1. HR is Mainly HR Operations
Most of what HR does, can be captured under the label HR operations.
World class HR operations are key, and many organizations are carving
out and centralizing HR operations. Outsourcing or partially outsourcing
is certainly an option.
2. Focus on Service and Hospitality
The requirements for the people in HR operations are different, and
probably we need a new breed of HR professionals who can run HR as a
service organization. In HR services both IT and hospitality are
important. organization's that measure how employees experience their
journey, often find that employees are not very happy with how they can
find relevant HR information (often on the intranet). A top-notch HR
service Centre is very important for a positive candidate and employee
experience. 24/7. Friendly chatbots that help employees and managers.
High level professionals that can help when the programmed processes do
not offer a solution and when the issue is too difficult for the chatbot.
HR organizations are changing. What are some of the trends we are
sensing?
1. HR is mainly HR Operations
Most of what HR does, can be captured under the label HR operations.
World class HR operations are key, and many organizations are carving
out and centralizing HR operations. Outsourcing or partially outsourcing
is certainly an option. Centers in Poland, the Philippines and India are
delivering high level services at low costs. Outside the HR Service
Center, what is left in HR? Maybe you only need high level HR strategic
advice.
2. Focus on service and hospitality
The requirements for the people in HR operations are different, and
probably we need a new breed of HR professionals who can run HR as a
service organization. In HR services both IT and hospitality are
important. organization that measure how employees experience their
journey, often find that employees are not very happy with how they can
find relevant HR information (often on the intranet). A top-notch HR
service Centre is very important for a positive candidate and employee
experience.
High level professionals that can help when the programmed processes do
not offer a solution and when the issue is too difficult for the chatbot.
3. HR Business Partners in Decline
Most HR professionals favored strategic above operational. For years, the
ambition of most HR professionals was to become a real strategic
business partner. Unfortunately, many HR professionals did not have the
skills and experience to realize their ambition.
Today we see the first signs of the decline of the HR Business Partner.
The work of most HR Business Partners is not strategic, but operational.
Most of their work can be split in three areas:
1. Work that should not be done by HR, but by the line managers/
employees (like talking to employees with performance issues).
2. Work that can be managed by a HR system (like managing the
performance reviews).
3. Work that belongs to the HR service center (like answering all kind of
questions from managers and employees).
Big organizations that are transforming their HR, move most of the HR
Business Partners and their work to the HR Service Center.
3. Learning in real time
The learning domain has been slow in using the opportunities offered by
technology. Loads of money is still wasted on classroom training for
groups of employees on very broad subjects, often not directed at
immediate application, but for possible future use. There are signs this is
changing. Big chunks of material are divided in more digestible small
pieces (micro learning). Employees will have easy access to learning
material when they need it (just in time). Knowledge and skills can be
learned in a playful manner (gamification), and VR and AR learning
solutions make learning more real (and fun). The learning experience can
be tailored to the individual capabilities and needs of employees. A
challenge will remain to monitor and measure the performance of people,
to be able to find (or design) the most appropriate learning solution.
4. From HR to People to Workforce
HR as a term seems to last long. In the last years, you see ‘HR’ replaced
by ‘People’ more and more. Chief People Officers and VP’s of People
Operations are popping up everywhere. The next move is probably to
‘Workforce’. The workforce consists of people and robots/ bots of all
kinds. The scope becomes bigger than just humans.
5. Renewed focus on productivity
In the last years, there has not been a lot of focus on productivity. We see
a slow change at the horizon. Traditionally, capacity problems have been
solved by recruiting new people. This has led to several problems. When
you need many people, it is difficult to apply very stringent selection
criteria. Because you compromise on quality, and because if you grow
you generally need more coordination mechanisms (often management),
productivity goes down. When focusing more on productivity, the
benefits for the organization and the employees can be big. You need to
hire less people, and the potential of the employees is better used. People
analytics can help to determine what the characteristics are of the best
performing people and teams. The findings can be used in recruitment
and in people and team development.