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The Upsurge in Human Resources

Human resources as a profession is currently enjoying a bit of a renaissance. Traditional roles and job functions of HR managers and directors are being upended, as HR people are now increasingly playing leadership and strategic roles within their companies. Gone are the days where interpreting dry employment laws, covering benefits and managing workplace conflict was nearly all that was expected.

The modern HR director plays a clear leadership role, influences company strategy, and effectively structures the organization for optimal performance. With an expanded role, of course, comes greater responsibility, more recognition and higher salaries and benefits.

Jobs, Jobs and More Jobs
Human Resources professionals are enjoying a period of job growth within their industry. That’s partially due to the expanded role that HR is playing in the workplace. Job listings are increasing, and HR job availability is projected to grow at an impressive rate over the next several years, despite discouraging economic trends. And salaries continue to rise steadily.

It’s an ideal time to get your human resources certificate or human resources certification, or both. You’ll certainly be more marketable, and you can set yourself apart as a candidate who is serious about their career and dedicated to their profession. Those fancy letters after your name are as attractive to hiring managers as they are to you!

This infographic points to a few notable trends in HR. Industry numbers are unquestionably encouraging. The HR job market is healthy, but as competitive as ever. For HR professionals, it’s an ideal time to get an HR certificate or HR certification, or both. The name of the game is personal marketability, and naturally, education and credentials.

It looks like it’s going to be another great year for HR in 2012.

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Transforming Your Workforce

eCornell invites you to participate in a complimentary webinar presented in partnership with Training Industry:

Learning Technologies: Transforming Your Workforce
presented Connie Malamed, publisher of “The E-Learning Coach” blog
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
1:00pm Eastern/10:00am Pacific

Can’t make it? You can still register and receive a post-event email with instructions on how to access the session recording and presentation slides. Or download the whitepaper Best Practices in Employee
Development.

In this 1-hour webinar, Connie Malamed, publisher of the popular blogazine “The E-Learning Coach,” will highlight current and upcoming technology trends in workplace learning , such as personal learning environments, social media learning and augmented reality. She will spotlight trends that have the potential to provide more meaningful and relevant learning experiences to your workforce. This webinar will help your organization–from executives and managers to IT departments and training professionals–prepare for future generations of independent and active learners.

In this interactive web session we’ll show you how:

  • Organizations are using new technologies.
  • The role of training departments is changing.
  • Changes in culture and technology are transforming workplace learning.
  • Employees can benefit from new learning technologies.
  • Emerging learning technologies fit into your organization’s business strategy.

We hope you can join us for this educational event.

The Team @ eCornell

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The Skills Gap Quandary Cont’d

U.S. unemployment is at 8.2%, yet 52% of U.S. companies report difficulty filling jobs.* I know, it’s hard to reconcile those numbers.

Given that, it’s even harder to account for this: Only 28% of U.S. companies are increasing training and development this year. Why are companies not conducting training in-house? Why the apparent aversion to promote from within? Too costly, too few available resources? It seems those 52% of companies are hoping that the dream job candidate is the next one to walk through that door. That’s unlikely, so what to do?

The WSJ says bring back apprenticeship, educate and promote from within.

CLO Magazine seconds that and explains the U.S.’s problem:

European countries aren’t having skill-shortage complaints at the same level as in the U.S., and the nations that have the most established apprenticeship programs—the Scandinavian nations, Germany and Switzerland—have low unemployment.

Fast Company says “stop whining”:

With technology and industries shifting so quickly, our economy’s open positions aren’t necessarily a perfect fit for our unemployed workers. Rather than simply wishing that mismatch away, businesses need to embrace training to reduce it.

And by leveraging new training technologies, employers have new opportunities to make training more effective and cost-efficient than ever before.

It’s time organizations stop dreaming of perfect employees and start growing them.

*source: Manpower Group

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Cool Trend in Workplace Tech: User-generated Training

At the Enterprise Learning! Conference & Expo last month, we saw some great learning and workplace technologies at work. In this session, we will share how organizations like Cheesecake Factory, Best Buy and WalMart are taking training out of the classroom and placing into the hands of learners. Coupled with new mobile solutions, you will see real world applications of user generated training, produced quickly and easily, and the methods to mobilize it—all on a shoe string budget.

Register for this complimentary webinar here.

