In HR news, HR at Southwest Airlines has been named the top company for human resources.  Also making headlines, Sweetgreen is giving employees five months of paid paternal leave.

HR News

Southwest Airlines has world’s best HR department

Southwest Airlines has ranked as the world’s Number 1 HR company.  That’s according to the 2019 Workforce 100 listing.  The ranking lists those companies that have made great strides in human resources during the past year.  Workforce determines the rankings based on publically available HR performance data, along with data from Glassdoor and employee feedback.  Southwest Airlines began climbing the ranks in 2014.

Rounding out the top 10 companies are:

1. Southwest Airlines
2. T-Mobile
3. Goldman Sachs
4. SAP SE
5. Deloitte
6. EY
7. Facebook Inc.
8. Delta Air Lines Inc.
9. Microsoft
10. Cisco

Sweetgreen offers five months paid parental leave

Five months of paid parental leave is being offered to employees of Sweetgreen.  The salad-chain startup is providing the benefit for its 4,000 retail associates nationwide. It’s not the only company to make the move.  Clothing store Lululemon has introducing paid leave for its hourly workers.  The reason:  Sweetgreen hopes the new benefits will set a new level of employee commitment for the restaurant industry.  In most instances, restaurants do not offer employees paid leave.  Along with the paid leave benefits, the salad-chain offers employees access to an emergency fund that all employees contribute to for use in times of need.  Read more here.

HR Exchange Network announces 2^nd edition of HR Tech Online Summit North America

Like space itself, HR technology is vast.  It continues to grow in size with new innovations, and also in value.  The global tech industry soared past $400 billion in worth.  At the same time, HR continues its quest to become a strategic partner to the business.  To help educate HR professionals on the latest technology trends and provide a helpful guide to the ongoing digital transformation, the HR Exchange Network is proud to offer its premier online event for the second year in a row, HR Tech Online Summit North America!

The free-to-attend online event is scheduled for June 11-12, 2019.  Key themes include:

• Creating an HR department more strategy-focused and less transactional with automation and RPA
• How to integrate AI into your overall strategy to remain agile, relevant and competitive
• Effectively using recruitment technologies to find the best talent available for your organization to sustain business growth and survival
• Becoming proficient at understanding and using data through effective application of people analytics
• Consolidating your employee experience strategy to increase engagement, development and retention
• Leveraging video, social media, gamification and microlearning to increase employee

“HR Professionals need and want to implement HR tech within their organizations. However, it’s easier said than done,” HR Exchange Director Rose Morishita said. “Our goal is to help the HR community to become more analytical and get ready  for the future of work.”

This year’s speaking faculty includes some new faces and some familiar ones.

1. Robert Lanning is the director of HRIS and People Analytics for Silicon Valley Bank. His presentation will focus on the power of people analytics and the importance of data to the HR professional.
2. Vishal Bhalla is the Chief Experience Officer for Parkland Health and Hospital System. He’ll speak about how his company is using technology to cultivate a culture-based rewards and recognition program.
3. Paul Baldassari is the executive vice president of Strategic Programs and Asset Management for Flex. This is his second year as a speaker for the HR Tech Online Summit.  He’ll be speaking about artificial intelligence as part of the HR function.
4. Ekta Vyas is the Director of Human Resources for Stanford Children’s Health. She will present a great success story with using technology for employer branding.  In addition to speaking, Dr. Vyas will also join our panel on the digital transformation
5. Eric Torigian will join our event for the first time this year. The VP & Assistant General Manager of Global HR for Akebono Brake USA will serve alongside Dr. Ekta Vyas on this year’s panel.

This free-to-attend event allows attendees to dial in from the comfort of their desks and listen to HR leaders live or on demand. The HR Tech Online Summit North America is the place to find the latest headlines, tips, and trades on traveling this digital road.

Register for FREE here.