PODCAST: HR Happy Hour 361 - Insights on Moving HR Systems to the Cloud

HR Happy Hour 361 - Insights on Moving HR Systems to the Cloud

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Guest: Nickoria Johnson, Alliance Data Systems

Listen to the show here

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve and Trish were joined by Nickoria Johnson from Alliance Data Systems to learn more about their journey to migrate their HR systems to the cloud and what other organizations can learn from their journey.

Alliance is a lot alike many other organizations, they had a wide variety of HR and talent systems in place, a history of building custom solutions to meet very specific business needs, but also with the need to update and modernize the solutions that were needed to effectively manage business operations and provide a great expererience for their employees.

Nickoria shared how Alliance made the transition to the Cloud, the key considerations along the way, and the positive results and outcomes the organization has seen since the transition to the Cloud has been completed.

You can listen to the show on the show page here, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

This was a really interesting and informative show, thanks Nickoria for joining us.

Remember to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show wherever you get your podcasts.

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 358 - HR Technology for Diversity & Inclusion

HR Happy Hour 358 - HR Technology for Diversity & Inclusion

Host: Steve Boese

Guests: Stacia Sherman Garr, RedThread Research; Carole Jackson, Mercer

Listen HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve was joined by Stacia Sherman Garr of RedThread Research and Carole Jackson of Mercer to share their insights on the HR technology market and ecosystem for solutions and capabilities that support organizational Diversity & Inclusion initiatives.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

Their recent report, Diversity & Inclusion Technology: The Rise of a Transformative Market is the first deep dive into how HR technology solutions are developing and evolving to help support programs linked to making organizations more diverse and inclusive. From talent acquisition, to development and learning, to employee engagement and retention, and to reporting and analytics - D&I programs are increasingly reaching more HR and talent processes, and a wide-ranging set of HR technologies is emerging to help HR leaders meet their objectives.

Stacia and Carole shared key findings from their research, talked about the HR tech landscape for D&I tech, and offered advice for HR and business leaders who are thinking about these solutions for the first time.

This was a really interesting show - thanks to Stacia and Carole for joining us.

Here's the HR Happy Hour Show with GoodHire that Steve mentioned on the show.

Download Diversity & Inclusion Technology: The Rise of a Transformative Market here.

Subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show wherever you get your podcasts.

CHART OF THE DAY: Another all-time record number of open jobs in the US

The most essential state of the labor market report, the JOLTS report, was issued a few days ago by our pals over at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I won't bury the lead, the chart below shows most all of what you need to know from the Dec 2018 JOLTS data - namely, there were over 7.3 million open jobs in the US, an all-time high, at the end of December 2018.

For those keeping score at home, the number of open jobs cratered in July 2009 at about 2.2 million and for just about a decade has steadily climbed to the 7.3 million number the BLS has just reported.

And one more data point from the JOLTS, for the last nine months or so, there have been more open jobs in the US than officially unemployed persons to fill them. Said differently, even if we could magically place every current unemployed person in one of the open jobs, there would still be hundreds of thousands of jobs unfilled.

There is good (lots of open jobs means lots of opportunity and optimistic companies looking to grow), and bad (why can't we get better at hiring, training, and expanding opportunity) in this kind of number. All things being equal, the state of the labor market in Dec 2018 is much, much more preferable to the nightmare of July 2009. But here's the funny thing - it might seem like a lifetime ago, but it really wasn't. 

That's it from me - have a great weekend!

Dealing with 'Hard to Fill' positions? Don't forget about throwing cash at the problem

Quick shot for a post Super Bowl Monday - I have posted a few times over the last year or so about the US Trucking industry and the labor market for commercial truck drivers. I am fascinated by this sliver of the labor market as many of the big labor trends like increased automation, shifts in demographics, increased regulation, and employers struggling to hire enough new drivers (and retain existing ones), make this area really ripe for observation and analysis.

Having said that, I wanted to highlight one of the strategies that one employer, in fact the largest private employer in the US, is rolling out in an attempt to find more candidates and ultimately make more hires. Simply put, it is throwing more cash at the problem. Here's what Walmart is doing in order to hire more truck drivers from a piece on Fortune:

While some people focus on whether automation will kill long-haul trucking jobs over the long-term, Walmart is currently more concerned with its short-term reality. The company is once again raising truck driver salaries to try to correct for an ongoing shortage of drivers. Walmart needs to hire at least 900 drivers this year, according to the Dallas Morning News.

One reason: trucking tonnage is way up. The American Trucking Association, the industry’s largest trade association, says that tonnage hauled annually is up 6% is up even while the industry continues to suffer from nearly 50,000 unfilled long-haul jobs. The ATA’s chief economist Bob Costello notes that in 2018, truck tonnage hit its highest peak in 20 years.

In a separate change, Walmart also recently relaxed somewhat the candidate screening process for prospective drivers. Instead of a 'one and done', fail and you are out screen of driving skills, Walmart is now allowing candidates to attempt the driving capability screen, offer them coaching and suggestions on how to improve their performance on the test, and then the chance to re-take the test. 

The TL;DR summary of all this? Walmart has a problem filling an important job so they are taking major steps to increase the candidate funnel by changing a key element of the screening process, and are throwing more cash at the problem to try and convince more job seekers (who continue to enjoy a strong labor market), to accept and remain in these truck driver positions.

Let more people in the door, offer them more money to stay. Pretty simple, let's see how it works.

Have a great week!

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 355 - HR in the Digital Age

HR Happy Hour 355 - HR in the Digital Age

Host: Steve Boese

Guest: Harry Osle, Principal, Global Human Resources Practice Leader, The Hackett Group

Listen HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve is joined by Harry Osle of The Hackett Group - www.thehackettgroup.com, to talk about some of Hackett's recent research on Digital Transformation and its impact on HR. On the show, Harry shared some of the research findings on the impact of technology advancements and digital transformations on the workplace and in the practice of HR. Harry shared some of the key drivers and impetus behind HR and workplace digital transformation and how HR leaders can become more aware of these drivers and incorporate them into their HR and HR tech programs and plans.

Additionally, Harry shared what their research suggests for how the HR leaders and the HR organization's skills and roles will need to adapt to help their organizations meet these new tech and digital challenges and take advantage of the opportunities. This was an interesting and deep dive into digital transformation and how it will impact HR in 2019 and forward.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

Thanks Harry for joining the show.

Remember to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show wherever you get your podcasts - just search for 'HR Happy Hour'.