7 Hottest Trends In HR Technology

I’m heading out to Las Vegas now for #HRTechConf. It’s always a fascinating and elucidating experience, and a chance to catch up with friends, clients and colleagues and of course – the parties. Technology has been dominating the HR and Talent Management space for the past decade – with more “real serious widespread adoption” happening in the past year. Has it’s application plateaued? Is HR finally taking a more active role in driving user adoption? Are there more exciting developments on the way that help to recruit, retain and engage your talent? Where do things stand and where are they going? These are definitely exciting times.

Here’s My Take On The Top 7 Trends in HR Technology:

1) There Will Be A Move MOVE -4.15% From Quantity To Quality. We’ve been deluged with technological advances, and many Leaders and HR departments have embraced some, or if very innovative, many of them. Only to later find out (after spending money and resources) that some are a terrible match for their organizations. I see much more selectivity in the year ahead. Instead of asking, “Is this amazing technology?”, the question will become, “Is this technology a good match for us?”

2) The Number Of So-Called Breakthrough HR Technologies Will Diminish. We’re now in the second decade of the computer revolution, which has indeed changed the way we live and work. But even something as epic as the computer reaches its limits. What we’re seeing now is a welcome emphasis on refinements of the core technologies. Beware of vendors who try and dazzle you with hype, or are selling wildly complicated products. Look for smart (and often simple) technologies that are user-friendly and deliver targeted results.

3) It’s All About Implementation. Smart people are shutting out all the clutter and asking themselves: “Is this technology going to be easy to implement and will be my employees actually adopt?” Ignore all the bells and whistles, the shiny toys and pretty graphics. In the end it’s about usage, smart data and building stronger teams. Will this product be worth the effort and expense? Deconstruct the technology down its core deliverables. The rest is just a waste of time.

4) Analytics Is The Special Sauce. Software analytics, single stack software and any tool that enables relevant data to be collected and shared between departments with ease and consistency is basically good. It allows everyone to be on the same page, speaking the same language. It’s a fantastic Leadership and HR tool. We can see what’s happening – the good, the weird, the amazing and the stuff that makes us ask better questions — across the organization and respond quickly. We are now seeking numbers to back up what we say. We have the tools – let’s use them.

5) Social Media And Continuous Learning Continues To Grow In Significance. Social media is one area that has lived up to its hype. It’s an amazing talent management, branding and employee engagement tool. For example – by creating a 3-dimensional profile of an applicant (Google the person’s name-Wink), talent simply leaps out. Peoples quirks, interesting detours, offbeat skills all come to life as we learn more about people’s personalities and “real lives”. As do certain negatives like rigid ideology, or a tendency to be snarky or combative. Within an organization, social media, social learning and big data are an unparalleled communication and cohesion tool if understood and utilized correctly.

6) Real Time Talent Management Matters. Tools that allow continuous monitoring of performance are better for everyone. A formal employee review every six months is fast becoming obsolete. What is far more important is software that enables us to stay on top of things in real time. Problems are nipped in the bud and the good stuff like recognition, gamification and rewards are in place to offer more productive employee relationships that can be nurtured. No more playing catch-up. Real time monitoring gives HR and Leaders more power to do more good and weed out the people who are not a good fit.

7) Mobile, Mobile, Mobile. There’s a new generation of talent coming up that views desktops as a relic from the past. The world is growing evermore global and mobile and HR has to be, too. To reach the right talent, you need to be mobile-friendly in design and ease of usage. HR should always go where the talent is – and these days it’s on mobile.

It’s going to be an exciting, if at times overwhelming, week, year. If you see me at the conference, please say hello. I’d love to know what you think of my list. You can find me at the quarter slots (kidding!). Seriously, we live in fascinating times for HR and Leadership and the conference is always interesting. Have a blast. Let’s keep learning and innovating together.

via 7 Hottest Trends In HR Technology – Forbes.

7 Hottest Trends In HR Technology

Weird Interview Questions From Apple, Google, Amazon

We’ve all been on job interviews where we found ourselves thrown off by a question.

As much as we try to prepare for what someone will ask us, there’s no way of knowing what bizarre inquiries will be made as we try to impress a prospective employer.

At big companies like Google and Dell, and even start ups like LivingSocial, it’s common practice to quiz candidates with some unusual questions. We pored over Glassdoor’s Interview Questions and Reviews to find some of the most obscure ones.

Here are some of the questions that have been asked in the past by some of the top companies in the world.

Amazon asks: “Jeff Bezos walks into your office and says you can have a million dollars to launch your best entrepreneurial idea. What is it?”

