Linchi Kwok, Ph.D.

We discussed how mobile phones and apps change the way hospitality companies do business before. On June 29, I attended Steven Rothberg*’s session about mobile strategy of employee recruitment. Once again, I see why a company’s mobile strategy becomes so important today. According to Rothberg, 97% students are cell phone users, of whom 85% use smart phones, 9% use iPhones, 94% text. More significantly, 52% cell phone users can recall the mobile ads they received over a three month period. Moreover, half of those who recalled mobile ads also responded to them. There are four billion cell phone users as compared to one billion PC users today. Every month, there are 75 billion messages being sent and received via cell phones. Mobile strategy can help a company reach out target customers (e.g. those with area codes and opt-in customers), build brand recognition, and engage with customers. Rothberg offered several useful tactics for those who want to implement mobile strategy of employee re...

What role do HR professionals play in organizations when facing today’s challenging economy? Where do innovations come from? What skills and competencies do HR professionals need? Today’s general session featured a panel discussion of four senior HR professionals and addressed above timely questions. Angelia Herrin, Editor of Research and Special Projects of Harvard Business Review served as the moderator. The panelists included Michele Toch, VP of HR & Administration, Northrop Grumman Information Systems, Shannon Deegan, Director of People Operations - Strategy, M&A and Staffing at Google, Conrad Venter, Global Head of HR, Deutsche Bank AG, and Paul Records, Senior VP and Chief HR Officer for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospital. The role in HR has changed dramatically over the years. HR needs to be the counselors, business advisors, and the project managers of a company (Toch). HR is the department that initiates and leads changes. Venter emphasi...

I am conducting two research projects about social media because I have great interest in this topic. Today, I attended three concurrent sessions about social media at the SHRM Conference. I like two presentations in particular. One was about the power of social media in recruitment (by Matt Kaiser, VP & Talent Strategist for NAS Recruitment Communications). The other was about the legal and liability issues of using social media in recruitment and selection (by Jason Morris, President & COO for EmployeeScreenIQ). According to Matt Kaiser, “social media has changed the way we act, think, and communicate personally and professionally.” Companies can leverage the power of social media and recruit top talent. No matter if a company wants or not, its “employment brand” has been widely discussed by people at career websites like JobVent.com, Glassdoor.com, and Vault.com. Companies need to take an active role in defining its employment brand. Social media strategy starts from a good ...

Al Gore was today’s keynote speaker (June 28). He discussed the crucial role of Human Resource in today’s business world because HR can help leaders: 1. Deal with the emerging diverse workforce issue that challenges organizations. 2. Provides cutting-edge, continuous education and career development opportunities --- the changing needs of the workforce require constant updates of employee skills and competencies. 3. Prepare for the historic movement of the “Internet Evolution” --- the ways people communicate with each other are quite different today because of the Internet. 4. Work on organizational development. 5. Motivate and engage employees and deal with compensations and evaluations. 6. Develop a sustainable capitalist system --- companies should optimize the long-term return of the business, yet many CFO or CEO focuses on the short-term earnings on the balance sheet. Indeed, HR is facing many challenges in today’s business, but challenges are embedded with opportunities. Recruitm...

We know that the economy is far from fully recovered even though we have seen some hopes. What happened? Where are we at right now? What will happen next? Attendees of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) 62nd Annual Conference & Exposition are expected to find the answers to these questions in the event. From today’s welcome speech by Lon O’Neil, the President and CEO of SHRM, I see the future of HR. Business leaders have been working with HR strategists to manage an organization’s human capital. Strategic HR helps business hire untapped talent and gain competitive advantages with higher productivity, more innovation and lower staff turnover. Afterwards, today’s keynote speaker, Steve Forbes, President and CEO of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine, suggested four factors that may very likely influence the recovery: (1) Dollar --- stable and strong dollar will help; (2) Taxes --- making taxes less complicated will release people’s tension and allow them to cre...

In this video: crude oil was found in oysters at a N.C. restaurant. The other day, I watched another news video showing that supermarkets at NYC informed customers of seafood sources with signage. Now, the direct impact of the oil spill accident has reached everybody. Interested in more discussion about the oil spill accident in this blog? Please check out the following topics: The Impact of the Oil Spill Accident: A Sustainability and Supply Chain Issue on May 3 ( http://linchikwok.blogspot.com/2010/05/impact-of-oil-spill-accident.html ) Oil Spills, Recession, and the Hotel Industry: A Fox Business Network Video on June 8 ( http://linchikwok.blogspot.com/2010/06/oil-spills-recession-and-hotel-industry.html ) Reference: Video was downloaded from: http://tinyurl.com/linchikwok06252010V

If you don’t like your hotel room or service, where will you go to complain your unpleasant experience? Front Desk? Guest Service Manager? General Manager? How about your friends or fans on Facebook or Twitter? Sarah Nassauer suggested in the Wall Street Journal that travelers’ complaints within their social networks may actually have more power. Hotels are well aware of the important influential effects of online reviews and comments. According to a study by comScore Inc., 41% of leisure travelers and 50% of business travelers admitted that online reviews influence their travel decisions. Many hotels have already been tracking and/or monitoring current and past guests’ posts on Twitter, Facebook, TripAdvisor, and other social networking sites. As a result, complaints posted on social media may receive prompt attention and be addressed quickly. As a guest, if you want to receive better service, you may take Sarah Nassauer’s advice: • Reach your hotel online via Twitter and Facebook. • ...