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CAHRS Top 10 List for June 2013

Each month, the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS) publishes this list of the top 10 resources and articles that we have found in the HR world. Read through and let me know if you find them useful or if you found other links we should take a look at in the comments section below.

1. When Pay is Kept Secret, the Implications on Performance Are Revealing
Summary: Researchers set out to draw from expectance theory notions to explain how the effects of pay secrecy on perceived performance-pay instrumentalities are likely cause a generally adverse effect on individual task performance.

2. The New Employer-Employee Compact
Summary: The authors propose a new employer-employee compact to make organizations more agile and entrepreneurial. The article outlines 3 key components with action items to make the compact workable: (1) Hire employees for a defined period of time (2) Encourage and even subsidize employees to build networks outside of the organization (3) Establish employee alumni networks to build career-long relationships with employees after they have moved on.

3. An HR Icon Reflects on Retirement
Summary: Effective June 1 Randy MacDonald, senior vice president of human resources for CAHRS Partner IBM, will be retiring after 42 years in HR, the last 13 of which were with IBM. In this interview he shares about the succession planning leading up to the selection of Diane Gherson, what HR needs to do to be even more successful in business, and the key attributes of an extraordinary HR leader.

4. Balancing the Pay Scale: Fair vs. Unfair
Summary: Reward system designs need to balance incentive effects and equity concerns, and increased transparency around compensation and benefits can help employees understand their level of compensation.

For more on Compensation, take a look at Kevin Hallock’s Business Insider article “Why Pretty Much Everyone Thinks They’re Underpaid.”

5. Fixing the Disconnect in Talent Decision Making
Summary: Trying to make decisions without integrated data—or the wrong kinds of data—can send a company off course. HR analytics illuminate patterns that are difficult to observe with the human eye.

For more on HR Analytics, take a look at the January Working Group Summary.

6. Hitting the Intergenerational Sweet Spot 
Summary: HR should target maximum engagement for all employees by not taking    characteristics of  millennials out of context and understanding that both millennials and Baby Boomers value challenging, meaningful work and opportunities for development.

7. Research Backs the Benefits of Flex Work for Workers – and Companies
Summary: There is a large quantity of academic research on flexible work arrangements that provide valuable insights into the debate, for example the positive effects of telecommuting are maximized at 15 hours per week and flexibility around work hours is more effective than flexibility around workplace.

For more information on Remote Workers, take a look at the Remote Workers Working Group Summary.

8. Incentivizing Creative Employees Towards Increased Competitiveness
Summary: The author argues that compensating and acknowledging employed inventors can incentivize creativity, innovation, and profitability.

9. The HR-Risk Connection
Summary: HR and risk management have begun working closer together to improve their bottom lines, streamline processes and ensure risks are addressed and/or countered before they take on any significance.

For more reading on Talent Management, visit the CAHRS Talent Management Center of Excellence.

10. Your Assumptions About Cultural Adaptation Are Probably Wrong
Summary: The workforce has never been more global, yet when working internationally most people focus on more concrete pressing tasks than the global element of their work. As a result, they often follow “gut” instincts about cultural adaption, which tend to be wrong.

For more reading on Globalization, take a look at the Singapore Human Capital Challenges for the Emerging Market and Talent Management Challenges for the India Market.

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Utilizing Gender Pay Issues to Inform HR Policies

Beth Livingston Examines Gender Roles and Their Impact on the field of HR

Beth Livingston, HRS Assistant Professor at Cornell University, studies gender roles and their impact on employer relationships. She is currently expanding work on a CAHRS grant, out of which was published an article in 2008. In 2011, Livingston started expanding on the paper, looking at sexist attitudes about women in workplace. “I’ve found that men with more sexist mindsets make more money than women, whereas men with egalitarian attitudes don’t show a gender-wage gap,” she explains.

As a human resource expert, Livingston wants to know what this means for employers and employees. “Why the wage gap?” asks Livingston. “Do individuals with different sexist attitudes negotiate differently? Is it discrimination? What is happening? Understanding interpersonal issues can help us take the next steps in terms of what to do about the wage gap,” she points out.

For instance, Livingston’s CAHRS research centers around employer/employee relationships. Each person’s role orientation was identified, and then each person was put in a mock interview situation, where one person played the part of the boss, and one person played the role of the employee. “We wanted to see if these people focused on different things during the interview based on their gender attitude,” explains Livingston, such as being more or less assertive. “Is a male with more egalitarianism focused more on salary? Or if someone gets paid less do they negotiate for more flexibility?” Initially, the results of the survey indicated a difference in how people negotiate. The thought is that traditional men are less likely to have flex time than egalitarian men.

