I am suffering from serious information overload this week. There have been so many interesting posts and links related to #hrst that it's hard to know what to focus on. In the interest of attempting coherence in this post, I'm going to just write a quick blog about Naomi Bloom's white paper, System of Record.
Ms. Bloom raised what has long been a question to me: how to clearly differentiate strategic HR from administrative HR processes. It always sounds like it should be easy, but it isn't always that clear cut in my mind. In my experience, the administrative components are the building blocks that allow for the higher-level management processes to take place. I appreciated her definition of strategic HRM as specific data, processes and business rules that increase the degree to which the organization's mission is accomplished by improving the performance of individuals and groups. When presented in this manner, it makes that effectively leveraging the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and other characteristics (KSOACs) should be the center of strategic HRM.
The concept of integrated IT systems that support both the administrative and strategic functions will undoubtedly be the wave of the future, once developed and launched. I imagine that these will be SaaS-delivered systems, as Ms. Bloom suggests, because this seems to be the way things are moving in general with technology. The benefit I see in SaaS systems is what I think of as "passive improvements" on the part of the user. If the system is constantly upgraded for all users whenever upgrades are made in the system by the service provider, then your organization never falls behind technologically (or at least with the software). I understand from other articles that not all systems that are billed as SaaS actually perform in this manner. But, I think it is something people will come to expect and rely upon. But that's another post for another day.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Musings on Projects
I've been giving a lot of thought to potential processes I could use as the core of my final project for class. I definitely appreciated Jun's comment about needing to clearly identify the problem before considering technology as the solution. There have been more instances than I can count where whiz-kid college students (our member base) have volunteered in our office doing a function that they decided they could computerize for us. In some instances, the projects have been spectacular failures, while others were well-executed successes. I have learned that the key ingredient to a successful process has been a programmer who truly listens to the needs of the customer. Where projects have failed, the programmer has made critically flawed assumptions about the business needs that drive the process. They thought that what they saw on the surface was all there was to it. Where projects have succeeded, the programmer has been willing to commit significant lead-time into asking questions about the underlying processes.
As Jun was describing the project management steps in class last week, I was relieved to learn that I generally perform those steps when working on a project, even though I've never really thought of the process in such a systematic way before. I've just been winging it, but in a way that was common sense to me -- think things through, create something meaningful, "sell it" to the decision-makers, and implement it successfully.
So, how does this affect my thinking about my project? I'm hoping to generate a project concept that will improve a business process I already perform on the job. As I've mentioned previously (probably several times at this point), my organization's HR functions are not supported by HRIS. This means I have many business processes that could benefit from some IT solutions. I have a couple of ideas in mind currently: systematizing our current employee/volunteer application process; integrating record-keeping related to wages & bonuses; or creating a wiki-type HR resource for employees. Improving any one of these processes will not only save me time, but will also make information more accessible to all employees.
As Jun was describing the project management steps in class last week, I was relieved to learn that I generally perform those steps when working on a project, even though I've never really thought of the process in such a systematic way before. I've just been winging it, but in a way that was common sense to me -- think things through, create something meaningful, "sell it" to the decision-makers, and implement it successfully.
So, how does this affect my thinking about my project? I'm hoping to generate a project concept that will improve a business process I already perform on the job. As I've mentioned previously (probably several times at this point), my organization's HR functions are not supported by HRIS. This means I have many business processes that could benefit from some IT solutions. I have a couple of ideas in mind currently: systematizing our current employee/volunteer application process; integrating record-keeping related to wages & bonuses; or creating a wiki-type HR resource for employees. Improving any one of these processes will not only save me time, but will also make information more accessible to all employees.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Community Building and The Machine
I've been on vacation the past two weeks, well, just because.... I've spent a lot of time taking care of family business, visiting friends I haven't hung out with in awhile, and I've actually felt pretty busy. Today was the day I gave myself permission to do whatever I wanted. Mandatory downtime, so to speak. And how did I spend it? Surfing the web. For class. Voluntarily.
