Human Thoughts in a Silicon Valley Life

If you are an HR executive, you better have a game plan that clearly defines how you are embracing, leveraging and integrating these trends into your HR technology platform… and policies… and processes… basically, your daily life.

Social and collaboration is Talent Management 2.0

Antiquated HR processes and technologies that are centered around what HR needs will shift, not because HR wants it, but because the trend has already garnered critical mass and there is no stopping it.  Social software is successful because it enables a basic human need for communicating and connecting at a personal level that is not possible in the physical world.

Think about web in the early 1990s or cell phones in the early 2000s: what seemed to be “optional” technology at the time is today ubiquitous and we all depend on it.  Your job is to enable social to happen within your organization in a meaningful way that helps further your company’s goals.  Your talent is not managed any more… so forget about the phrase “Talent Management”.  Instead, think about talent that’s enabled for collaboration and real time communications: anytime, anywhere.

Embrace peer-to-peer performance tracking (not reviews), crowdsourced ideation and problem solving (instead of expert based), virtual teams (instead of predefined teams) and other socially powered goodness.

What HR executives must watch out for:

Do not… REPEAT: DO NOT… try to control the social wave.  It will happen whether you want it or not.  The reality is your workforce IS already spending time on Linkedin, Facebook and twitter.  Enable them to collaborate within your company rather than trying to control this groundswell.

Gamification is key to adoption

The new generation of our workforce is all about gratification.  Gamification is the most effective way of giving the workforce what they want… but very few will do it successfully.  Adoption used to hinge on easy to use User Interfaces.  Well, not anymore.  Now software has to be exciting, engaging, but there has to be something in it for me now. Gimme rewards, awards, and accomplishments I can boast about.

What HR executives must watch out for:

Gamification is NOT about pretty badges… That worked for FourSquare, but will not be enough for you.  When it comes to HR software, give people what they want: money, diamonds, trips, vacation days, training, passes for events.  Gamification is about gratification, privileges and recognition.  Your workforce can smell gimmicky tricks at a distance, so be careful with overdoing it.

Cloud-based software

On-premise software is dead.  It’s the new “legacy” that makes your organization slow and old. Its days are counted.  Not because SaaS and Cloud are sexy or cool, but because they lower costs, are easier to implement and maintain, and provide more levels of security than your current systems.  In other words, they align with your business goals.

What HR executives must watch out for:

Not all HR systems need to be moved to the cloud.  Payroll, for instance, has not changed in years…  there is no need to rush to move it to the cloud.  Prioritize which HR systems make sense to start migrating before you embark on this journey.

Mobile ubiquity

Gone are the days of having to sit in front of the computer to interact with systems.  The new hyper connected, social workforce is spending more time on their phones than in front of a terminal.  Thoughts and ideas must be captured real time, on the ground.

What HR executives must watch out for:

Mobile is not an extension of your web based HR software.  Just buying the “mobile version” is not enough.  Embrace location based technology, user behavior, and need for mobility.  For instance, why not provide your workforce with a tool to check-in at a conference room  and give a “shout out” to a peer who’s doing a great job in a meeting?

Big data will replace poorly designed HR reports

Data abounds.  Meaningful data is scarce.  Analytics is the new black for HR decision makers.  But analytics is meaningless if it does not consider all data points.  Combine your current data with social data: tweets, yammer posts, RSS feeds, customer service feedback, and more, to get a real picture of your workforce’s abilities, wants and needs.

What HR executives must watch out for:

Nobody has cracked the code for this yet.  All your traditional HR software providers say they do, but no mistake about it, they haven’t.  They keep throwing more and more reports at you hoping one sticks.  Start with clear business goals first, then pick your data providers based on that.  Not one will fit you perfectly, so be willing to pick and choose to create your own dashboard.  Out of the box will not cut it.

Global: this time for real

Translating your policy documents, on boarding training, and job postings into Spanish, Chinese and German is not enough.  Even if your company does not do business internationally, you’re competing with many other companies for talent that will have no choice but to tap into the global talent pool.

What HR executives must watch out for:

Immigration and local laws are changing all the time.  Take a step at a time, don’t try to bite too much.  Serve your current workforce first, then extend your capabilities to recruiting and other HR services that will lower the barriers to a fluid multicultural workforce.

How we roll out technology is ALSO changed

Stop thinking top-down.  The way technology has been rolled out so far has not worked.  HR software boasts the lowest adoption rates of any enterprise software.  Workforce has been “forced” to adopt such software.  They don’t like it.  Instead, find the leaders in the organization that can serve as ambassadors.  Spread it socially.  It’s all about value to the workforce now, NOT about HR.

What HR executives must watch out for:

Product and technology ambassadors in your organization are NOT in HR.  Look elsewhere.   Find those who have a following, who are trusted, who care about people and their futures.

In conclusion: the world is moving fast, being transformed from static, 1 to 1 interactions to crazily hyper connected and social environments.  Your best talent will come from the social networks of your employees.  Your biggest savings will come from not having software in house.  Your most successful HR initiatives will depend on social adoption.

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Credits:

Image courtesy of Luc Legay.

This post was inspired by the thoughts shared by Bill Kutik, Jason Averbook and Naomi Lee Bloom during this year’s HR Technology Conference.

This post originally appeared on TheUpMover blog and can be found here.