by admin | Oct 3, 2019 | Hot Topics, Human Resources
Artificial intelligence is pushing humans and machines closer together. It’s exciting! AI’s influences are being felt across the HR space… being used to automate business processes, enhance efficiency, and reduce bias among other things. In fact, McKinsey’s latest forecast of AI’s impact on the global economy is that it will generate $13 trillion in economic activity across the globe by 2030.
But, there is room for improvement, and top executives want it yesterday. A recent survey from PricewaterhouseCooper found 72% of executives believe AI will offer sizable business advantages in the near future. In another survey from IBM, 66% of CEOs believe AI can drive significant value in HR. Some are already exploring those opportunities. Uber, for instance, completed the world’s first cargo shipment using a truck controlled by AI!
State of AI in HR
AI as a Tool
The inclusion of artificial intelligence in the HR professional’s toolbox is not surprising. When looking for answers, look no further than the iPhone, for instance, or the black, cylindrical Echo tower sitting on the counter. Whether its Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Echo, people are using artificial intelligence at home in their day-to-day lives. It makes sense, then, that AI has made it into the workplace.
In most professional settings, AI is not required to do mundane tasks like answer questions about the weather or turn on the lights. Instead, AI is asked to do much more.
Reducing Human Bias
Humans are inherently bias. Even when striving for inclusiveness, HR professionals may subconsciously lean toward a particular candidate… for instance, someone who is more like the recruiter. Another potential bias, language bias; people’s subconscious word associations could indicate a particular preference.
Now, thanks to AI, algorithms can be designed to help employers identify and remove these biases. That potentially translates to better hiring communications and attracting a more diverse group of candidates. Those same algorithms can also find candidates who may have been screened out due to human bias. To put it in context, AI allows managers to go beyond gut feelings and rely on data-driving assessments.
AI Automation
AI is being used in HR to automate repetitive, low-value tasks thus increasing the focus on more strategic work. AI tools automate common HR tasks like benefits management or handling common questions or requests.
Recruiting through AI
Custom experiences are expected by applicants. These are tailored to unique needs as they apply for a new job, choose the right benefits or explore development opportunities.
Companies have implemented “AI recruiters” to automate scheduling interviews, provide ongoing feedback to candidates and answer their questions in real time. This allows human recruiters to spend more time converting candidates to hires.
Retention
Some companies are using AI platforms to single out employees that may be heading for the exit door. Those platforms track employee computer activity, emails, keystrokes, internet browsing and so on and store it. Then AI analyzes the data to determine a baseline of normal activity patterns in the organization. Based on that knowledge, outliers are flagged and reported to the employer. AI is also being used to detect changes in the overall tone of employees’ communications to predict when employees might be thinking of leaving.
AI Makes HR More Human
At some point in the career of an HR professional the question is asked: how can human resources become more human? At least one company believes it has the answer. Best Buy Canada says it’s to add more machines. Chris Taylor is the chief human resources officer for Best Buy Canada. He has gone on record saying the embracing of artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in human capital management is a “mandatory investment in the future.”
So, why add more machines to make HR more human?
The automation of tasks through AI technology allows for the freeing of HR professionals to focus on uniquely human abilities such as critical thinking, creativity, and empathy. While they are involved with the more human tasks, technology, at the moment, can handle the more mundane tasks.
All of that said, in a lot of ways artificial intelligence is still growing and learning itself.
What does that statement mean? AI is able to search a query based on the words you are using and give you a response, but that response isn’t contextual.
AI is heading in that direction though.
Instead of writing responses specifically to specific inputs… you just have a huge database of language around a specific knowledge domain and the AI can go into that knowledge domain and answer the questions from the user.
HR professionals interested in pursuing AI want it to do much more than answer questions and rummage through applications. They want to use it as a learning platform.
But it’s not there yet.
AI can teach itself to do something, but it’s not at the stage it can replace humans beings as the “drivers of education.” In the future, it may be used that way, but it would require a lot of adaptability.
