Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 3, 2016 NEWS/FEATURES 17 is nearly 100 per cent digital, so why shouldn't the internal hiring process be conducted online, too? Here's how this type of feature can work: A hiring manager can be set up as an approver for job application submissions. From there, approvers can be automati- cally notified via email when their approval is needed. Because the approvals or deni- als can be done from anywhere, on any device, it allows for great- er flexibility and efficiency in the hiring process — meaning tasks are less likely to get lost in the workflow due to slowdowns and bottlenecks. Email integrations Internal communication is an ongoing challenge for arguably every HR department. Email can be cumbersome, and when people are trying to keep up with an overflowing inbox, workflows quickly become backed up and inefficient. For one company, using forms for hiring eliminated nearly 2,000 hard-to-manage email threads and helped bring greater visibility to new hire needs. Connecting HR forms to an email client is also helpful for automating internal communi- cations as well. By setting up au- tomatic emails that are triggered when employees fill out a certain form, the HR team can eliminate needless emails while still provid- ing employees with the informa- tion and contact they need. When people are spending less time digging through their emails, they can spend more time focus- ing on the internal communica- tions that truly matter and make a difference for company morale and culture. Calculating fields Two major aspects of HR man- agement are keeping a pulse on employee performance (through assessment and review forms) and gauging employee happiness (through satisfaction surveys and qualitative feedback). Instead of using paper surveys or scheduling meetings to collect this data, online forms give HR professionals a fast, easy way to measure these internal factors. In addition to streamlining the data, implementing form features such as self-calculating fields can help HR departments quickly gather an overall score for indi- viduals or teams. By spending less time calculating data, HR profes- sionals can focus more on im- proving employee performance and happiness instead of simply gauging it. Training programs If the HR department is spending an arm and a leg on an education- al platform membership to help train and onboard employees, online forms could be a better solution. Companies can save thousands of dollars by building their own training programs with electronic forms rather than paying for an- other vendor service. For example, online forms can be used to embed training vid- eos and insert applicable quiz questions. Onboarding new employees and getting them started on train- ing are processes that are typically steeped in lots of paperwork and a variety of training modules. In- stead of tracking new employee progress on paper, online forms keep training programs moving forward. Using online tools allows both new employees and the HR de- partment to access and update data from anywhere and can help new hires transition into their new roles more quickly. Human resources is an ex- tremely important, valuable de- partment in any company. And HR professionals will be able to do their jobs to the fullest by us- ing online forms to streamline workflow. By using forms to automate and streamline processes, the HR team will be able to work smarter and faster than ever before. Miranda Nicholson is talent depart- ment manager at Formstack in India- napolis, Ind. For more information, visit www.formstack.com. Training programs enhanced with electronic forms 6 WAYS < pg. 15 Instead of tracking new employee progress on paper, online forms keep training programs moving foward. "But there's a growing group of investors and shareholders that are now looking for companies… that have better performance and diversity because that co-relates with value." ere is still a viewpoint out there that is hostile to women in leadership, as seen in the "dismal" performance on board diversity and the number of female CEOs, said omas. "But on the positive side of that, there's an increasing understand- ing of the importance of diversity not just from a shareholder value perspective but from a values perspective. "We believe this is the right thing to do at the right time, and there are a lot of leaders who get that and the more that sharehold- ers can contribute to that, and be vocal about that, the better." Language issues The researchers also looked at firm communications, such as press releases, to understand how they played a part. "Making gender more salient via impression management ef- forts entails a greater cost for female-led firms, as shareholder activists are already sensitive to the status threat and more likely to speak up and direct their activ- ism toward these firms," said the authors. "While all firms vary in the con- tent and gendered nature of their communications, we propose a differential moderation effect depending on gender, wherein the relationship between female CEO succession and shareholder activism is strengthened more by gendered impression manage- ment than the relationship be- tween male CEO succession and shareholder activism." For female-led firms to get even close to the baseline predicted likelihood of activism male CEOs face, they would have to take all of the femaleness out of their press releases, said Shropshire, and "be very careful to comb (through) what they're saying to make sure it's not female-type words at all, and actually increase the male- ness of their press releases... it's a staggering effect." If companies and investors pay closer attention to the language they use, they can actually reduce the likelihood of this activist in- vestor behaviour occurring, said Foust-Cummings. "When a company is keenly aware of the extent to which they use gendered language to discuss a company's business and perfor- mance, they can actually influence the market response," she said. "So when companies who have female CEOs use gender-typical language less — and that may be even not using the CEO's name in press releases as much as they've used it in the past — then we can avoid those cultural stereotypes getting replicated and reinforced by the media and then, ultimately, avoid the negative impact on the company's stock price and the shareholder activism." Companies can have quite an influence in this regard, said Foust-Cummings. "Many times, the information that the company provides is quoted directly and to the extent that it is quoted directly, then I think we have a real chance at making an impact or a change." However, Thomas said it's interesting to downplay the gender side at the same time that there's such a strong push to speak up about how diversity is actually a good thing for a company. "When we look at boards where we see uniformity and who's rep- resented on that board, we tend to think that says there is not suf- ficient diversity of opinion on that board, and therefore you're more liable to get group-think which is more negative for the company. So we almost want to see the com- pany speak more to the fact that it is taking more of an active inter- est in developing new leadership and changing the culture within companies." Using gender-neutral communications can help "When companies use gender-typical language less, we can avoid those cultural stereotypes getting replicated and reinforced by the media." ACTIVISM < pg. 6 GM chairman and CEO Mary Barra speaks during a keynote address at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 6. Company communications may play a part in reducing the likelihood of shareholder activism. Credit: Steve Marcus (Reuters)

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