#MillennialTalk Recap: “Focus On The Human In Human Resources”

Employees are the heart and soul of a company, but who manages them? After all, there is a lot that goes into the employee experience and this is where Human Resources comes in! To further understand the importance of having an HR department and how they handle responsibilities such as finding employees and training them, we invited Laurie Ruettimann to join us on this  #MillennialTalk as our expert guest. Laurie is a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to fixing work.

We fully support Laurie’s mission to create workplace cultures that support, empower, and engage workers meaningfully. ????????

Ready to learn more? Check out our #MillennialTalk highlights below!

Scroll down for a recap of our Q&A:

@ChelseaKrost: Human Resources is a department of a business that:

• hires/fires staff

• coordinates employee training

• handles employee communications

• monitors performance

• enforces policies/procedures

@lruettimann: I’ll start with optimism. When done right, HR is the one department that can enable great work by helping companies hire people and ensure their emotional, physical and financial wellbeing. What do you think? I think HR professionals can be progressive leaders who implement their vision of the future of work—not just overlords of some corporate agenda that puts profit over people.

@kushaanshah: It’s the function responsible for holistic employee health (compensation, performance, team growth etc) – it’s important because it has a lot of insight into what employees care about and why they stay/leave

 

@ChelseaKrost: This can depend on a number of factors:

• Type of brand/business

• Number of employees

• Budget

• Administration needs

@lruettimann: Every company over 25 people needs an HR department. Not a lawyer. Not a “head of talent.” If you have people, you need a people department that actually cares about people.

@LexLaRee: I agree with @sophiapotier it depends on the size. Another part of me believes having some level of HR is important no matter what even if the “department” consists of just one person.

 

@ChelseaKrost: The Four Quadrants of Human Resources are: Hiring, Onboarding, Employee Experience, and Exits. These 4 elements are very important in order to ensure that employees feel comfortable, safe and supported in the workplace. Companies today should strive to foster a workplace environment that makes employees a priority…happy employees = best  brand ambassadors!

@lruettimann: The best companies are built around the Four Quadrants of HR: Hiring, Onboarding, Employee Experience, and the Exit Process. Everything else is a little 2009 IMHO. Throw out your old HR models. People don’t care about buzzwords. They don’t care who works in Talent Management or Field HR Ops. They don’t care if your title is HR Manager or HR Business Partner. They just want their work-related questions answered.

 

@ChelseaKrost: Social media plays a huge role in talent acquisition. Finding employee candidates can be a daunting task, but the world of social allows HR departments to view/follow potential candidates. Thanks to networks like @LinkedIn we can find people who are looking for jobs, view their past experience, and narrow down their qualifications.

@lruettimann: Can I be cynical for a second? Social media makes HR worse—hiring, onboarding, the employee experience, and certainly the way people leave. The only meaningful connection is a human connection. There was once great promise for social media and hiring. According to EBI, only 2% of applicants are called for an interview for the average job opening. The needle isn’t moving—and that makes me sad.

@C_LONAS: It depends on the area of HR, but in general, it increases visibility of something. You can promote talent, benefits, employee engagements, etc. However, on the other end, it can tell you a lot about your employees and candidates, too (via their posts, etc.)

 

@ChelseaKrost: In order to retain top talent, brands and businesses need to:

@lruettimann: HR can recruit and retain top talent when they work collaboratively with business leaders and train them to do it. If it’s an HR initiative, it will fail. The best HR departments never stop working with their managers to hire. They are always looking for talent, always open to conversations, and will make space for people when they find someone who fits.

@sophiapotier: Firm believer that many employees stay when they feel aligned with mission and values of company! That’s why authentic volunteering or community engagement opportunities can make a difference in retention rates too.

 

@ChelseaKrost: Yes, there is a fine line. There is a difference between being FRIENDS and being FRIENDLY. While bosses should have a nice rapport with their employees, it should not go any further than that.

Having relationships outside of the workplace with your employees can lead to issues such as:

• employees with an unfair advantage

• difficulty in managing expectations

• jealousy from coworkers

@lruettimann: REAL TALK. Work is not your family or friends. You are only truly “friends” with someone if your relationship exists outside of the job, outside of social media, and during your off-hours.

@JenOleniczak: (shouts from rooftops) Nooooooooooooooo! Your work is not your free friend group or free dating ground.

Be friendly not friends. And if you call your staff your family, you’re manipulative. Go home. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

@lruettimann: The best #HRTech should be invisible to the worker. Do you even know anything about what tech is being used at your company? Do you like it? I’d love to hear from you. 

@RachelYancius: Artificial intelligence, learning management systems, chat bots, #HCM software (shameless plug)….most tech is coming into play when #recruiting and dealing with #talent.

 

@ChelseaKrost: While doing my own research about HR, I came across an amazing survey/report that @kpmg put together! Check it out here ➡️ The Future of HR 2020  https://youtu.be/tMpTE3Cn2Zs

@lruettimann: I fear that HR grows more complex in 2020. Leaders believe that automation and digitization improve productivity and delivery, but we haven’t found easy ways to do it.

@JKatzaman: Artificial intelligence will play an ever greater role in human resources at the risk of letting machines do work better left to retaining the last vestiges of human interaction.

 

 

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Ready for more? Check out our #Millennialtalk RECAP 

“Think on Your Feet: Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Impromptu Communication Skills on the Job”

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