Home » Download Centre » Articles
How social innovation drives smart working
NorthgateArinso Ireland, believes that companies need to be particularly inventive in formulating ways to ensure that key skills required within the business are retained and developed so that advantage can be taken of growth opportunities.
In formulating staff retention plans, HR professionals must look not only at factors and trends within the company’s business sector but must particularly examine trends in society as a whole. If we assume that most knowledge-intensive companies consider their workforce as critical assets, then, in order to support the company strategy, it is essential that HR pro-actively provides senior management with reliable and well structured information about population trends, about future expectations regarding talent and skills, about developments in productivity standards and about skills availability.
In its work in the HR industry across the world, NorthgateArinso has concluded that the average company often has little or no idea of the impact that a loss of talent, combined with staff retirement, will have on its overall company strategic objectives. Just like all business managers, HR must be able to translate external trends into future scenarios and determine the consequences for the company workforce.
A good example of a current trend that can have a significant effect on this type of analysis is that of Social Innovation.
The fluctuating labour market, combined with a multitude of technical innovations, forces companies to define ‘work’ in a different way. Social Innovation is about renewing the labour process, with the goal of increasing productivity and participation - working more intelligently and organising work differently. The day when all employees came to the office to spend their time together is becoming less the norm but only a relatively small number of organisations are actively promoting this change. The way work is now being assigned is becoming more flexible and more project-based. In doing so, a company can more easily access the knowledge they need at a particular moment.
Because knowledge resides with the individual and the individual can exercise choice, he or she may be less tempted to opt for a traditional manner of work and can be more likely only to seek association with a company for the duration of a project while all the time connecting with networks and participating in projects that are offered through these networks.
FLEXIBLE TIME AND PLACE
As employees collaborate remotely with each other from different parts of the world, the usability and reliability of tools and infrastructure becomes very important. Employees are increasingly ready to perform all their transactional work via the web. Great adoption, however, requires a great user interface and minimal hurdles or clicks to perform transactions. Therefore provision of a spotless user interface is a key requirement, especially with users who are now used to rich internet applications that deliver a full-fledged application platform, combining video, sound, images, animations and full interactivity as standard – the likes of Google-simplicity and iPhone-like interfaces immediately spring to mind. Some more experienced people are switching to freelance work or are working on assignments linked to a final result where employees can determine themselves (within reason) the time and place of work, as long as results are produced at a certain time.
RESPONSIBILITY OF HR
Social Innovation demands changes in the way both management and the employee work and emphasises the need for a new form of coaching, rather than daily guidance, of employees during the process of working towards an end result. HR has to take a leading role in organising this change and establishing this new way of working, helping to guide managers as well as staff.
More than ever before, HR must be aligned with the strategy of the company and turn these choices into viable policies. HR must initiate the discussion on how such policies change relationships within the company and how this affects contractual terms and conditions.
It is the responsibility of HR not to implement Social Innovation as a solution to a problem but as a new way of working where both the employee and the employer can be challenged to innovate as part of a mature working relationship in an attempt to increase productivity.
