhatia Workforce Model Helps Companies
Get Peak Value
17 Human Resources: Leading Mergers Five key ways this approach will help
& Acquisitions businesses
How to put people, integration and Ted Sergott
communication first
Judy Collister

Workforce 2020: Building


today’s talent to meet
tomorrow’s needs
Exclusive HR.com research sponsored by
Pandexio - Page 27-38
Vol.6 Issue. 01

Editorial Purpose:
Our mission is to promote personal and
organizational leadership based on
constructive values, sound ethics, and
timeless principles.

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compassion? Read Leah Weiss’ article, Handle
With Careto know how to get it right.
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Y
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the #me too campaign, there were too many Making HR A Strategic Partner. Debbie McGrath, CEO, HR.com - Publisher
tasks for the HR department to handle. In Will AI eliminate human from Human Re- Shelley Marsland-Beard - VP of Sales
brief, 2017 was a hectic and transformative year sources? Mehul Pandya throws some light on this Babitha Balakrishnan - Editor
Savitha Malar - Design and Layout
for the entire HR industry. What’s in store for most debated topic of 2017 in his article, Alexa
HR in 2018? - Can You Manage My HR? Copyright © 2018 HR.com
Read top HR predictions for 2018 by HR We are also excited to include featured Publishing. No part of this publication may
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kinson’s article, HR Trends In 2018 focuses on Workforces today have had a hard time keeping without written permission from the
publisher. Quotations must be credited.
why corporate culture matters.According to her, pace with the digital disruptions. It is with this
in 2018, we will see continued focus on the threat in mind that HR.com partnered with
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his top 10 predictions for the 2018 workplace. force planning and HR trends in this issue. As
David Reid in his article, HR Leadership we are all set to embark on a great journey in
Trends 2018, talks about top trends that will 2018, we hope our magazine will help create
have an impact on HR leadership this year. a better experience for your workforce in your
The ABC News poll that sparked the #MeToo organization.
movement found that 33 million US women Wishing you a great year ahead!
have endured some form of sexual harassment
at work. With 95% of poll respondents finding Have a say ?
that perpetrators usually go unpunished, HR Write to the Editor.
managers play a vital role in helping eliminate
sexual harassment in the workplace. How can

Debbie Mcgrath Babitha Balakrishnan


Publisher, HR.com Editor,
HR Strategy and
Planning Excellence
Essentials
COVER Article

HR Trends In 2018
Good business means putting employees, culture first

By Jewell Parkinson

If 2017 showed us anything, it is that corporate culture matters. they’re building cultures that are part of the solution.
Employees are and will always be a company’s most valuable asset – yet Over the past few months, many companies have publicly com-
headlines showed that the collective business community still has a mitted to increasing diversity and creating the cultural environment
lot to do to ensure a fair and balanced workplace. rooted in respect and inclusivity to serve as the catalyst to innovation
The good news, however, is that many companies – often led by and success. In 2018, we will see companies measure what matters
their HR functions - have demonstrated that they are deeply com- and provide increased transparency into these efforts; additionally,
mitted to building a strong culture that emphasizes diversity and they’ll employ new technologies to weed out and eradicate disparity
inclusion and supports the needs of employees throughout the entire and bias in an effort to sustain a culture of inclusion.
employment lifecycle. Whether it is through innovative new benefits, Companies Will Embrace a Tailored Performance Dialogue to
an increase in opportunities for diverse candidates, or the addition of Fit Their Needs
programs to help employees where they need it most, there is much In 2018, companies will encourage managers to help their direct
to be proud of in 2017. reports identify new ways to learn and grow and perform successfully.
As we look ahead at 2018, one thing is clear. Organizations that However, it won’t be a one-size-fits-all approach, as some companies
breed a toxic culture will be held to greater public scrutiny than ever will adopt a continuous performance feedback model and others will
before. On the flipside, we will see companies double down on making continue to review performance more traditionally.
existing HR programs stronger and enacting new procedures and Whichever model is used, we expect that this year companies will
technologies to build a better future for employees across industries. veer away from rigid performance models to allow for greater agility,
Here are four HR trends that we are watching carefully in 2018 personalized, dialogue-based performance interactions–focused on
and beyond: providing timely and holistic feedback to drive future focused per-
Doing Good Business is Good Business formance outcomes.
In 2018, we will see continued focus on the importance of culture, Health and Wellness Will be Customizable for Employee Needs
reputation and socially responsible technology engagement. Data and In 2017, companies embraced the idea that corporate benefits go
information ethicists will become new stewards of corporate culture. beyond the walls of the organization itself. Companies began redefining
The digitization of data – and the increasing amount available to their approach to benefits to take care of the employee in all aspects of
companies every day – is giving leaders a new lens through which his/her life – particularly geared at maximizing the health and wellness.
to manage projects and teams, while at the same time adding a new And that’s just a start. In 2018, we’ll see companies building on their
layer of complexity when it comes to decisions around data that are commitment to employee wellness through a more inclusive approach
responsible, ethical, compliant and in keeping with cultural norms. to benefits, customizable for the individual needs of a diverse workforce.
But what 2017 has shown us is the need for a dedicated focus joining This includes more services for working parents, and for employees of
forces with other key stakeholders such as CEO, CTO, CIO, CHRO all ages to take better control of their health and well-being. 
across the enterprise operating as the key cultural safeguard for organi- Organizations will look to deliver on the physical, mental and
zations of all sizes and industries – from startup to mature enterprise. lifestyle needs of every employee, through various lenses. As technol-
In 2018, expect to see more companies focusing on ethical data ogy continues to simplify personal health management, so too will
mining methods and anonymization practices to both safeguard companies look for meaningful ways to benefit their employees – in
privacy as well as ensure ethical use of insights. This will be occupied part through access to tools like Livongo for diabetes tracking and
by those with a skillset that bridges technical skills, privacy expertise real-time management, Color for genetic testing for cancer, and Milk
and an understanding of human behavior and sound understanding Stork for road warriors to ship breast milk. As well, increase focus
of legal and regulatory implications. These individuals will collabo- on practices such as mindfulness, which has various beneficial effects
rate across c-suite leadership, legal, compliance, human resource and on well-being. S&P
operations departments to ensure the organization is complying with
all standards, while reinforcing a workplace culture that is increasingly Jewell Parkinson is the Head of Human Resources at SAP North America.
Connect Jewell Parkinson
yearning for greater transparency, insight, inclusion and intolerant of
unethical behavior which goes against culture.
Companies Will Double Down on Eliminating Bias in the Workplace
Corporate headlines in 2017 painted a clear picture: Gender inequal-
ity remains a hot issue everywhere from Silicon Valley to the silver
screen. The conversation these stories sparked has raised awareness Would you like to comment?

for change – and in 2018, companies will take proactive measures


to demonstrate greater transparency to show, rather than tell, how

HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018 Submit your Articles 5
How Far Have We Come?
The state of strategic HR

By Brian Anderson

A recent study by BambooHR shows companies know strategic HR


HR is important. 1. Help plan the implementation of strategic business decisions
They just aren’t doing it. 2. Identify strategic business options (e.g. cost and types of benefits,
Strategic HR means managing HR in a way that supports the com- benchmarking of culture market, etc.)
pany’s long-term business goals and outcomes. In essence, it goes far 3. Assess the organization’s readiness to implement strategic options
beyond the administrative duties HR has been known for and applies 4. Design strategic options (e.g., benefits package plan)
HR principles and practices to overall business strategy—both now 5. Obtain buy-in for the strategic business options
and in the future. However, while HR professionals recognize the Non-HR Management
importance of strategic HR, a recent study shows that not nearly as 1. Design strategic options (e.g., benefits package plan)
many HR professionals actually practice it. 2. Obtain buy-in for the strategic business options
According to a survey of more than 1000 current business leaders 3. Assess the organization’s readiness to implement strategic options
(HR and non-HR) in the U.S., the majority of respondents feel 4. Help plan the implementation of strategic business decisions
that it is either important or very important to implement strategic 5. Analyze and oversee the financial and business impact of strategic
HR practices. However, more than 72 percent of HR professionals business decisions
revise and adapt their HR strategy reactively instead of proactively, Reassuringly for HR, however, management agrees they provide HR
indicating a significant lack of strategic HR. After all, it is difficult departments with less support and fewer resources than they need to
to be thinking ahead when you are being reactive. In fact, a major- be strategic in their efforts. Only 13 percent of non-HR management
ity (as much as 60 percent) spend more time in administrative and agrees that HR is given all the support they need.
maintenance tasks than they spend in strategic tasks like developing If we want HR departments to consistently be seen as strategic
HR processes and practices. partners, there is still some work to do. However, it can be done, and
So, what is keeping HR professionals from proactively creating a the future looks bright! HR can begin by better communicating how
strategy to support long-term business goals and outcomes? It turns the activities they perform contribute to the overall business strategy.
out there are a few factors: Slow executive buy-in, lack of resources They must also align those activities with the activities management
(e.g. budget and tools), and administrative demands that limit time. thinks are most helpful in reaching business goals and initiatives.
While there’s no easy way to bring about strategic excellence in HR, In addition, HR can maximize the value of their available resources
the deeper we dig into the data, the more lessons we learn that will through improved data management and automated processes. This
pave the way for HR to become strategic partners. will not only free up more time to focus on strategy, but it will also
Key Results justify an increase in the amount of resources HR receives. As HR does
While 85 percent of HR professionals polled believe it is either all this consistently over time, business leaders and executive teams
important or very important to practice strategic HR, only 67 percent will better recognize them as strategic business partners and empower
of non-HR management feels the same. Only 27 percent of HR them to make a lasting impact going forward. S&P
professionals work with the corporate board on business strategy.
Brian Anderson is Creative Copywriter at BambooHR. He has written content
While only 70 percent of HR professionals say they actively identify, on several aspects of productivity improvement for BambooHR and Franklin-
evaluate and implement HR best practices in their organizations, Planner.com.
Visit www.bamboohr.com
even fewer (50 percent) non-HR management members say HR is Connect Brian Anderson
implementing best practices.
Of the 67 percent of non-HR management who feel that it is
either important or very important to practice strategic HR, only 46
percent say that their HR team is either involved or very involved in Would you like to comment?
the strategic business planning of the company.
ACCESS THE FULL INFOGRAPHIC HERE
HR and non-HR management have very different ideas of how
HR contributes in strategic business activities.
They ranked the ways HR contribute most in strategic business
activities very differently:

6 Submit your Articles HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018
STRATEGIC HR IS
OUR MISSION
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BambooHR streamlines hiring with award-winning applicant tracking, centralizes
and safeguards all your data, empowers employees with easy mobile and desktop
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FEATURE

HR Leadership Trends 2018


More voluntary benefits. More technology. More mobile.