Taylor says Best Buy Canada is embracing as much technology as they can get their hands on. For instance, the company has started investing in cloud-based solution that uses artificial intelligence, voice technology and machine learning. All of these technologies, Best Buy Canada hopes, will better the employee experience.
Conclusion
As much as the HR technology landscape continues to be disrupted by AI, HR teams must find ways to balance these advancements with transparency. It is essential in making sure the implementation of AI technology is successful. At the end of the day, artificial intelligence is not the end-all-be-all answer to every quandary HR finds itself in. It is a tool and nothing more. A tool that can improperly function based on the data it is given in order to work effectively. Even so, artificial intelligence can be a valuable resource. Work to embrace it now because it’s likely you’ll be expected to use it in the future.
By Mason Stevenson
Originally posted on hrexchangenetwork.com
by admin | Sep 18, 2019 | Hot Topics, Human Resources
Employee training programs are beneficial to organizations of varying sizes. Even small companies can improve customer service skills. Large organizations often need training programs specifically targeted to employee development and changing technologies. The Society for Human Resource Management says that offering training programs to employees helps the employee feel more engaged and committed to the organization. Implement an employee training program in your organization to improve job morale and teach new skills.
Analyze your organizational needs. Interview managers and supervisors and identify employee performance areas that need strengthening. Review employee performance appraisals to locate common performance problems. Call the human resources department of similarly sized and focused organizations and ask what training programs have been valuable to them.
Present your research findings to the committee or the company’s leadership team. Prepare a detailed presentation and be prepared to answer questions. Outline the benefits of each proposed program, anticipated costs and time requirements. Demonstrate the need for each program by preparing detailed analysis of problem areas and possible solutions. Ask for input, suggestions and changes.
Finalize your plan and determine your budget for the next fiscal year. Request funds using your company’s budgeting process. When calculating your employee training budget, include materials, travel, speaker fees, computer access charges and food in the budgeted amount. Ask for funds before the fiscal year begins rather than requesting unbudgeted money during the fiscal year.
Take the total budget and allocate the funds by department, per employee or per training program, recommends the American Society for Training and Development. Consider the benefits you expect from each training program and decide if the cost of the program will give you the desired results. Decide if training programs will be required or optional.
List the training classes you will offer over the next year. Divide the classes by type and employee attendance. Prepare a schedule and publish it on your company’s intranet. If possible, allow employees to sign up electronically to save valuable personnel time. Be sensitive to departmental schedules and work flow.
Contract with outside firms or select and internal trainer to provide training. Call the potential trainer’s references and verify that his materials and presentation style fit your needs. Ask him to give you samples of his work, a quote of his complete fees and a list of any needed equipment. Outsourcing training can save money when you consider the administrative and program costs.
Select an internal trainer for training programs you will handle. Ask an employee with expertise in the field to teach a class or utilize member of your company’s human resources department. Set clear expectations of class content and have a feedback system in place. Consider extra compensation if training is not part of the employee’s job description.
Evaluate the success of each program immediately after the program’s completion. Ask the participants to fill out prepared evaluation forms. Analyze the comments to plan for further training. Follow-up with supervisors during the year to gauge the continued effectiveness of the training programs.
by Diane Lynn
Originally posted on Livestrong.com
by admin | Sep 12, 2019 | Benefit Management, Human Resources
Right now our national unemployment rate is 3.7%–edging towards a 50-year low. With this low rate, companies are actually finding it increasingly harder to hire and retain great talent. One way to combat this issue is by increasing employee engagement through volunteering.
In survey after survey, employees state that they want to work for companies who care for others. In fact, “71% of employees surveyed say it’s very important to work where culture supports volunteering,” according to America’s Charities Snapshot. There are different types of volunteer options when looking to begin a volunteer program at a company. For example, entire companies can come together for a big “Day of Service” event. Or perhaps there is an ongoing need in the community, like Meals on Wheels, and employees sign up to help when needed by the charity. Offering pro bono services to non-profit community groups or donating skills for specific projects are other ways to assist charities in your area.
