High Flying Workforce

Despite record fuel prices, one formerly struggling airline has finally turned a profit -- American Airlines is finally in the black. How? Remember those funny stories about getting rid of pillows on certain flights and eliminating olives from the salads? American turned minor cost reductions into major savings. But the real story is that the ideas were products of the company's human capital -- the existing workforce. Christian Science Monitor reports that two American Airlines mechanics built "Thumping Ralph" --a drill-bit sharpener made from discarded household machinery that allows them to get more use out of each bit-- saving the airline as much as $300,000 a year. The airline also benefited from a group of pilots who figured out that they could save fuel costs by using only one engine to taxi. What might happen if more managers listened to the ideas of their workforce? Read more...

HR Hatred

The latest issue of Fast Company really caught my attention -- "Why We Hate HR." Obviously, a provocative title. I really like the picture, too. But reach beyond the visual and read the article -- it's worth it. Here's a snip: "HR is the corporate function with the greatest potential -- the key driver, in theory, of business performance -- and also the one that most consistently underdelivers. And I am here to find out why." Read more...

In the Pink

I was looking at a new business publication for women (Pink), and found these sobering statistics: Women represent 51% of the population, but only 1.6% of the Fortune 500 CEOs, 5.2% of top earners, and 7.9% of the highest titles. I'm at a loss for words.

Wissensfabrik

Germany has long been a model for business-education partnerships. Their model for vocational education has been the envy of many leaders in the states. This article reveals they have their own challenges and some exciting solutions. Take a look at how Germany is building an educational "knowledge factory." http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/08/business/wbnurture.php#

Southwest Pennsylvania Business Education Foundation

On June 21st, Board members of the Southwest Pennsylvania Business Education Foundation completed training to be speakers for the Human Capital Policy Initiative. The training was held at the beautiful new campus of South Fayette High School. Special thanks go to Terry Brennan for coordinating the training. These extraordinary educational leaders shared exciting ideas about how they plan to ensure that children are given the tools they need to explore careers and acheive their goals.

HCPI Inspiration in San Diego

Nearly two dozen HR leaders from Pittsburgh attended the Society for Human Resource Management Conference in San Diego, California in June, 2005. It was an outstanding opportunity to listen to remarkable speakers, participate in high quality workshops, meet other HR professionals (approximately 25,000 of them!) all and experience a little California sunshine. HCPI colleagues would have loved Malcolm Gladwell's keynote address. (Gladwell's book, "The Tipping Point," was nearly the bible for HCPI's creation!) Gladwell told a compelling story to illustrate why we need processes and systems to protect us from our sometimes inaccurate instincts. His example -- the gender bias of international symphonies before the introduction of a screen to obscure the gender of performers. Before the screen there were hardly any female musicians playing in world-class symphonies. After the screen, guess who started playing with the boys? Another SHRM attendee wrote a good article about Gladwell's findings. Read more...

Will Controlling Health Care Costs Hurt the Economy?

At last week's Society for Human Resource Management's annual conference, I was struck by how often people mentioned their concerns about rising healthcare costs. This is a business challenge that the HR community is struggling to address. On the positive side, if they can find a way to control costs, they'll gain the attention of their organizations' leaders. On the negative side, controlling costs may mean a shift of the burden from the employer to the individual.

What I began to wonder is what will controlling healthcare costs mean to our region's economic development? The healthcare sector is a large and powerful component of our regional economy. How can we control business costs without hindering the health of the industry itself? Will we be able to control costs without hindering job growth, wages, technological advances, etc.?

Some of the issues are laid out nicely in a US Health and Human Services Report available at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/costgrowth/.

What do you think?