|
Chapter
|
Buy
this book for only £6.99 
|
|
1
|
Why
Online People Strategies are Important
This first chapter introduces the premise that, with people
now widely considered to be the only differentiator in today's
competitive marketplaces, old-style human resources management
cannot be relied upon to create and retain the necessary dynamic
and agile workforces. It explains how managers must look to
new, online people strategies to develop and build the workforces
for tomorrow. |
|
2
|
The
E-People Matrix
In simple terms, online people strategies are a mixture of
Internet- and intranet-enabled functions that can help to
recruit and retain, train, manage, motivate, and improve the
performance of the workforce. Self-service is one of the most
significant developments to hit people management; it empowers
the workforce, cuts costs, and frees up time for the HR manager
to be strategic. B2E services expand e-HR to take in everything
employees need to do their job better. This may include providing
online access to shop at work. Employee portals should be
seen as the hub of any online people strategy. They can start
small and build into a gateway for a host of applications.
Beware the hype - remember how disappointing online job sites
were when they first appeared? The approach should always
be "How can I use that technology?", not "What technology
can I use?". |
|
3
|
Evolution:
The Human Resources Heritage
HR was one of the first departments to automate their processes.
In some instances, this has led to legacy systems that are
holding back the development of online people strategies because
they are not robust enough for today's tasks. HR, IT and finance
must come together. HR must be proactive and convince finance
that it is a deliverer of business value, rather than a cost
center. We need standards to ensure hassle-free data exchange:
the move to establish external standards, such as the work
of the HR-XML Consortium should be supported. It makes sense
to install the necessary technology to handle transactional
functions first. Outsourcing is here to stay, but it is not
the end of the world, as it can offer better job prospects
for people lower down the HR ranks. |
|
4
|
Technology:
Rip it Out and Start Again?
It's not an option but a business imperative that HR aligns
itself with IT. It can no longer abdicate responsibility for
technical matters. It isn't a case of "if" but "when" HR systems
will migrate to the Web. Assess the Web readiness of the current
HR IT infrastructure. As well as the big HR systems, don't
forget there is an increasing range of personal technologies
that are useful facilitators and enablers of an overall online
people strategy. Learn the language of IT - and we've put
together a glossary to help you. |
|
5
|
Globalization
- The Seamless Digital Workplace?
The Internet is giving rise to a single global economy and
a seamless digital workplace. The "one-size fits all" approach
of multinationals in the past will not work this time round
- countries must take a "think global, act local" approach.
The key will be an internationalization of business practices.
People, not goods, are already the differentiator, but finding
the right people is the biggest challenge to global companies
today. Online recruitment, employee portals, and e-learning
are all vital to a global company's survival but thought must
go into their implementation. Organizations and individuals
will claim to be global in outlook but parochialism still
exists and must be banished if globalization is to flourish.
As it is, it will always be impeded by economic inequalities.
|
|
6
|
The
State of the Art: The World of Work, but Not as We Know it
HR no longer has an excuse not to be strategic ¿ the technology
is in place to free it from its administrative drudgery and
it must also learn the language of business. Employers must
help employees make sense of work ¿ it's no longer about paying
people more to keep them happy. Employee portals can hold
the key to making work a better place to be. The same technology
that allows play at work lets us work at home. Employees must
accept that IT works both ways. Great thinkers - and therefore
knowledge workers - cannot clock on and off in conventional
working hours. In 20 years' time, the majority of us will
be freelance and project workers, and recruitment will be
a case of matching required skills with those who can offer
them. End-to-end online recruiters who help at every stage
of the recruitment process are on the rise and look like helping
e-recruitment to fulfill its potential. Network learning is
more than e-learning - it also lets companies advance ideas
and can be the facilitator for real innovation. E-mail is
turning intelligent people into response junkies who respond
to and empty their inbox rather than think about what they
should really be doing at work. Knowing when not to use technology
is as important as knowing when and how to use it. Used properly,
technology can make for richer human interaction.
|
|
7
|
Case
Studies
A number of case studies of organizations are included in
this chapter. They include companies which have maximized
the benefit of corporate intranets, online recruitment methods
and online flexible benefits systems. The chapter also features
a profile of a major corporate which has outsourced its HR
function. |
|
8
|
Key
Concepts and Thinkers
This chapter is about key concepts and thinkers in the field
of human resources and the Internet. It includes human resources
management specialists and their theories on the world of
work and workplace issues, as well as the people who have
helped to shape the Internet, and concepts relating to it.
|
|
9
|
References
and Resources
This chapter provides an overview of books, reports, press
and online articles, and specific Websites that the reader
can use to build a broad understanding of the field.
|
|
10
|
Ten
Steps to Making it Work
HR departments must broaden their organizational associations
- they must make a friend of IT and line managers, and must
learn the language of business in order to secure support
from the higher echelons for their online people strategies.
Old ways of doing things do not necessarily map onto new technologies.
Think laterally to come up with ways of maximizing the benefits
of a new medium. E-mail and corporate employee portals are
the most powerful communications tool organizations have ever
had, so make the most of them. Allow for people and processes
change, and for technological change - it's not always easy
to predict either, but provision in the budget for both makes
good sense. |
