The good news: Nearly 60 percent of Chief Human Resources Officers in the 100 biggest U.S. companies are women. The bad news: CHRO is the C-Suite role without a path to the top they’re talking about. Why aren’t CHROs legitimate players in the race for the ultimate corner office? Intellectual and human capital are critical to a company’s success, and hiring, training, and retaining top talent is vital. Corporate culture is a bigger draw than ever before. All of those things fall under the HR umbrella. HR needs to be viewed as a business driver, not just a function, to open that pathway to the top. Bloomberg
Companies are rapidly embracing biometric authentication technology (fingerprint and facial recognition) for everything from logging into work computers to punching a time card. But, this high-tech solution could get you in hot water. More than 50 companies are facing class-action lawsuits about privacy in relation to an employee’s biometric data. Protect your company by being upfront about its use of biometric data, writing a clear policy about how you will store (and destroy) the data, giving written notice to employees about it, and obtaining written release forms from employees allowing you to collect and store the data. Workforce
It’s getting to the point where every time Amazon makes a move, the world wonders why and what it means for them. So it was this week, when Amazon hired Stanford learning science powerhouse Candace Thille. Instantly the training industry started buzzing: Is Amazon about to disrupt the e-learning marketplace? Maybe, maybe not. Amazon’s workforce is set to swell by 50,000-plus later this year, and the company’s offerings are becoming increasingly real time. Prime customers want those deliveries yesterday. Amazon’s employees, old and new, need training to handle those demands. HRDive
This week’s stock roller coaster might cause some extra traffic to and from HR as employees wonder what it means for their 401(k)s. Longtime contributors to their retirement accounts have seen ups and downs and won’t panic. But younger workers might be knocking on HR’s door for answers. The top advice for your market newbies? Take a deep breath, remember you’re in this for the long haul, and don’t watch the endless stream of news coverage about every market loss and gain. New York Times
Hiring top talent is the holy grail for most hiring managers, but a professor of complex systems at the University of Michigan says it can actually hamper your team’s creativity. Instead of looking for “the best,” he argues, you should look for diversity. And he’s not just talking about race and gender. Diversity of cognitive styles, skills, and knowledge, too. Why? Hiring your idea of “the best” produces homogeneity, while diversity expands horizons. Look instead for the person who will bring the skills, talents, perspectives, and ideas your team is lacking. Inc.
