Connected Enterprise - An Epicor Blog

Survey Says: Most Companies Lagging in Carbon Accounting Comprehension and Execution

Last week we announced the results of our first ever global carbon accounting survey. The goal of the survey was to gain insight into the ability and willingness of companies to identify their greenhouse gas emissions; to find out how they technically capture emissions; and to clarify the extent to which companies have to meet legal requirements for sustainability, as well as partner and customer demands in this arena.

The results – compiled from nearly 1000 companies surveyed across the globe – were pretty astounding. Fifty-eight percent of companies surveyed had not even heard of the term “carbon accounting”; less than a third could accurately describe what the term means, and a full 80% of companies surveyed don’t monitor their company’s carbon footprint.

So why are companies lagging in their comprehension of carbon accounting as a whole, and in the execution of said carbon accounting initiatives?

One reason is many companies see carbon accounting or energy management efforts as a distraction rather than something they can quickly and easily quantify. I also think there is some cynicism out there colored by individuals’ own personal opinions. Many people feel the whole carbon issue equates to acceptance of science behind global warming. Irrespective of your views on the science, if you choose not to believe it and bury your head in the sand, you do so at the risk of putting your organisation at a competitive disadvantage.  Legislation is here and if you are not mandated by it now, it will be coming your way.

Done right, carbon accounting can be a part of your normal course of business – not an extra task – and like other GRC initiatives; it has the potential to create process efficiencies for operational cost savings.

Another hurdle for carbon accounting is many companies don’t realize the significance of monetizing these efforts. What’s more, the trading of carbon credits is often way outside of their core business role. It’s a new skill set/competency that most people flat out don’t have – but expect to see the job market heat up over the next few years in The New Carbon Economy. Major financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Berkeley's and Citi Bank, already have carbon trading desks in London, the commodity market for carbon offsets, is the fastest growing commodity market in the world with companies buying and selling carbon credits like pork bellies or silver.

At the point when the economies of the world were in a more robust state, green initiatives and carbon were a lot higher up on both media and corporate agendas. But as the downturn took hold, organizations started looking inwards at themselves and less at their green credentials. However operational cost savings and a green corporate agenda are not mutually exclusive. By managing your operations in an energy efficient manner, there’s tremendous financial upside in the form of operational cost savings, and also possible increased revenues – not to mention compliance, as there’s going to be a “train” of increasing compliance requirements in this arena. We say – get ahead of the curve – start following it now. Compliance is actually a byproduct – you’ll actually save your company money and open up a whole new revenue stream.

Posted by Chris Purcell, Product Marketing Manager, Epicor

Trends in Talent Management

Dr. John Sullivan recently posted an article on ere.net detailing what he thought would be the top trends in talent management and recruiting for the coming year. A couple points caught our eye.

• Remote work changes everything in talent management.
  The continued growth of technology, social media, and easy communications makes it possible for most knowledge work and team activities to occur remotely. Allowing top talent to work “wherever they want” improves retention and makes recruiting dramatically easier.
  
  Unfortunately, even though it is now possible for as much as 50 percent of a firm’s jobs to be handled remotely, manager and HR resistance has limited the trend. Fortunately, managers and talent management leaders have begun to realize that teamwork, learning, development, recruiting, and best-practice sharing can successfully be accomplished using remote methods.

• The need for speed shifts the balance between development and recruiting.
  Historically, best practice within corporations has been to build and develop primarily from within. However, as the speed of change in business continues       to increase and the number of firms that copy the “Apple model” (where a firm is continually crossing industry boundaries) increases, talent managers will need to rethink the “develop internally first” approach.
  
  In many cases, recruiting becomes a more viable option because there simply isn’t time for current employees to develop completely new skills. As a result, the trend will be to continually shift the balance toward recruiting for immediate needs and using contingent labor for short-duration opportunities and problems.

Both of these points underscore a position that Epicor has long held: the importance of understanding the new generation of talent represented by Gen X-ers (born 1965-1981) and Gen Y-ers (born 1982-1995).

These generations view themselves as top talent, and expect companies to work around their schedules, not vice versa. Employees of this generation have supreme faith in their ability to find a different job easily, and expect increased flexibility to be happy.

Recruiting and retaining Gen X-ers and Gen Y-ers goes far beyond talent management. Having a stand-alone talent management suite does not allow the flexibility needed in reporting or the comprehensive data needed to offer a flexible work environment to young employees. When your talent management suite is included with your HR software, you can also take advantage of other tools your HRIS offers to keep these employees engaged and happy. Epicor can help you with this.

Posted by Malcolm Fox, Director, Product Marketing, Epicor HCM

Hiring and Retaining Employees a Growing Issue in 2012

A recent survey by Federal News Radio shows that retaining good employees—in spite of pay freezes and cuts to employee benefits—will be the biggest challenge facing federal agency HR officials next year. It will be more of a concern to chief human capital officers than either hiring new workers or upgrading technology. Forty percent of survey respondents said the biggest HR challenges are the pay freezes and cuts to employee benefits that make it hard to recruit and retain talent. Network World’s Layer 8 blog also noted that recruiting and retaining important IT staff, particularly in the burgeoning security arena, is a challenge for every organization, one that is only going to get tougher. 

The UK-based technical news publication The Register adds to the chorus by noting that the real tech talent wars are being waged beyond the spiritual home of high-tech, and everyone is losing. “In fact, the greatest threat to the adoption of industry-changing technologies…may well be the dearth of talent capable of deploying them effectively,” says Register contributor Matt Asay, who also points out that non-technical companies are struggling to hire and retain qualified personnel as well.

What’s an HR manager to do?

Software is available to help increase the efficiency of every part of the recruitment process. Using a best-of-breed HR software such as Epicor HCM even goes beyond the recruitment process. Epicor HCM not only helps you find the perfect candidate, it also makes it easy to track an employee’s data after he or she is hired—an important tool for retention.

Technology is increasingly pervasive in today’s culture. Use technology to make it easy for candidates (including current employees) to find open positions available in your organization and apply for those jobs online. The easier you make it for candidates to find you, the more likely you are to attract quality ones. The more that candidates and employees see your organization as technologically sophisticated, the more likely they’ll develop an affinity that will be hard to break or leave.

Posted by Malcolm Fox, Director, Product Marketing, Epicor HCM