Dispatches from DC: What's a mouse son?

Jason Averbrook on HR and technology:  the core theme is about how HR needs to reach outside of the organization to drive performance inside.  And technology and social networking tools arethe enabler to make this happen.  Here are some of the sound-bites:

"What we thought we were getting from technology is not what we have.  We outsourced benefits and payroll, so what are we left with - an address book, and IT tells us it'll cost a million dollars to upgrade!"

So why are people are unhappy with technology?

Because people bought technology without a strategy and LinkedIn knows more about your employees than you do. What people are building outside of work are communities - and who manages all of this stuff?  We do - we are all contributing to this everyday.  So what's driving technology?  We are

People are communicating with other each day using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc, and employers ask - how do we block this?  How can we govern this? 

What drives employee engagement?  The once-a-year holiday party?  Are we providing employees with ways of connecting with each other?  So what are these tools and technologies doing? What they are doing..is making us perfectly visible.

Instead, HR should be asking "how can we embrace this to drive collaboration and innovation"

People now average 10 jobs before the age of 38... they are communicating each other in so many ways. The Gen-Ys are growing up with technology - ask a 4 year-old what a mouse is... "it's a thing for the computer".  It's a major culture shock to look outside to go inside

It's all about Social Capital - it's the collective value from a group of individuals or employees. HR systems am been built for HR, but what we really need is to have them built for employees.

Comments

[HR Recruitment]

I happen to agree with Anne, technology in the form of social media really helps you find good man power. Not just companies, more and more well qualified professionals are advertising their skills online.

[Anne Peters]

I don't agree entirely with Steve here - HR is increasingly using tools such as LinkedIn to recruit staff and network with new communities. HR's responsibility is to protect their organizations' and employees' data from improper use, but at the same time embrace these networking tools. It's quite a challange, but we will get there :)

Anne Peters

[Steve Jenkins]

Until executive leadership grants HR the responsibility to embrace social media and external communities, HR will always be a buffer for companies to try new things. Riks trumps innovation in most firms today.

Steve Jenkins