Southern Illinois has a number of personnel-related groups that meet on a regular basis to share experiences and learn to do their job better.
This is all part of continuous improvement for human resources personnel.
Several of the groups got together recently to discuss the major problems impacting human resources and what the future may bring.
Following is a list of problems (in no particular order) that even the writers of Brave New World and 1984 could not have envisioned:
- High school graduates lack basic skills.
- Employees lack both work and social skills.
- Better education improves productivity and profitability.
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a disaster. Dealing with the Department of Labor as an enforcement agency is difficult.
- Employee awareness is rising, and they are finding more loopholes to abuse FMLA.
- FMLA, American Disability Act, and workers’ compensation are also a combined disaster.
- HR is being forced to deal with social, cultural, and motivational problems that are not handled in schools or at home as in the past.
- More legislation is coming about religion, sexual preference, workplace violence, etc.
- Medical plans and other benefits will be even more heavily regulated.
- The next downturn in the economy and baby boomers will bring more age discrimination complaints.
- Too many workers come from broken homes and generations of welfare.
- We have put technology ahead of people.
- More emphasis on training and retraining and distant learning and Web-based training.
- The HR manager is a legal, social and everything else consultant.
It was a feel-good session that allowed everyone to just let it all hang out.
Hopefully a future session will produce some dialogue to provide options on how to face up to or resolve some of these concerns. IBI
