Dive Brief:

• Diginomica says that products, user conferences and press releases about HR in general will not reveal the real issues facing the profession today.
• Rather, the article points to several recent HR trends that deserve attention, and need fixing. They range from the danger of focusing too hard on engagement to the challenge of managing younger workers who often have a hard time with interpersonal skills (despite their superior technical skills).
• HR needs to get ahead of why workers become disengaged, Diginomica says, and micromanagement via the emerging array of data tools won't always reveal the actual truth.

Dive Insight:

The article spans a lot of territory for HR. For example, it talks about the danger of using too many tools to take the workforce pulse at the risk of being too invasive "after the fact."

Diginomica chastises HR for seeking out an over-abundance of employee data for every process and program from wellness to social networks. In short, data collection tools may be expanding, but that doesn't mean they all have to be used. Using them all risks overanalysis.

Finally, HR is not really up to the formidable challenge of recruiting, Diginomica says, adding that the process needs to be seriously upgraded. The suggestion: work on getting into the candidate's head to understand their needs and wants and create a "memorable experience" to get them to sign on the dotted line.