The second step to the research included a National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79)  The final part of the grant – in progress as this article goes to press — involves MILRs and undergraduates getting jobs right now. “We started off by determining their gender attitudes and then looked at their first job offers,” she explains. “How do they negotiate, and for what sorts of things? Did they get flex time? Did they ask for it?

“Even controlling for types of job, we have already found differences in wages in our 2008 research on gender-role attitudes,,” Livingston states.  As every company knows, rewards can be seen as more appealing than salary. One example would be a total package of rewards that includes all those things.”

“We intend to look at the data with a finer analysis. Some men value family – and this type of personality adds a nuance to gender distribution particularly in regards to work and family,” says Livingston. “Women may get paid less but they’re not dissatisfied by what they’re getting paid. Not all women and men have the same family values,” she explains. The research project will wrap up with a paper estimated to be completed by summer of 2013.

What’s Next?

Livingston is currently working with two PhD students on gender and how it relates to work and family. She’s interested in looking at employees holistically. “In order to understand how to look at rewards, you have to look at the total picture. I’ll be examining couples and how their interaction affects work decisions – particularly as they relate to ex-patriot positions,” she explains.

Livingston is looking to analyze how organizations address their employees’ work. It can be easy to talk about policy but more broadly, how do employees experience this in terms of their partners?

Moreover, Livingston is looking at negative attributions such as “how organizations can reduce blame and provide resources with the possibility of avoiding negative attributions.” For instance, every employee will, at some point, experience negative work and family spillover—but who do they blame for it? Who is perceived to have caused the conflict? How individuals perceive these interactions and how they attribute blame for them might also help us understand how organizations can manage this inevitability.

The Power of Words

Livingston is also pursuing the stereotype of women as catty, and is working on an article about the label of conflict as catty. Facebook’s Sheryl Sandburg – whose Leaning In spurred a debate about the privilege of having a career and family — commented on the book, saying, “Everyone loves a fight — and they really love a catfight,” she writes. “The media will report endlessly about women attacking other women, which distracts from the real issues. When arguments turn into ‘she said/she said,’ we all lose.”

“When men debate, it can be heated and filled with conflict. But when women have the same types of debates, it becomes a label,” points out Livingston. We examine the effects of how people are perceived as a result, she says. And above and beyond the “catty” label, she’s looking to prove how careful we need to be about words and also about how conflict is perceived. “Ideally, more information about this topic can reduce incivility and bullying and how is it perceived in the workplace,” she states.

In the end, Livingston points out, how can we fundamentally judge and see people if we don’t understand the psychology behind the behavior? “Policies can be put in place, but that’s not proactive. We’d like to get to the point where managers will have tools to learn to perceive but not label conflict,” she states.

Talk with Beth Livingston about any of her current projects – or to get involved in a future gender-role research endeavor.

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Top 3 Things Every HR Pro Needs to Know About Social Media Policies

Companies are looking to HR to answer their social media policy questions.

Here are three (3) key policy-making strategies I’ve learned during my 16 years as an executive-level HR practitioner:

1. Employees want to do a great job: Make it easy

A job isn’t just a paycheck and benefits; most employees want to do a great job for their companies, and they consistently rank being recognized for their work as a top motivator.

Once their pay and benefits needs are met, employees want to know that their efforts are valued and contribute to company success. To that end, companies should enable — not inhibit — employees from getting things done and doing their best.

Providing technology tools, such as social media, is one way to empower and engage employees to work smarter, not harder.

Social media can speed innovation, collaboration and communication — but only if employees know how to use it within a well-defined framework. Social media policies that recognize this, and attempt to appropriately empower rather than inappropriately control employees, are an essential tool for helping employees succeed.

2. Discipline will set you (and them) free

I’ve found that when policies incorporate employee input, employees themselves become the strongest advocates for compliance. Employees need to understand the purposes served by social media policies, and that they aren’t simply additional burdens on getting work done.

How do you build this understanding? By soliciting employee input for creating disciplined — not restrictive — policies, and then training and certifying them to implement these policies.

Educated employees become proud, and confident, internal advocates for compliance. You know you’ve been successful when you hear someone say, “While I don’t like this Facebook policy, I understand why our company needs it.”

3. Top down, bottom up: Multiple perspectives get buy-in

Social media is about personalizing experience, whether for employees working inside your organization or customers engaging with your products outside. And VPs have differing perspectives from entry-level managers on what those experiences should be.

By developing social media policies that incorporate perspectives from all employees, you can better balance your organization’s cultural needs against an appropriate level of risk management.

Moreover, this approach fosters buy-in. Employees at all levels feel seen and understood, which lays the groundwork for success.

