2024/11/22

2024 Strategical Human Capital Conference: Future Issues and Trends（2024/11/22）

The Center for Strategy and Human Capital Research at our university held the " Strategical Human Capital Conference: Future Issues and Trends" on November 22 (Friday). Four professors were invited to share their expertise: Professor Nai-Wen Chi, Professor Min-Nan Chen, and  Professor Yu-Hsuan Wang all from the Department of Human Resource Management at National Sun Yat-sen University, and Professor Tun-Chun Huang from the Department of Human Resource Management at National Changhua University of Education. The seminar divided the trends in strategic talent management into four main themes, with each professor delivering a presentation and engaging in in-depth discussions. The venue was packed, and the discussions were lively and engaging.

Exploring the Dual Innovation of R&D Engineers: The Impact and Influence of Breakthrough Innovation

The seminar began in the morning with the first session led by Professor Min-Nan Chen, who presented on the topic "Exploring the Dual Innovation of R&D Engineers: The Impact and Influence of Breakthrough Innovation." Professor Chen used examples such as AI-driven recruitment tools and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series to illustrate the definition and importance of breakthrough innovation. He also highlighted market uncertainty as a major barrier to breakthrough innovation.

Professor Chen first discussed the differences between Exploration learning and Exploitation learning, and then elaborated on how companies can leverage human capital to enhance breakthrough innovation. Using engineers as an example, he emphasized that developers must possess exploratory knowledge learning. When engineers have characteristics that support exploration, they are more likely to demonstrate breakthrough innovation, with more notable originality in their patents and innovative results. Professor Chen also stressed that such innovation can help companies open new market opportunities, increase revenue and profits, and ensure future competitiveness.

Finally, Professor Chen shared practical HR strategies, such as promoting knowledge sharing (e.g., mentoring, reading groups) to enable engineers with exploratory traits to act as seeds for diffusion. He also suggested offering employees partial time and resources to pursue personal projects of interest, fostering an innovative culture within the company, and building resilience to tolerate failure. He reminded HR professionals to be mindful of misaligning employee traits, ensuring that exploratory or developmental talents are matched to the appropriate innovation tasks.

AI-Driven Future Workplaces:
New Applications in Human Resource Management Research

Next, Professor Yu-Hsuan Wang presented on "AI-Driven Future Workplaces: New Applications in Human Resource Management Research." She began by addressing the topic of how AI will replace mundane HR tasks, allowing human value to be fully realized. Using the example of the Data Scientist in Strategic HR position at TSMC, she explained that one of the job responsibilities involves using data analysis and algorithms to identify true performance indicators. Professor Wang then shared practical examples of AI applications across various HR fields, such as recruitment. In the past, HR professionals relied on KSAO (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other characteristics) to assess whether candidates would meet the supervisor’s expectations, but this often led to personal biases or misinterpretations of the job requirements. Today, AI helps by using Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze candidates' resumes, compare career experiences with job requirements, and reduce interviewers’ subjective biases, thus ensuring better employee-job fit. In addition to recruitment, she also highlighted AI applications in employee engagement surveys, performance evaluations, succession/career development, and social media analysis. Finally, Professor Wang emphasized that AI is designed to replace routine tasks, allowing skilled professionals to focus on more complex, high-level work, thereby fostering human-AI collaboration. She pointed out the current challenges in HR, including the lack of comprehensive big data and ongoing concerns about human rights and privacy in data usage.

Her practical and research-based insights provided significant value to the audience.

The Impact of Technological Development on Corporate Recruitment and Selection

In the afternoon session, Professor Tun-Chun Huang began by sharing insights on the topic "The Impact of Technological Development on Corporate Recruitment and Selection." Professor Huang focused on two main areas: social media recruitment and resume screening. He explained that for companies, a larger talent pool provides more choices, and recruitment is akin to following the water to find the grass, meaning companies should move closer to talent. The high penetration rate of social media makes it an essential platform for recruitment. Professor Huang’s structured presentation centered on the social media platform Facebook, analyzing its recruitment advantages, factors influencing the operation of recruitment-focused pages (instrumental and symbolic motivations), and the practical challenges companies face. He provided recommendations for HR professionals wishing to use social media for recruitment, suggesting they create interesting and useful content to encourage voluntary sharing among followers and invest necessary resources (such as time and financial costs). The key to success, according to Huang, lies in company culture—there needs to be internal consensus for effective implementation.

Professor Huang also emphasized an important concept: while social media can assist in recruitment, it should be viewed as a complementary tool, not a replacement for traditional recruitment channels.

In the second part of his presentation, Professor Huang shared his research on using eye-tracking technology in resume screening. He found that reviewers tend to focus on specific points in resumes, and highly customized resumes, which provide more relevant information related to the job, have a higher likelihood of passing the review process.

Professor Huang’s presentation was both profound and engaging, providing laughter and insightful takeaways throughout the afternoon session.

Talent or Trouble? 
Exploring the Positive and Negative Impacts of Stars on Supervisors and Colleagues

Finally, Professor Nai-Wen Chi delivered an insightful presentation on the topic "Talent or Trouble? Exploring the Positive and Negative Impacts of Stars on Supervisors and Colleagues." Professor Chi began by defining "star employees" using three main criteria: exceptional performance, high visibility, and competitive advantage. He then discussed the gap between the reality and the expectations surrounding these employees, guiding the audience to view the role of star employees from multiple perspectives.

Professor Chi proceeded to highlight both the positive and negative impacts that stars can have on their colleagues and supervisors. He gave detailed examples of benign envy (positive envy) versus malicious envy (negative envy), illustrating how these emotions manifest in the workplace.

In terms of how to effectively utilize stars, Professor Chi emphasized the importance of their impression management behaviors. If stars overly focus on self-promotion or emphasize their own importance, it can lead to increased envy from supervisors and a loss of trust. On the other hand, when they consistently demonstrate exemplary behavior, exceeding expectations and showing responsibility, they can reduce envy and improve relationships with colleagues.

To foster benign envy, it’s important for star employees to share their efforts and achievements, making it clear that their success is deserved and not based on unfair advantages. Supervisors, according to Professor Chi, should lead by example, show genuine concern for their team members, and create a collaborative atmosphere that fosters team identity and recognition, rather than focusing on criticizing or undermining the stars.

The audience engaged with Professor Chi on topics such as the potential for stars to experience overwork and the scope of their empowerment, leading to further discussion and exploration of these issues.

This workshop attracted over 70 attendees, including research students, faculty members, and HR professionals from the corporate sector. The participants actively engaged with the speakers, raising numerous questions related to the research topics and practical applications, leading to in-depth academic exchanges with the professors. The audience benefited greatly from these interactions. In closing, the host, Professor Nai-Wen Chi, encouraged the attendees by reminding them that strategic talent management will continue to evolve with time and changing conditions. He emphasized that continuous learning and improvement are essential to adapting to these changes.

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