CAHRS Top 10 September 2023
1. CAHRS: Systemic Shifts in Belonging & Inclusion Approaches Working Group Notes
Summary: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEI&B) have transformed into mission-critical aspects for global organizations, yet implementing effective global strategies remains challenging due to organizational maturity levels and regional disparities. Key enablers for systemic shifts towards DEI&B integration involve securing leadership commitment, aligning strategies with business objectives, and embedding these principles throughout the organization. Approaches such as data-driven awareness, business unit integration, performance-based accountability, policy adaptations, and comprehensive training play pivotal roles in fostering these shifts.
If you want to be up to date on the latest research on DEI&B, have a look at what Cornell's ILR School research has found regarding the closing race gap in workers 65 and over.
2. Cision PR Newswire: Employee Retention Outranks Revenue and Sales Growth as Employers' Top Operational Priority, New Gallagher Study Finds
Summary: Employee retention has become the top operational priority for employers, with 51% of organizations experiencing a turnover rate of at least 15% in 2022, according to Gallagher's 2023 U.S. Organizational Wellbeing Report. The study highlights that while many employers are enhancing compensation and benefits to improve retention rates, the focus on employee experience has led to investments in total rewards, expanded medical benefits, and wellbeing initiatives, even as most organizations anticipate growth in revenue and headcount by 2024.
3. Human Resource Executive: Will Zoom’s Return-to-Office Policy Help Other HR Leaders Bring Workers Back?
Summary: CAHRS Academic Director and William J. Conaty Professor of Strategic Human Resources Brad Bell, who has studied remote work for several years, says that Zoom's new policy requiring employees to return to the office for at least two days a week is viewed as potential support for HR leaders advocating in-person collaboration's importance. This move may also promote the hybrid work model's endorsement, encouraging HR leaders to consider a blend of remote and in-office work based on Zoom's example.
4. HR Dive: Boards Lack Needed Data, Tools to Advance Workplace Equity
Summary: Despite most boards supporting workplace equity and diversity initiatives, they lack clear targets, metrics, accountability, reporting structures, and integration with business outcomes. About 90% of companies set equity goals, yet only 25% of leaders believe they have the resources to achieve them, highlighting the need for alignment between workplace equity and broader organizational objectives.
5. Gartner: Gartner Says Less Than 10% of HR Functions Are Achieving Functional Excellence
Summary: Only 9% of HR departments are efficient and aligned with company needs, Gartner reports. After the pandemic, HR faces wider requests and new challenges, with burnout and employee retention concerns. To adapt, HR needs to shift into a "convener and catalyzer" role, fostering collaboration, embracing technology, and enhancing skills to better support the organization's changing needs.
6. HR Brew: Technically HR - Employees are Going to Need to Work Alongside AI in the Future Economy
Summary: A study by CAHRS partner company IBM states "AI won't replace people, but people who use AI will replace people who don't." This article states that executives are estimating 40% of their workforce will need to reskill as a result of generative AI in the next three years, making it important for companies to reexamine their entire workflow and operations.
CAHRS Members Only: For in-depth discussion about AI with other CAHRS members, be sure to sign up for the CAHRS Fall Partner Meeting, held in-person on Cornell's Ithaca, NY campus on October 26th.
7. Spiceworks: Is Your Performance Management Tech Limiting Your Outcomes?
Summary: Managers see performance-management processes as a check-the-box activity and employees see little connection between performance reviews and professional growth and career paths. To combat this, performance management technology needs to take a more holistic approach by incorporating compensation to support transparency and equity, connect performance management systems to learning, and incorporate succession planning.
8. Deloitte: The Future of Enterprise Demands a new Future of HR
Summary: How we live and work is changing rapidly. For companies to step into the future, HR must focus on four areas: doing digital to being digital; center-driven- to human-centered solutions; compliance and control to trust and empowerment; and integrated systems to unified engagement platform.
Looking forward to the future of under-resourced communities, ILR School's Washington State Climate Jobs Report suggests that this group will be affected by labor is through climate change.
9. Tech.co: Survey - More Job Recruiters Are Looking for Skills, Not Degrees
Summary: Job listings that don't mention any degree requirements have reached 90% and 75%, and recruiting professionals say skills-first hiring is on the rise. In order for companies to adopt a skill-first strategy, companies must go beyond just hiring and look at the larger picture by assessing what skills your business needs, what skills your business has or can develop, and then what skills you need to hire.
10. CAHRS: ILR HR Studies Professor Shares how pay Level Differences Affect Employers and Employees
Summary: Research by ILR's HR Studies Associate Professor Tae-Youn Park published in the Academy of Management Journal reveals that when employees perceive fair pay comparisons with co-workers in similar roles, they also believe overall pay fairness exists in the organization. The study delves into the impact of pay dispersion between different employee job groups, finding that perceptions of pay fairness within and between groups influence collaborative behavior and subsequently improve organizational performance.