HR World in Transition Phase

Three New Roles Every Modern, Strategic Talent Management Function Must Have

These roles are Employment branding, workforce planning, and retention.

The human resources profession is one often perceived by those outside the function as a bureaucratic, compliance-driven, administrative function that is reactive versus proactive and that changes at the speed of a rock.

In most organizations, that perception is one well-earned, since most HR processes and policies are developed in response to a significant event and are intended to limit certain behaviors instead of enabling others. HR has become the function known for saying "you can't do that" as opposed to function known for saying "this is how we can accomplish that." However, a few leading organizations are breaking with tradition — at least when it comes to talent management — establishing new functional structures that account for current labor market realities, and adding new proactive activities to the stable of HR services.

A growing number of organizations are leveraging the visibility currently being placed on the impending talent shortage/crisis by corporate leaders and growing the scope of talent management activities to include formalized processes, programs, and departments focusing on proactive management of the employment brand, retention, and workforce planning. These groundbreaking organizations are tearing down massive walls that years of political infighting have created between HR functions in order to develop entirely new HR structures where all deliverables are integrated to "strategically" manage the portfolio of talent that the organization can use to call upon to achieve both short- and long-term objectives.

No longer does the training and development function devise and offer training programs for skill sets that can more readily be acquired through recruitment at a lower cost. No longer do key employees leave the organization because a bad manager kept them from advancing or learning. No longer do offers made to top candidates get rejected because compensation cannot adequately assess the market value of talent. Sounds too good to be true? It isn't, but getting there isn't easy; lots of archaic thinking gets in the way!

Getting Better at Recruiting and Retaining.

Cost effective Hiring and Successful retention in the corporate world is very essential today. For this reason companies are working on the areas of recruitment & retention to get more insights on the same. Some of the key findings are:

. Knowing the generation Y better will improve an organisation's chances of recruiting and retaining them

. But to know them organisations must move beyond perusing documented information.

The better you know your prospective candidates the better the chances of luring them. The logic is that simple. There is already a lot that organisations know about generation Yers. However, if the intention is to recruit more from this generation, the question to ask is, "What more can we learn about them?" The answer is critical to formulating an effective strategy-one that ensures a competitive edge.

This week's mailer will clue in organisations and their recruiters on the characteristics and quirks of generation Yers. This information should help them realign their existing strategy to recruit successfully and retain them.

Defining the 'Y' cadre

Commonly referred to as "Millennials", "Echo Boomers" and "Net Generation", generation Y constitutes those who were born from 1980 to 1999 and grew up in the 1990s and 2000s. A few well-documented and work-relevant characteristics of this generation are:

. They are more ambitious than the previous generation so much that sociologists call them the overachieving, overscheduled generation

. They like changing jobs, and earned the title "job-hoppers"

. They have great expectations from their workplace as, according to research, "they desire to shape their jobs to fit their lives rather than adapt their lives to the workplace". This outlook is a huge challenge to employers.

The above-mentioned characteristics are well-documented. In fact, most organisations have already realigned their recruitment strategies around them. But there are a few other quirks that are not so well documented but can have an equally huge impact on an organisation's strategy. They are:

Trait: Dependence on parents

Being the products of helicopter parenting, generation Yers find it difficult to wean off parents. This generation does not think much of moving back home after college. Less rebellious than their predecessors, most of them even let their parents decide on where they will work and for whom. That this generation job-hops is a well known fact, but what is undocumented is that their job-hopping is driven by the will to learn. Encouraged by their parents' advice to learn and grow from different experiences, the generation is willing to risk job security and fantastic salaries for the thrill of learning something new. Also the fact that they can fall back on their parents makes them greater risk-takers than their predecessors.

Tip: In getting the Yers to make career decisions, give them time to consult their parents. Encourage them to make those phone calls to their parents from the interview room itself.

Trait: In-box management

It might not appear as an advantage, but the fact that Yers choose to start their work day without a 'to-do' list actually makes them better 'prioritisers'. As a behavioural expert comments, "Baby boomers use their in-boxes and in-trays as to-do lists and go by them on a typical work day. However, Gen Y is sold on the idea of an 'empty box'". This means that what they do is not dictated by what comes into their in-box or in-tray but by what they feel is important. This gives them better control in deciding their priorities and also makes them conscious of managing their work activities based on priorities. In short, they do not work on a first-in, first-out basis but on the "most important comes first" basis.

