Oct 28th, 2010 |
I am always excited about having articles written about our events, but when a major national magazine, such as Forbes, decides to write something related to Human Resources, collaboration technologies and then includes Enterprise 2.0 Santa Clara I knew the word had to be spread.
On October 22nd, Rawn Shah wrote a blog titled “Are Collaborative Technologies on Your HR Department’s Agenda?“. Within this he references from the recently released IBM 2010 Global Chief Human Resource Officer study titled “Working beyond Borders” that highlights:
78 percent of HR leaders do not think their organizations are effective at fostering collaboration and social networking. Yet only 21 percent of companies have recently increased the amount they invest in the collaboration tools. Many organizations fail to fully utilize the knowledge-sharing resources they already possess. Only 19 percent of respondents regularly use collaborative technologies to identify individuals with relevant knowledge and skills. 23 percent use collaborative technologies to preserve critical knowledge, while 27 percent use it to spread innovation more widely across their organization.
Shah, then went on to state that:
This tells me that many organizations are still early in the stages of deploying collaboration systems within their organization, what we refer to as Enterprise 2.0. While it is a strategic need for the organization, there is still much to do to understand how and where they can apply collaborative technologies. When it comes to finding ways to create better linkages between employees in different departments or locations, the HR organization is at the nexus.
If you feel that either you or your HR team could benefit from learning how collaboration technologies can improve communications within your organization, then attend Enterprise 2.0 Santa Clara . With a full one-day program (on Tuesday, November 9) at the Santa Clara Convention Center titled “HR Collaboration Strategies“, this is NOT an event to be missed.Â
Included in the HR Collaboration Strategies pass is four conference sessions, expo displaying the latest technologies, special programs and keynotes with a special panel titled Human Resources Meets Enterprise 2.0 and the Cloud where you will here from other HR professionals on how collaboration has benefited their organization.
By registering with Priority Code CNUJES25 you can receive $100 off the HR Collaboration Strategies, Full and 3-Day conference passes or get a free Expo Pass.
Its true, when you read about new start ups in the Enterprise 2.0 space you think most of the companies in the world are on board. That of course is not the case. Only a small percent of companies are taking advantage of these tools.
I once suggested that university staff members working across multiple sites consider using Skype to reduce costs and travel time. It was also my way of trying to encourage them to learn about a new technology (being the educational technologist that I am!).
There was an overwhelming resistance to the idea, and people started accusing management of going beyond acceptable measures to reduce costs. All I heard was a fear of learning something new.
Often times, the resistance to change, even in the most cultivated of knowledge communities, trumps logic and good business sense. Although educating people on the use of collaborative technologies should theoretically encourage their adoption, what do you think the real conduit for change will be?
I can’t speak for all HR departments however many of the ones I have com in contact with have been very scared of change because I think mostly of the control they think they will loose.
Control is definitely a factor. So is the simple fear of ‘looking stupid’. People who have done the same job for a number of years have gotten naturally used to feeling like they know what’s around the corner. That makes them look smart and gives them the feeling of being professional, valuable and prepared. That’s a great thing to have, but I think it’s more and more of a delusion what with the ways in which technology speeds everything up and changes the nature of how we connect and communicate.