Reuters

MasterCard asks: “Can you say: ‘Peter Pepper Picked a Pickled Pepper’ and cross-sell a washing machine at the same time?”

Dennis Vu Photography for Unleashed Media / Flickr

Dell asks: “What songs best describe your work ethic?”

Garry Knight / Flickr, CC

Jiffy Software asks: “Have you ever stolen a pen from work?”

Flickr via photosteve101

Google asks: “How many cows are in Canada?”

Shutterstock/Dave McAleavy

Kimberly-Clark asks: “If you had turned your cell phone to silent, and it rang really loudly despite it being on silent, what would you tell me?”

www.amazon.com

LivingSocial asks: “What’s your favorite song? Perform it for us now.”

Shutterstock

Zappos asked: “What superhero would you be and would you dress up at work given the chance?”

Warner Bros. and Melia Robinson/Business Insider

Gallop asked: “What do you think about when you are alone in your car?”

Andre Vieira/Getty Images

JetBlue asked: “How many quarters would you need to reach the height of the Empire State building?”

Daniel Goodman/Business Insider

Clark Construction Group asked candidates for an engineer position: “A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?”

http://statigr.am/kyiel_arad

PriceWaterhouse Coopers asked: “My wife and I are going on vacation, where would you recommend?”

Flickr/Tony Takitani

Bain and Company asked: “Estimate how many windows are in New York.”

Instagram/nnuo

Apple asks: “What kind of animal would you be and why?”

via Weird Interview Questions From Apple, Google, Amazon – Business Insider.

Weird Interview Questions From Apple, Google, Amazon

The Power Of Eye Contact: It"s A Myth

Most of us think that when we want to make a point, we should look the other person in the eye. Spouses, bosses, car salesmen, politicians, all use a direct gaze when they’re trying to convince an audience of many or one that their position is the most valid. Now it turns out that they should probably cast their glance in a different direction.

Julia Minson, a psychologist and assistant professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government who studies group decision making and negotiations, and her longtime collaborator, Frances Chen, a psychologist and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, realized that no one had studied this piece of conventional wisdom—that staring at someone will make the person more likely to see your point. Until now, most of the academic work has focused on what Minson calls “lovey-dovey contexts,” like mothers and babies gazing at each other (which cements their bond) and potential mates meeting one another’s gaze (also enhancing their connection). But when it comes to persuasion, academics have really only looked at interactions from the perspective of speakers, who almost always feel they are getting their point across if they are making eye contact.

In a new paper just published in the journal Psychological Science, Minson and Chen tested the proposition that eye contact can win over people who disagree with the speaker. In two different studies (conducted at the University of Freiburg where Chen was doing her post-doctoral work), their data show that people respond more favorably to opposing arguments when the speaker looks at an angle to the recipient or focuses his eyes on his counterpart’s mouth instead of his eyes.

Minson says that she and Chen weren’t totally surprised by their results. Those who study animal behavior have proved that many species, like dogs, control others by staring them down and then attacking. “The intuition that drove our research was that when someone disagrees with you and they look you in the eye in a prolonged, direct manner, it gives you the feeling of someone trying to dominate you,” says Minson. “Our reaction may be primal.”

To test their theory, Minson and Chen ran two studies. In the first one, they observed 20 students watching videos of people making arguments about controversial subjects like quotas for hiring women, assisted suicide and a nuclear power phase-out. They tested various scenarios, including instances where the students were pre-disposed to agree with the speaker or to disagree. Through eye tracking, they measured whether the students were looking at the speakers in the eye. In some of the videos the speakers stared directly at the camera. In others, they gazed out at a 45-degree angle. What Minson and Chen found: In cases where the students disagreed with the speakers’ positions at the outset, direct eye contact made them less likely to change their minds. “In cases where participants made more eye contact, they were less persuaded,” says Minson.

In a second study, they relied on a bigger sample of 42 students who watched eight videos made by four students who gazed straight at the camera, with their heads centered against a white background. Again the speakers discussed controversial subjects like hiring quotas and farming practices. All of the listeners disagreed with the speakers’ opinions. The professors directed them either to look directly at the speakers’ eyes or at their mouths. Again Minson and Chen found that those who looked at the speakers’ eyes, rather than their mouths, were less likely to change their opinions.

What does this mean for those of us who want to make a point? Minson observes that most people don’t make consistent eye contact. “Your eyes naturally go back and forth between the eyes and the mouth,” she notes. “There’s also some time when your eyes just wander around.” Don’t force yourself to look into the other person’s eyes more than you naturally would, she advises.