Tip: Allow Yers the leeway to plan their day. Strict scheduling can frustrate them.

Trait: Women power

Yers appreciate gender equality and have little qualms about women surging ahead as earners. Generation Y women feel more empowered, go solo in making career and personal decisions, and feel less insecure at work. Another observation is that women take a back seat voluntarily when they decide to have children.

Tip: Think of flexible work hours and work-at-home options for new mothers.

Trait: Team spirit

Generation Yers thrive as teams. Probably the first generation to value the importance of team power, this generation appreciates how individual efforts at work multiply when combined with team efforts. So oriented are their efforts to work in teams that team-building and bonding initiatives are only reminders of what they already appreciate. Therefore, where they really need help is in developing their leadership potential.

Tip: Divide everyone into work teams. Even a one-employee function or department can be integrated into a large group.

Some of this information is probably already known but not accounted for as yet. However, what is essential is to be aware of these undocumented generational differences. Organisations must interpret this information to use it as a recruitment advantage.

Reference:
The ManageMentor

Building A Competitive Talent Organization

To build a competitive talent organization, the talent leader needs to be closely aligned with other senior managers in organization. Here are five ways that senior managers can contribute to your organization's talent goals:

Plan vigorously.

Senior managers should partner with the talent leader and hiring managers in their division to create a written plan for how they will meet your current and long-term talent needs. Planning for the talent agenda should be as thorough and as vigorous as any other planning in the company (for instance, strategic, annual operating, material, and financial planning).

Be accessible.

Senior managers should schedule regular meetings with their talent organization counterpart and be available and responsive when the talent leader contacts them. All senior managers should be accessible to meet prospective talent anywhere and anytime.

Sell.

With a plan in place, senior managers are responsible for "selling" the plan within their division. How will the talent plan help the division succeed? How should people participate? How will they be measured and rewarded for their participation? Senior managers need to emphasize the importance of Key Talent and back up their words with concrete plans and metrics. They also need to always wear their "selling shoes" when talking and meeting with prospective talent. If a hiring manager or other employee cannot sell his own company to a candidate, then leave that person off of the interview or meeting schedule.


Benchmarking.

Know how effective your talent efforts are today and continue to measure these efforts using the metrics outlined next to gauge your efforts over time. Are they working? Also, continuously benchmark internal and external talent. The grass is hardly as green on the other side as you want to believe. Still, knowing who is out there, what they are doing, and how your internal talent stacks up is an essential element of strategic talent planning.

Make movement happen.

Don't let open positions stagnate while hiring managers churn through reams of resumes from unqualified candidates. The framework provided in this book shows you how to be proactive in assessing and meeting your talent needs. Put the time and resources behind this framework to make it happen in your organization. And be willing to open up positions and make churn happen within the organization to accommodate new candidates and grow existing talent. Keeping the place moving will add the extra adrenaline needed for all talent to see a future in front of them in the current organization.

Training and HR Technology--Retrain the Brain.

As aging baby boomers look to keep on working, producers of `brain fitness' software—aimed at improving memory and keeping the mind sharp—see an opportunity to pitch their products to employers.

Software tools to keep the brain fit are headed to the workplace.

The products have been making a splash in the consumer market in recent years as older Americans wrestle with memory loss and other cognitive declines. And now vendors of "brain fitness" software are beginning to see employers as another fertile market, especially given the desire of baby boomers to stay in the workforce for years to come.

A host of challenges face this nascent industry. They include doubts about the effectiveness of the software, concerns that exercises in front of a computer will bore people, and the prospect that employees in their 40s, 50s and 60s will feel stigmatized signing up for what could be considered brain rehab.

But advocates are confident the burgeoning field of brain health is far more than a fad, and companies are likely to see significant benefits in areas such as productivity and retention through the use of the new software tools.

Posit Science, a San Francisco-based firm, says several employers are testing its software this year. Posit Science's Brain Fitness Program has been shown to improve the memory of people 60 years or older by 10 years or more, and the company's CEO, Jeff Zimman, expects solid results in corporate trials as well. "This is going to be a hot area," he says.

