How HR is helping the next wave of the IT transformation

OK, so we’re all connected by wire and with wireless. We’re bombarded with information 24/7 – or at least it seems that way. Is this making us more or less productive? What do we do with all this information; how do we assimilate it into our work lives?

Read Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco’s article, which appeared in the Financial Post, November 1, 2010, to learn more about “HR key to making IT Revolution 2.0 work.”

Employee retention – retaining staff in an upturn

It isn’t very often that you find many private sector consultancy companies in agreement with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on an issue. However, the main thrust of their recent pamphlet, “In sickness and in health?” is in line with our own thinking about the importance of creating company cultures where there is a focus on the employer making their business a ‘good place to work’ for their employees.

As we, hopefully, look to leave a recession after two long years, our clients are telling us about their fears in respect of ‘employee flight’. Many employees who might have wanted to leave a company in the last two years, but stayed where they are for job security reasons, may now be using the improving corporate climate to look for a new role.

There will always be businesses able to buy in talent and it is increasingly recognised that salary alone cannot motivate and engage top staff. There needs to be more than a monetary incentive for people to stay with their current employer. The solution to the problem, as recognised by the TUC, is to create a positive working environment that people want to stay in.

What makes up this positive working environment? The TUC pamphlet lists a number of factors such as creativity, control over your work, quality management, work-life balance, workplace environment, development / training opportunities and reward (financial and emotional). Creating a culture where these are all key to how the business operates is perhaps the main challenge for Leadership Teams and HR professionals in the 21st Century. A range of employers are leading the way in this area with growing interest in being a Sunday Times Top 100 employer or having your positive culture recognised by an external organisation such as Investors In People. The reward for success in this area is a productive, engaged and less absent workforce than those employers that continue with the traditional approach.

Tell us what you think – we’d like to hear what you have to say about this topic and the challenges facing your firm at our breakfast seminar on 22 June.