I had one big question about the study: Is a video interaction really the same as in-person communication? No, says Minson. When people are face to face, there are lots of other things going on, like body language where a speaker might lean in or respond in other ways to an attractive or unattractive recipient. At least the video interaction isolates eye contact.

Next time I want to make a point, I think I’ll let my eyes wander.

via The Power Of Eye Contact: It’s A Myth – Forbes.

The Power Of Eye Contact: It"s A Myth

Big Data in Human Resources: A World of Haves And Have-Nots

I’ve written several times about the Datafication of HR and BigData in Human Resources, explaining the tremendous business opportunity companies have to leverage their employee data to improve operational performance.

This week we introduced research conducted over the last two years and the results were astounding: while more than 60% of companies are now investing in BigData and analytics tools to help make their HR departments more data-driven, there is a huge chasm between the “haves” and the “have nots.”

The Chasm Between Analytics Leaders And Everyone Else

Using our research methodology (which reached around 480 large organizations), we found that only 4% of companies have achieved the capability to perform “predictive analytics” about their workforce. (Understanding the drivers of performance and retention, using statistics to decide who to hire, analyzing how pay correlates to performance, etc.)  In fact, in our research only 14% have done any significant “statistical analysis” of employee data at all.

What are the rest doing?  Dealing with reporting. These remaining 84% on the other side of the chasm are still dealing with data management and reporting challenges, trying to get out from under the burden of ad-hoc reports to deliver standard operational metrics.

 

Fig 1: Bersin by Deloitte Talent Analytics Maturity Model

 

Analytics Leaders Gain Tremendous Returns

 

The research also showed that these leading companies generate high returns for their hard work: their stock market returns are 30% higher than the S&P 500, they are twice as likely to be delivering high impact recruiting solutions, and their leadership pipelines are 2.5X healthier.

 

In addition, these HR teams are four times more likely to be respected by their business counterparts for their data-driven decision-making, giving them true potential to help change the business.

 

Talent Analytics Is Much More than Big Data Tools and Statistics

 

The research also shows that while tools are important, the leading companies have invested in other things:  sound data management which delivers quality data, business consulting capabilities to focus on the right problems, strong relationships with finance and operational analytics teams, and visual design and communications skills. These are all critical skills, in addition to statistics, data, and math.

In fact most HR teams tell us they can find statisticians fairly easily (I/O psychologists study statistics) but have a hard time finding project managers, people who can combine “data” and “business,” and people who can translate a “finding” into a program or solution that drives business change.

Functionally, high performing analytics teams have multi-disciplinary skills. These include business understanding, consulting skills, data visualization, data management, statistics, and executive presence. The analytics team not only has to diagnose and solve business problems, but often confront executives with surprising or new news.

One of the biggest challenges to BigData analytics in companies we’ve talked with is getting people to change their behavior once they have the data. Most managers have years of “belief systems” and “experience” that holds them back from using the data science we provide.

Let me cite one of the examples from the research. One company studied the turnover and retention behavior of employees based on pay raises. Their traditional approach was to pay based on a normal curve and give top performers slightly higher raises than second-tier performers, they received slightly more than the next group, and so on.

 

It turns out, as much of our other research shows, that this “normal distribution” curve of pay is a big mistake. What the research found was that employees in the second and third quintile of performance (good solid performers) would stay with the company even if their raise was as low as 91% of average increases in their job class.  So these folks were being overpaid.

On the other hand, people at the top of the performance curve would leave the company unless they received 115-120% of the average pay increase for their job class, indicating that the payroll money should go here.

 

As most managers know, top performers out deliver mid-level performers by a wide margin, so paying top people “much more” is a huge advantage if it prevents them from leaving.

In this particular case the findings did not solve the problem. Even after being informed, managers continued to pay their people the old way (belief systems die hard and managers don’t like to make waves). So the company had to roll out a massive training program and a new tool set for compensation distribution based on the data science, essentially over-riding typical manager thinking.

Only 14% Of Companies Are Gaining Such Benefits

These kinds of benefits are everywhere to be found in companies. We’ve seen dozens of such stories about applying data science to HR and in every case the return on investment is high.

Unfortunately, because so many companies have not invested in this area yet the vast majority are unable to achieve these results.

So the bottom line of this research is simple: the war for data is on.

If you are not investing in an integrated analytics capability within HR and creating a BigData solution about your own internal people and payroll, you’re going to fall behind.