The Players

The brain fitness arena has its roots in scientific findings during the past two decades that the brain is fundamentally "plastic"—capable of rewiring itself even late in life. That's good news, because experts also note that brain functioning begins to fall off as early as age 25. Among the key researchers in the field is Posit Science founder Michael Merzenich, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco who was recently featured in a PBS program on brain fitness.

To combat the dulling of the mind and stave off the horrifying effects of dementia, a host of vendors now tout brain training software programs, including Happy Neuron.com, CogniFit, Posit Science and Fit Brains. Video game company Nintendo also is a player with its Brain Age software.

Posit Science expects solid results in corporate testing trials of its software. "This is going to be a hot area." --Jeff Zimman, CEO, Posit Science

The content of these programs varies. Happy Neuron.com, for example, offers games designed to work out five major brain functions: language, attention, memory, visual processing and "executive function," which includes logical reasoning. One of Happy Neuron's language games, "Split Words," asks users to match the parts of words divided into two or more sections, with the help of a general category for the session such as "gardening."

Fit Brains plans this month to introduce games for a range of cognitive functions. By the end of March, it intends to add games as well as other features such as brain fitness metrics.

Brain Age, built for the Nintendo DS mobile game device, runs users through activities such as solving math problems, playing sudoku puzzle games and reading literature aloud.

Posit Science, meanwhile, works to improve memory and train the brain on basic processing skills. In one activity, users are asked to listen to two tones played in rapid succession, then decide whether the second was higher or lower than the first.

Benefit Questioned.

The brain training software industry is new but promising. Brain Age and its sequel Brain Age 2 have together sold more than 14 million copies worldwide since 2005, says George Harrison, who was senior vice president of marketing at Nintendo of America before retiring from the company at the end of 2007. Nintendo's brain games are inspired by the work of Japanese neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima, and they estimate the "age" of users' brains based on their performance. But the products are pitched primarily as fun, Harrison says. "We haven't done any scientific research to demonstrate any health claims," he says.

On the other end of the spectrum, Posit Science has had its software tested by researchers who have presented findings in scholarly journals and at conferences. In November, the company touted results of a study of 524 healthy adults 65 and older. Half of them completed up to 40 hours of the Posit Science program. The other half followed the advice that older people will benefit from new learning in different subject areas, and completed up to 40 hours of a computer-based educational training program on topics such as the history of Great Britain.

Those in the Posit Science group showed "significantly superior" gains in standardized, clinical measures of memory equal to roughly 10 years, the company said in a statement. The company also said participants in the Posit Science program showed significant gains in how they perceived their memory and cognitive abilities, such as remembering names and phone numbers or where they had left their keys, as well as communication abilities and feelings of self-confidence.

Even so, the degree to which software programs can slow the cognitive decline associated with aging has been questioned. Sandra Aamod, editor of the journal Nature Neuroscience, and Sam Wang, professor of molecular biology and neuroscience at Princeton University, offered a critical view of the products in a November New York Times opinion piece. A better bet, the authors argued, is physical exercise.

"So instead of spending money on computer games or puzzles to improve your brain's health, invest in a gym membership," the authors wrote. "Or just turn off the computer and go for a brisk walk."

Some advocates for computer brain fitness products say software training should be part of a broader range of brain health activities, including walking and swimming.

Paul Nussbaum, a neuropsychologist and chief scientific officer of Fit Brains, suggests a five-part program for brain health, with attention to socializing, physical activity, mental stimulation, nutrition and spirituality.

Targeting the workforce

Until now, companies haven't paid much attention to brain health, Nussbaum says. He notes the way corporate health fairs typically have tables set up for diabetes and bone density. "There's nothing at these health fairs focused on the brain," he says.

Corporate training departments also have ignored sharpening basic employee mental skills such as memory or language processing.

The graying of the workforce may change that. The number of U.S. workers 55 and older is projected to grow by 46.7 percent between 2006 and 2016, according to a December report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate of expansion in the number of those older workers is nearly 5.5 times the 8.5 percent growth projected for the labor force overall. People 55 and older are expected to make up 23 percent of the workforce in 2016, up from 17 percent in 2006 and 12 percent in 1996.