I am still absolutely blown away by the "cyber-revolution" as CNN calls the current situation in Iran. It's not just what's going on to protest the election; it's the manner in which the information coming out of the country has gone viral. It is an awesome (in the true meaning of the word) spectacle to behold. Go Twitter!
I watched the YouTube video, "The machine is us/ing us" and was fascinated by it. I searched for its creator, Mike Wesch, and found an hour-long presentation he did that discusses the aftermath of the video and the digital ethnography work he's doing at Kansas State onYouTube. Here is the link if anyone else is interested: http://mediatedcultures.net/youtube.htm
I was a social psychology major in college, and I'm specifically interested in group dynamics. My interests align with cultural anthropology, and I often enjoy digging deeper into the "why" of "why do people do these things?" His presentation helped me better understand the "why" of the YouTube phenomenon.
Wesch says he views media as mediating human relations, and that changes in media reflect changes in human relations. YouTube, and I would suggest other methods of networking on-line as well, are ways to connect in a world where community is otherwise in decline. He states that our way of life has become individualized, independent, and commercialized, but that we actually desire the inverse: community, relationships, and authenticity. He calls this a cultural inversion.
I realize that these are broader context issues and aren't HR specific. But, I think how we work reflects broader social issues. If HR folks pay attention to how culture is shifting around us, we can stay ahead of the curve where human/employee relations are concerned. People truly do want to feel connected and want to feel they are part of a community. This is where I get back on topic and try to relate this to Human Resources. If HRIS can use technology to further enhance the sense of work communities, then it will be a very beneficial enhancement. I'm excited about what I've learned about Web 2.0 technology and its potential to bring people together. I can see the HRIS potential conceptually (remember we have no HRIS where I work) and I'm interested in learning more about the reality as our class progresses.
Oh, and I put everyone's blogs on Google Reader today (great job, everyone; fun to read!)
I am still absolutely blown away by the "cyber-revolution" as CNN calls the current situation in Iran. It's not just what's going on to protest the election; it's the manner in which the information coming out of the country has gone viral. It is an awesome (in the true meaning of the word) spectacle to behold. Go Twitter!
I watched the YouTube video, "The machine is us/ing us" and was fascinated by it. I searched for its creator, Mike Wesch, and found an hour-long presentation he did that discusses the aftermath of the video and the digital ethnography work he's doing at Kansas State onYouTube. Here is the link if anyone else is interested: http://mediatedcultures.net/youtube.htm
I was a social psychology major in college, and I'm specifically interested in group dynamics. My interests align with cultural anthropology, and I often enjoy digging deeper into the "why" of "why do people do these things?" His presentation helped me better understand the "why" of the YouTube phenomenon.
Wesch says he views media as mediating human relations, and that changes in media reflect changes in human relations. YouTube, and I would suggest other methods of networking on-line as well, are ways to connect in a world where community is otherwise in decline. He states that our way of life has become individualized, independent, and commercialized, but that we actually desire the inverse: community, relationships, and authenticity. He calls this a cultural inversion.
I realize that these are broader context issues and aren't HR specific. But, I think how we work reflects broader social issues. If HR folks pay attention to how culture is shifting around us, we can stay ahead of the curve where human/employee relations are concerned. People truly do want to feel connected and want to feel they are part of a community. This is where I get back on topic and try to relate this to Human Resources. If HRIS can use technology to further enhance the sense of work communities, then it will be a very beneficial enhancement. I'm excited about what I've learned about Web 2.0 technology and its potential to bring people together. I can see the HRIS potential conceptually (remember we have no HRIS where I work) and I'm interested in learning more about the reality as our class progresses.
Oh, and I put everyone's blogs on Google Reader today (great job, everyone; fun to read!)
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Class discussions create great conversation starters!
An immediate benefit from this HRIS class is that I feel slightly more comfortable discussing social networking than I did a month ago.
I had lunch with a former co-worker (and friend, of course) yesterday who now works for Google in Mountain View. (I proudly wore my Google guest badge all day. It felt as though I'd entered the DisneyWorld of IT, but that's another story.) I was able to at least spice up my contributions to the IT portion of our conversation with snippets about Twitter, Yammer (which he hadn't heard of), and blogs. I'm really fascinated with Yammer as a potential communication channel for my organization, which houses 1250 college students in 20 different locations around campus. We currently grapple with ways of getting important bits of information out to our house level managers in a timely manner. We all have company e-mail addresses, so Yammer could be a way to send out protected info in short bursts that students might actually read.