The issue of time worked and pay typically comes up when talking about employer sponsored/encouraged volunteering. There are a couple different ways that companies structure this. One way is to simply pay employees for their usual time at the workplace even though they are not actually working on company business at the time of the volunteer project. This is typical of big “Day of Service” campaigns during the workweek. Another way is to encourage employees to donate their break or lunch time to complete volunteer service projects. Finally, and this is the emerging trend in employee benefits, is to give each employee Volunteer Time Off (VTO) hours as part of their benefits package.
The benefits of VTO are numerous. One of the biggest values of VTO is that of employee recruitment and retention. PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted a survey and the results were that “59% of Millennials gravitated towards companies with pronounced Corporate Social Responsibility programs.” For retention, the value is even higher, “74% of employees say their job is more fulfilling when given the opportunity to make a positive impact at work.” Companies also see a benefit in camaraderie across departments and company hierarchy. Working together towards a common goal builds these interdepartmental relationships. Also, by playing towards strengths unseen in a regular office setting, employers have a chance to discover untapped leadership skills and completely unknown skill sets of employees. Finally, your company’s brand image is boosted by the view of its involvement in the community.
Whatever the benefit that your company assigns to a healthy VTO program, be it retention, image, or team building, the fact remains that there WILL BE a benefit. If you are looking to begin the search for the right fitting program, there are great resources available for you. Check out this quick read on Charities.org and also the great tips on SalesForce.com. Start the conversation today with your leadership and start making an impact in your community!
by admin | Aug 27, 2019 | Human Resources, Workplace
How much job training equates to time wasted: About 20%, according to one LinkedIn study. That’s the percentage of learners who never apply their training to their job. That same study says 67% of learners apply the lessons learned, but in the end, revert to previous habits. Another study found 45% of training content is never applied.
For HR professionals designing or monitoring the Return on Investment of training programs, those are disturbing statistics, especially when you consider the decrease in productivity this causes and the cost of wasted money.
So, how do you mitigate or address the issue?
Learning Metrics
Gone is the day leaders make learning strategy decisions via gut and intuition. Arrived is the day leaders look at learning data and statistics to make decisions and provide evidence for an action.
There was a time when the only metrics requested from learning and development officials were the number of people taking part in the training and the cost involved. In other words: basic effectiveness and efficiency.
As with everything, however, learning and development has evolved. It’s now a business critical change agent. It’s not enough, though, to measure inputs, the number of courses, and attendance. Learning and development must look at the output and outcomes.
“We’re in the process of trying to become a learning organization, and to become a learning organization you have to be nimble. You have to have a culture of leaders as teachers. You have to have a culture of recognizing those things that contribute, and actually those things what lead to success,” Brad Samargya said. Samargya is the Chief Learning Officer for mobile phone maker Ericsson.
All of the descriptions Samargya is using refer back to the content, specifically how it is delivered and is it of substance. When both pieces are in concert, HR professionals should see an increase in quality around the metrics gathered.
Delivery
First, let’s focus on delivery.
Samantha Hammock is the Chief Learning Officer for American Express. Her company employs a learning management system as part of their learning process. Hammock says measurement is the company’s biggest need.
“If we’re going to mandate training, we had better be robust in tracking and reporting. Is the experience getting better, is the knowledge increasing. We have put it thru workforce analytics to slice and dice some of those metrics,” Hammock said.
Of course, learning management systems are not the only way to deliver learning. Mobile learning for instance, makes content available on smartphones, tablets, and other devices. Not only is the content accessible anywhere, but anytime. Video learning is similar in that the content is available in the ever-popular YouTube format. Gamification, or education by gaming, again delivers learning in a form much for attractive than your regular classroom format, and micro-learning, or the strategy of delivering learning content over a short amount of time.