Guest Post on TLNT

 

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Cornell University Embraces Flexible Work Plans

In the midst of companies like Yahoo and Best Buy re-evaluating their remote work plans and calling some workers back into the office, Cornell University is only planning on expanding their remote and flexible work plans, including them in a multitude of programs and plans across campus.

In the past 25 years, Cornell University has really shifted from looking at flexible work as a means to accommodate working families to really starting to treat it as part of our organizational business strategy. And I think that this is very evident in our 2010-2015 University Strategic Plan. It’s very specific in stating that we will sustain and expand flexible work arrangements whenever feasible. So I think that the attention is certainly placed on that as a means to driving our university forward.

Another plan that was recently created in 2012 is called Toward New Destinations. And the emphasis of that plan is really addressing diversity and inclusion in our workplace and in our student bodies. You may think that flexible work arrangements won’t have a home in addressing diversity and inclusion, but really the way that we look at diversity issues is that we want to create, foster, support a very diverse workplace environment for all kinds of employees and personal life experiences. And flexible work is just one tool in a large basket of work life programs that can do as such.

A third Cornell University plan, the Cornell Climate Action Plan, really takes a look at reducing carbon footprint, the amount of traffic that we have coming to campus, and the demands that we have on our parking infrastructure. Obviously, remote work among other types of flexible work arrangements like compressed  work is a means to being able to support those goals and those priorities.

And, lastly, I would add that even the federal government is taking a look at flexible work arrangements as a means to creating a very diverse workforce and using it as a tool to address issues like emergency planning and really just trying to have the most diverse and engaged workforce as possible.

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Yahoo’s Remote Work is the Solution, Not the Problem

Yahoo, Bank of America, and Best Buy’s decisions to curtail remote work for their employees has certainly stirred up quite a bit of attention as they come at a time when other major companies are ramping up their remote work policies. Even many government agencies worldwide are urging employees and employers alike to consider remote work as an opportunity for better work/life balances and increased innovation and productivity.

Nearly 25% of Americans are participating in some kind of remote work situation, even if it is limited, and this number is on the rise. Flexibility is key for most people and some even say they would take a pay cut to have more of this flexibility in their work arrangement. With advances in technology and increased understanding of how to manage remote work employees, companies can keep their eyes on the productivity prize.

Remote work isn’t the problem for Yahoo, Bank of America, or Best Buy. Wherever employees work, they need to be well managed and engaged with their coworkers. If productivity and engagement are the real problems behind why they are calling everyone home, they should address those problems directly and deal with the cultural change within the organization.

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Johnson Controls, Inc., Selects eCornell to Deliver Online Human Resources Training

Global, diversified technology and industrial leader to run pilot program targeting HR professionals

Johnson Controls, Inc., a global diversified company in the building and automotive industry, has selected eCornell to deliver a pilot program to its human resources managers and directors.

Launching the program by offering a course from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, “Developing People Solutions for Business Success,” Johnson Controls, Inc., will provide HR managers and directors an understanding of the value their business organization offers its customers and of how that value is created.

With a global presence in over 150 countries, it is important that Johnson Controls offer a learning solution that is high-caliber and easily accessible. This course will allow Johnson’s HR managers and directors to connect in-depth knowledge of the business with HR expertise, to identify and anticipate issues, offer solutions, and take actions that drive business success.

eCornell’s unique approach to elearning combines the most effective elements of a world-class, Ivy League classroom with the flexibility of an online learning environment. eCornell courses—self-paced and 100 percent online—are “instructor-facilitated” to help guide a cohort of 20 to 30 participants through challenging, real-world exercises with practical on-the-job application. Classes enable learners to be immersed in learning that also fosters collaboration, interaction and networking.

“We are pleased to be working with Johnson Controls, Inc., and looking forward to helping them achieve their learning outcomes for their HR audience,” said Tom Abogabal, vice president of global sales at eCornell.  “Johnson Controls, Inc., is a global leader in its field, and we are thrilled to be partnering with them to help HR be an effective strategic business partner to their internal clients.”

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About eCornell

eCornell, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cornell University, provides many of the world’s leading organizations with online professional and executive development in the areas of leadership and management, human resources, financial management, healthcare, marketing, and hospitality management. eCornell’s proven course development model and asynchronous instructor-led course delivery provide for engaging, rigorous, and interactive learning. The company has delivered online courses to more than 50,000 students in over 200 countries. For more information visit www.ecornell.com/enterprise (enterprise buyers) or www.ecornell.com (small groups and individual students).

 

About Johnson Controls, Inc.

