COVID testing technology, barriers to hiring veterans, and the war for talent were among the top HR technology stories this week.
6 Ways COVID-19 Is Changing Open Enrollment This Year: Technology, mental health and more loved ones are among the new aspects of the process two years after the pandemic. Some employers are taking a hybrid approach and also use personal support on site, says the head of enrollment at Guardian Life, but “technology is groundbreaking and the overarching theme of open enrollment for 2020 and 2021.” Read more here.
5 steps HR must take to build a digital workplace: Creating a collaborative environment requires a partnership with IT and facility management and a key role from HR. And now it happens. According to Gartner, 52% of companies had a digital strategy in 2020, compared to 33% in 2018; 27% had an informal plan in the past year, compared to 30% in 2018. Read more here.
How collaboration technology is changing for the new hybrid era: The intelligent use of collaborative tools will be essential for successful hybrid setups. A distributed hybrid work model will be part of that future, research shows that 58% of US workers say they will be absent at least part-time, writes Simon Haighton-Williams. Read more here.
HR leaders target hurdles for military veterans: Applicant tracking systems, hidden prejudices, and mental health problems hamper veterans entry into the civilian workforce. These systems are too rigid and formulaic, and often leave veterans out because they fail to realize that their military experience can be transferred to civilian experience, says a DEI expert. Read more here.
The technology for on-site COVID testing has arrived – but there is a catch: According to the new OSHA rule, employers can use technology to test their employees for the coronavirus within certain limits. HR leaders can choose to run the tests in-house so that an administrator can monitor the test application and record the result, or use tests that are analyzed by a laboratory and fed back to the company. Read more here.
Sage-Gavin: 4 Ways To Build Talent For Today And Tomorrow: Companies are in the middle of a talent crisis. The ongoing labor shortage and the Big resignation create a so-called “malicious feedback loop” for employers, in which employees who describe their company as understaffed also think about quitting their jobs, writes HR columnist Eva Sage-Gavin. Read more here.
These CHROs say it’s time to “get back on” your employees: At i4cp’s most recent virtual conference, three HR leaders agreed that employers need to invest in retraining and technology to improve employee engagement. “There is a talent war going on and the pool we want to draw from is very small, so now more than ever, HR needs to have a close, strong bond with the company and be agile,” said an HR leader. “We have to make big moves with new ideas.” Read more here.
HR-Tech number of the week: ID theft: As the open enrollment season continues, employers are considering adding a new employee benefit that has grown in urgency since the hybrid workforce was introduced in the COVID-19 pandemic: Identity Theft Protection. According to a survey by Willis Towers Watson, 78% of employers will offer ID theft protection as a benefit to employees by 2022. Read more here.
Phil Albinus is HR Tech Editor for HRE. He has been involved in personal and business technology for 25 years and has served as the editor and senior editor on a number of titles in the areas of financial services, commercial technology and employee benefits. He is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz and lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife audiologist and three grown children. He can be reached at palbinus@lrp.com and followed on Twitter @philalbinus.