None of those work without one specific ingredient, however: the content. Providing relevant content is key to a good learning strategy, good metrics, and to ensure your learners are engaged and continue to come back for more.
The modern employee is distracted, overwhelmed and has little time to spare. Catering content to their needs is not only important – it’s critical.
The content presented to employees must be applicable and timely to help them with their daily duties, expand their mind, and provide them with quick takeaways that can immediately be applied.
Metrics to Watch
There are a handful of metrics derived for HR professionals to analyze.
- Completion rates – This metric is important because it indicates the level of learner engagement, motivation and participation. Low completion rates indicate employees aren’t investing in the material or how it relates to their jobs. High completion rates show employees are invested.
- Performance and Progress – This particular metric is split into two categories: the individual and the group. For the individual, metrics will give you a detailed look at how the employee is doing with the learning. For the group, the metric will include the details around specific trends. For instance, how the group is progressing through the material. Both individual metrics and group metrics allow for the tracking of course effectiveness and engagement.
- Satisfaction and approval – This metric gives HR professionals some indication of how the employee or employees feel about the content. The is a powerful metric because it allows HR or learning managers to adjust current content or, if need be, create better content based on the needs of the employee.
- Instructor and manager ratings – This metric may not always be applicable as, in some cases, material is not presented by an instructor or manager but through a technology interface of some sort. If that is not the case, this will indicate how learners feel about the instructor or manager. It can also be directly linked to the reason an employee or group of employees are not learning at the level expected.
- Competency and proficiency – Competency and proficiency metrics show HR professionals if employees have the knowledge and skills to achieve a desired outcome. If not, this metric allows for learning managers to adjust the material accordingly. It also allows from some insight into an employee or group’s currently proficiency.
In summation
The challenges facing HR professionals when using analytics to transform the learning and development program are connected. Before companies can actually engage with the transformation, data has to be present. Whether it is realized or not, companies do have learning data available. What may not exist is the ability to evaluate that data.
Data provides invaluable insight into the future learning opportunities of a company’s workforce. Now, more than ever before, HR professionals have a real opportunity to do what all leaders and C-suite members want to do: predict the future. By leveraging and understanding the data generated by learning programs, HR professionals can better evaluate the content and their effectiveness. It can lead to better outcomes both developmentally for the employee and financially for the employer.
By Mason Stevenson
Originally posted on hrexchangenetwork.com
by admin | Aug 13, 2019 | Human Resources
When it comes to culture, companies have to walk the walk and talk the talk.
HR professionals have all been there. A potential new employee comes in for an interview. Company representatives question the prospect and then ask if the candidate has any questions. With surety, the first question uttered will be about the company’s culture. The response has to be real and backed-up with proof.
Why?
In addition to the usual reasons (truthfulness, respect and ethics and so on), look at the current make up of the workforce for guidance. Companies are dealing with one that’s multigenerational; one that stretches from spectrum to spectrum in terms of what they want and need from their employers. Take Generation Z for instance. These workers are very confident and that bleeds into the way in which they approach the interview/hiring process. They will want to explore the office and talk to current employees. They are going to test what HR says about the culture.
Having said that, what constitutes an excellent company culture?
Company Culture Tips
An excellent company culture is:
- Richly Diverse – A company culture thrives on diversity. This doesn’t just push toward ethnic or gender diversity, though that is equally important. It must also embrace cognitive diversity; the different ways in which people perceive and digest information. Leaning on this allows for ideas to be evaluated from multiple angles and can reveal both the pros and cons of an action. A diverse company culture also looks at all dimensions of diversity including hiring or seeking employees from diverse backgrounds both personally and professionally. That may include, as an example, hiring a candidate with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD). Other examples include hiring more veterans or the formerly incarcerated. These present unique challenges, but given the right action plan, those issues can be overcome and the company can benefit.
