By Michelle Kumar

Editor’s Note: Michelle Kumar, a Kwantlen Polytechnic University student, was the recipient of a conference scholarship in the Fraser Valley region. 

In April, I had the privilege of attending the 2014 HRMA Conference + Tradeshow. Prior to attending this conference, I thought that all of the learning and tools that I obtained in regards to Human Resources only applied to this particular field. However, to my surprise, I realized that my learning could extend beyond HR and be applied to any environment.

One of the speakers who helped shape this view was Col. Chris Hadfield. He spoke about how he used social media to share content from space. Normally, I wouldn’t consider space and social media to go hand in hand, but Hadfield was able to merge the two in order to connect with people that were interested in his work.

I realized that the same theory could apply to the HR and that it was a matter of finding a way to engage the workforce by using methods that appealed to them. As a Human Resources generalist, I was able to see that social media and other emerging technologies can be used as tools to generate engagement, this partly due to the fact that we live in a very ‘connected’ world now. This was evident during the tradeshow as well, where organizations are incorporating technology into different aspects of Human Resources. Not only are we now bringing social media and technology into the workforce to create efficiency, we are also connecting with other industries and professionals to share best practices.

Reflecting on this conference, I realized there are a lot of challenges that encompass social media in the workforce. For example, how do you ensure employees remain professional with their content? How can I ensure that the social media during company time is not being abused for personal use?  As beneficial as social media can be, the greater presence of incorporating social media as a tool in the workplace has many challenges. This begs the question: will these tools become an integral part of Human Resources?