By David Reid

As we embark on a new year, we tend to look ahead to predict work with to build a more engaged, highly skilled and knowledge-
what might be in store for us, both personally and professionally. On able workforce. These applications also enable HR leaders to meet the
the personal side, we may foresee events that are truly life changing, or relentless pressure they face to do more for their organizations. Part
to borrow from current parlance, disruptive – a new home, a new baby, of the increasing role that technology will play will be on the analyt-
a new job. When we think about what changes are expected from the ics side, with applications that will help HR leadership more readily
professional landscape, what’s new is seldom startlingly, disruptively identify the initiatives that offer an optimal return on investment.
new, but rather a continuation of trends that have been emerging Smaller organizations, especially those with limited IT resources, may
over time. With this in mind, here’s what I see on the horizon that have concerns about becoming too reliant on technology that they are
will have an impact on HR leadership during 2018. not able to support. The good news is that the increasingly prevalent
Recruitment and retention strategies will evolve to include more cloud-based or software-as-a-service platforms allow organizations
voluntary benefits. With continued low unemployment and high to adopt new applications without having to devote constrained IT
demand for employees with advanced skill sets, there’s increasing pres- resources to manage and support them.
sure on HR managers to devise recruitment and retention strategies Millennials at work will continue to demand mobile access to
that will set their organizations apart from the competition. One-way everything. With the baby boomers retiring, the millennial genera-
HR leadership will improve their organization’s recruitment and reten- tion makes up a growing part of the workforce. Even if you aren’t a
tion game is by creating a more interesting set of voluntary benefits part of this dynamic cohort, or don’t have one in your family to keep
to complement the basics (health coverage and PTO). Voluntary (or reminding you just how out of it you are, or you’ve never stood in line
optional) benefits may be 100% funded by the employee, funded behind a millennial coffee-drinker when they used their phone to pay
in part by the employer, or covered by an amount set aside by the for their latte, it cannot have escaped the notice of HR leaders that
employer for each employee to use as they see fit. (If the employees millennials rely on their mobile devices to manage pretty much every
are covering all the costs themselves, the reasons for working through aspect of their personal and professional lives. So, while technology
their company are convenience and the fact that the company can will be playing an increasing role in helping HR get the job done,
often secure a discounted rate for a benefit.) you can’t overlook the importance of mobile access to any employee-
Voluntary benefits cover a very broad range. There are insurance- facing application, including those providing benefits information.
related offerings: Dental, vision, life, disability, critical illness, and Providing mobile access meets an important requirement for millen-
even homeowners or automobile insurance; offerings that provide nials, and demonstrating that your organization is responsive to this
long-term security (a 401 K plan, with matching contributions from requirement, and is current and tech-savvy, can help with recruiting
the employer); and education-related benefits: Tuition assistance or and retaining members of this key workplace cohort.
student loan repayment. Some companies provide employees with More voluntary benefits. More technology. More mobile. These
the opportunity to receive legal assistance (e.g., creating a will) or are the top three trends I see impacting HR leadership during 2018?
financial counseling. There are also many softer benefits, like allowing What do you see on the horizon? S&P
employees paid time off to dedicate to volunteer initiatives, and off-beat
benefits – pet insurance, sabbatical leaves, and delocation (helping David Reid is the Founder & CEO of EaseCentral. He has over 30 years of
employees move to a new location where they’ll work remotely, an experience in the employee benefits and group insurance industry and was one
of the earliest adopters of technology as an integral strategy for employers in the
especially attractive benefit when the company is in an area with a late 1990s. Reid started his career as a group sales representative in 1986 with
high cost of living). John Alden Life, and after a short period with Lincoln National Corporation,
and then became a consultant and agent for Unison Benefits Management, a
Technology will play an increasing role in enabling core HR leading provider in the Minneapolis/St. Paul marketplace. In 2012, Reid co-
processes. Whether benefits are basic or voluntary, they can all, of founded EaseCentral, to create a small group solution that provides the robust
eligibility management features previously limited to enterprise solutions used
course, be handled the old-fashioned way: via paper information by large employers.
flows and manual data entry. However, the old-fashioned way is Connect David Reid

time-consuming, cumbersome, and error-prone. There are applica-


tions available that automate many benefits-related tasks: Employee Would you like to comment?
education about benefits, benefits enrollment, and PTO requests.
Many applications help manage other HR tasks including recruitment,
onboarding, performance reviews, and payroll. What these applications
have in common is that they help improve HR productivity, freeing
HR professionals to focus on the more high-value and creative aspects
of their work, such as collaborating with the business groups they

8 Submit your Articles HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018
Digital Transformation And HR
What does it mean and why should you pay attention?

By Bill Donoghue

The business world is abuzz with the concept of “Digital Transfor- HR should also align closely with leadership to understand how
mation.” The rise of trends like the Internet of Things (IoT), mobility to structure the organization during its digital transformation. Tra-
and artificial intelligence (AI) have C-level executives questioning ditional roles and departments might blend with technology that is
their teams’ digital savviness and access to data. They are struggling more conventional or IT, meaning that leadership should be clear
to understand how to roll out a formal digital transformation strategy about and the organization’s direction and requirements for success.
and where it will have the biggest impact on business operations and According to Skillsoft research, there is still a lack of clarity about what
management. These are big ideas that require big changes, and we’re C-level position should “own” the transformation. For instance, 34
only beginning to understand what digital transformation will demand percent of survey respondents said the chief technology or information
of organizations and their workforces. HR must play a significant officer should oversee the project, while 17 percent responded that it
role in defining those changes, while ensuring that employees at all should be the role of the chief executive officer. Further, 11 percent of
levels, in all functions have the skills and tools necessary to deliver respondents suggested the chief learning officer and others indicated
on those new goals. a chief digital officer, chief operations officer or chief strategy officer
What is Digital Transformation? might be a good candidate. Ultimately, the executive team will make
Digital transformation is the realignment of, or new investment the decision, but HR will help them execute on that vision with
in, technology, business models and processes to drive new value advanced and continuous learning.
and experiences for customers and employees, and more effectively


compete in an ever-changing digital economy. It is arguably the fourth
industrial revolution, after mechanical production in the 1780s, mass
production in the 1870s and automated production (electronics and Digital transformation is impacting every country and
computers) in the 1970s. Digital transformation is impacting every
every industry at an exponential pace. Organization
country and every industry at an exponential pace. Organization leaders
in all industries are using digital advances like analytics, mobility, IoT, leaders in all industries are using digital advances
social media and smart embedded devices, and both new technologies like analytics, mobility, IoT, social media and smart
and traditional technologies to change customer relationships, internal
embedded devices, and both new technologies
processes, business models and value propositions.
Recent research shows that companies that embrace digital trans- and traditional technologies to change customer
formation have 16 percent higher revenues, generate 26 percent more relationships, internal processes, business models
profit and have 12 percent higher market valuations. Despite those
and value propositions”
positive numbers, only 46 percent of companies have begun to invest
in skills to prepare their workforce for digital transformation.
So how do companies begin to make the transition to digital trans-
formation and reap the rewards of improved business processes? At the A company’s digital transformation affects every level of the or-
heart of this shift is the need to reskill employees at all levels so they ganization. There isn’t a single employee who won’t be affected. As
can use new digital tools and incorporate them into their traditional procedures, technologies, teams, roles and goals change, the HR
roles. Primary research from Skillsoft shows that more than two-thirds team remains a beacon of information, learning and accountability.
of all organizations believe that they do not have the right leadership Organizations are in this transformation for the long haul. Smart HR
skills or competencies to adapt at this time. leaders will insert themselves early in the journey to provide teams
Incorporating Training from the Ground Up with the necessary tools and resources that will create a roadmap for
Training must occur across the organization, including marketing the workforce and enable long-term success. S&P
and sales, which are increasingly employing analytics to better record
and improve performance, and the C-suite, which should apply digital Bill Donoghue is the Chairman and CEO of the Skillsoft Group.
Connect Bill Donoghue
skills to enhance product offerings and build out organization pipeline.
HR managers can support the organization’s digital transformation
by giving employees access to digital skills tools and training with
courses on topics like data science, business intelligence, digital design,
marketing and virtual collaboration. By offering continuous learning
for employees, especially in a digital format, HR managers can keep Would you like to comment?
up with their changing job demands, help the organization upskill,
reskill, and find new talent within the existing workforce.

HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018 Submit your Articles 9
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FEATURE

Don’t Fall Behind In The Evolving


Workplace
Five ways the gig economy will change in 2018

By Marion McGovern

Change is the one thing we can count on. That said, sometimes of independent workers. For some, combining forces may make the
it can be radical, and others more evolutionary. In the Gig World, most sense. At the same time though, specialty sites are springing
much of the change I foresee will be the latter. So here are five things up to cater to a very precise expertise niche. These entrepreneurs
to look for in 2018: recognize that complicated projects requirements cannot be easily
The Academic Community Is Getting On Board reconciled with the project engines of a Catalant or Upwork, which
More and more colleges and universities are getting involved with is designed to spec out all sorts of projects. There are also some spe-
the Gig Economy. This is a great development, since many indi- cialty platforms of a more commoditized talent level. For example,
viduals are not prepared to handle the business end of becoming an there is one that was just released for snowplow drivers Expect to see
independent worker. Various segments of the academic community more specialists in 2018.
have taken note of the need to educate this up and coming workforce. The Technology Supply Chain Becomes More Dynamic
The Babson MBA program may have been the first to have a course It was interesting to see Upwork as a vendor at a major staffing
devoted to the gig world, but others are following suit. Udemy, the industry conference this year. Staffing companies are using Upwork,
online education platform, started offering a course called “The Gig one of the largest digital talent platforms, to source candidates for
Economy Preparation Guide”. In the spring a Northern California large clients. Those same clients may use Upwork too, especially
based community college will be launching a course as well. In addi- when they may want to skirt existing procurement procedures. The
tion, government programs aimed at worker retraining are emerging. collaborative coexistence will continue though, since the platform
The city of San Francisco, in association with the not-for-profit, Sa- companies consider themselves technology firms and don’t want to
maSchool, recently launched a free program to help workers succeed identify as human capital firms. Some, like Catalant, are moving into
in the on-demand gig world. The six-class curriculum covers topics the enterprise side with large companies to help them understand the
like personal branding, safety, and expense management. Expect to talent resident within their employee base. It is only a matter of time
see other programs launch to provide independent workers with the before that employee platform links with the external talent platforms.
business skills needed to be successful in the gig world. Innovators Will Continue to Enhance the Gig Community
More Data Will Become Available The private sector has come through where policy makers have not
The Gig economy suffers from having no single source of reliable in many respects. For example, a firm started in 2016, Bunker Insur-
data. The US Government stopped tracking the segment in 2005, ance, has developed a professional liability insurance platform that is
but many others have stepped up to evaluate it. These include think a major enabler of higher end independent work. Similarly, look for
tanks like McKinsey Global Institute, independent research firms, like other programs to be developed. Trezeo, a start-up in Dublin, Ireland
Emergent Research, industry players like MBO Partners or Upwork, is developing a fin tech platform to reduce the income volatility of
and industry suppliers like Freshbooks. Expect to see more players gig works. As Australian financial services firm is launching a pension
enter the fray to gain subject matter expertise credentials in this product in 2018 targeted solely at gig economy workers in Australia.
burgeoning field. In November, the Aspen Institute announced the Expect more savvy entrepreneurs to develop products and services to
creation of a special program for Gig Economy research with Cornell. meet the needs of the Gig Economy. S&P
Similarly, the University of Washington has also just established a new
Marion McGovern, author of Thriving in the Gig Economy, is the co-founder
resource center as part of its MBA program. Building expertise in this and former CEO of M Squared Consulting, one of the first Gig Economy
field offers greater leverage and connection to the growing cohort of talent intermediaries to thrive before the term was even coined. She is also the
founder of Collabrus, a company focused on independent contractor compli-
gig workers, now numbering over 50 million people in the US. The ance. With a tremendous career in the human capital space and with a virtual
increased study will be valuable but with more data, there will be specialty in employment law, McGovern taught in the prestigious School of
Management at the University of San Francisco for seven years.
more data to reconcile as well. Visit http://marionmcgovern.com/
Expect More Consolidation and Specialization Connect Marion McGovern
Some were surprised when Ikea purchased Task Rabbit earlier this
year. Given the need to add a higher value service to the retail world Would you like to comment?
it was a great for Ikea. For the task rabbit folks, it presented the
opportunity for more gigs. That is the opportunity that may driver
more mergers in 2018. As it is, there are more talent platforms in
operation than most people appreciate. Do we really need more than a
dozen platforms for consultants or web designers or…pick a specialty
Many of the more generic sites are trying to attract the same cohort

HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018 Submit your Articles 11
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How Technology Helps In
Making HR A Strategic Partner
The changing role of HR

By Gunjan Bhatia

Long gone are the days when HR used to merely manage ad- not just from a talent, but an employer branding perspective too,” as
ministrative tasks and play a supporting role in the business. Over the quoted from a post published by HRKatha.
past few years, HR has transformed itself into a most valuable asset
to the organization. It has increased its credibility by participating in
strategic business functions and sharing insightful opinions to make
company’s strategic decisions.
Since HR leaders are responsible to manage people-related processes,
it gives them better insights to challenges and issues related to the
workforce. Thus, industry experts believe that HR can contribute in
developing best business strategies.
Today, HR is empowered with knowledge, business insights and
tools to be a part of the conversations where future of a business is
determined. Thanks to technology initiatives, HR is largely relieved
from the administrative tasks and can invest more time on strategic
initiatives such as planning workforce capabilities, managing talent
repository and ensuring that talent needs are always met in a proac-
tive manner.
Technology Is Increasing HR Effectiveness
A CRANET/ SHRM/CIHRS 2014/15 report demonstrates the
results of a survey where almost 700 HR leaders participated. It was
found that, “83 percent of organizations use online HR management By understanding the business deeply: It is important to under-
systems, with 67 percent using an employee self-service option”. stand all aspects of a business and know how different parts function
Organizations have automated transactional processes that earlier together. Have basic information about: How does the company
used to take major part of an HR’s work day. generate revenue? Who are the competitors? What makes your busi-
A 2017 Paychex Pulse of HR Survey revealed that technology has ness different from competitors? Knowing in and out of a business is
enabled human resources to be more efficient on the job: necessary to create better strategies that can go a long way.
• More than 60 percent of survey respondents believe that By putting analytics to the right use: HR Analytical tools have
technology is very effective to manage payroll, retirement, benefits become important in the recent times. Strategic data insights provided
administration, and time and attendance tracking. by analytics and reports makes HR more informed and objective. These
• More than 95 percent respondents find that technology is tools aid in identifying high potential employees and predicting which
effective to manage variety of HR tasks, including onboarding, employees may be at the risk of leaving the organization. Through
recruitment, performance management, talent management, analytics, employee leave trends can also be found out. Leveraging
training and development and other functions. the accurate data insights put HR in a strong position to voice out
HR being the most valuable resource for an organization, can now opinion at strategic discussions.
spend time on processes that matter the most. Takeaway: HR Technology does help Human Resources in increasing
How Can HR Become A Strategic Partner? its effectiveness and making it a strategic partner by its contribution
By changing the mindset: Though HR is becoming a strategic to business decisions and in achieving organizational goals. S&P
partner by bringing innovative ideas on the table, yet there are com-
Gunjan Bhatia is a Director at Saigun Technologies. She believes that people
panies that don’t believe in the concept. Human resource professionals are the most important asset and by engaging and empowering the people, an
need to change the mindset that the role of human resources is not only organization can see a better  tomorrow. She is a result-oriented professional
and ensures impeccable quality of work. Her blogs deal with HR and talent
to manage administration needs, perform transactional operations or management
meet compliance, but it goes beyond. The role of HR is ever evolving. Connect Gunjan Bhatia 
Visit www.saigun.com
Francis Padamadan, country director, KellyOCG India said, “For-
ward-looking organisations involve HR in a lot of business-related
decisions as it has a bearing on strategy, people/their roles and in Would you like to comment?

general, the culture of the company. HR is expected to contribute

HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018 Submit your Articles 13
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FEATURE