- Innovative – A company culture must always look to the future. That means embracing innovation. Employees at all levels need to feel the freedom to posit ideas for consideration. And those ideas need to be thoroughly discussed and evaluated. That’s the key to innovation. Most employees just want their ideas considered. If it’s not an idea that is feasible or realistic, that’s fine. The importance lies in that the employee has a voice.
- Open to dissent – Speaking of employee voices, workers need to feel they can dissent from leadership. This doesn’t mean protest or rebel against a decision, but that their concerns will be heard and they will not see retaliation from sharing those ideas.
- Transparent – A company culture that embraces transparency will not, in most cases, fail. Why? In a transparent culture, everyone knows the important bits of information, but more importantly, they can take ownership of what’s happening. Employees who are proud to work for their employers ultimately take more ownership in the company’s destiny. They will be more engaged and will pour more energy into ensuring success than the average employee.
- Aligned with company brand – Employees and customers must see value in the brand which helps support the culture. It has to resonate with them. For HR, this might include a partnership with the company’s marketing or public relations department.
- Supported by all, especially leadership – If leaders don’t see value in or support the culture, expect the same from employees. Leaders have to actively engage in the culture and make it a staple in their normal operations. Lead by example. When the CEO cares… the employees care.
- Aligns with strategy and process – Think about this from a talent perspective. The culture needs to align with processes like hiring, compensation and benefits, development and hiring. And don’t forget about succession planning. How will the culture align in the future?
- Collaborative – This is a great way to instill the culture for your employees. Look at ways to encourage collaboration between teams of employees. This reinforces the idea that everyone is part of a much larger team.
- Feedback driven – Give employees regular feedback on performance. This will help in aligning their performance with the goals of the company. But don’t save this for a once-a-year event. Any time an employee or team makes progress toward the company’s goals and in doing so supports the culture, it’s time for some P.R.O.P.S. or Peer Recognition of Peer Success.
- Deliberate – Culture should be deliberate. It’s not something that just happens. Values must be known and supported, especially by leadership. Otherwise, the culture that is trying to be built will slowly pass into oblivion and the process will have to start all over again.
Benefits of an Excellent Company Culture
The tips listed above are just that, tips. If they’re not internalized and not used properly the company will not benefit. On the flip side, if those pieces are practiced well, companies will see some huge advantages.
For one, expect to see an improved environment. It will truly become a pleasant place to work. It’s pleasing socially and psychologically. If that’s the case, expect to see the quality of work improve. That means higher increases in productivity which leads to more business success.
By Mason Stevenson
Originally posted on hrexchangenetwork.com
by admin | Aug 8, 2019 | Benefit Management, Human Resources
Volunteering Time Off, or VTO, has become a buzz topic for many companies as of late. It involves encouraging employees to take time off from their job to plug in to their community and the nonprofits that support it. Let’s delve in deeper to understand what VTO looks like.
- Typical VTO policies allot for 8 hours of paid time off to volunteer each year.
- Just like Paid Time Off (PTO), VTO usually requires advance notice to the employer and approval for time away from the business.
- Studies have shown that VTO boosts employee engagement and retention.
- Millennials state they are attracted to companies who offer VTO.
- VTO builds loyalty and pride for a company with its employees.
- A recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) study states 20% of its respondents now offer volunteering benefits as part of their employee benefits package.
As you look for ways to engage with your employees through VTO, take a look at these resources:
- VolunteerMatch.org—This website makes the business-to-nonprofit connection possible. Nonprofits post projects and jobs they need assistance with and then the company builds its team to help.
- Volunteering Is CSR—An arm of Volunteer Match, this blog is for business leaders to educate themselves on best practices and case studies.
- CatchAFire.org—This site connects professionals with nonprofits using their specific skill sets.
- PointsofLight.org—Founded by President George H.W. Bush, this group offers toolkits to businesses and nonprofits to maximize volunteering efforts as well as offers products to maximize those efforts.
