Thursday, January 10, 2013

An HR Leader's Top 10 New Year's Resolutions

PARIS
As an HR leader it is my responsibility to make sure my company has the best tools experience can provide and budget can buy. Here are therefore my New Year's 10 resolutions as pertaining to technology without which there cannot be any HR.




1.      I will make a thorough inventory of my HR systems: What works,  what doesn't   what needs to be enhanced, what needs to be discarded.
2.
  
I will link every HR policy and HR technology to  my company’s overall business objectives: If I can’t show how that new learning system  is going to affect the bottom line, then I will not waste time on it.

3.
   I will insist from my HRIS team to have relevant metrics at my fingertips, such as why I have to spend more on training new hires or why our turnover is always above x% in some areas: If I can’t have these metrics, then I will NOT authorize any spend on any new system.
4.
          I will assert myself more forcefully versus IT to ensure that the final say on HR systems rests with me, not with them: IT is here to support my work not lord it over me and my team.

5.
    I will make sure my HR people have a sound knowledge of technology: They don’t need to become IT geeks but they should understand how systems work, what benefits they bring, what their limitations are and be trained on all facets of the products, especially to help Resolution #3.
6.
  
I will stay clear of fads and the latest buzzwords: Unless proven otherwise, Big Data will have to be big somewhere else, not here.
7.
  
I will NOT have a systems integrator get involved in system selection: I am sick and tired of vendors who nudge me into selecting a system that fits THEIR needs and not mine.
8.
  
I will make sure that at one click I  have access to the actual, real-time  figure of my global headcount. If I can’t, then back to Resolution #1.
9.
  
I will make sure I have at my fingertips a description of the skill set of ALL employees in my company.  If that is not the case, then back to Resolutions # 1 and 2.
10.
 
I will harmonize all HR processes and  unify systems across all subsidiaries in my global organization, unless there is a good business reason NOT to.