HR Strategy
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6 Degrees: The Data Hub
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“The Power of Six Degrees” recently re-ran on the Science Channel here in the U.S. The basic premise of 6 degrees was that you can connect yourself to any other person in the world, not matter how remote, with only 6 steps. What the show revealed was that in choosing that 6 step path, it…
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Global HRMS Cultural Issues
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Everyone wants global data. They want it in a global HRMS, or in a data warehouse. They want shared accessible data in communized practices and processes. They want the ability to roll-up data and aggregate reports and dashboards. They want workflow that crosses borders, and business units. To be honest, all of this is quite…
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On Towers and Wyatt
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Well, it’s been a full week now, and I feel like I have enough information to formulate a decent opinion on the merger between Towers and Wyatt. Here goes: Was this a merger, or an acquisition? Well, to be honest, my first reaction to this was that Wyatt got the upper hand. I think I’m…
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The Money Multiplier
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I’ve put a lot of faith and hope in businesses as the economy continues to trend downward. I had initially thought that this time around we would be smarter. Smarter than in 2001 when the bubble burst and HR technology spending almost completely stopped for 3 years. In that time, there was virtually no growth…
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Recruiting Dubious Talent
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Here is what the NY Times had to say about AIG executives and bonuses a few weeks ago: Now we can debate why A.I.G. felt it necessary to guarantee seven executives at least $3 million apiece when the economy was clearly on shaky ground. Perhaps we will find out these contracts were a bit of…
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Global Data Protection – Model Contracts
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As long as we talked about Safe Harbor in the last entry, we might as well talk about model contracts. Honestly, I don’t like this one as much as it’s really an avenue for data protection that comes out of the EU. However, data protection laws are rampant all over the world and the EU…
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Global Data Protection
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As I continue to work with global organizations, I’m a bit surprised to see a continued effort around obtaining employee consent for the export of data outside the home country (or EU). While this may have been the traditional method for compliance to EU and other data protection standards, it was quickly realized that traditional…
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Tri-athletes: Transitions
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Tri-athletes spend a lot of time working on their transitions. How many seconds does it take to get out of the water and into cycling shoes, and then onto the bike. How many seconds does it take to get off the bike and into running shoes. What can you prepare ahead of time so that…
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Tri-athletes: Skills
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It is not real secret that cyclists the world over hold tri-athletes in general contempt. The general consensus is that when a tri-athlete is on the bike, their bike skills are so poor, they are a general menace to other cyclists and to themselves. I’ll give you an example from my own experience this weekend:…
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Changing Governance Based on Complexity
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So I suppose first and foremost, I’ll need to admit that I didn’t even read nearly the entire article I happen to be referring to in this post. I’m really much more of a decision support guy that a decision-making science guy. I’m not sure I really understand the total complexities that define the differences…
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Engagement Overkill?
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No pun intended. But I’m troubled and I don’t get it. This morning the acting CFO over at Freddie Mac committed suicide. He was brought in after the bailout, so theoretically he should not have a ton of direct responsibility over the causes of the current economic crisis. People seem to be committing suicide at…
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Symphony: Scope of Sight
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From where the conductor stands, she sees and hears everything. This is the perfect place from which to direct and convey small changes in vision. The conductor is perfectly situated so that everyone can see her, and she can alternatively see everyone back. If the conductor was anywhere else, she might hear one section louder…
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Collaborative Teams
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04-20 I’ll admit that as much as I talk about web 2.0 and collaboration networks, collaboration is simply not a set of tools. Collaboration can be made more efficient with tools and tools can enable certain types of collaboration, but in the end, I think collaboration is about culture and governance. In my opinion, collaboration…
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Symphony: Individual Performers
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04-15 In a symphony, there are no individual performers. There can’t be. The whole point of a symphony is individual elements coming together to form a single cohesive vision of piece of music. Violins all coordinate to execute in perfect synchronicity and unison, blending to create a single voice in which none of them stand…
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Internal Succession Plans
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In the recent explosive growth of talent management, performance and recruiting always seemed to be the drivers, but compensation administration and succession planning always seemed close behind. I’ve always thought that recruiting and performance would level off as most organizations purchased and implemented modules and moved onto comp and succession. Unfortunately, it seems I’ve been…
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Symphony: A Light Touch
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One of the secrets of good conducting is to have a light touch. What actually happens is when a conductor tries to force movements or over-emphasize and overpower the music, the symphony as a whole will generally rebel and do their own thing. The conductor’s job is to simply convey their own vision for the…
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Symphony: Trust Your Section Leads
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It’s pretty amazing when you watch a symphony or orchestra work. You see the conductor doing her thing front and center. You see violins sitting together in perfect coordination, and all the other instruments doing the same. What is actually happening is sometimes a surprise. Most members of the symphony are only taking casual direction…
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Changing Governance Based on Complexity
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So I suppose first and foremost, I’ll need to admit that I didn’t even read nearly the entire article I happen to be referring to in this post. I’m really much more of a decision support guy that a decision-making science guy. I’m not sure I really understand the total complexities that define the differences…
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Innovating for Sales
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A while back I observed some talent software from a leading talent management vendor. They were excited to show me their innovations around presenting a “seating chart” that would allow the user to visually see where employees were located within the organization. Obviously, the software also allowed drill through on each employee to provide some…
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Intellectual Property and Competencies
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I was chatting with a good friend of mine whose company does work with organizations to analyze the value of ongoing IP and R&D. Ardent Research looks at current R&D and patent activity, surveys progress along that research, competitiveness against similar projects at other companies, and unique thought leadership that might give Ardent’s clients and…