I did a little research on Yammer last night after I got home. As we talked about in class, Yammer aims to bring the types of technologies that are popular with consumers into the workplace. "People get to use great consumer internet sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and Geni , to communicate in their personal lives. Then, when they get to the office, all the software is antiquated and hard to use -- that doesn't make sense. We want to do something about that," said Yammer founder, David Sacks. Yammer claims it can increase communication while reducing email. Sounds just like what we need at work.
Last time we got together, my friend introduced me to the concept of "The Cloud", a term I'd never heard before. Basically, the Cloud refers to the way new technology allows us all to store, access and share information through the web, instead of on our hard drives. So, whenever I check my e-mail on Google, or you post photos on Facebook , we're using the cloud. To quote Google, "Everyone has their own space in the cloud." He asked me if we'd talked about it in class yet. We haven't, but I bet we will...
Anyone familiar with the newly developing Google Wave? It reminded me of our discussion in class about how social networking sites like Facebook & Twitter may eclipse e-mail. The Wave sounds like a way to create the ultimate one stop site for all your on-line social (and even business?) communication. I wonder how it might be useful in business and/or HR?
Here's a link that provides some details about Google Wave, if you are interested:
http://tinyurl.com/mmmtmv.
Our class discussions have made some great next day conversations for me. All of my friends and co-workers laugh when I tell them I'm blogging and tweeting as class assignments. Even my kids (ages 16 & 20) don't use twitter (yet), so for once I'm not behind the times. It make me think, OK, at least I can sort of keep up. Thanks, Jun (and class) for teaching this old dog some new tricks!
I had lunch with a former co-worker (and friend, of course) yesterday who now works for Google in Mountain View. (I proudly wore my Google guest badge all day. It felt as though I'd entered the DisneyWorld of IT, but that's another story.) I was able to at least spice up my contributions to the IT portion of our conversation with snippets about Twitter, Yammer (which he hadn't heard of), and blogs. I'm really fascinated with Yammer as a potential communication channel for my organization, which houses 1250 college students in 20 different locations around campus. We currently grapple with ways of getting important bits of information out to our house level managers in a timely manner. We all have company e-mail addresses, so Yammer could be a way to send out protected info in short bursts that students might actually read.
I did a little research on Yammer last night after I got home. As we talked about in class, Yammer aims to bring the types of technologies that are popular with consumers into the workplace. "People get to use great consumer internet sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and Geni , to communicate in their personal lives. Then, when they get to the office, all the software is antiquated and hard to use -- that doesn't make sense. We want to do something about that," said Yammer founder, David Sacks. Yammer claims it can increase communication while reducing email. Sounds just like what we need at work.
Last time we got together, my friend introduced me to the concept of "The Cloud", a term I'd never heard before. Basically, the Cloud refers to the way new technology allows us all to store, access and share information through the web, instead of on our hard drives. So, whenever I check my e-mail on Google, or you post photos on Facebook , we're using the cloud. To quote Google, "Everyone has their own space in the cloud." He asked me if we'd talked about it in class yet. We haven't, but I bet we will...
Anyone familiar with the newly developing Google Wave? It reminded me of our discussion in class about how social networking sites like Facebook & Twitter may eclipse e-mail. The Wave sounds like a way to create the ultimate one stop site for all your on-line social (and even business?) communication. I wonder how it might be useful in business and/or HR?
Here's a link that provides some details about Google Wave, if you are interested:
http://tinyurl.com/mmmtmv.