Handle With Care


How to mindfully address a sexual harassment claim

By Leah Weiss

The ABC News poll that sparked the #MeToo movement found 3. Don’t Push. If the offense is new and fresh, an employee might
that 33 million US women have endured some form of sexual harass- be feeling angry, sad, exhausted, or an array of other emotions.
ment at work. With 95% of poll respondents finding that perpetra- While it is important to document the claim, be careful not
tors usually go unpunished, HR managers play a vital role in helping to push too much. Give the employee space, time to speak, and
eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. the attention they deserve. Some claims may take more than one
day to fully process. Each sexual harassment claim must be
addressed with mindfulness and compassion.
4. Empathize. Sexual harassment comes in various forms, but even
a small quip or comment about someone’s sexuality is justly
classified as harassment if it makes the person feel uncomfort-
able. Take a moment to consider how you would feel if you were
the offended person - and how you would want a HR person
to respond to your claim. Basic mindfulness techniques such as
empathizing with a victim have been proven to help alleviate
the aftermath of a traumatic experience.
5. Act with Discretion. This is the golden rule of HR claims. Keep
claims to yourself and keep your employee’s confidence by not
telling someone else what has happened. Resist the urge to chat
or gossip. Someone’s job, feelings, and safety are at risk - don’t
make matters worse by talking about a claim unless absolutely
necessary.
6. Shut Down Gossip. Corporate culture needs to take a strong
stance on sexual harassment claims and stick with it. Gossip
will happen but it is important to shut it down quickly by ad
dressing the comments, noting what isn’t appropriate about
them, and talking through situations with team members to
address concerns. When employees feel safe to discuss topics
of harassment, questions and concerns can be answered in a
compassionate manner, resulting in de-escalation of a topic.
7. Have a Zero Tolerance Policy. It’s important for everyone
within a culture to understand that sexual harassment of any
kind will not be tolerated. Company policy should be made
clear during the onboarding process and continuously reinforced.
A Culture of Compassion and Safety
Building a culture of compassion and safety begins with leadership.
Leaders must foster an environment of openness on all levels - from
helping employees understand their purpose within an organization
to handling sexual harassment claims properly. When leadership
How can you make sure that an employee’s harassment claim is sets the right example, they can effectively shape and reinforce their
handled carefully, with mindfulness and compassion? Here’s how to company’s culture and values. S&P
get it right:
Leah Weiss, PhD, is the author of HOW WE WORK: Live Your Purpose,
1. Listen. This might seem like an obvious first step, but we are Reclaim your Sanity and Embrace the Daily Grind (HarperWave, 3/13/18). A
so programmed not to listen that you may not realize you aren’t professor, researcher, and consultant, Weiss teaches courses on compassionate
leadership at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and is a founder of
fully attentive. Turn your computer screen off, put your phone Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Program, conceived by the Dalai Lama. She
aside, pull the shades, and sit with the employee one-on-one. also directs Compassion Education and Scholarship at HopeLab, an Omidyar
Group research and development nonprofit focused on resilience.
2. Ask What You Can Do. Was the person harmed? Do they Connect Leah Weiss
need to speak with a therapist? Do they need to go home early
or take a sick day? Are they afraid? Be compassionate and help Would you like to comment?
in any way that you can.

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Human Resources: Leading
Mergers & Acquisitions
How to put people, integration and communication first

By Judy Collister

A s companies undergo rapid expansion, HR teams are faced the process. Existing and new employees are going to be concerned
with a unique set of challenges that come with acquisitions. Teams are throughout the process of an M&A deal and try to understand what
tasked with developing and championing holistic plans that promote the M&A will mean for their role within the company. HR teams
the integration of new employees into the company, without sacrific- should take on a people-first approach that is thoughtful with respect
ing the company’s existing culture on both ends. How closely you to impact on all employees, in addition to financial benefits.
work with new team members before, during and after the acquisition The conversations with employees that follow an M&A deal are
project will ultimately determine the value that will be derived from essential to understanding and leveraging individuals and their talents
the acquisition. People, integration and communication are the key within the organization, as well as developing synergies throughout
areas HR professionals can focus on when building out an internal the workplace.
success strategy that incorporates the company’s newest employees. There is a myriad of issues that can potentially halt a deal. Getting
People people on the same page is one way to hedge potential roadblocks.
Most people carefully choose the company they work for and the One best practice is to educate the newly acquired employees on how
company, in turn, carefully chooses them. Once a person has embarked the purchase decision was made and why it makes sense for everyone
on developing a significant relationship, like the one he or she curates involved to build a stronger future together.
with the company they work for, they tend to forget that the dynamic The transaction will affect both previous organizations, not just the
of this relationship can change. acquisition. Sharing and transferring culture is punctuated by how
While all shifts in workplace dynamics might not be as significant members of the existing team behave with additions during this time.
as the impact of an M&A deal, the reality is that these do happen. It Human resources partners with leaders from acquiring and acquired
is important to understand and work with your employees throughout organizations to understand the people, positions, transitions and

HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018 Submit your Articles 17
Human Resources: Leading Mergers & Acquisitions

roles moving forward, while being aware of the resistance that any A dedicated M&A leadership team can also deploy a team of M&A
change can bring. Roles may change, bosses may shift, customers specialists to integration “hot spots.” These specialists can assist in
and demands will grow. It all starts with the employee understanding overloads or manual processes that are necessary to conversions.
why the company is in business and that they are now a part of that These specialists bring expertise in contract management, sales process
company’s everyday promise to its clients. mapping or may specialize in data entry. It lifts some of the burden
Integration on existing staff to take on more when taking on more is expected,
HR teams have to make the decision to invest not only in the especially with successive and global acquisitions. Running the core
upfront M&A and deal work, but also in prioritizing the integration business shouldn’t stop as you onboard another company.
and assimilation of the new employees for the long term. For example, Communication
Park Place Technologies has a small and agile team dedicated to the Our third and equally important practice is intentional, timely, and
entire M&A process from identification to value creation. This team accurate communication. A key to remember is: “Absent information,
works across all functions to drive the integration necessary for pro- people will make up their own!” HR professionals should immediately
ductivity. In this case, Park Place has appointed senior leaders to roles look at what is available to share with employees in order to develop
on this team to maximize capabilities. They apply their knowledge a trust between management and them, so they know the intention
of the deal to the integration plan and their people knowledge to the is to keep them informed. Human nature is to want to know what’s
assimilation work. happening, to predict what’s around the corner and to be in included.
For these M&A teams, people placement should be a priority at A company’s brand promise should be consistently communicated
every step of the process with their respective C-level partners and the throughout the process. A brand promise can include a company’
day-to-day leaders in the business. One of the unexpected benefits story, its brand, its philosophy, vision and values. At Park Place, the
of these senior leaders running an integration team is the breadth of message is consistent in all communication: “We are a high perform-
knowledge they bring from their prior roles. ing organization that strives to be a great place to work and deliver
the very best service and insight everywhere in the world.” Even if
it seems repetitive, reiterating your brand’s promise to employees as
well as clients is critical in developing a cohesive and productive team.
By demonstrating your company’s story in a consistent and authen-
tic way, employees are able to easily adapt to align their culture with
their new one. Additionally, it gives the employee the opportunity
to opt out if the new culture is not a fit for them. Brand messaging,
communication of culture, care and concern for employees should be
integrated at the forefront of every communication plan, especially
during the M&A process.
Wrap Up
Integrating new companies globally is a common and challenging
process for any company of any size. HR teams should approach any
M&A with a clearly defined strategy that prioritizes tactics around
people, integration and communication. As your company continues
to grow, the integration process will become more streamlined and
employee trust will continue to grow within the organization and
provide testimony for successive acquisitions. S&P

Judy Collister leads Park Place Technologies’ Human Resources group.  She is
accountable for the development and implementation of people and workplace
strategies, including talent acquisition, engagement initiatives, total rewards,
performance management, training, development and compliance. She joined
Park Place in 2010 bringing over 25 years in human resources experience. Judy
has implemented an Employee Value Proposition and Performance Manage-
ment process – both support Park Place’s unique culture and Service First phi-
losophy.
Connect Judy Collister

Would you like to comment?

