What is diversity?  That’s a two pronged answer.  There is inherent diversity.  It involves traits a person is born with… gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation for instance.  Then there is acquired diversity.  These are traits gained from experience.  For instance, an employee who has worked abroad will be more inclined to appreciate cultural difference.

The Harvard Business Review conducted a study focused on two-dimensional diversity.  A person with 2-D diversity is said to have least three inherent and three acquired diversity traits.  In the study, companies with 2-D diversity out-innovated and out-performed those without it.  Those companies were 45% more likely to report growth over the previous year and 70% more likely to report capturing a new market.

Diversity in Practice

TransUnion continues to focus on diversity and inclusion initiatives and has even made key changes in leadership.  Instead of positions being held by just men, the company has added some women to the ranks.  But it isn’t something that happened overnight and the work continues into 2019.  Debra Wasserman is the Senior Director of Compensation and Benefits at TransUnion.  She said TransUnion used a top-down approach.

“We started with the senior-most leaders and followed it down throughout the organization. I think to some degree, there needed to be some awareness.  So, we had to get this front and center in front of everyone.”

Debra Wasserman, enior Director of Compensation and Benefits at TransUnion

From there, Wasserman says the company has started looking at pay equity.  She said some states already require this, but they’ve started looking at it as a global issue as well.

Impacting Diversity

Diversity and inclusion continues to be one of the dominant topics for HR professionals.  There are some way’s HR can really impact change for their respective companies.

In most companies it can be difficult to get a clear picture of what diversity is like for that particular organization.

To combat this, HR teams should monitor diversity.  This can be done through audits.  This should be done, not only for current employees, but in recruitment practices as well.  This will allow for progress to be measured effectively.

When it comes to diversity, HR should focus on building a diverse workforce through recruitment or development. There are a myriad of ways of doing this.  Some can be through internal or external partnerships. 

Like recruitment, mentoring can be internal or external. For instance, some HR professionals work with schools or local youth groups. This helps with fostering talent early and making sure more diverse individuals are aware of the opportunities.

HR teams should understand it is vital to ensure the diversity of your supply chain.  Furthermore, it should reflect your consumer base, but also that there is a business case for supply chain diversity. 

In Summation

It is clear HR has a role in diversity.  Companies should start, if they’re not already, thinking about making these changes to recruitment, but they will have to implement them as soon as possible. 

That said, these steps can help propel the company onto a positive trajectory.  Even with positive changes in recruitment, other areas such as mentoring, supplier chain diversity and progression and leadership still need to be focused on to ensure companies are aiding ethnic minority progression within their organizations.

Evaluate Your Fit

Start by evaluating your fit as a consultant. Do you enjoy working alone? Are you self-motivated and disciplined? Or, do you need a boss to set objectives and deadlines for you? One of the most commonly overlooked elements of consulting is selling. Do you have sales skills? As an Hryzantemaant, you’ll need them. After all, it’s techniques like cold calling and networking that will earn you clients. Being an HR expert isn’t enough. Many consultants have learned this lesson the hard way. But don’t rule out consulting just because you aren’t particularly adept at self-promotion.

Choose Your Niche

There are plenty of generalists out there. Resist the temptation to join the crowd. Find a niche area of HR and focus on that. Choose one or two areas of specialization that you know well – and enjoy. In many ways, this is the tough part. It’s tempting to be a Jack of All Trades consultant, but most consultants find that specializing in one or two areas is optimal. Not only does it keep you focused and help you to remain organized, you’re not out re-inventing the wheel each time you take on a new project. And, by calling yourself an expert in one or two specialties, you’ll add value to your reputation. After all, everyone can consult a little bit on a lot of things, but not many people can call themselves expert consultants with an HR specialization. You’ll need to conduct some research to determine whether or not there is a market for the niche you’ve chosen. Ideally, the area in which you specialize should be one that poses a common problem for employers – and one that isn’t already saturated with expert consultants.

Create a Business Plan

Even independence requires marketing and business planning. Creating a company name and corporate identity are good first steps. Determine whether or not you’ll need office space, or if you’ll work from home. Consult an accountant and attorney to determine whether or not incorporation is necessary. Your plan will help you identify obstacles and objectives. You’ll need to think through the sales and marketing side of business growth. Raymond Wyzguski, who worked in labor regulations enforcement and administration for the US Department of Labor and the US Office of Personnel Management for more than 30 years before venturing into the world of consulting, says that ”one of the biggest challenges is to continually market your business, even when you’re extremely busy. Virtually every consultant would agree. If you are able to keep the marketing cycle running continuously, your odds of success will increase dramatically. A common problem consultants have is that they become so busy with current projects, they forget to look for new business. When those projects end, there is no business in the pipeline.

