As we reach the end of the first decade of the 21st Century we have seen a lot of changes happen in our world. There have equally been changes in our profession. This final post for 2009 contains my thoughts on these changes and some view of where I think we are headed going into the next decade.
Corporate Etiquette - There is not a day gone by that I don't find examples of corporate lack of propriety. Whether it is corporations who make no attempt to hide their discriminatory practices or employers who have not recently reviewed their HR processes. I saw an application today from a state agency who actually asked for the candidate to supply First Name, Middle Name, Last Name and Maiden Name if applicable. The maiden name question is blatantly illegal and with EEOC increasing the enforcement actions in the coming year this is an accident looking to happen.
Clueless Corporate Insight - I have found two incidents in the past several months where corporations decided that the economic path to travel was to "vaporize" the positions of the leading HR officer. We will come out of this recession, it is just a matter of time. The problem is when we do, there will be a talent war for the replacement of the staff we let go in the name of economics. These very corporations are going to need the services of the HR professional and they will not be there when they are needed.
Human Capital Engagement - Corporations complain that employees have no work ethic left. They complain that the sense of loyalty in employees is gone. Employees counter by saying that the employer no longer appreciate the efforts they put in for the company. I have a friend who has been told that they on a regular basis expect their employees to work 60 hour weeks without the necessary support to get the work done in a timely matter. We need to rethink the terms of the employer-employee contract to more efficiently make the system work to the advantage of all. It also means that we need to gain a reintroduction of the needs of the employee when we are in the recruiting process.
Changing Workforce - Charles Handy in his book Age of Unreason, suggested that we woiuld no longer have unemployment. In its place we would all be self -employed taking on projects with a corporation and moving on to a new project when it is done. With the nature of the economic times it is possible that this is the time to look at Handy's model. The employee can sign on to a project which best uses their skills and work as they want to work. Some models in the past couple of weeks have suggested tha this is the very area that will see the initial increase in hiring in the months to come. Hire on to handle a crisis and move on to the next crisis. They can live where they want to and relocate for the project and then return to home base.
The coming months will see a huge amount of changes. Some would suggest not for the better. Others would say that in order for this country to maintain its place in the world we have no choice but to make the changes. It is going to be one of the most dynamic times in my life time and it will require us to think in new ways on the role of the citizens in this economy. The global market will continue to cause offshoring of jobs, but AT&T and Sprint have already found that it costs more in poor client relations to send those jobs out. They have in return brought those jobs back to this country. We need to remember that we all are part of a team and need to function as such. This means that management needs to change their focus and place more contgrol in the hands of our teams.
To my clients, business partners and readers of this blog we extend our hopes that 2010 will be a year of better work environments for all.
