Technology will overcome Human Resources. Wrong.
He further explained this will only happen if HR works at the same pace as it works today. HR needs to adapt to the change. It needs to buck up in the technology race.
This article mentions the different areas of HR which undergoing change and how are employees coping with it. Big data and digital disruptions will, no doubt, benefit HR. CHROs need to spearhead this change with talent analytics. Soon, bots will overtake the administrative HR function. HR will need to be customized according to employees. HR managers will need to make decisions wisely. HR needs to utilize big data and analytics. The current trends are helping HR department to increase its value and accuracy. It is bringing a positive change in the people. Analytics helps managers deal will past data and predict the future needs of employees. Using analytics, HR is able to predict employee attrition, improve compensation and increase engagement.
HR leaders are reinventing and reworking on recruitment, talent management and workforce planning. They are remodeling their strategies. HR strategies should be aligned to the business strategies. This will involve close ties with managers and directors across the organization. A study shows that 23% of CHROs time is spent on cross functional initiatives with CFOs, CIOs and CSOs.
Employees are the biggest asset of any organization and this makes talent acquisition a crucial function of HR. The employees hired need to be the best in the market. An important trend today is to conduct a detailed research on the recruitment needs. A wrong hire leads to 3 times the cost of a right hire. Today, hiring and recruitment is much more than interviews. Social media, job posts, career websites, are some major recruitment channels which did not exist a decade earlier. Companies like to keep a talent pipeline. During hiring, an applicant’s CV is kept with the company for at least 6 months. The advantage of this is having a pipeline in hand in case of attrition. Another major change in recruitment is that companies are now outsourcing it. It saves them huge costs and time. It helps companies focus on other areas like training of employees, employee branding, etc.
Talent management and employee value proposition is a major area which is undergoing change. Employees want to grow personally and professionally. The aim should be to retain the High Potential Employees for better business growth. HiPos are extremely important for the organization. Organizations that give HiPos a chance to develop will be able to retain them. Training programs, succession planning, challenging projects, career development are a few ways which will engage the employees.
The employee workforce has changed from Baby Boomers to Gen X to Gen Y or Millennial Employees. The Millennial Employees are another set of employees that the HR managers will have to start focusing on. Millennials are creating a huge difference in the organization by changing the work culture, using technology, working in teams, communicating digitally. They are in fact the largest workforce in any organization and are indeed improving business with new ideas and new way of working. India itself has 385 million millennials in the workforce. It is predicted that by 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be millennial employees. For this very reason, managers need to learn how to engage and retain them. As the baby boomers retire, managers and human resource professionals will have to develop newer ways to engage the millennials. Some of these can be focusing on their personal development, giving continuous feedback (millennials thrive for feedback), ensuring flexibility and work life balance. Some might also look beyond one permanent job and take up many part time jobs.
Talent mobility, agility and migration have become common terms in the business. Employees are moving not only across departments and roles but also across organizations. How to retain and engage these employees is an important area. Recruiters and HR managers need to focus on the right fit. They should look for employees with the right skills; knowledge; behavior; and most important of all, culture. They should be agile and adaptable to the rapid change.
Compensation will play a huge role in this economy. Employees can run behind dollars, pounds, euros, yen and any other currency in any organization. Money will not be the only factor binding employees to an organization. HR compensation managers need to rewire the reward and benefits systems for different talent ecosystems. They can focus more on awards like recognition, belongingness and fringe benefits. Performance appraisal will play an important role in retaining the best talent.
A different area of improvement can be focusing on making the organization more open, transparent and the upper management more approachable. Today, employees want to be able to connect with their supervisors at their own will. An organization which encourages this will help increase employee satisfaction and build employee trust and loyalty for the organization.
Finally moving to the last point i.e. employee retention. Retaining the employees is one of the toughest HR jobs. The talent management team needs to constantly design new and customized plans for different roles. Technology and innovation can be used to increase employer branding and talent retention. Due to the open talent economy, competitors will be poaching and fighting for the best talent. Every step taken by the human resource department will be the deciding force of an employee staying or leaving.
To conclude, managing HR has become more challenging. Attrition rate continues to pose a threat to the organization and thus the HR team needs to work towards many goals which are collaborated with business goals. The open talent economy is widely being recognized and adopted by companies to try to move ahead in the competition and make higher profits in the business. Due to the volatile environment, leaders must constantly make an effort to stay ahead of the change. The best employees are with the companies who treat the employees as world class people who are an asset to the company. They treat all employees fairly and ensure equal opportunities of success for each and every one.
