Human Resources on Board for 2021.

The pattern of work globally has changed since the 2020 pandemic. This has taken a very big toll on human resource management. The process of recruitment, training, business requirements, managing concerns and issues of employees, and also focusing on employees’ mental and emotional well being, has been digitised for safety and convenience purposes. However, this new change has opened a new untapped area of knowledge and development.

The HR transformation was started on the aspect of “SELF SERVICE DEPARTMENTS”, that mainly focuses on completing electronic documentation and automating the recurrent processes that help the organisation keep up the pace of work according to the schedule. This process also helps in customising the client’s requirements.

Some of the common attributes showcased by HR during this period are agility, creativity, and flexibility, that have helped in uplifting the sector to a new stage. The process of transforming brick-and-mortar offices into virtual platforms was overnight. However, the level of competence and ability to take up new challenges have been at full tilt. The team has taken extra care in bringing in new members to the organisation by providing digital infrastructure, data cards, and laptops so that business continuity can be maintained.

Gartner is a US-based, world’s leading information technology research and advisory company that has been providing high-end advice and insights for customers on technology to ease their decision-making process. They had organised a survey with 800 plus HR leaders to pen down the future work trends in HR that could create a revolution for the sector.

1. One of the most widely adopted strategies by about 32% of organisations across the globe is to replace full-time employees with contractual or contingent workers as part of cost-saving measures. This strategy contributes extensively towards budgetary control with a motto of 80%pay for 80% of work.
2. Based on a recent poll conducted, the firm has observed that about 48% of people are interested in remote working, compared to the pre-covid period. This has provided a chance for employees to equip themselves for the digital era.
3. The pandemic has also brought in the expansion of employees towards social safety by contributing to child welfare, employee welfare, adjusting hours of operation, financial assistance, etc. The perspective of employers has changed, from external factors to personal factors in the recruitment process.
4. Critical skill separation is one major change in the HR sector. The idea of focusing on role-specific skill development has shifted to career and organisational growth-oriented skill sets. This insight has contributed towards a successful workflow.
5. Expanded data collection has improved the work pattern by providing employers with the boon of tracking productivity by evaluating employees’ engagement and efficiency at work, that is more hassle-free than the nontraditional method of employee monitoring tools.
6. About 55% of organisations have shifted from “designing for efficiency” to “designing for resilience” to cope with unforeseen situations without hindering the workflow. This new perspective has brought more flexibility and creativity to the work culture.
7. Companies have focused on nationalisation and expansion, that helps them mitigate further disruptions and downfalls.

Apart from the survey results, some major insights taken in by HR are:

1. Personalizing the employee needs and providing an array of benefits that fit the needs of the employees can help them stay satisfied with the organization.
2. Providing coverage for health and well-being helps with the holistic welfare of employees.
3. Introducing AI systems to HR helps in administering human capital. It helps in screening and hiring prospective candidates, reducing untold hours, and also evaluates employee performance on an individual basis.
4. Upskilling employees improves employee performance and knowledge, that also helps in retaining them with the organization. The process contributes to more input from employees in multiple job profiles.
5. Flextime work patterns have highly influenced employees who are reluctant to work from the office after a pandemic break. It also provides employees with a choice to pick a work shift based on their requirements and helps the organisation retain their employees.

Organizations like Deloitte have come up with revamping strategies to give a new start to the process. The firm has come up with three phrases as a motto to start with, and they are:

• Respond, recover, and thrive-these phrases depict the process of dealing and managing the continuity of the process, acquiring new knowledge and ideas, and preparing for the new normal.
• The workforce strategies are supported with five critical actions that help in formulating the foundation for the new start.
• Reflect, Recommit, Re-Engage, Rethink, and Reboot.

Reflecting is the process of putting forward what has been done so far and what is missed. Reinforcing the commitment, preparing the workforce to return with new skill sets, bringing in new ideas to expand and redesign the organisation. Re-aligning the priorities of HR and people by keeping the business requirements intact.

PwC has also come up with a survey on technology investments in HR based on the views of 600 HR leaders across the globe. The firm has come up with six big HR technical decisions, that are:

1. 58% focused on finding the right talent and retaining them with the organization, 48% focused on training and development, 42% on improving the skill sets and experience, and about 30 to 40% involved in collaboration, workflow planning, expansion and diversification.
2. Some key takeaways from the survey are-

• The so-called slow-moving cooperative technology has boomed to a new level, that is about a 148 billion market for HR cloud for future work requirements. Startups are promising in terms of contributing to talent networks, with 74% of companies investing approximately $310 per employee to pool approximately nine crore talent applications.
• Cloud-based HR systems have been increasingly adopted, replacing on-premises solutions that have showcased improvements in productivity, workforce insights, and employee experience. In 2020, approximately 72 per cent of HR employers will be using the cloud. About 51% of employers have confirmed the efficiency of the cloud and 41% in compensation and payroll tools. However, a lot of firms still find it difficult to adopt the new system. Hence, the survey has come up with some solutions to improve productivity and efficiency by keeping the cost limited.
• Incorporating business partners more into HR workforce planning and strategy.
• Prioritizing the digital mindset by initiating training programmes that reflect confidence in working with new technological upgrades.
• 24% of employers are readily adoptive towards changing behaviour at work however the remaining 82% are still struggling with the idea, the survey has come up with measures to speed up the process through incentives and gamification techniques. About 30% of firms have been successful in combating low adoption.

I hope this blog has helped you understand the new HR verticals that have emerged since the pandemic, as well as how the sector has evolved to a new level.

Written by: Varsha Balakrishnan, HR Intern.