HR Notes - Diversity, Social Media Essay

Submitted By Km3633
Words: 2216
Pages: 9

Most of what we discussed, such as diversity, new recruitment methods, social networking, etc are challenges that we face in the workforce that a short while ago were non-existent. So it really emphasized the changing nature of HR and makes me wonder what lies ahead. Here are some of the discussed topics from the last two weeks and my thoughts:

Talent Management
Different challenges that arise with talent management, specifically recruitment, selection, retention, and design of work systems

- Addressing labor shortage & labor surplus: The most important point here is to make sure that the staff already employed in the organization are ensuring that the organization meets its full potential. Difficulties such as labor shortage and surplus should be predicted ahead of time, and accounted for, so as to avoid very costly problems in the future (IBM is a great example of this!). It’s also good to do a very detailed analysis and look at the organization as a whole - when considering labor shortage and surplus. If possible, the company should consider the reasons for the fluctuation - is it long-term, such as a demographic change, or a shorter-term influence - such as a drop in the unemployment rate, for example. Also, often times, it can be that the labor is not distributed evenly throughout the organization. Perhaps some of the divisions have too many idle employees a surplus while others are lacking staff members. Training can play an important role here - is it possible to provide some employees with training of specific skills, so that they can begin working in another field, where their expertise can be applied? This question reminded me of the article we read in the first week of this class, about a company that hired certain employees right out of college - but then gave them a year to travel and expand their knowledge. This shows great planning on the part of HR - the employee will begin in a year, exactly when he/she will be needed the most in the organization. During a labor shortage - retention is key! And it seems that one of the most important things for retention, as we read in the Ritz Carlton Case, is a well designed orientation program. Again, here HR should look at where the shortages are - they can better adjust their recruitment techniques, and here is where Employer Branding can make the biggest difference, after all “employers who use segmentation to pinpoint who they need to attract and what they need to do to attract them will have an advantage over those who don’t.” Does the organization need a higher level professional staff or more entry level employees? If entry level - they can begin a campus recruitment program, or start looking into social media as a method. It’s important to keep in mind the employees - when dealing with labor surplus. Perhaps in order to avoid lay-offs, that are very stressful for all employees and the organization, the company can look at alternatives such as job-sharing. This will cut labor costs and can even lead to productivity as each employee will work less hours. Another option could be to lower the retirement age, so that more employees can qualify for retirement earlier, should they choose to take it.

- Recruitment & selection: there is a difference between recruiting and selection. Selection occurs based on the candidates that were recruited. HR should have a strategy for recruitment and for the selection process. It is absolutely crucial for an organization to have a valid selection criteria - that will be a predictor of the individual’s job success. Therefore, race, sexual orientation, height, physical appearance, etc are not valid predictors and should not be considered at all when recruiting and selecting a candidate for a job (can lead to lawsuits). This is where I can see the danger of using social media for talent management.

- Social Media: Yes, there is a need to use innovative methods and new available technology such as social networks, facebook,