HRM and skills development - April 2019
Robots, automation and human work
Robot and man are not working well together at the moment. However, the power of haptics and shared control can provide a solution, according to David Abbink, professor of Haptic Human-Robot Interaction at TU Delft, who has just taken office. Robot and man then work together as a rider on horseback. The lecture and slides can be viewed through this link.
Relatively few employees are affected by automation: after 5 years about 8% leave the company as a result. About 9% of the employees work in a company that invests heavily in automation, such as robots. This is clear from the recently published study (667 kB) "Automatic Reaction: What Happens to Workers at Firms that Automate" by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), Utrecht University, and Boston University. This is the first time that the impacts of automation on individual employees have been investigated.
Researchers at Saarland University have created an ultrathin flexible film that can act as a sensor for innovative technologies. Integrated within a glove, the new sensory film can communicate the current position of the wearer’s hand and fingers. By establishing a direct connection between the virtual and real working worlds, man and machine can, quite literally, work hand in hand.
Professional learning: baseball inspires packaging
A cutting-edge project at Villanova University USA, is giving baseball players the opportunity to hone their pitch recognition and eye tracking capabilities against pitchers in the virtual realm. PITCHvr (Perceptual Image Trainer for the Complete Hitter in the Virtual Realm) can be used in a virtual reality CAVE environment or wearing a head-mounted display. Also from Villanova, prof. Ross Lee will share the latest insights on advanced learning in packaging at the 5th FBEP Conference on HRM and Skills Development, 10 July 2019 in Boston Ma. USA.
Salaries and working hours for (packaging) professionals
A survey by Packaging Connections (Salary Survey 2018) reveals interesting insights on the salary distribution of packaging professionals, with an emphasis on India. After filling in your details you will receive the report by e-mail.
In Europe, unpaid overtime is normal these days, according to a Survey under around 10,000 European professionals by HRM service provider ADP (in Dutch) with the title 'The Workforce View'. On average 60% of European workers say they work almost 5 hours a week overtime. Despite the considerable attention paid to the risks of an excessive workload, workers therefore work large numbers of hours on their own time. You can download the report after filling in your details.
Humans at the centre of business profitability
A new ISO standard (ISO 27501:2019 The human-centred organization – Guidance for managers) was published to help organizations have a positive impact on their customers as well as other stakeholders and notably their employees. The standard is based on ISO 27500, which explains to executive board members the values and beliefs that make an organization human-centred. More information about the standard and how to buy it can be found here.
Robotisation and well-trained staff are crucial for higher productivity, especially in SME’s, says ABN AMRO (in Dutch) based on a recent survey (in Dutch, 1.77 MB) survey. According to the bank, investing in higher labour productivity is crucial for maintaining a healthy profit margin in a tight labour market. "This requires not only robotisation and digitisation, but also the training of employees, for example to be able to work efficiently with this new technology," says David Kemps, Sector Banker Industry at ABN AMRO.
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