High Potentials

I saw the following from Human Resources Executive Online:

“High performers have been disproportionately affected by organizations’ responses to the recession. The 2009–2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey by Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork found that employee engagement levels for all workers at the surveyed companies have dropped 9% since last year — but the number was nearly 25% for top performers. The number of people who said they would recommend that others accept jobs at their companies declined by nearly 20%.”

Constantly Connected

I was in Silicon Valley last week and met with several folks from the tech sector. There is quite a good bit of buzz around some of the new hardware and software coming out soon. What caught my attention was a new laptop scheduled for release next summer that apparently will be “constantly connected” to the Internet. This may sound odd at first, but you only have to think of your cell phone to understand what that means. Your phone after all is “constantly ON” – meaning anyone can reach it from anywhere in the world and talk to you live. With Blackberries and iPhones, we can now stay in touch with e-messages also but obviously, that is not the same thing as having a laptop constantly connected.

No More IDPs

So how much fun do you have with your IDPs or ADPs (Individual or Annual Development Plans)? You know, the ones you have to fill out, schedule time with your boss, and then review. Most people report that these sessions are either very non-chalantly orchestrated or emotionally draining for both sides as development areas begin to be discussed and skeletons from months ago surface. Let me propose a solution – get rid of them.

The AIG Effect

The AIG effect is not a term I coined, but read about in USA Today this weekend.  This article quite effectively captured the current (and foreseeable) trend in how human capital professionals (especially those charged with developing talent) are being impacted with traditional methods.

Are You Renting or Owning Employment?

As many of you know, I am wrapping up work on my 4th book in collaboration with several other folks. During this process, I have had the great pleasure of interviewing practitioners in the professional development space from all industries from all over the world as we prepare for the new year, and the new decade. In one recent interview, the term “renting vs. owning” came up.  Are your employees renting a position or owning it?

Collective Human Knowledge

I was on the road for about seven days last week and airports, airplanes, and hotel rooms seem to be one of the best times for me to catch up on periodicals and journals that I enjoy reading. I was truly moved by the latest issue of HBR and the interview with Cory Doctorow, the science fiction writer. I quote him:

“The universal access to  all human knowledge is the realization of one of the most important dreams of humanity, and I’d argue that complaining about it [preventing access to it]is morally indefensible.”

2010 Trends: Multiple Generations – Baby Boomer Exodus

This week’s blog covers the fourth and last trend for the next decade. It is yet again another topic we have discussed before – multiple generations in the workplace and the pending exodus of the baby boomers.  This subject, discussed heavily prior to the recession, has lost much attention. The recession, after all, has forced many baby boomers to delay their retirements. But studies continue to show that these delays are just that … a delay.

2010 Trends: Technology

The last two weeks we have discussed trends for the next decade in the human capital and professional development space. We explored exiting the recession and globalization. The third trend is, again, not a new one. And we have discussed this before.  We have talked about studies that show how “connected” we have become and will continue to be, all leveraged by very powerful collaborative technologies – both on the application side (iPhone’s ad: there’s an app for everything) and on the hardware side (just the number of devices that human being have and that are connected to each other is approaching 15 Billion).

2010 Trends: Globalization

Last week I discussed the first of the four trends I see that are going to significantly impact the human capital landscape – recession recovery. This week, I’d like to discuss globalization in a different context from that of the past 20 plus years.

2010 Trends: Recession Recovery

I will be speaking at a number of events in the next 12 weeks and last week I was a guest on a show that covered the “workplace landscape” of the next decade. I’m sure most of you are in the midst of planning for 2010 budgets and are wrestling with what is critical, what is outdated, what is relevant, what is new/old, etc. It is my perspective that there are four major macro-level trends that are shaping some of the best thinking and planning for human capital professionals, especially in the context of professional development and talent management.  In the next four weeks, I will discuss each one. The first one is what I am calling Recession Recovery.