Friday News Roundup: HR Gaining Clout, Sexual Harassment Training in San Diego and More.

The Friday News Roundup sums up the current week of HR trends and fun facts as told by our favorite, top HR blogs. Last week we covered hiring employees with tattoos and preparing for the Affordable Care Act. This week, we’re back at it and we’ve found sexual harassment training is more relevant than ever, HR is moving up the ranks in company influence, and more.

HR Gaining Clout

A recent study from XpertHR entitled HR Staffing, Cost and Structure Benchmarks 2013, has found HR’s influence in the workplace has increased 50% over the past two years. The study, which surveyed more than 150 companies employing more than 200,000 people, cited increased recognition and interaction from top management, as well as growing HR operating and activities budgets as some of the key evidence supporting their conclusion. 

Sexual Harassment Training Gets the Spotlight in San Diego
San Diego mayor Bob Filner has recently been accused of sexually harassing his communications director for the past few months. The question at hand in the proceedings is whether Filner received the sexual harassment training required of him by the State of California or if the City of San Diego dropped the ball. Regardless, this shows the ongoing importance of sexual harassment compliance for an organization. Perhaps Filner should have taken a course like this.

HR and Employees Square Off On Social Media
Social media can be an HR nightmare. When employees are unhappy with their employment, smartphones and social media are powerful weapons they can use to deface a company. Over the past year, a multitude of viral videos have surfaced showing employees doing controversial stunts to damage a company’s image (i.e. a Taco Bell employee licking a stack of taco shells). However, recent court rulings have given employers a social media weapon of their own. It has now been deemed permissible for companies to request tagged Facebook posts to be used as admissible evidence in court proceedings instead of posts directly from an employee.

Athletic Skills Transferring to the Workplace
"Jocks" get a bad wrap in popular culture, being portrayed as thick-skulled or unintelligent. However, skills gained from the field are often highly desirable in the workplace--such as teamwork, perserverance and the desire to win. This week's podcast from Fistful of Talent blog editor Kris Dunn interviews David Livingston, VP of Talent Acquisition at Smartlink to find out what it takes to hire athletes in today’s workplace.

Image Credit: Mark Anderson via Flickr