Manage Your Expectations

It’s important to go into a consulting venture with realistic expectations. It’s easy to call yourself a consultant, but not so easy to say you’re a successful consultant. Financial expectations should be reasonable. Lack of a regular income makes breaking into consulting very challenging. Do you have the means to support yourself while you build your consulting empire? Wyzguski notes that ”a nest egg is good, but it’s important to operate your business without using that as a crutch. You can’t let yourself think you’ve got lots of time to build your business.” Plan for at least six months of ramp-up time for your consulting business, and perhaps another six before you can draw a steady income.

Know the Upsides – and the Downsides

HR professionals hear it from their employees all the time — the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Wyzguski lists a few of the advantages he has found: freedom from organization constraints, control of my time, responsibility for my own work product.But what goes up must come down, and life as an independent has disadvantages. Many are surprised by the impact of working alone. The lack of regular contact with colleagues and friends takes a toll on some people. As a consultant, you need to be extremely comfortable working alone. The lack of a regular income stream, potential loss of healthcare benefits and lack of administrative support – that’s right, you have to handle everything yourself – are common consulting downsides.

The Evolving Business Paradigm

One of the factors behind organizations giving a lot of attention to their people is the nature of the firms in the current business environment. Given the fact that there has been a steady movement towards an economy based on services, it becomes important for firms engaged in the service sector to keep their employees motivated and productive. Even in the manufacturing and the traditional sectors, the need to remain competitive has meant that firms in these sectors deploy strategies that make effective use of their resources. This changed business landscape has come about as a result of a paradigm shift in the way businesses and firms view their employees as more than just resources and instead adopt a “people first” approach.

Strategic Management and HRM

As discussed in the articles on modern day HRM practices, there is a need to align organizational goals with that of the HR strategy to ensure that there is alignment of the people policies with that of the management objectives. This means that the HR department can no longer be viewed as an appendage of the firm but instead is a vital organ in ensuring organizational success.

The aims of strategic management are to provide the organization with a sense of direction and a feeling of purpose. The days when the HR manager was concerned with administrative duties is over and the current HRM practices in many industries are taken as seriously as say, the marketing and production functions.

Importance of HRM for Organizational Success

The practice of HRM must be viewed through the prism of overall strategic goals for the organization instead of a standalone tint that takes a unit based or a micro approach. The idea here is to adopt a holistic perspective towards HRM that ensures that there are no piecemeal strategies and the HRM policy enmeshes itself fully with those of the organizational goals. For instance, if the training needs of the employees are simply met with perfunctory trainings on omnibus topics, the firm stands to lose not only from the time that the employees spend in training but also a loss of direction. Hence, the organization that takes its HRM policies seriously will ensure that training is based on focused and topical methods.

In conclusion, the practice of HRM needs to be integrated with the overall strategy to ensure effective use of people and provide better returns to the organizations in terms of ROI (Return on Investment) for every rupee or dollar spent on them. Unless the HRM practice is designed in this way, the firms stand to lose from not utilizing people fully. And this does not bode well for the success of the organization.

How? There are seven easy steps. 

1. Recruitment and Selection 
   • Have a clear plan for your organization and its growth and hire accordingly.
   • Hire the right people at the right time.
   • Take the time to learn how to interview – that’s time well spent.
   • Know your hiring pool – stay connected and be aware when good people become available.
2. Onboarding 
   • Hiring employees isn’t enough – make a real impact through your onboarding. 
   • Set clear expectations up front. 
   • Employees need the right tools and resources to be successful. In case you were wondering, a pat on the back, a hearty welcome to the company and a desk full of work is not onboarding. 
3. Compensation
   • You’ve probably heard me say this before, but your compensation strategy is the window to your soul.  Don’t be soulless. 
   • Be fair, consistent, current, and clear. 
4. Benefits
   • Not all companies have benefit plans, but if you are large enough and have the money to offer them, at least give it some consideration.
   • Benefits don’t have to be expensive. Be creative. Know what your employees need and want. Fruit in the breakroom can go a long way – okay, not as far as every other Friday afternoon off, but hey, do what you can.
5. Performance
   • If you don’t think employees want to hear how they’re performing, then start digging your head out of the sand and look around. Employees want and need feedback, along with encouragement and direction. 
   • Take time to evaluate performance on a regular, fair, and consistent basis with all of your employees. 
6. Training 
   • If there are opportunities to offer your employees training so they can do their job better or learn something new, do it. Believe me; they want it.
7. Culture 
   • If you aren’t intentional about it, someone in your organization is, and you’d better find out who because they might not be singing from the same sheet of music. Know who the culture leaders are and be sure they understand the message you want to send. 
   • Culture is the make or break of your cutting and competitive edge. Ultimately, do your employees want to come to work every day? If you don’t know, you have no edge! 