18 Submit your Articles HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018
FEATURE

Get Ready For The Workplace Of 2018


Top 10 predictions

By Kevin Sheridan 

As luck or prescient knowledge would have it, seven of the ten- “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
workplace predictions I made last year turned out to be correct. While technology and the associated strategy have great value, their
While I am happy with that outcome, I hope to do even better in return on investment will never exceed that of the culture, values, and
2018. Here are my top 10 predictions for the 2018 workplace: beliefs of an organization and its employees. Organizations continue to
1. Digital workplaces will continue to leverage Artificial Intel- recognize this trend, with numerous organizations recruiting people to
ligence (AI), further promoting “the intelligent workplace.” For fill the role of Director of Employee Experience. Indeed, over the last
2018, AI will likely have a profound effect on both workplace and three years, studies by Gallup, Deloitte (Bersin), and The Conference
culture, continuing to change how everyone works (i.e. the practical Board have all concluded that organizations (and their CEOs) have
flow of how work is accomplished). Specifically, AI will no doubt replace placed much more importance on staff, culture, behaviors, and how
certain workers, as explored in “Meet Your New Coworkers: Robots.” their staff works internally to support their external success.
AI holds immeasurable potential to both compliment worker pro- 7. Intranets will keep improving performance and become fully
ductivity and reduce workplace stress. Better real-time data, logistics, utilized. For both economic and practicality reasons, tailored and
planning, and reduced workplace errors and incidents will all result customized Intranet solutions will continue to attract higher attention
from higher, and better, utilization of AI. in 2018. Ask any IT manager or IT consultant worth their salt, and
2. Digital literacy will become an essential competence in the they will tell you that high-performing, well-designed Intranets are
workplace. Very much related to prediction #1, organizations will still the key application or “window” to the broader digital workplace
not be able to compete successfully without attracting and retaining and collaborative environment mentioned previously.
top talent who possess the proficiencies associated with the digital 8. Younger workers will continue to have a strong desire to
workplace. Leaders lacking digital literacy will struggle mightily, un- demarcate work versus life. One of the oft discussed characteristics
derscoring the importance of placing increased emphasis on retraining of Millennials is their desire to separate work and life, and this is not
and teaching digital literacy. likely to change in 2018. Remember, millennials are not living to
3. People analytics will continue to grow, especially since work- work, as boomers like myself were taught, but rather working to live.
place software will track and monitor us as never before. The broad To successfully retain this younger generation, it is imperative that
range of software tracking and monitoring services will continue to you provide workplace flexibility and not be the “old school” manager
grow in 2018, as will the related concerns that George Orwell’s 1984 who demands that employees be present during set and rigid business
“Big Brother” is afoot in the workplace. Technology advances have hours. To millennials, that is their definition of a workplace prison.
made it possible to track every employee’s electronic moves. Unlike The millennial generation values freedom because they want to
the technology in Orwell’s novel however, the world’s advances are not be in control of their own experience. The secret is hiring the right
focused on sordid or scary uses. Rather, one of the greatest benefits people, so you can trust them and let go. Track their outcomes, not
of the technology is that both productivity and outcomes are better their time in the office. Millennial employees want and appreciate
measured and therefore better managed. being “free range,” and working in an open and flexible environment.
4. Collaboration tools accelerate the shift from individual ego 9. The internal digital workplace will continue to rise in stature.
to collective team contribution. Having been raised in a culture The trend of workplaces recognizing that they cannot be competitive
promoting collaboration and team-based learning, younger workers, externally without effective internal digital systems is more than likely
especially millennials, expect and even demand that shared knowledge to continue. This recalibrating, from external to internal, unleashes
exchange, teamwork, and collaboration will be the central staples of exciting opportunities for digital work teams to set bold new goals
their work environment. Anything else might be labeled as “selfish” and make internal digital investments for the future.
or “ego-driven.” This collaborative mindset will continue to substan- One such example is Workplace by Facebook, which is a place where
tially change workplace culture in the years to come, further focusing workers can share ideas, brainstorm, collaborate, and achieve more
workplaces from individual to team. work together. This relatively new Facebook tool connects and unifies
5. Microsoft will remain the top workplace enterprise platform, employees with their preferred digital and internet tools. Success
despite some recently introduced competition. Yes, competitors such stories of organizations using Workplace abound, especially from such
as Slack, Yammer, Google Suite, and Workplace by Facebook have notable companies as Starbucks, March of Dimes, GoPro, Heineken,
all introduced novel and welcomed new approaches. However, the Domino’s Pizza, and Walmart. Workplace has helped transform those
reality is that Microsoft still reigns as the royalty of workplace enter- cultures by “getting employees out of the dark,” and into the illumi-
prise solutions, and this is unlikely to change for some time to come. nation - of strategic information, culture, beliefs, goals, recognition,
6. There will be a continued shifting from leveraging technology and performance feedback, just to mention a few.
towards changing personal behavior and workplace culture. Even Getting this “Employee Experience” right from a digital workplace
years after his death, the famed management guru Peter Drucker still standpoint is hard work, as already discovered by many organiza-
gets it right: tions. Myriad factors can stand in the way of creating the ideal and

HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018 Submit your Articles 19
Get Ready For The Workplace Of 2018

smooth flow of digital connection we would ideally like employees called “globals” or “digital natives,” have a strong desire for real-time
to experience throughout their workday. Best-in-class organizations performance feedback. In fact, as reported in some of my previous
will think through these obstacles and employ successful solutions to blogs, 80% of millennials want feedback in real-time.1 As organizations’
them before, during, and after deployment of these digital systems. continue to recruit and retain millennials and younger generations,
10. The trend towards mobility will become even more pro- the need for real-time feedback in mobility platforms and in mobile
nounced. Mobility within the workplace is becoming a very prominent roles will continue to increase.
topic. Employees value the ability to work from wherever, whenever, And that’s it for my 2018 predictions. Let’s look forward to watch-
while benefiting from the same advantages of their peers in the office. ing most, if not all, of these predictions for 2018 unfold. Once again,
Moving forward, the requirement for all digital workforce applications Happy New Year! S&P
to be unified (including Intranets, HR, HCM platforms, document
management, as well as the aforementioned Workplace by Facebook) Notes
will only increase the demand for more efficient mobility deployments. 1
Source: 2016 ICIMIS, Inc. Study
This trend will not go away in 2018; in fact, I predict it will become
even more pronounced, with employees continuing to push for more Kevin Sheridan  has spent thirty years as a high-level Human Capital Man-
mobility in all aspects of their lives. agement consultant. He has helped some of the world’s largest corporations
break down detrimental processes and rebuild a culture that fosters produc-
In 2018, I foresee mobility discussions to be centered around Tele- tive engagement, earning him several distinctive awards and honors in the
health and providing real-time performance feedback. process. Kevin’s newest product, PEER®, is consistently recognized as a long
overdue, industry-changing innovation in the field of Employee Engage-
Let’s first look at the former: Telehealth, which provides the ability ment, and his most recent book, “Building a Magnetic Culture,” made it to
to receive healthcare advice and healthcare electronically, is being the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-seller lists.
Visit www.kevinsheridanllc.com
catapulted upon society. This trend is likely due to younger genera- Connect Kevin Sheridan
tions’ preferences for mobility, as well as the economic reality that in Follow @kevinsheridan12

many cases, healthcare can be delivered more economically through


Would you like to comment?
electronic technology.
Second, both millennials and the subsequent generation, often

20 Submit your Articles HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018
Is 2018 The Year AI Will Build
Our Best Teams?
Say goodbye to your low-tech excel spreadsheets

By Phil Alexander

From a widespread movement to ditch the annual review to for any project, regardless of where in the world each employee
company-wide ethics overhauls in the wake of #metoo, 2017 has been is located. With wide adoption of team-building software on the
a transformative year for the entire HR industry. The very tenets of horizon, here are the three biggest HR changes we’ll see in 2018:
hiring, firing, and maintaining workplace culture have been examined 1. Truly International Teams
and revised. A once-slow moving industry is learning how to become HR directors will finally be able to go beyond creating teams of
reactive, and implement much-needed changes to stay current. convenience based on the employees in their home office, or even
However, the tech they’re using to implement these changes has those in their desk pod. With the ability to search and match em-
never been able to keep up. Even at the world’s biggest companies, ployees around the world, we’ll see the emergence of international
HR directors continue to track their thousands of employees through teams as the norm. When currently, most international teams consist
Excel spreadsheets. It is an incredibly low-tech way of building teams of a full-time domestic base plus a team of outsourced contractors,
and tracking overall employee performance—forcing HR directors to we’ll see core team members coming from different time zones. 
either rely on their personal knowledge to build new teams or pick 2. Less Workplace Bias
faceless names based on a couple keywords and numbers. In such a HR directors are only human, and so it is impossible to make truly
period of uproot, HR tech is not giving professionals what they need unbiased team-building decisions. It can be as premeditated as giving
to truly build better and more effective teams. a close co-worker a preferred position, but it can also be unconscious
However, the tide is turning, and we’ll see new team-building (like giving preference to a candidate who sends a pleasant email).
technology fully take root in 2018. This software has already been AI-enabled team-building software will make it possible to choose
developed—my team and I at Nexus A.I. are on the front lines—but employees based on merit instead of personal connections. In time, this
early adopters are helping it go mainstream. Its hallmarks will truly will lead to a more equitable and ethical workplace. Not only will teams
change HR—we’ll see HR directors being able to search any of get more effective, but gender inequities will be more even—among
their employees across the world by skill to find the most effective other diversity problems the HR industry has been working to solve.
employee for an open project. New programs will also be capable 3. Goodbye Annual Review… Hello Team Evaluation
of using behavioral science to automatically assemble a dream team Though HR directors have all agreed about the inefficacies of the
yearly review, there’s no consensus on what comes next. However,
with stronger teams, we will see a shift away from reviews focusing
on individual performance and toward evaluations focused on how
an individual performs within a team. For too long, the success of
a team has depended on one brilliant individual carrying everyone.
However, with the rise of balanced teams assembled with AI and
behavioral science, employees’ team performance becomes more
important than ever.
Team-building software will make the jobs of HR direc-
tors around the world easier—but these are only some of its
more far-reaching implications. And that begs the question,
“Will team-building software trigger a new phase of HR?” S&P

Recommended Resources: https://nexusai.com/how-it-works/

Phil Alexander, Founder and CEO of Nexus A.I.(www.nexusai.com), a


Chicago-based company that is revolutionizing how business teams are made.
The Nexus A.I. platform uses artificial intelligence and organizational behavior
science to help enterprises drive retention through better business teams.
Connect Phil Alexander

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HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018 Submit your Articles 21
Alexa - Can You Manage My HR?
Will AI make HR Professionals redundant or resilient?