Join Joe DiDonato, Editor at large, Elearning! Media Group and Liza Taylor, who heads up training for Creative Channels; and David Klein, Chief Advocate for Mobile Learning; and discover:

• The top 10 learning trends of 2012
• How companies are leveraging YouTube, social platforms and mobile solutions for learning
• The impact of user generated content on learner engagement and outcomes
• A demonstration on how to leverage these tools within your organization

Can’t make it? Download Business Planning & Governance for Corporate Training.

Bonus: Register for this session and receive the E-Learning User Study 2011 at no cost (a value of $800).

We hope to see you there! Register now!

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Onboarding Best Practices Webinar

Many onboarding programs are off-target. They result in false starts, wrong match up of employees and needs, longer competency build-up and delayed contributions to actual operational performance. It spells out higher costs and lost opportunities for the organization. One apparent cause is that most onboarding programs often focus on the acquisition of knowledge and skill, while the environment for immediate learning, performance, tracking and accelerated contributions is often deferred to a later phase or as an afterthought.

Join us for this webinar, as we help you get the mission-critical onboarding off to the right start. Dr. Ray Jimenez outlines a total approach for organizations that combines learning, performance and metrics to help all employees perform faster and contribute more quickly, all at lower costs to the business.

In this webinar, you will learn:

  • How to capture your top performers’ profiles and use these as benchmarks in selecting new employees, cutting time between hiring and job performance.
  • How to design learning structures that include operational demands on Day One of the onboarding program , thereby providing a seamless and faster transition to the job;
  • How to develop a metrics system that integrates learning activities and performance data to increase the feedback and assessment loop from learning, on-the-job performance, coaching and fast-tracking.

Ray Jimenez, PhD is Chief Architect for Vignettes Learning. He was a PricewaterhouseCoppers (PWC) management consultant for learning and systems implementation. His client list covers Neiman Marcus, Darden Restaurants, Pearson, NASA, Cisco, US Department of State, and others. He is the author of 3-Minute eLearning, Scenario-Based Learning, Micro-Performance Systems, and Story Impacts. Ray is also systems architect developing software in social learning performance applications.

 

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Zeroing in on the drive to perform

What motivates people to perform well on the job? High salary? Choice benefits? Workplace pressure? Think again.

In a New York Times Op-Ed, a recent study observed worker engagement and personal job satisfaction as they relate to overall company performance. The reported findings were revealing, but not terribly surprising: More so than salary or benefits, the study found that engagement and participation in meaningful work are the principal motivators for good job performance.

Conventional wisdom suggests that pressure enhances performance; our real-time data, however, shows that workers perform better when they are happily engaged in what they do.

Our internal work lives and our personal engagement are, on the surface, difficult to gauge. Nevertheless, employers should routinely monitor and assess engagement and worker satisfaction, the prime drivers of productivity and innovation. This includes providing support, allowing workers more autonomy and—perhaps most importantly—having the ability to encourage progress in important, meaningful work.

What really drives you to perform? Or better yet, how would you weigh your personal engagement or fulfillment against salary, benefits, or time off?

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Cornell Launches New Online Graduate Certificate in HR Management

ILR School’s new e-learning program provides nine Cornell credit hours.

eCornell and Cornell’s ILR School are pleased to announce the launch of the Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management. This new online certificate program is the first of its kind by the ILR School offering nine graduate credits towards a Cornell Master of Industrial and Labor Relations or Master of Professional Studies from ILR.

The new program is designed for human resources professionals seeking to develop executive-level HR and management skills. The program can be completed entirely online in as little as nine months. The curriculum can be customized to allow students to tailor their course options to meet individual learning objectives and offer unprecedented access to ILR faculty through an innovative combination of:

  • Interactive online HR courses.
  • An immersive leadership experience.
  • Live and recorded webcasts with expert ILR faculty.
  • A Portfolio project in which students apply the coursework directly back into the workplace.

The Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management includes courses written by ILR Dean Harry C. Katz; Samuel B. Bacharach, McKelvey-Grant Professor; Christopher J.  Collins, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Advanced Human Resources Studies; Patrick M. Wright; William J. Conaty, GE Professor of Strategic HR; and Ronald L. Seeber, Professor and Associate Dean, ILR School and Cornell University Vice Provost for Land Grant Affairs.

Learn more about the Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management.