Hiring and HR Developments for 2013
Thursday, January 31st, 2013
The face of hiring and human resource management is changing fast. The combination of advances in technology and changes in legislation (can you say, “Affordable Care Act”?) will impact employers in a big way in 2013. To stay ahead, companies need to implement changes in their operations, or they will fall behind.
What are other firms doing in HR this coming year? Here are some changes you’ll likely be seeing:
Companies are starting to buy into HR software consolidation in a big way. Instead of using dozens of different software applications to recruit, hire, manage and measure employees, organizations will utilize enterprise content management (ECM) systems to bring everything into one system. Efficiency improves, while costs decline.
Continuing the trend of data management, more HR departments will address the problem of providing access to employee data while keeping it safe. Creating secure, central databases can eliminate the downtime in locating employee information, as well as the mountains of paperwork that causes storage and confidentiality issues.
As more employees bring their personal devices, from smartphones to tablets, into the office, employers will need to create policies to address their use. BYOD, which stands for Bring Your Own Device, is a trend that many employers are starting to become accustomed to. Employees who are allowed to bring in their own devices are more productive, because they are more familiar with the technology and have loaded the apps that work for them.
However, companies must guard against misuse of company communications and leaks of trade secrets, customer data and other sensitive information.
In more companies, HR will become a major player in long-term goals and strategies. Chief HR Officers will become more common, HR software will be integrated in business planning, and better analysis will allow organizations to crate more results-driven projects.
The word of 2013 might very well be “engaged.” Employees will need to be engaged in order to be happy and productive. Interactivity will become a bigger part of recruiting, training, and performance evaluation. It’s what employees are used to, and where the business world in general is heading.
