Jobhop Jobhop's blog : HR Over The Next Decade

HR is evolving.

It used to be that HR was considered the secret police force for organisations, employees would do their best to avoid them; these days they're more like mentors and coaches, who continuously strive for good, rewarding employee experiences.

HR no longer considers employees "resources", they rightly recognise that employees are vital, the blood that enables the organisation to live.

So important is this realisation that even HR job titles are even changing, these days you'll find people in the HR department called:

Chief People Officer
Director of Employee Engagement
Happiness Chief
Head of Talent
People Champion
Employee Vibe Manager
People And Organisation Manager
Director Of People Transformation

And so on.

New technologies are also shaping human resources. Embracing technology helps HR to streamline processes, understand their employees better, find trends and helps to make strategic decisions.

Because of technology, instant data is now available and with that comes the requirement for HR to act fast while the data is relevant. HR today need to be agile, to be able to pivot or change direction when required, to stay current, on-trend and work in real-time.

That's a bit about now, but how will HR change in the next ten years?

Five experts give us their valuable forecasts.

What do you predict to change in HR over the next decade?

"How about we start with this: How different is 2020 HR to 2010 HR? - Answer - not THAT different.

Talent programmes for elite high-potentials; a few more apps to record your employee survey responses to and a LOT more reporting, scrutiny and spotlights on productive work.

OK, we have more sensors that track our every move as a delivery driver; we have more platforms and tools to use to do our work be that in an office; on a construction site or as an emergency responder.

But I digress, HR in 2030 will be engaged in:

Cultural Amplitude - being a barometer for what really bothers people (and therefore gets in the way for productivity);
Stewarding a Just Organisation - That HR is trusted to represent employee voice and act in employer/employee fairness around decisions, challenges and a sustainable future. Providing business-model aligned, strategy connected inputs, ideas and application in an ethical and fair;
Human-Cyborg Relations - working out the links between people and digital. Especially on AI Bots (by then our personalised assistants will be much more advanced - think Alexa/Siri/Google Assistant) but also physical robots and the relationship between people and their mechanical assistants.
Managing platforms and interfaces for the contingent workforce. The trend in freelance and gig working will continue to become more a norm in the Western world so there will be more sophisticated arrangements for people working in this way.

There will be more, I’m sure of it, but for now, these crucial factors will be the difference between organisations that are adapting to the 4th decade of the 21st Century and those that fell by the digital wayside. The good news is, people are still crucial to work, business and organisational success."

Human Resources Is Dead. Long live Humane Resourcing.

PTHR is an 8-person squad acting as a global consultancy and setting out to create better business for a better world.

Perry is an international and 2x TEDx speaker and award-winning writer on the future of work, HR & learning.

Author of Transformational HR an Amazon.com top selling HR book.

Connect with Perry PTHR

"Currently, many HR teams spend so much time firefighting they often struggle to work on anything truly meaningful or transformational. Harnessing the power of AI will allow HR to break away from the every day, business as usual tasks; to stop focussing on repetitive work and enabling usual practice; and instead challenge, inspire and create new approaches. It will make for a more rewarding career and offer much greater value to the business."

Having worked for over a decade for some of the biggest names in media (including the BBC, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central), Sally wants to make a positive, lasting impact on small and medium-sized businesses given her extensive knowledge and expertise.

Connect with Sally Limelight HR

"The face of HR is forever evolving to shape and adapt to the generation of people it seeks to support and the AI that is constantly snapping at our heels. Merging these two interests is a fine balance between ‘don’t fix what isn’t broken’ and challenging ‘we’ve always done it this way’."

Theresa is passionate about adding value to business through straightforward effective HR.

Connect with Theresa Linkedin

" ... I believe the future of HR will be seen as an evolution by some and a revolution by others. Technology has always defined the way we work and this will naturally have an impact on HR both in terms of the work HR does and how HR is perceived as a practice or profession. I see the future as an opportunity to challenge the fears of AI with the notion of IA (Intelligence Augmented) - humans using technology to enhance their talents to create better work and more exciting workspaces. I also see this as the perfect opportunity for HR to break the chains of a purist approach to policy and process. HR should instead nurture workplaces (both physical and virtual) that are based on evolving practices, collaborative social platforms connecting people with a shared common purpose, and leveraging ideas and insights from the "colleague crowd" to enhance employee experience. That is a far more exciting prospect and proposition for HR."

Giles is on a mission to transition HR from being transactional to transformational. That is about connecting HR to the business and building HR's credibility to be at the top table.

Connect with Giles Linkedin / Go2 / Twitter

What does the next decade mean from HR?

"It would be easy to reel off the latest trends as predictions we are likely to experience in HR over the next decade. I think ultimately the biggest challenge for HR will be the need to adapt, continually. This means making sure we have the right structures in place and the right mindset amongst our people to adapt as organisational needs change. Skills and knowledge can be learned and most likely, this will come from areas outside of traditional HR activity so we’ll need to adapt and grow our networks beyond the usual boundaries.

We will need to have an acute awareness of both our micro and macro environments in order to be innovative and adapt to our people’s needs; employees and customers. Lastly, we’ll need to adapt to understand that technology and people combined are our strength, but knowing the opportunities and limitations of how we integrate them will be critical."

Lara is fascinated by the future of work and how an agile mindset, design thinking and digital technology can enhance the workplace to break down silos, work more collaboratively and foster innovation in order to drive the right behaviours.

Connect with Lara Linkedin