Have your say
Recent Articles
Thursday 30 June 2011
Protect Yourself with HR Outsourcing
Thursday 23 June 2011
HR Solutions Help Free Up More Time
Thursday 16 June 2011
Payroll Outsourcing Makes Legal Compliance Easier
Thursday 9 June 2011
Achieve Maximum Efficiency With our HR Solutions
Thursday 2 June 2011
Move With the Times and Get New Payroll Solutions
Monday 30 May 2011
Computers Have Revolutionised HR Solutions
Monday 23 May 2011
Benefit From Great HR Solutions Advice
Monday 16 May 2011
Take the Hassle Out of HR and Payroll Issues
Monday 9 May 2011
Payroll Solutions Tailored to Your Needs
Monday 2 May 2011
The Savvy Way to Approach HR
Friday 29 April 2011
Taking Care of HR Departments
Friday 22 April 2011
Effective Time Management: Minimising Technological Setbacks with New HR Software
Friday 15 April 2011
Payroll Outsourcing: Because Time is Money
Friday 8 April 2011
HR and Payroll Solutions for Increased Productivity
Friday 1 April 2011
Improve Productivity with HR Software
Monday 28 March 2011
Payroll Outsourcing and Other HR-Related Solutions
Monday 21 March 2011
HR Software: Technological Transformation for Personnel Management
Friday 18 March 2011
HR and Payroll Solutions: Minimise Recession Stress
Monday 14 March 2011
Modern, Reliable HR Software and Solutions
Monday 7 March 2011
Minimise Technological Hitches with New HR Software
Monday 28 February 2011
HR Software can Transform the Way the Department is Run
Monday 21 February 2011
Time to Get Rid of Payroll from your To-do List
Monday 14 February 2011
Don't Underestimate the Work of HR
Monday 7 February 2011
Fed Up of Payroll Problems? Time to Outsource
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Eradicate the Paper Trail with HR Solutions
Monday 31 January 2011
Experiencing The Tangible Benefits of Payroll Outsourcing
Monday 24 January 2011
Alleviating Time Wasting And Errors By Payroll Outsourcing
Monday 17 January 2011
Empowering Management And All Staff With HR Software Usage
Monday 10 January 2011
Purchasing HR Software For Assured Return On Investment
Monday 3 January 2011
Pulling Together HR And Payroll Solutions Under A Single Umbrella
Thursday 30 December 2010
Turning Invisible Work Into An Invaluable Function
Thursday 23 December 2010
Alerting And Scheduling For Business Management Excellence
Thursday 16 December 2010
Managing Flexibility And Making It A Successful Tool
Thursday 9 December 2010
Optimising The Use Of HR Software For Maximum Cohesion
Thursday 2 December 2010
Sourcing HR Software To Manage The Present And The Future
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Servicing The HR And Payroll Solutions Required By The Service Industry
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Applying Relevant HR Software Sector Specifically
Tuesday 16 November 2010
Clocking Up The Best Suited Time And Attendance Monitoring System
Tuesday 9 November 2010
Monitoring Staff Time And Attendance At The Push Of A Button
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Optimising The Use of HR Software For Maximum Efficiency
Friday 29 October 2010
Managing Payroll Solutions to Best Benefit Companies' Individual Needs
Friday 22 October 2010
HR Software Leading The Way Towards Seamless Payroll Solutions
Friday 15 October 2010
Strategically Managing Payroll Solutions For Financial Analysis
Friday 8 October 2010
Streamlining HR Solutions Equals Benefitting from Business Efficiency
Monday 4 October 2010
Put some hybrid in your HR
Friday 1 October 2010
Defining Business Success Via Visions and Values
Thursday 30 September 2010
Why Outsource Payroll Solutions?
Thursday 23 September 2010
HR Solutions for Dealing with Temporary and Part-time Staff
Thursday 16 September 2010
HR and Payroll Solutions for Complex Situations
Saturday 11 September 2010
Outsourcing for large and small alike
Thursday 9 September 2010
Payroll Solutions that Account for Everything
Thursday 2 September 2010
NorthgateArinso HR and Payroll Solutions
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Some Things to Think About When Payroll Outsourcing
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Modern HR Solutions for the Intranet Age
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Some Pointers in Choosing Good HR Software
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Why Would You Outsource HR Solutions?
Tuesday 3 August 2010
Payroll Outsourcing for Companies with Ireland Offices
Saturday 31 July 2010
Look No Further For HR Solutions
Friday 23 July 2010
Powerful Products
Friday 16 July 2010
Supreme Clientele
Friday 9 July 2010
Innovative Solutions
Friday 2 July 2010
Premium Payroll Advice
Thursday 24 June 2010
The Right Payroll Services for Your Company
Friday 21 May 2010
Addressing the global sourcing challenge
Monday 10 May 2010
Developing the organization and leadership of tomorrow
Friday 30 April 2010
Employer Branding – Selling your Company in the Employment Marketplace
Monday 19 April 2010
How social innovation drives smart working
Friday 9 April 2010
Key Performance iIndicators: managing HR means measuring HR
Thursday 25 March 2010
Simple ideas for smarter reward in a downturn
Thursday 18 March 2010
Transforming HR: Getting the timing right
Thursday 4 March 2010
Talent Management: end-to-end process control
Thursday 4 March 2010
Why e-HR projects fail to deliver
Friday 12 February 2010
HR "as you like it"
Monday 25 January 2010
Does job evaluation have a future?
Comments