Johnson Controls is a global diversified technology and industrial leader serving customers in more than 150 countries. Its 168,000 employees create quality products, services, and solutions to optimize energy and operational efficiencies of buildings, lead-acid automotive batteries and advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles, and interior systems for automobiles. In 2012, Corporate Responsibility Magazine recognized Johnson Controls as the #5 company in its annual “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list. The company was formerly known as Johnson Electric Service Company, changing its name to Johnson Controls, Inc., in 1974. Johnson Controls, Inc., was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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What Can Certificate-level Credentials Do For the HR Pro

As you know, in human resources, credentials are king. Typically, employers require at least a certificate-level credential for an entry-level position in HR. Human resources certificates demonstrate competence and proficiency and are a great way for you to set yourself apart from the pack. An HR certificate shows that you have knowledge, expertise and a dedication to your continuing education and profession.

On the other side, a human resources certificate helps hiring managers make sound decisions when considering HR employees. It provides a benchmark for measuring proficiencies. Across all industries, candidates with HR certificates are more valued and sought-after than those without.

Taking things one step further, many professionals in the field enter certificate programs that also include HR certification. It’s important to make a clear distinction between an HR certificate and HR certification. Earning an HR certificate is essentially a one-time achievement while certification requires periodic renewal of credentials. In the United States, certified HR professionals are educated and evaluated by an accrediting body like the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI), or the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Read More

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Awesome 32-page HR report condensed to 8 bullet points

Here’s a time-saving hack for HR pros: read this 8-point synopsis before you fully commit to reading the entire Deloitte survey: Transformative Technologies Driving Human Resource Organizations to ‘Leap Ahead’ in 2012.

This report focuses on 8 human capital trends you need to understand in order to deliver top-notch HR  in 2012.

  1. In 2012, growth is job#1: As the economy sloooowly recovers, growth is the word on everyone’s lips. Innovation, emerging markets and mergers and acquisitions all play a major role in the growth strategy. Capitalize on opportunities by informing and shaping the growth agenda from the HR seat, identifying places where HR will have to “step-up” to make a growth strategy happen smoothly.
  2. Operation globalization: Global integration models of doing business are on the rise. Your company’s home market becomes one in a pool of markets you serve, as opposed to the “top-dog” position it traditionally held. HR operations will have to be prepared for global people management and change management, designing global operating models for the HR side of business.
  3. Fast track to the top: AKA the development of high-potential employees to meet the demands of emerging markets and growth opportunities.
  4. People risk is risky business: In the world of “black swans” (Not the crazy ballet dancer from the movie of the same name but the low-probability event that has far-reaching ramifications), HR’s role in managing risk becomes stronger and more expansive. Risk-management becomes a day-to-day responsibility.
  5. Seeing around corners: Using workforce reporting and analytics to manage uncertainty and look for patterns in an increasingly complex workforce-management world. Are you using the data you gather, or is it siloed somewhere far away from the heart of the business?
  6. #social #mobile@work: Social Media and mobile devices create opportunities for HR to reach out to recruits and help internal customers, not just spy on people’s FB pages. Communities of practice and other great tools for your workforce spring from these exciting platforms.
  7. Clouds in the forecast: Cloud services are changing the way business operates, and HR has a key role in helping organizations adapt. HR’s role as an early adopter of many cloud-based services makes it a “no-brainer” as the de facto leader in organizational change around the cloud.
  8. Stay in front with an effective sales force: Multichannel sales require different skill sets and tools for the sales team. HR’s talent management, learning and development all must review current practices and make changes to benefit from this new model.

Warning: trying to implement all 8 at the same time may cause your head to explode. Select the relevant items that support the c-suite strategic agenda and crank them up. Then sit back and revel in the accolades. Good job!

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Building a Global Talent Management Strategy

If you missed the eCornell webinar titled Building a Global Talent Management Strategy and would like to view it, or would like to share with colleagues, the archive is available at ecornell.cornell.edu/mar14archive. The presentation slides are at ecornell.cornell.edu/mar14ppt.

In today’s marketplace, going global is more necessity than luxury, as businesses regularly find customers, suppliers and partners from all over the map. That broader focus for business requires a global talent management strategy to properly support a global initiative.

We’ll show you what a global talent management strategy consists of, how to build one that delivers measurable business outcomes and how to deploy to a diverse global workforce. During this interactive webinar, Heidi Spirgi, co-founder and president of Knowledge Infusion, will walk you through the process and steps organizations need to go through to build and deploy a global talent management strategy:

  • How to tie your talent management strategy to business initiatives.
  • The importance of developing a long-term talent management strategy to have better business results.
  • How a successful talent management strategy is one designed for the workforce, not the HR department.
  • Why HR departments cannot focus on “go live” when deploying talent management solutions, but rather must focus on user adoption and outputs, ensuring the new system is driving outcomes aligned with the business, not HR goals.