Our class discussions have made some great next day conversations for me. All of my friends and co-workers laugh when I tell them I'm blogging and tweeting as class assignments. Even my kids (ages 16 & 20) don't use twitter (yet), so for once I'm not behind the times. It make me think, OK, at least I can sort of keep up. Thanks, Jun (and class) for teaching this old dog some new tricks!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
"gigs"
Gig-ification - another new word! I'm learning lots of them these days. Churn rate? fascinating...Can I use 'em in scrabble? :)
This morning when I was reading the newspaper, there was an article from Frank Bass (Associated Press) entitled "Temp work masks joblessness", which further elaborated on how folks who are employed in involuntary part-time and temporary positions skew the overall unemployment statistics.
The May unemployment rate didn't take into account those workers who weren't actively searching for work (either because they have given up or because they had some specific barriers to employment like poor health, child care issues, or lack of transportation). Including these folks would increase the unemployment rate to 10.6%. But, more startling is the fact that if you include the 2.2 million "involuntary part-time workers, the unemployment rate would balloon to 16.4%.
I found it interesting that the 1.2 million part-time temporary workers the government has and will hire as census workers this year help mask the true unemployment rates. 60,000 people were hired temporarily in April 2009, but are done with their temporary assignments and will be back on the unemployment roles in the next set of statistics. Ironically (never sure if I use that word correctly), the applicant pool for temporary field employees was so strong, they finished the work far more quickly than they expected. The government expects to continue census-related temporary hiring cycles like this through the fall, which will help push down unemployment numbers during upcoming months.
Okay, back to gigification. Things are a lot tougher economically than the unemployment statistics convey. Given that fact, people need to jump at any opportunity that comes their way, part-time, temporary, gigified. I do wonder, as the economy recovers, if employers will continue to offer out "morsels" of employment instead of "fat" full-time jobs with benefits. Is gigging merely a response to the tough economic times or the wave of the future?
This morning when I was reading the newspaper, there was an article from Frank Bass (Associated Press) entitled "Temp work masks joblessness", which further elaborated on how folks who are employed in involuntary part-time and temporary positions skew the overall unemployment statistics.
The May unemployment rate didn't take into account those workers who weren't actively searching for work (either because they have given up or because they had some specific barriers to employment like poor health, child care issues, or lack of transportation). Including these folks would increase the unemployment rate to 10.6%. But, more startling is the fact that if you include the 2.2 million "involuntary part-time workers, the unemployment rate would balloon to 16.4%.
I found it interesting that the 1.2 million part-time temporary workers the government has and will hire as census workers this year help mask the true unemployment rates. 60,000 people were hired temporarily in April 2009, but are done with their temporary assignments and will be back on the unemployment roles in the next set of statistics. Ironically (never sure if I use that word correctly), the applicant pool for temporary field employees was so strong, they finished the work far more quickly than they expected. The government expects to continue census-related temporary hiring cycles like this through the fall, which will help push down unemployment numbers during upcoming months.
Okay, back to gigification. Things are a lot tougher economically than the unemployment statistics convey. Given that fact, people need to jump at any opportunity that comes their way, part-time, temporary, gigified. I do wonder, as the economy recovers, if employers will continue to offer out "morsels" of employment instead of "fat" full-time jobs with benefits. Is gigging merely a response to the tough economic times or the wave of the future?
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Future of Work is Here --
First blog-post; scary....
The Time article, "The Future of Work", reminded me of a new book that is getting a lot of buzz, Womenomics. Anybody heard of it? While I haven't read it yet, I've seen several interviews of one of the co-authors Katty Kay. The books subtitle is Write your own rules for success. The thesis of the book seems to be that women have tremendous potential to be successful business leaders, but that we work differently than men. Women should not try to fit into the male business paradigm, but should negotiate for work environments that will allow them to flourish. The key is work/life balance that is encouraged, not just tolerated, by business. I kept expecting the book to be referenced in the "Women will Rule Business" section of the Time article and was rather surprised that it wasn't.
The Future of Work article touches upon many issues, but I think that the challenge of work/life balance resonated with me the most. The concept of career lattices is very compelling to me (as a woman who has spent the last 30 years in the work-force). There will be times when one's career is at the fore-front of their lives and other times when it may not be priority #1. I think that if company's recognize their employees as "assets", both parties will benefit from more flexibility in the work-place. I don't believe that people should have to sacrifice their personal lives to have productive and satisfying careers.
