Eye on HR: Are you an HR rock star?

Congrats to the Kansas City Chiefs for winning this year's Superbowl - a final already regarded as an all-time classic. While this annual meeting of the NFL's finest is first and foremost about the sport, the half-time activities are scrutinised to no less a degree. When it comes to the adverts, everything is analysed and deconstructed, as people look for an indicator of what tech's hot, who's spending big, and what resonates with and amuses this captive global audience of millions.

A round of applause, then, to ">Workday, whose Superbowl ad featuring rock stars while decrying 'rock stars', has its cake, eats it, and makes us all laugh along the way too. With their advert widely regarded as one of the best of the bunch - in a pretty packed field - it was a proud moment to see one of our long-time event partners nail it in such a coveted ad spot. Now, I wonder what Ozzy Osbourne's doing on 26-27 April...

Leading from the top

A recent story on UNLEASH has sat with me since we published it, and that's my colleague Allie's news piece about Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, taking a 98% pay cut to keep his company going.

We've written elsewhere about how to conduct layoffs with humanity and compassion, and even written about the opportunities that layoffs might present. But this recent story about Yuan feels like a welcome instance of tech companies leading from the top down.

We've seen plenty of examples of Zoom's positive workplace culture. And digging into the story, it's clear that their off-boarding process is as compassionate as their culture is healthy.

Let's salute a company that appears to do the good things well and the difficult things with a human touch - it's become an indispensable part of post-pandemic business life.Let's salute a company that appears to do the good things well and the difficult things with a human touch - it's become an indispensable part of post-pandemic business life.

More generally: While we're on the subject of off-boarding; we know plenty of HRIS systems have comprehensive functionality and services in this area, such as financial wellbeing advice, interview coaching, and so forth.

What if we supercharged the talent marketplace aspect? Those whose jobs are at risk are automatically added to a talent pool in their organization's affiliate network: non-competitive partners who share candidate details between them. Industry staffing levels are constantly in flux, so surely this is a no-brainer for a lot of companies out there.

A barrier for many potential candidates is understanding where to focus their energy. Imagine knowing who was available - and the companies hiring - for work in your locale and industry in real time. Just a thought...

A new centre of industry?

Another story that caught my eye recently was the news that there are currently more job openings in Florida than there are in New York. A city of opportunity, no doubt, but perhaps the Big Apple and the state's other urban centers are just getting too crowded - job-wise and otherwise.

In 2021, a record-breaking 61,728 New Yorkers moved to Florida. This figure was unprecedented. 12 months later that record was broken again when we saw 64,500 making the switch to sunnier climes.

If you can work remotely, why not? Rising rents, pollution, post-pandemic job cuts; a lot of Americans have just decided it's time to hit the beach.If you can work remotely, why not? Rising rents, pollution, post-pandemic job cuts; a lot of Americans have just decided it's time to hit the beach.

The Florida economy has benefited and local businesses have been able to expand their operations accordingly - and so the cycle goes.

It's incredible - and inevitable - how these events will change the makeup of American states. And it begs the question: where will be the new economic centers of the USA in 10 years time, or 20 years time? Certainly something to keep HR's eye on.

The International Festival of HR is back and the agenda is now live! Discover amazing speakers from the world of HR and business at UNLEASH America on 26-27 April 2023.