Learning Log - Week 3: Post 3

Section 2 cont.

Additional References:

As was the case last week, I found a couple of great reference to help support my positions on the discussion boards.

One of my peers wrote about her experience in the Insurance Industry.  She primarily focused on the need for recruiting to replace Insurance personnel that are retiring.  I have also worked in the Insurance field for many years and also understand the need to innovate.  Because of this, I tried to find a source that could support my claims that Insurance Agents are aging out. Coffin(2014) suggested that the average of an agent was late forties.  While at MetLife, we received company statistics that the average age was 58. 

I posed the question about HR trying to help innovate and move from hiring replacement bodies, to making suggestions about keeping up with the technology boom. 

Coffin, B. (2014, November 11). Occupations with worse Aging Problems than Insurance. Retrieved on September 9,2016 from: http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2014/11/11/13-occupations-with-worse-aging-problems-than-insurance

I found Vanhegan's (2013) article very thought provoking when thinking about using cloud computing for HR purposes.  As a Compliance professional, I have been cautioned about moving once shared drive data to the cloud.  I felt that there additional risks like employee theft and Vanhegan's article supporting my thinking.

Vanhegan, S. (2013, May 10). How HR can manage the risk of Cloud Computing. Retrieved on September 9, 2016 from: http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/how-hr-can-manage-the-risk-of-cloud-computing

Section 4: Feedback from SHRM

I checked back into my account this morning and had no responses to my question.  I posted a response to another HR professional on the initial thread.  Here is my link and a picture of my response:

https://community.shrm.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?GroupId=19&MID=92594&tab=digestviewer&SuccessMsg=Thank+you+for+submitting+your+message.
 

 

 

Section 6: Learning LessonsProvide an exceptionally clear and thorough description of what you found to be the most valuable information you discovered throughout this week’s assignments, discussions, readings, or research. 
As in weeks one and two, I appreciated the discussion posts.  This time around, we learned about leadership branding and HR innovation.

Firstly, I learned that a leadership brand is key to attract and retain employees.  As I looked at my current company, I could see a clear tie to Dimensional's leadership brand.  It made me proud to work for my company.  I also enjoyed the further discussions around developing talent.  My big takeaway was that what got a company to success, will not necessarily take them into the future.  One must look at current talent and new generations of talent and structure branding and talent development initiatives that support current and future needs.

Secondly, I enjoyed learning more about HR as an innovator.  To help build talent, HR must invest in people development.  Our text suggested that these investments include: buy, build, borrow, boost, bounce, and bind (Ulrich et al, 2012, pp. 169-170).  While reflecting on my own career, I came to the conclusion that most HR departments I have worked with were not good at helping to bounce talent.  I have seen far to many people kept on for fear of real communication or litigation. 

Finally, I spent more time on the SHRM board this week.  While I posted a couple of questions, I found that the HR professionals were not open to helping MBA students.  It left a sour taste in my mouth.  As a suggestion for future classes, NECB may want to find another board or have students respond to each other.  At the end of the day, we are just trying to learn for current HR professionals.

Reference:

Ulrich, D., W., Younger, J., Brockbank, & Ulrich,M . (2012). HR from the Outside In: Six Competencies for the Future of Human Resources. McGraw-Hill.