BLR recently released its “2013 Policies Survey,” which surveyed 1,532 organizations about their human resources policies. Among the information was a list of policies that are expected to present the greatest challenge to organizations in the coming year. Here are the three top problem areas respondents identified:
Social media. Cited by 32.4 percent of the organizations surveyed, social media policies are an area of serious concern for the human resource community. Research from the Ethics Resource Center indicates a policy that explicitly forbids any social media use at work may not be practical. In the face of this obstacle, talent management professionals may be struggling to find an acceptable middle ground policy regarding online networking sites in the workplace. Social media policies may also include what it is appropriate to post online, whether the company has authority (less confusing) to discipline employees who make objectionable posts and how the company represents itself on the Internet. This is an area where developments are coming thick and fast, and as such may be confusing to many.
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Bring your own device. More than one in five organizations reported a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy was likely to be problematic in the coming year. There are always security concerns attached to allowing employees to bring their own computers and mobile devices to work. Viewing and creating corporate documents on personal machines may open the information to theft or loss. In some cases, this could be catastrophic to the company. However, it is becoming a strong desire among employees to be able to use familiar devices and programs to complete their work wherever they are. As with many policies on this list, the essential task in formulating an acceptable BYOD policy may be finding a middle ground that works for everyone.
Employee leave and vacation. Unlike social media and BYOD policies, employee leave and vacation are not new areas where HR departments must make decisions in an ever-changing landscape. While best practices around employee leave and vacation do shift, they are areas of talent management that have existed for quite some time. Deciding how to manage them, however, is a perennial issue for 15 percent of the organizations BLR surveyed. American workers take less vacation than employees in other nations, and some suggest this is to their detriment. In fact, a more connected lifestyle can make taking a vacation difficult, as employees may be expected – and may expect themselves – to check in and do work when they’re off.
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