Use these seven HR core principles in your organization and kick the competition to the curb.  

The HRM department members provide the knowledge, necessary tools, training, administrative services, coaching, legal and management advice, and talent management oversight that the rest of the organization needs for successful operation.  Many HR departments are responsible for organization development that generates the culture of the organization. They are charged with oversight responsibilities to ensure that their organization appropriately builds teams and inspires employee empowerment. 

HR staff members are partially responsible for ensuring that the organization has an overall mission, vision, and values that are shared and provide an overarching reason for employees to want to work for their organization. These elements are inspirational and help employees feel as if they are part of something that is bigger than themselves. Additional activities sponsored by HR management can include employee and community outreach. They are frequent mentors and members of employee teams that address philanthropic giving, employee engagement activities, and events that involve employee families.

Human Resource Management and Line Managers

HRM functions are also performed by line managers who are directly responsible for the engagement, contribution, and productivity of their reporting staff members. In a fully integrated talent management system, the managers play a significant role in and take ownership responsibility for the recruitment process. They are also responsible for the ongoing development of and retention of superior employees. Organizations also perform HRM functions and tasks by outsourcing various components to outside suppliers and vendors. The tasks that are most frequently outsourced are those that take HR time and energy away from the HR activities that provide the most strategic value to the company. This outsourcing most frequently involves payroll functions, but vendors and external consultants can help an organization with HRM in many ways. Specifically, many HR departments outsource background checking, benefits administration, training such as sexual harassment training, temporary staffing, and the production of employee handbooks, policy manuals, and affirmative action plans.

HRM’s Changing Focus

HRM is the organizational function that deals with or provides leadership and advice for dealing with all issues related to the people in an organization. HRM, as such, deals with compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training.  HRM is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture and environment. Effective HRM enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organization’s goals and objectives. HRM is moving away from traditional personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are increasingly outsourced. The HRM function is now expected to add value to the strategic utilization of employees and to ensure that employee programs recommended and implemented impact the business in positive measurable ways.

The New Expectations of HR

Gone are the days when HR staff received direction from the executive team as to their priorities and needs. HR is now expected to sit at the executive table and recommend processes, approaches, and business solutions that improve the ability of the organization’s people to effectively contribute.

The new role of HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements to demonstrate their value. Employees who work in HRM must demonstrate their value by keeping their employer and company safe from lawsuits and the resulting workplace chaos. They must perform a balancing act to serve all of an organization’s stakeholders: customers, executives, owners, managers, employees, and stockholders. It is difficult to underestimate the importance of an effective, modern HRM function within an organization. An employee who retired from HRM twenty years ago would not recognize the competence and capability of the best HRM organizations today. You can choose to move your HRM function out of the dark days and into the light. Organizations that do—are best served.

In recent years, coding bootcamps have succeeded in training a diverse group of workers for careers as web, full-stack and software developers, among other roles, as well as reskilling people already in those professions. However, several major coding bootcamps have also closed in recent years, including Dev Bootcamp and The Iron Yard in 2017. What are surviving bootcamps doing to succeed in an industry marked by constant change? Let’s take a deep dive into the mentoring and coaching strategies, learning methods, diversity efforts and other best practices coding bootcamps are using to ensure learner and organizational success.

Increased Learner Support

From learning multiple coding languages (e.g., JavaScript, R and Python) to understanding complex technical concepts, learning to code can seem daunting to even the most motivated learners. To overcome this apprehension and improve learning, coding bootcamps are offering mentoring and coaching support. For example, Code Fellows, a Seattle-based coding academy, implements a one-to-six student-to-teacher ratio to ensure learners have the personalized instruction they need during class and lab time, says Mitchell Robertson, vice president of Code Fellows. For additional support, the company has a tutoring program, where learners can receive help from past graduates and industry experts, and career coaching that covers topics such as business etiquette, creating a professional network and managing behavioral interview questions.