I have been tremendously fortunate to work with an organization where many of these future trends have existed for years. Flex time has always been possible and I have taken advantage of this for 20+ years. I have worked a 4-day week consistently; I took a 6-months maternity leave with both of my children; I have routinely rearranged my schedule to ensure that I made every parent-teacher conference and fulfilled at least some volunteer role outside of work each year. And, I continued to receive top raises and bonuses for my work performance!! Do I make a ton of money? No. But I've lived very comfortably, had a very interesting career, and have participated in my children growing up as much as any full-time working parent can.
This level of flexibility was reinforced with the advent of e-mail and remote access to our IT infrastructure. Of course there is the downside of constant access that can blur the work/life balance, and the weird addiction to checking one's e-mail 5 times/day on the weekends, but that's another story (and I'm working on it!). This touches on another topic in the "Future of Work"article -- that technology allows us to be productive outside of the physical office or office hours. In my job, for example, I work with college students who have a very different life-style than I do. Technology allows them to contact me at 3am via e-mail when I'm asleep and allows me to respond when I come into work at 9am before they wake up. Neither one of us has had to adjust our normal patterns of behavior, we have disturbed each other, and we've had timely communication. I can't tell you how much that improved things. It probably sounds funny, but it's true.
As I think it through, the level of flexibility granted to employees has resulted in tremendous loyalty to the organization. We feel appreciated as human beings. In turn, we don't think twice about putting in the hours necessary to get the results expected of us.
So, at least for me, the Future of Work already exists in many ways.
The Time article, "The Future of Work", reminded me of a new book that is getting a lot of buzz, Womenomics. Anybody heard of it? While I haven't read it yet, I've seen several interviews of one of the co-authors Katty Kay. The books subtitle is Write your own rules for success. The thesis of the book seems to be that women have tremendous potential to be successful business leaders, but that we work differently than men. Women should not try to fit into the male business paradigm, but should negotiate for work environments that will allow them to flourish. The key is work/life balance that is encouraged, not just tolerated, by business. I kept expecting the book to be referenced in the "Women will Rule Business" section of the Time article and was rather surprised that it wasn't.
The Future of Work article touches upon many issues, but I think that the challenge of work/life balance resonated with me the most. The concept of career lattices is very compelling to me (as a woman who has spent the last 30 years in the work-force). There will be times when one's career is at the fore-front of their lives and other times when it may not be priority #1. I think that if company's recognize their employees as "assets", both parties will benefit from more flexibility in the work-place. I don't believe that people should have to sacrifice their personal lives to have productive and satisfying careers.
I have been tremendously fortunate to work with an organization where many of these future trends have existed for years. Flex time has always been possible and I have taken advantage of this for 20+ years. I have worked a 4-day week consistently; I took a 6-months maternity leave with both of my children; I have routinely rearranged my schedule to ensure that I made every parent-teacher conference and fulfilled at least some volunteer role outside of work each year. And, I continued to receive top raises and bonuses for my work performance!! Do I make a ton of money? No. But I've lived very comfortably, had a very interesting career, and have participated in my children growing up as much as any full-time working parent can.
This level of flexibility was reinforced with the advent of e-mail and remote access to our IT infrastructure. Of course there is the downside of constant access that can blur the work/life balance, and the weird addiction to checking one's e-mail 5 times/day on the weekends, but that's another story (and I'm working on it!). This touches on another topic in the "Future of Work"article -- that technology allows us to be productive outside of the physical office or office hours. In my job, for example, I work with college students who have a very different life-style than I do. Technology allows them to contact me at 3am via e-mail when I'm asleep and allows me to respond when I come into work at 9am before they wake up. Neither one of us has had to adjust our normal patterns of behavior, we have disturbed each other, and we've had timely communication. I can't tell you how much that improved things. It probably sounds funny, but it's true.
As I think it through, the level of flexibility granted to employees has resulted in tremendous loyalty to the organization. We feel appreciated as human beings. In turn, we don't think twice about putting in the hours necessary to get the results expected of us.
So, at least for me, the Future of Work already exists in many ways.
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