The companies that unlock some of the secrets of their own people performance will greatly outperform their peers.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2013/10/07/big-data-in-human-resources-a-world-of-haves-and-have-nots/

 

Big Data in Human Resources: A World of Haves And Have-Nots

Don"t Treat Your Career Marathon Like a Sprint

In high school, I was on the cross-country running team. I was only a decent athlete, and midway through the season, my coach demoted me to the “B team.” I wanted to prove to him I deserved to be back on the “A team,” so I launched into my first “B race” at a far faster pace than normal.

I was leading the pack almost the entire way, and, even though my legs were burning, I thought that I could win, get a shiny medal, and more importantly, get my deserved promotion higher up the team pecking order. My coach was thrilled by my “all in” performance. Coming down the last ½ mile of the 3 mile race, however, my legs turned to jelly and I fell from the lead all the way to the back. I even threw up at the end of the race. Afterwards, my coach asked what happened.

I think he knew the answer, and most of us who work in competitive fields know it too. I hadn’t paced myself. I lost my race because I treated a three-mile run like a 100-meter dash. As a result, I had no energy in reserve for the last, most important stretch.

It’s possible in the realm of knowledge work, too, to work so hard for so long under so much pressure that we run out of energy, not just to the detriment of our family lives or our mental and physical well-being, but also with terrible consequences for our long-term job performance. Yet many of us launch into our workweeks, six-month projects, and even whole jobs as 100-meter dashes, seemingly oblivious to the long race over uneven terrain we are actually running.

According to a recent Families and Work Institute study, one third of employees report chronic overwork. Those reporting chronic overwork cite:

Extreme job demands, in that they are given more work than can be reasonably accomplished even in 60 hour workweeks

Expectations that they stay connected to work remotely (email, phones, text) after work hours

The inability to avoid “low value-added” tasks such as paperwork or unnecessary meetings

Having too many projects to work on at one time, diminishing their ability to focus and prioritize among projects and creating too many interruptions and distractions.

As a believer in work-life balance, I often make the argument that “all in” and “work before all” corporate cultures and work expectations are actually enemies of sustained high performance. Smart companies, who know they stand to gain most by retaining the talent they develop, know better than to make their people choose between employer and family.

However, I also firmly believe that the problem is circular, and a worker’s own lack of balance can lead to chronic overwork, and, by extension, to poorer work performance over time.

A few months ago, I was at a Leadership Summit for the Thirdpath Institute, an organization that advocates for work-life balance. One speaker told an anecdote that stuck with me. It was the story of a man who ran a small law firm, talking with a potential client. The client questioned whether to hire this firm because it had advertised itself as a family-friendly workplace. “What happens when an emergency comes up during my case?” asked the prospect. “How do I know you’ll be able to respond?”

“We can respond better because we have a balanced approach,” explained the attorney. “And here’s why. We prioritize better, are staffed more appropriately, schedule time for long-term planning, and yes, allow for time outside of work for our lawyers to have full family lives. Because my lawyers aren’t chronically overworked, they have the capacity – in terms of time, energy, and mental focus – to respond effectively to your crisis situations. We are much more able to rise to these occasional challenges because we don’t treat every day like a crisis.”

He got the client.

In a highly competitive global economy, employers need people to put in full days working hard, and sometimes to put in longer days than others. But if workloads are draining more energy than is being replenished, the pace cannot be sustained. How many talented contributors do we lose because of extreme job demands? How much productivity and quality do we sacrifice because of accumulated fatigue? Occasional overwork may be a necessity, and even embraced by ambitious men and women trying to make the “A team.” Chronic overwork leaves everyone, employees and managers, in the dust.

via Don’t Treat Your Career Marathon Like a Sprint – Scott Behson – Harvard Business Review.

Don"t Treat Your Career Marathon Like a Sprint

The Interview Prep Cheat Sheet: What Hiring Managers Really Want To Know

Despite the fact that people switch jobs more than ever these days, the interview is still somewhat of a specter. It’s a lot of pressure to represent yourself over the course of an hour or two and be judged one way or the other.

Don’t sweat it. You can greatly enhance your chances of getting to round 2 (or 3) by understanding what the hiring manager is really looking for. (Hint: it’s usually not your technical kung fu.) While the skills and experience of any job can vary to extremes, what the person hiring needs right now is confidence in you.When you prepare for the interview, think hard about how the experiences you’ve acquired might demonstrate some big picture traits. Here’s what you should show to your interviewer to instill confidence, no matter the role:

Your cross-disciplinary self.

Most of us aren’t one-trick ponies. All of our past experiences have required some intermingling. We just forget to show it. Are you a marketing expert with the ability to synthesize data? A designer who speaks developer-ese? Or just about any discipline who can recognize the business implications in his or her own parcel of work. Being great at one discipline probably got you to the party, proving your breadth will keep you there.