By Mehul Pandya

I believe, at least in near future (1 - 2 years), we will hear Alexa say the ability to tweak the decision based on circumstance, negotiation,
“sorry, I don’t have enough information on this”... and this is purely my persuasion, empathy and care for others?
anticipation. However, we all (professionals are not restricted to HR) The answer appears to be in negative. 
could be victims of a misjudgement here. For those who are curious AI can learn fast and make accurate decisions...but it cannot match
about Alexa - it is a latest AI product from Amazon that is similar human wisdom of making contextual decisions
(not debating which is better) to Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant. I am a big fan of Josh Bersin and interestingly, he believes that AI is
As an HR & OD professional and as an AI enthusiast, I have transforming HR processes, enabling better decisions and eliminating
closely followed Artificial Intelligence and how it is influencing human bias (Article here). He points out that there are many HR func-
Human Resource function and activities. In my earlier article on Rise tions where ad-hoc decisions are made and machine learning can play
of Automation and what it means for HR more than a year back, I a vital role in improving decision making by eliminating biases. We
discussed what all activities are likely to be AI and the logic still stays have already seen the use of AI in Recruitment and Onboarding and
valid that standard processes may be automated but strategic activities honestly, I am not a big fan of ATS (Application Tracking Systems).
in HR pertaining to organizational culture, judgements, strategy and While it does its job honestly and helps recruiting managers, I see
decisions it is difficult to replace human wisdom which has evolved chances of a fantastic candidate getting lost by AI just because his
over a period of time. AI can also become intelligent through machine keywords are not matching. A seasoned recruiter can immediately
learning and can beat humans at the pace of learning but can it match identify a right talent by quickly glancing over the resume but only if

22 Submit your Articles HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018
Alexa - Can You Manage My HR?

AI, Robotics and Machine Learning is very similar to Computerization


of 90s. Not many people knew what to do about it but today, it is the way
of life and everyone has got along well with it.
In one the reports by Human Resources Professional Association
(Canada’s governing and regulating authority for HR Professionals),
there is a very interesting observation on why the HR function is
still figuring out as to how to cope up with Automation, Artificial
Intelligence and Robotics. It says that HR function was slower to adopt
predictive analytics due to a prolonged focus on data as a reporting
tool. Big data swept other functions up into the predictive field, HR
stayed behind. HR has traditionally always struggled with HR data,
data analytics and predictive analysis. It is now that HR data analytics
is getting due attention in decision making...so far it was used only for
data reporting and when it is used for decision making, the quality of
data changes dramatically. The report observes that, “It’s not that there
isn’t a need for AI in human resources; the problem is we don’t yet fully
understand its capabilities or how to leverage it as a tool.”
Majority of the HR professionals agree that AI is useful for the HR
function and it has potential to reduce the administrative burden. It
can also play a great role in recruitment by reducing flawed logic and
assessing soft skills. There are companies that are working on predic-
tive “flight risks” for employees based on leave patterns, keystrokes,
email patterns and surfing... (Oops!). There are also models being
built for predictive future career path based on employee’s current
and previous jobs titles and managing internal mobility...however,
I personally have my own reservations on this as I have noticed the
performance is not always consistent and multiple factors affect an
employee’s ability to perform.
AI and actual human intelligence in HR - both are real and go hand
in hand. It will certainly reduce administrative burden and facilitate
decision making (may resulting in the reduced number of employees
in HR) but we are far from a situation that it will remove Humans
from Human Resources.
There is always be need of weighing decisions in context, without
it reaching human eyes (through ATS). ATS has done its job, matched unconscious bias. AI algorithms are also designed by Humans that
keywords and without any bias threw a right short-list; however, a can have own biases into the technology (you may research google
great potential talent is lost because this decision was not contextual and face recognition technology).
and did not have the human element in this. Hence, I believe, as long It looks Alexa is definitely far from managing HR...at least for now.
as there are Human in jobs, there will be HR roles. This will surely make HR function more fun and challenge to work in.
AI does not mean eliminating Human from Human Resources. As long HR function will be in the best stage of evolution by embracing the
as there are Human in the jobs, there will be need for HR roles. AI, Robotics and Automation. There will be an early mover advantage
I have also been interacting with some of the industry leaders and here and its will be an exciting (and challenging) time for HR folks
senior HR professionals (in Canada and North America at this point) to embrace this. S&P
on this subject and there is a mixed view on this. Everyone seems to
have heard of this and know that this is coming to his or her way...but Mehul Pandya is an internationally experienced HR professional with more
than 10 years of progressive experience in Business HR and HR Consulting.
honestly, not many know how to deal with this. I have heard some He worked with global firms Deloitte, PwC, EY and Genpact in different ca-
progressive leaders talking about relooking at Workforce Planning pacities and worked extensively on HR Strategy, HR Transformation, Organiza-
tion Design, Workforce Planning, Talent Management, Change Management,
in light of automation to weigh the impact of the Automation. Few Performance Management, Competency Design, Leadership Capability Assess-
other organizations have been trying their hands on the predictive ment and HR Integration during Mergers & Acquisitions.
Connect Mehul Pandya
analysis in HR functions. There was also an interesting thought shared
by a senior professional in HR comparing this with computerization
of the 90s. There were lots of speculations about computerization and Would you like to comment?

its “ill-effects” on employment but we now have been able to cope up


with it and moved on. He further added that, not many folks were
aware of how to deal with computerization and it happened at its
own pace. Finally, everyone has got along well with it

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How An Integrated Contingent
Workforce Model Helps Companies
Get Peak Value
Five key ways this approach will help businesses
By Ted Sergott

Companies today are spending significant amounts of money on value — which may not be the case when the MSP can compete to
contingent workers, with businesses allocating hundreds of billions of fill requisitions — businesses receive the highest-performing talent
dollars for these engagements. As a result, the C-suite is increasingly at the most competitive cost.
interested in whether they’re getting peak value from their contin- Additionally, with an integrated model, the technology and human
gent workforce program. They are right to be concerned - inefficient aspects are intertwined, making it easier for companies to achieve
management, laggard technologies, and disaggregated solutions can optimal results. Here are five key ways this approach will help businesses
thwart efforts to maximize value. get peak value from their contingent workforce program.
A purely vendor-neutral, integrated MSP and VMS solution pro- 1. Risk Management
vides an innovative way for companies to manage their contingent  Worker misclassification enforcement has never been greater than
workforce. Pure vendor neutrality means the MSP or VMS has no it is today. Between 2011 and 2015, the U.S. federal budget allocated
affiliation with a staffing agency. Because no one staffing firm is $113 million to detecting and deterring worker misclassification
unfairly prioritized, this creates a highly competitive playing field issues. Continuing this trend, the 2017 budget “... expands funding
for the staffing firms sourcing talent for organizations that demand for efforts to ensure that workers receive back wages they are owed
a higher caliber of talent. and cracks down on the illegal misclassification of some employees
Since suppliers are focused on providing clients with the best as independent contractors …”

HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018 Submit your Articles 25
How An Integrated Contingent Workforce Model Helps Companies Get Peak Value

Given this uptick in enforcement, having an MSP team well versed in workforce lifecycle from anywhere they are, powering total freedom of
the complexities of managing worker classification and co-employment mobility and a seamless omnichannel experience. Top-tier platforms
risk management can make a huge difference in eliminating issues. To will also bubble up the new action items required to manage a user’s
further enhance the MSP team’s efforts in managing business validation, contingent workforce. This helps managers avoid overlooking critical
co-employment risk, third-party payrolling of self-sourced contractors tasks and get more done with fewer swipes and taps.
and more, organizations need to have access to an integrated, best in 4. Complete Workforce Visibility
class VMS platform. Capturing and harnessing data across each stage in the worker
With an integrated platform, the MSP and VMS work in lockstep lifecycle is critical, and properly leveraging true business intelligence
throughout the entire contingent workforce management process to requires a combination of cutting-edge technology and human ex-
ensure proper worker classification, onboarding, and worker manage- pertise. A VMS with real-time visibility into a myriad of dashboards
ment. Moreover, by pulling all workforce spend into one platform, provides executives and other power users with invaluable metrics
clients reduce the risk of rogue managers spending randomly and around worker population, usage, billing, performance and more.
managing contingent workers in an uncontrolled environment. With historical data pulled through a single system and presented in a
In addition, businesses with contingent workforces typically have visually friendly, intuitive fashion, clients can make smarter workforce
hundreds if not thousands of workers utilizing proprietary corporate decisions, anticipating and planning for future usage.
networks and systems while accessing their ideas and protocols. A  Another area that’s vital to managers is Total Talent Management
proven MSP team helps ensure the proper nondisclosure agreements reporting. With the most sophisticated VMS providers, clients gain
are in place to protect a company’s intellectual property. total visibility into both contingent AND full-time resources across
2. Cost Savings the entire organization. By importing specific types of ‘sanitized’ full-
 An integrated solution helps companies generate cost savings in a time data and viewing it right next to contingent data, managers can
myriad of ways. determine the best way to engage resources across all categories from
Consolidated invoicing through a VMS reduces instances of billing a cost, quality and risk perspective.
error, while the aforementioned MSP risk mitigation helps ensure  With a leading-edge joint MSP/VMS solution, users with specific
clients avoid costly litigation and misclassification penalties. needs can work with the MSP team to create any executive dashboard
Self-sourcing talent is another key way for clients to generate sig- desired. These customized dashboards can visually reflect the data
nificant hard dollar savings in a large contingent workforce program points requested and enable the ability to interact with this data in a
— especially in more mature programs. A leading-edge joint MSP/ seemingly endless number of ways.
VMS offering makes it easy. An expert MSP team can offer a breadth 5. Talent Quality
of experience across different industry segments, while an integrated, In today’s business world there’s a war for talent. Taking a vendor-
top-tier VMS will provide self-sourcing capabilities that give businesses neutral approach through an integrated model is helping companies
the opportunity to avoid traditional supplier-sourced mark-ups and win every day.
generate cost savings. Within a leading-edge VMS, built-in tools deliver additional supplier
In my experience, a company that places 10 self-sourced workers over management assistance. For example, supplier scorecarding offers a
the course of a year will save, on average, a quarter of a million dollars. mechanism for ranking suppliers, which not only provides valuable
3. Process Efficiency feedback but can also help inform future sourcing decisions. In ad-
A fully integrated MSP and VMS solution enables organizations to dition, clients can work with their MSP to create a suppler-tiering
extract as much value as possible from the latter. With a joint offering, system, so that new job requisitions are initially routed to first-level
the on-site MSP team of recruitment and employment experts oversees suppliers that have historically delivered superior talent.
the automation of contingent workforce management processes via the Superior talent quality, cost efficiency, greater agility, and pure
VMS. Users can then tap into the power of automation to reduce the simplicity from a combined solution start at implementation and
average requisition process from weeks to days. Better still, users can increase over time. These are wins that cannot be achieved when an
do so knowing they’re getting superior talent at a lower price while MSP and VMS are used separately. A truly integrated and purely
managing risk. This efficiency extends through the entire contingent vendor-neutral provider offers a one-stop shop for users and enables
workforce management process, as it enables users to handle sourcing, businesses to realize peak value from their contingent workforce
onboarding, time/project approvals, e-invoicing, off boarding and program. S&P
more in a single application.  
 This effectiveness provides immediate relief across the entire organi- Ted Sergott is Executive Vice President, Product Development at PRO Un-
limited.
zation. Human resources, finance, procurement, IT and legal have one Connect Ted Sergott
system they can go into and extract relevant data to help them work
smarter in their area of expertise. In addition, a more sophisticated
VMS will be built on open architecture, offer integrations with every
major ERP, HRIS and PPM, and have a framework in place for quickly
creating custom integrations. As a result, integrations with security, Would you like to comment?
IT, facilities and any other tech systems are simple to implement.
Since workplace efficiency today often involves mobile access,
the best VMS solutions enable users to manage the full contingent

