Olympic medalist Rulon Gardner chats with Joyce Russell, President of Adecco USA

Mid-afternoon is always a tough time for conference attendees weary from long sessions and poor eating. But Joyce Russell, EVP and President of Adecco Staffing, led a lively discussion on utilizing a flexible workforce through contingent and temporary positions.

Through facts, personal anecdotes and trivia questions, Russell laid the groundwork for why flexible employment can strengthen a workplace in today’s climate. She spoke of how the current workforce is changing and new economic realities that include workers having to do more with less.

That led to a look at the four generations that currently exist in today’s workforce: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers and Millennials. Russell pointed out that these individuals want the same four things in their jobs: they want to have a purpose, make a contribution, be valued and be appreciated. “If you build your whole culture around those four principles,” said Joyce.  “I promise you, you will encompass all of those individuals.”

So what is the “new normal” in today’s working world? Russell says that companies are bringing in more flexible hires. And virtual employment is reality. She adds that companies that aren’t thinking about virtual employment are going to lose the battle in the end because the Millenials, as well as Traditionalists, are demanding virtual options.
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Adecco Team at SHRM

It’s SHRM Day in Atlanta, according to the city’s mayor Kasim Reed, and Adecco Group’s Kathy Kane held an early morning session on contemporary workforce planning and how HR professionals can plan for their workforces going forward.

Kane, SVP, Talent Management, at Adecco Group, started out her discussion by telling the audience that their HR strategy needs to be aligned with their company’s business strategy, and it should in fact, enable that business strategy. “You don’t make money without talent,” she said. “Everything you do should be centered around workforce strategy.”

In planning a workforce strategy, Kane said, HR professionals need to look at where they are today, what they need that picture to look like tomorrow and how do they get there. She drilled down even further and said that a workforce strategy needed to have two elements: a business focus and a workforce focus.

This business focus involves understanding your company’s business strategy. “Business strategies are going to change all the time, but the business leaders aren’t always going to think about the talent implications,” said Kane, telling the audience that the goal is to have their leaders think of them as they’re devising strategies, as alignment is paramount.
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Our coverage at SHRM 2012 kicks off with Opening Session Speaker and the 66th Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who was interviewed by acclaimed CNN journalist Soledad O’Brien.

But before Dr. Rice took the stage, SHRM President and CEO Hank Jackson spoke about the rapidly changing workplace, how businesses need to adapt and how HR professionals can lead the charge. “The workplace of the future will require HR of the future,” said Jackson.

When Dr. Rice was introduced, she was greeted with thunderous applause. She immediately addressed her concerns about the state of the world, referencing three great shocks in recent times: 9/11, the global financial crisis of 2008 and the Arab Spring. And if the international system that is reeling from these three shocks is going to find order again, she added, it’s because “someone steps up to leadership” – namely, America.

And then, Dr. Rice spoke about the weakened state of the U.S. She suggested that historically, America’s strength lied in its belief that “it doesn’t matter where you came from, it’s where you’re going.” But that has been challenged by current sentiments against immigrants. “I do not know when immigrants became the enemy, but if we don’t find a way to affirm immigration, we will lose who we are,” she said to applause.
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