While the skills and experience of any job can vary to extremes, what the person hiring needs right now is confidence in you.

How you navigate ambiguity.

A huge buzz-phrase of hiring managers (do they all read the same magazines?), “navigating ambiguity” refers to the ability to make decisions and move a project forward without a lot of information. Since organizations are changing at the speed of tech, it’s important to feel comfortable with not-knowing, to see the challenges as they’re presented to you and make quick, confident (mostly correct) decisions.

Your power of influence to get things accomplished.

Many organizations have done away with a traditional business hierarchy for ever-mutating project teams and a flat organization design. Therefore, the skill of persuasion is as important as ever.

Your drive and initiative.

It’s the 99% perspiration factor: the ability to come up with ideas and work to execute them. What are the things you’ve done that prove you’ve got energy and vision?

Be sure to articulate your experiences through clear examples. In preparing for an interview, take an inventory of the things you’ve accomplished and be able to discuss them in detail. The story of your career is marked by signposts, subplots that demonstrate something about you.

Try not to talk about what you would do if given the opportunity. Talk about the stuff you’ve already done. That’s what really demonstrates what you’re all about.

via The Interview Prep Cheat Sheet: What Hiring Managers Really Want To Know – 99U.

The Interview Prep Cheat Sheet: What Hiring Managers Really Want To Know

The top five in-demand IT certifications for 2013

Now is a great time to set ambitious career goals for yourself in the new year and achieving a professional certification is an excellent means to improve your skill set, get more responsibility on the job and earn more money. The biggest challenge you face today is figuring out which technical certifications will be in demand in 2013. But don’t worry – we’ve done the hard work, and researched which certification you should pursue to achieve new career heights in the new year.

Here’s the top five in-demand IT certifications for 2013, selected based on expert opinion, research, and Google trends.

1. MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate)

Salary Range: $52,000 to $115,000

Average Salary: $59,000

MCSA Certification Preparation

Microsoft unveiled the latest crop of new certifications in 2012, driving a large spike in popularity. Earning a 2012 MCSA certification in 2013 will give you a foundation in basic information technology know-how and prepare you for higher Microsoft certifications. We recommend starting with one of these popular certifications:

MCSA: Windows 2012 Server

MCSA: SQL Server 2012

MCSA: Windows 8

MCSA: SharePoint 2013

2. MCSE: Private Cloud

Salary Range: $52,000 to $102,000

Average Salary: $61,000

MCSE Certification Preparation

If you’ve stepped in an IT department over the last year, you know “cloud” is the buzzword on the tip of everyone’s tongue. This Microsoft expert certification has been reinvented for the cloud – after only 8 months, the Private Cloud certification is already as popular as the rival CompTIA and CCP cloud certifications. The popularity of cloud computing has increased demand for IT professionals who can build private cloud computing solutions using common technology platforms. Microsoft is also discontinuing the popular MCITP program in 2014 and directing individuals to become MCSE’s. This makes 2013 the perfect year to obtain the MCSE certification and get jump start on those who convert in 2014.

3. PMP (Project Management Professional)

Salary Range: $65,000 to $93,000

Average Salary: $86,000

PMP Certification Preparation

Project management is a classic, foundational skill that evolves with new technologies and will never become outdated. A strong understanding of project management enables IT professionals to plan, budget, manage time, and reduce costs. With many companies reducing staff and seeking more efficient operations, project management skills will make IT professionals more effective and add another dimension to their resumes.

4. VCP (VMware Certified Professional)

Salary Range: $59,000 to $80,000

Average Salary: $69,000

VCP Certification Preparation

Virtualization, or the creation of virtual computing platforms, is used to improve scalability and reduce infrastructure costs in hardware-intensive computing environments. The virtualization industry is young and full of potential, and VMware is the industry leader in both virtualization software and virtual certifications. They are reaching the height of their popularity and their certifications are more valuable than ever.

5. CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)

Salary Range: $65,000 to $111,000

Average Salary : $80,000

CISSP Certification Preparation

Organizations must protect their systems, data, and networks, and information security architects are in high demand. With the shift towards storing data in cloud systems, security experts have a vital role to play in ensuring these systems remain as secure as servers maintained in-house. Among the variety of security certifications available, the CISSP certification is highly respected, extremely popular and generally receives the highest average salary.

via The top five in-demand IT certifications for 2013 – TechRepublic.

The top five in-demand IT certifications for 2013