26 Submit your Articles HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 01.2018
Featured Research
Featured Research

Workforce 2020:
Building today’s
talent to meet
tomorrow’s needs

Article 30

Research Report
Summary 35

Special Research Supplement January 2018


FeaturedResearch
Featured Research

Workforce 2020: Building


today’s talent to meet
tomorrow’s needs

Exclusive HR.com Research

Sponsored by Pandexio

Index
Article
Enabling Employees as Experts With Pandexio’s New Insight
30 Curation Platform
Laci Loew
Founder and Principal, Laci Loew & Company LLC

Bob Danna
Retired Managing Director, Deloitte LLP

John Burge
Co-Founder and CEO, Pandexio, Inc.

Research Report Summary


35 Workforce 2020: Building Today’s Talent to Meet
Tomorrow’s Needs

Survey conducted by in partnership with


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The State of Artificial Intelligence in HR Supporting the Modern Learner


HR professionals will see explosive Many of today’s organizations
growth in their use of artificial The State
suffer from poor learning cultures Supporting the
intelligence (AI) over the next five ofIntelligence
Artificial
and inadequate learning and Modern Learner
Creating great learning
in HR
years. This growth will not only development (L&D) functions. This
cultures for today’s
diverse, multi-faceted
Getting up to speed workforce
on AI in order to gain

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Featured
FeaturedResearch
Research
Article 30

Enabling Employees as Experts


With Pandexio’s New Insight
Curation Platform

Authors:
Laci Loew
Founder and Principal, Laci Loew & Company LLC

Bob Danna
Retired Managing Director, Deloitte LLP

John Burge
Co-Founder and CEO, Pandexio, Inc.

If you spend any time scrolling through your Quora


digest, scanning news feeds, reading Tweets,
posting on LinkedIn or Facebook, or catching up on
Figure 1. Productive & Relevant Workers Will
Curate Insights, Not Just ContentAt least
“what’s trending” on Pinterest, then you know that five new workforce megatrends are shaping
artificial intelligence and automation are already today’s expertise era of insights experts:
having enormous impact on your business pro-
cesses, products, services, and workforce. Smart
systems are automating the transactional, mundane
parts of work leaving the challenging aspects to
humans. Thus, higher levels of cognition are required
among tomorrow’s workers than what may have been
the norm in the past.

Based on trending and recent research from Deloitte,


the Department of US Labor, EY, Harvard, IBM, McKin-
sey, MIT and PwC among others, higher-progress ©Pandexio,
Article 31

organizations are shifting workers from content tools to enable the perpetual spread of intelligence
curators and information users to insights experts for use just when needed.
creating and sharing curated insights with employee • New expectations: Workers seek and stay with
teams and across the enterprise network. organizations making the leap from content cura-
tion tools to insights curation platforms where
Curated insights™ are meaningful bits of wisdom experts are grown and empowered to make
derived from all the 24x7 content consumed and shared smarter decisions, faster.
across the employee network for the sole purposes of • New speed: In today’s “always on” digital environ-
accelerating individual relevancy and productivity and ment, workers find themselves with less time to
outperforming the competition with quick access to sift through the incoming and expect new tools to
rapidly growing organizational intellectual capital. augment their thinking.
• New metrics: Experts pluck wisdom and know-
Pandexio’s insight curation platform makes it all how from peers to make relevant business
possible – for the first time – delivering more than contributions and expect their expertise to be
information and content but rather enabling intelligence recognized and rewarded.
and expertise for better decisions, faster. We are not

Figure 2. From Knowledge Workers to Insights Experts in Today’s Digital Workplace

a Learning Management System; we are not a learning Like yesterday’s knowledge workers who required
experience platform; we are not a social collaboration content curation tools to sort and filter and cat-
tool; we are just the platform your employees need to egorize information, today’s insights experts are
be experts. That’s the future. Will your workforce make most productive and stay relevant when they, too,
it there? are enabled with technology. However, learning and
talent management systems and knowledge man-
At least five new workforce megatrends are shaping agement tools and learning experience platforms
today’s expertise era of insights experts are no longer enough. Insights experts operate in a
digitally-driven 24x7 environment. Actionable infor-
• New capabilities: Workers are using new technol- mation lies at the core of enhanced productivity.
ogy systems to augment human intelligence in the
pursuit of expertise. To cut through the overload and access the expertise
• New structure: Workforces are shifting from hier- they need to execute, they require insights curation
archies to a complex network of teams, teams of platforms, which enable them and their colleagues to
teams, and an enterprise network and using new distill insights from content with a two-second
FeaturedResearch
Featured Research
Article 32

mouse swipe. Insights curation platforms are not just and applications employees already use to consume
the next generation HR technology solution; they are content and get their work done. It also allows the
a giant leap forward – the workforce of the future enterprise to offer its employees just in time learning,
breakthrough technology – supporting and sustain- performance support and knowledge management in
ing Workforce 2020 and beyond. one easy-to-use solution.

How Pandexio’s Smartsnips® Respond Pandexio ensures today’s overwhelming world of


Pandexio® (www.pandexio.com), the pioneer and unfiltered information powers the workforce, not
expert on curated insights, offers a one-of-a-kind paralyzes it. With IBM Watson baked in to support
insights curation platform -- a SaaS solution that swift and consistent tagging, the Pandexio solution
makes it easy for today’s digital employees to curate is a “rapid-learn” smart system, productivity tool, and
insights from content they consume and think about. on-demand knowledge solution all rolled-up into one
Curated insights are 50X smaller and more relevant user-centric platform. Pandexio’s patented curated
than whole pieces of curated content which are too insights functionality enables crowd-filtering of the
much information to filter, manage, and synthesize. actionable two percent, producing shared wisdom
among all so employees can work smarter and
Pandexio provides relief from 24x7 information execute better. Pandexio’s insight curation platform
overload and memorization, empowering employees is called Smartsnips®.
to become experts and enabling them to share their
bits of wisdom with each other, their teams, and the Why Smartsnips®
entire employee network for better, faster business Every day in every organization, employees consume
decisions. As a platform, the Pandexio solution can voluminous quantities of documents, unfiltered web
work within and across the existing HR technology content, and unsorted intranet posts. They read

Figure 3. Example of a Smartsnip – including the expert’s curated insight, associated


tagging, linked snip and source document – all in one view and associated to
the expert.
Article 33

opinions, discover facts, get exposed to new infor- the organization on any browser and device. Smart-
mation, and study new data. Smartsnips enable snips are like shareable, digital brain cells. They can
employees to transform the daily bombardment of be grouped into collections, searched and filtered,
unfiltered and mostly irrelevant content into portable and easily re-accessed on-demand from a mobile
and permanent knowledge. Smartsnips are contextu- phone. Rather than exchanging random and static
alized, curated, actionable knowledge bits that can be content, with Smartsnips, employees exchange
shared with peers and re-used across the organiza- knowledge comprised of facts, insights, interpreta-
tion using existing platforms and without interrupting tions, and conclusions enabling them to focus just on
existing work streams. By exposing only information what matters.
that matters, Smartsnips addresses top leadership
priorities: it enhances employee expertise and work- Smartsnips Use Case Examples
force productivity and amplifies worker engagement Early users of Smartsnips recount stories of how it
and retention. has enabled workforce productivity. Here are just
three examples of the successes they have shared
How Smartsnips Works regarding the business value: (1) to enable today’s
It’s simple. Pandexio integrates the Smartsnips social learning expectations of the Millennials and
platform with those systems that employees access their peers, (2) to empower the Sales Team to close
daily – browsers, local and shared file systems, deals, and (3) to support the Customers with timely
social applications and learning systems. As employ- and accurate information they request:
ees read, with a single mouse swipe they snip the
actionable two percent creating micro-sized bits of • Social Learning
knowledge. They add their insight and tags, and it The pain points: Employees forget training as fast as
all goes into the cloud where it is accessible across they experience it. Courseware in the Learning
Featured
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Research
Article 34