At Geekwise Academy, mentoring is ingrained in the learning process. “Our Geekwise instructors are not just the instructors; they are actual mentors,” says Terry Solis, director of Geekwise Academy. “They coach. They’re project leads. They have work experience in the industry, so they draw from their industry experience working in tech teams and developing and delivering software projects.” As the demand for technical skills continues to rise, employers must also support the upskilling of their existing workforce to keep up with industry advancements. Nickolay Schwarz, chief technology officer at BenchPrep, encourages organizations to “do good by your team members, provide ample opportunities to learn and verify skills, because failing to [do] these things will end up being more costly in the long run.”

Learning Methods for Success

To prepare learners for roles in the tech industry, coding bootcamps should create an environment that’s representative of the work environment they may encounter when entering the industry, Solis says. Project-based, real-time learning is one effective tool to replicate the workplace. Further, she adds, Geekwise works to “instill confidence and soft skills in additional to … current programming languages and tools.” Bootcamps should create an environment that’s representative of the work environment learners may encounter in the industry. Similarly, Code Fellows simulates a professional environment to prepare learners for their tech careers by ensuring its courses remain interactive, collaborative and hands-on. Its program also uses “stack-module learning,” which Robertson describes as “teaching in a way that builds upon concepts that go deeper each day to improve retention and ignite graduates’ ability to continue learning well beyond their time with us.”

With constant advancements appearing across the tech field, it’s also important for coding bootcamps to adapt their curriculum based on the skills employers are looking for. At Trilogy, Sommer says, “We built a curriculum that was driven by industry, and we’ve been able to modify the curriculum itself over 700,000 times based on input that we get from learners, from faculty members at universities and from industries. It’s a constantly dynamic and changing curriculum.”

Committing to Diversity

The need for greater diversity in the tech sector has become an ongoing conversation. NCWIT reports that, while women earn 57% of all undergraduate degrees, they earn only 18% of undergraduate computer and information sciences degrees. Further, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports that 83.3% of tech executives in the U.S. are white, and 80% are men. By making technical training more accessible, coding bootcamps can help diversify the industry.

For Code Fellows, advancing diversity has always been an integral part of the business. “When we launched in 2013, we set out with that mission in mind: that we wanted to find ways to make education more accessible to those who have traditionally not been able to obtain it,” Robertson says. To help fulfill this mission, Code Fellows launched its diversity scholarship fund, which funds up to 70% of the cost of education to learners who fall under a “non-traditional background” (e.g., minorities in the industry). Today, the scholarship has awarded nearly $3 million, Robertson says.

Career analysts expect the number of Human Resources jobs to increase in the future, and the median annual income for careers in the field is above the national average. This all makes Human Resources careers exceptional opportunities for people starting out in the workforce.

01 How to Break Into a Career in HR

It’s easier to break into a career in Human Resources if you plan your life, education, and work experience around the field. HR is a professional career that demands integrity, confidentiality (employee information is sacrosanct), and a high level of interpersonal interaction abilities from its practitioners. Increasingly, for a successful career in HR, you will also need business management, finance, and accounting education and experience when possible. You must be prepared to develop a thorough understanding of the business your employer is engaged in to succeed in a career in HR.

02 How to Prepare for an HR Career

Liking people is not the only qualification for pursuing a career in Human Resources. It helps, but it is insufficient for success. HR jobs and careers continue to grow in sophistication, and the expectations of employers increase every year. Your ability to contribute to employee development, organization development, employee retention, and a positive, motivating work environment is critical to business success. Consequently, these are expectations of the contributions of HR staff. And, most importantly for the future, your expertise in measuring how HR processes and programs will contribute to the success of the overall business is critical to the success of the business.

03 Job Prospects and Earnings

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the prospects for various Human Resources jobs vary by position. However, they range from growing as fast as the average growth for other occupations to having an even faster growth than the average for other occupations. Research the available job prospects and potential earnings as you make your decisions about a career focus in the HR field.

04 Transition to a Career

People take widely divergent paths on their journey to working in Human Resource management. They enter HR management by luck and by design, and they stay because they enjoy the work and the people. Common themes emerge when you read the stories people tell about their transition into HR management. Readers have shared their stories about how they made the transition to HR. I have summarized some of their knowledge in this article.

05 Why Human Resources Leaders Need Degrees

Human Resources leaders need degrees. If you are considering a career in HR or trying to advance your current career, a bachelor’s degree and even a master’s degree will assist you in achieving your goals and dreams. Degrees have become more important in most fields, but nowhere has the shift occurred quite as dramatically as in HR. Where in the early days of the field a person could advance to the level of a VP with no degree, this is less common now. Additionally, more HR professionals are obtaining legal degrees, because employment law is complex. As organizational expectations of the potential contributions of an HR pro have increased, the need for the HR leader to possess both experience and a degree has increased, too. 

