Human Resources (HR) in the Age of Technology: An Examination of the Relationship Between HR and Technology

Technology helps the Human Resources (HR) department drive for strategic relevance. These two departments are successfully collaborating on major projects in such business-critical areas as e-recruiting, self-service, training, compensation and talent management. Technology is critical in helping increase efficiency, increase attraction and retention, reduce administration and cut costs. In recent years, HR information systems (HRIS) have become more important than ever, this time as an essential part of a company's information security and knowledge fields. Ill-suited benefits and disorganized resources are history; now is the time for customized, dynamic plans and connected systems. Employees will appreciate the HRIS, business will benefit from the HRIS and the HR department will no longer have to be the ugly duckling of the company.

Defining and Measuring Metrics for a Multinational Human Resources Department

Successful HR departments should support key business objectives by establishing metrics that determine the effectiveness of their processes. Functions such as recruiting, benefits, and training are processes that should have metrics. Understanding who measures what, when, and how often is the first step in measuring how much it costs to run HR. The next step is determining which processes are most critical, and then determining the metrics that fit the business needs. Slight adjustments will need to be made as business needs change, but the process for measuring outcomes should not change. This paper will focus on multinational corporations that employ at least ten thousand employees and have a ratio of one HR professional to every hundred fulltime equivalents (FTEs).

Industry Professionals Who Attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accreditation: An Examination of Motivations in Human Resource (HR) Training and Development

Despite the economy, the green building industry continues to grow and drive the demand for environmentally conscious, highly skilled professionals (USGBC 2009). LEED Accredited Professionals (APs) have the knowledge and skills to meet such demand; however, information is limited regarding LEED APs or their motivations and expectations toward prospective employers. The author surveyed a sample of LEED Accredited architects and found a combination of job and personal factors motivated them to attain accreditation. LEED APs value both a competitive salary and commitment to sustainability in prospective employers. To attract, retain, and utilize LEED APs, executives in this industry must reexamine corporate culture, their willingness to pay for credentialing, and the alignment of their reputation with the desires of potential applicants.

Manager Training and Development Strategy: A Methodology to Link Strategic Initiatives at Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University has developed and implemented a strategic plan and performance development initiative for 2007-2017. In concert with the strategic plan and performance development initiative, supportive manager core competencies have been identified. The deliverable for this capstone project is a documented methodology that supports the strategy for the design and implementation of a manager training and development program that ensures needed competencies are available. The author uses survey data to determine training needs and priorities and, through a review of literature, investigates effective strategies to arrive at a successful implementation methodology. The author presents findings and conclusions regarding design implementation methodology for manager training and development.

The Role of Succession Planning in Leadership Development

In progressive companies succession planning plays a vital role in leadership development. Some companies have neither succession planning nor ways to fill leadership gaps. On the academic side of research, this Capstone Project focuses on the role of succession planning in leadership development through various approaches and theories. The purpose of this Capstone Project is to provide HR professionals with solid mechanisms for identifying and preparing leaders for leadership roles through proper succession mapping within a company. Through the analysis of case studies and research, recommendations are made on the formulation of a decision tree so that succession planning may take a new place in leadership development in an organization.

Development of a Strengths-Based Model for Insurance Automobile, Property, and Casualty Claims Operations

ABSTRACT \ Employers know that to have a successful organization, they must have the right people in the right jobs. But how will they know whom to place where? The development of a model based upon an individual's personality traits and strengths, and how to best use them, is a good place to start. Employees working in positions in which their traits and strengths are maximized enjoy work more, are more efficient, and are less apt to be absent or to look for work elsewhere. It is a mutually beneficial process of selection for both employers and employees. This model illustrates the process in an automobile and property insurance claims operation through utilization of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators and the StrengthsFinder Profiles.

Employee Leadership Development

Abstract \ The business importance of retaining and developing top performing employees is more crucial to business organizations that in the past, yet many organizations are not confident in their ability to staff leadership positions within the next five years. Many companies continue to run without a employee leadership development program. Organizations that shy away from development programs tend to do so because of fear the costs are too high. Organizations that support leadership programs acknowledge that the benefits far outweigh the costs. In this capstone study, the researcher illustrates that employee leadership development programs add value through improved business strategy and employee satisfaction, and as a result, represent a worthy investment.

A Human Resource Training Program for Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have increased in the twenty-first century; however, the majority of cross-border mergers fail to achieve their financial objectives. Nonetheless, the number of merger failures has not stopped organizations from undertaking mergers. There are multiple sources and types of conflict associated with merger failure, which can all be traced back to the facts that human resource departments have not been utilized effectively and that there has been a lack of planning during the M&A process. Thus, this capstone proposes a training program as a reference for human resource departments to apply best practices for planning, training, and evaluating during the process of M&As, which will help potentially alleviate conflicts during the merger period.

Human Resource's Role in Leveraging Knowledge Management as a Competitive Advantage

The ultra-competitiveness in the twenty-first century's business environment suggests that, to survive, human resource (HR) must prove its value. The knowledge economy presents HR the opportunity to demonstrate its added value through leveraging knowledge management (KM) as a competitive advantage. This capstone reviews the literature on business strategy, knowledge, KM, KM success, and HR to reveal links between these subjects and illustrate three roles HR can undertake to leverage KM as a competitive advantage. The capstone also assesses HR's current contributions to KM through a survey of 42 HR professionals. Survey results suggest that, although HR contributes to the three KM roles, HR is not currently fully capitalizing on the opportunity to become a strategic business partner through KM.

Hiring Manager Training for Strategically Selecting the Best Human Capital

The selection process is arguably the most important part of the employee life cycle in an organization, but a process often underdeveloped in many organizations. Successful selection processes can put the right people into critical positions, whereas failure to focus on selection can result in poor performance, turnover, and loss of productivity critical to the continuing success of organizations. This paper creates a model for a hiring manager training that focuses on a strategic selection process to maximize chances for successful hires. Utilizing leadership and selection models, human resources can engage hiring managers in a strategic applicant selection process as well as give tools for screening, interviewing, and selecting the best candidates for employment throughout all levels of their organization.