Management System generally stays static and knowledge-base solutions can’t keep pace in provid-
is costly to develop. Key talent retires and takes ing answers to customer questions. Yet, we know
relevant knowledge out the door. New hires aren’t all the answers exist within the four walls of the
plugged in to a support network. And with the influx company – they are all just buried in documents and
of Millennials comprising our workforce of the future, brain cells.
the demand for social learning outpaces any learning
management system or traditional learning strategy The Smartsnips solution: Take advantage of all the
of training courses. daily content consumption across the company, and
all the experts that are already employed. Crowd-
The Smartsnips solution: Use the combined brain- source the most important two percent by making it
power of your company’s subject matter experts to easy to curate everyone’s insights and share it all with
“swipe out” nuggets of critical knowledge (Smart- the Customer Service Agents so they can answer
snips) from voluminous documents, workspaces, questions on demand. Like the Sales Rep using
internal blogs, communities of practice, discussion Smartsnips, this turns the individual who answers
forums, and activity streams. Smartsnips turns the ringing phone in the CSR Center into the expert
“just talking” into knowledge collecting, sharing, and product support agent that customers expect.
collaborating.
Summing Up
• Sales Enablement In today’s insights economy, knowledge is founda-
The pain points: Today’s Sales Reps have difficulty tional and insights are the business differentiator.
staying current with new products and services. Gov- Curated insights are the means for powering up
ernment regulations change or are imposed regularly performance. Today’s high-performance organiza-
and new product research is being released often. tions and workers rely on the ability to harvest critical
With the rise of the Web, customers are becoming knowledge and share vital insights.
product savvy. Put it altogether, and the knowledge
bar of all Sales Reps is on a perpetual rise. Existing Smartsnips empowers each person – regardless of
sales enablement solutions are static, multi-page level or function – to share their expertise across
documents and collateral often extremely text heavy the entire enterprise. They free everyone from the
bearing way too much content to recall at the time of limitations of their individual knowledge and personal
need. The value proposition gets buried and the deal content stores, and enable every employee to tap into
doesn’t close. the expertise of the smartest employee – so col-
lectively, everyone can make better, faster business
The Smartsnips solution: Synthesize the most impor- decisions and outperform the competition.
tant sales knowledge (customer pain points, product
features, competitor weaknesses, etc.) and make it What To Do Next
instantly available on an iPhone. As a result, Sales If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out
has available in a click that which the Marketing, Pandexio (www.pandexio.com), then you might want
Product, Support, and the Contracting Teams have to do so. Pandexio’s Smartsnips transform content
so they are truly a product expert and can quickly from a sea of disparate information to a treasure
and knowledgeably answer customer questions, trove of actionable knowledge.
provide flexible solutions, and add the value the cus-
tomer seeks. As one Smartsnips user recently said: “In today’s
world, access to content is not a differentiator. It
• Customer Support (Smartsnips) is not about curating content; it is about
The pain points: Support information is invariably distillation of wisdom. It allows an expert to teach
buried in some technical document that sits on a another in three minutes. Every company should
shelf somewhere or at best stored in an online repos- invest its time and money here.” – Sr Director
itory with questionable search capability. The Web Strategy, a large technology company
is sprouting in support content. Existing, specialized
Research Report Summary 35

Workforce 2020: Building Today’s


Talent to Meet Tomorrow’s Needs
Survey conducted by HR.com in partnership with Pandexio

T he way we work has changed profoundly in


the last few decades. It’s tough for businesses
to keep up with the speed of today’s ever chang-
There is definitely no shortage of information as
today’s employees have access to volumes of data
and information in all forms. The key challenge of our
ing digital world. Workforces have had a hard time current workforces is not just being able to access
keeping pace with the digital disruptions. It is with the information, according to David Ulrich, a pro-
this threat in mind that HR.com partnered with Pan- fessor at the University of Michigan and author of
dexio to create a survey intended to investigate how multiple books on HR. “The challenge,” wrote Ulrich,
prepared today’s workforce is to meet the challenges commenting on the data in this study, “will be distill-
of the near future. ing the data into decisions.”

The investigation covered the following topics: Few Organizations Are Prepared for the
• Level of preparation of workforces to meet future Near Future
business goals The near-term future of work will depend on experts
• Significant barriers to achievement in building a wielding smart technologies. When we asked par-
2020 workforce ticipants to select up to three items that will most
• New organizational structures required for the significantly change the 2020 workplace, about 78
future of work percent voted for smart technologies followed by 62
• How structural changes are creating the need for pointing to employee expertise requirements.
greater employee expertise
• A glimpse into the competencies required for But, are organizations truly prepared for this future?
success as experts Not really. Only 11 percent of our respondents said
• The role smart technologies will play in enhancing they are making significant progress in building a
workforces in the near future workforce capable of meeting their 2020 business
• And, finally, the organizational and HR systems goals. Nearly half (48 percent) report having made
that must be in place to accelerate preparation of either slight or, worse yet, no progress. Given how
the 2020 workforce quickly 2020 will be upon us, this represents an
urgent matter for many companies.
Featured
FeaturedResearch
Research
Research Report Summary 36

Survey Statement: From the following items, select the three that
will be the most significant barriers to essential changes to the 2020
workforce: (select up to three)

Constrained resources 64%

Misalignment of workforce
strategy with business goals 60% The future
requires a
Insufficient understanding of
disruptive changes 57% solid alignment
of workforce
Insufficient prioritization by strategy with
53%
senior leadership business goals
Insufficient prioritization by
line managers 31%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Barriers to Progress success or failure, be it a new product launch or man-


To find out what is inhibiting organizations, we asked aging a key marketing campaign.
about the most critical barriers to change. About
64 percent said “constrained resources,” followed The Growing Need for Experts Who Share Key
by a 60 percent voting for “misalignment of work- Insights
force strategy with business goals.” These top two Forty-two percent of high-progress organizations
challenges play off of one another. The best way to say that employees will need to become subject
address these issues is to align workforce strategies matter experts “to a much greater extent,” while
with business goals from the start. the same is true for only 17 percent of lower-prog-
ress organizations.
The Rising Importance of Networks
While the traditional hierarchy is far from dead in Expertise, however, is not enough. Experts must be
most organizations, it is giving way to a more col- able to efficiently communicate their knowledge
laborative and networked way of working. Forty-two and insights. While today’s employees have access
percent of the high-progress companies—that is, to information, it is often difficult to store, organize,
organizations that have made significant progress recall, and share it. In this study, we hypothesized
toward building a workforce capable of meeting 2020 that organizations would place greater value on “key
goals—indicated that the adoption of networked insights” as opposed to just overwhelming amounts
structures will be very important by 2020, whereas of information. Four-fifths of respondents said
only 30 percent of the lower-progress organizations employees will need to share and curate insights to a
said so. greater extent.

Because of networked structures, individual employ- The Competencies Required in the Near Future
ees and teams at all levels will be increasingly As organizations begin to develop tomorrow’s expert
accountable for making good decisions quickly as workforce, they’ll need to take a close look at their
business issues arise. In this environment, missing current competency models to ensure they reflect
expertise could mean the difference between
Research Report Summary 37

Survey Question: Compared to today, by 2020 what worker capabilities


will be most vital for getting work done? (select all that apply)

Analytical thinking:
applying information to 78%
solve problems
Employees in
Systems thinking:
understanding of linkages 64%
2020 must not
between components only be able to
apply information
Sense making: finding
57% to solve problems
meaning in information
but be able to
understand how
Managing data: filtering
information for relevance
57% that information
fits into the larger
Networking: interacting
organizational
with others 52% picture

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

changing skills and job requirements. All compe- These tools are helping managers make more accu-
tencies were considered important to the 2020 rate decisions, ranging from the selection of new
workforce by at least half of the participants. Analyti- leaders to the introduction of new products. Learning
cal thinking was selected by the largest proportion Management Systems rank second, a finding strongly
of respondents, followed by systems thinking, sense supported by the critical role of continuous learning.
making and managing data.
In brief, our businesses will face massive disruptions
The employee of the near future will not only need in the near future. We will face changes every day,
to apply information and data in order to solve including in the ways we work and compete. Are our
problems, they will also need to see the bigger workforces ready? The research indicates that the
picture—understanding how their particular problems answer for most organizations is “No.” To learn more
relate to other organization issues—and turn all the on how organizations should accelerate the pace at
information into actionable insights. which they prepare their workforces to succeed, we
invite you to read this informative whitepaper and
Developing Smart People Who Use apply the top key takeaways to prepare your work-
SmartTechnologies force for tomorrow.
We asked participants to evaluate talent practices
in terms of their potential impact on optimizing
employee productivity in 2020. Promoting con-
tinuous learning topped the list with 97 percent Workforce 2020: Building Today’s
agreeing. Developing workers as experts was ranked Talent to Meet Tomorrow’s Needs
the second highest, with 88 percent agreeing or
strongly agreeing. READ WHITEPAPER
Future expert employees will increasingly rely on
smart technologies to make them even smarter.
Predictive analytics tools are the most widely cited.
Workforce 2020: Building today’s
talent to meet tomorrow’s needs
HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Featured Research. January 2018.

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HR Strategy and Planning Excellence Essentials - JANUARY 2018

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