06 Ready to Start?

Are you ready to begin your Human Resources career? If you’ve completed all of the earlier steps successfully, this preparation will boost your prospects for a successful career in HR. Learn about job prospects in your area and the types of positions that may be open for you so you can quickly find your dream job in HR.

07 Find Out About HR Employment

As you begin your career in Human Resouces, it helps to truly understand the basics of HR employment, including all the job titles and what people do in each position. 

Companies of all sizes that want to attract and retain promising employees will have to put thought into their leadership development programs. How might that look? That might look like a coaching model (according to PwC, millennials respond well to mentoring). That could be as simple as identifying talented employees and recommending them for in-house corporate development, like a formal or even informal mentoring program. It could also take the form of content, like a leadership course or series.

Whatever form leadership development takes, the organization should make sure it’s meeting the needs of its employees and its managers. After all, leadership development isn’t just a perk for the employee, it’s a perk for company as a whole.

When a manager isn’t trained

Back when I was a reporter for a small, local newspaper, the newsrooms I worked in were filled with reporters and editors. The reporters were young; hired right out of college to work for the paper, and they were paid the lowest salary. As they got older, and better at their jobs, they wanted bigger salaries and leadership positions, so when an editor left, the reporters would often apply for an editorial job.

The problem? Being an editor requires a different set of skills than being a reporter. You have to know how to assign stories, deal with the public, and more importantly manage a staff of often-unruly reporters. For one of those unruly reporters to make the jump to team leader was often difficult and came with a learning curve. Because there wasn’t any leadership training at that particular job (money was tight for newspapers back in the ‘00s) editors learned management on the job, and that could be rough on the new editor and the rest of the team.

That’s not a problem unique to journalism. Plenty of organizations expect new managers to jump into their roles and either sink or swim. Harvard Business Review’s State of Leadership Development report found that 43 percent of businesses — mostly small businesses without big development budgets — have inconsistent or underperforming leadership training programs.

Whatmakes a great leader?

 While there is no one single answer to that question, there are some things successful leaders have in common. Great leaders are secure in their role and in their ability to do their jobs. They communicate well with their teams and mentor their employees. They make sure they know what their teams need to do their jobs, and meet their own goals. They challenge their staff and hold them accountable, but they also take responsibility if the team fails at something. Good leaders are advocates, mentors, and coaches. They’re also something else: rare. According to Gallup’s latest State of the Workplace report, just 21 percent of employees strongly feel they’re being managed “in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work.”

Why are great leaders so scarce? It’s not because most managers are incapable of leadership. It’s simply that most managers aren’t getting the guidance they need before they’re placed in leadership roles.

There are three types of analytics data that every company should know of before instilling AI in their process. You need to identify which stage you are on and which stage you want to reach: 

• Descriptive: It gives us information on what has happened when analytics were applied.  

• Predictive: This gives us glimpses of the future by predicting certain data. 

• Prescriptive: This technology tells us what we should do based on the insights provided. 

Research largely tells us that most of the companies are in the descriptive phase. But it is safe to say that we cannot bias with any one form of analytics and in reality, they work best when co-existing. But it is important to understand what form of analytics data you are using to help you understand how you can implement the rest.

After identifying the stage you are in, you can use these innovative ways to use AI technology to solve talent acquisition issues and make the system more effective: 

• Data Mining to pick the right candidate: A lot of times candidates apply for jobs that are not fit for them. With data mining, you can mix and match resumes to choose the candidate for another role even if that’s what they applied for. This helps secure the right fit. 

• Chatbots for Query Management: Candidates usually have the same set of questions that can get repetitive for a person to answer. Introducing a chatbot also helps you capture data points that help you enhance your processes. 

• Capture onboarding data: A candidate decides in the first 60-90 days of joining the organization whether or not he/she will stick by the organization. This makes the initial days extremely crucial and thus digitizing the onboarding process will generate reports that will help you in employee retention. 

• Stacking talent: Often companies use AI to just look for talent outside but it is possible to reskill and find talent inside the company as well. Use AI for stacking talent both internally and externally. 

• Blockchain for recruiters: For recruiters, the second biggest problem after finding a candidate is the data that they provide. Blockchain helps bring in more clarity and verify whether or not the provided data is verified. 

• Sentiment Analysis: Today when a candidate reads a job description they can estimate whether or not they are fit for the job. So when the responses are given by candidates during interviews, do we look at the text or the emotions behind it?