The new role of HR

The HR function is at an inflection point and I believe that in the next five years we will see significant transformation of the function. There are some key trends that will influence this transformation.

For the first time in history, talent scarcity is a global phenomenon across the developed and emerging markets. The VUCA world makes for a demanding environment for leadership and decision making. Organisational survival has never depended so much on dynamism and rapid reaction times, all demanding human intervention and decision making. Social media and the talent scarcity is enabling global mobility of talent. At the same time, the reconceptualisation of HR function has created a need for new skills. Here's how I believe HR will evolve to respond to these challenges:

Redefining talent
From the manager (or one level below) upwards, every employee becomes valuable. The percentage of employees an organisation would need to ring-fence and ensure succession for, will increase. Even more important the value of the steady performer will increase manifold and will carry greater value than ever before. This will start with bell curves being redefined but, it will mark the beginning of the end of the bell curves. Apart from the bottom 10-15%, every employee will be considered vital for retention. This will create a strain on understaffed HR functions and old processes. By necessity, demanding a new way of managing employee development.

Diversity
The talent gap is going to accelerate the movement for greater focus on diversity. The importance of women as 50% of the population and thereby, the workforce will be amplified. The focus on employing the differently abled will gather momentum. HR and leadership will have to get comfortable with this, as well as empower this movement.

Capability development
The measure will move (and has already begun) from training days to acquisition of capability. The function will be held accountable for ensuring development of capability, which will necessitate a shift in deployment. The 70:20:10 principle will start being implemented in spirit. Backward integration in the services industry will begin to become a reality with organisations beginning to play an active role in owning development of entry-level talent by taking ownership of the education space. I hope to see IT companies buying or setting up engineering colleges, defining curriculum and turning out employment ready graduates.

Talent acquisition becomes global:
The scarcity will mean, organisations will have to cast a wider net for talent. As a result, there will be a greater need to ensure consistency and standardisation in hiring processes and criteria; especially to establish role & culture fit. This will drive process change. Reliance on global third party assessment firms will increase. The value they bring will be: global benchmarks across roles, standardised assessment and selection methods, a consistent lens to assess diverse individuals. The long-term savings in terms of lower attrition, greater efficiencies and engaged employees will offset these costs. However, this will not be evident in a majority of the organisations due to inadequate HR effectiveness measurement systems.

The author is Gurprriet Siingh, country head - YSC India. Re-printed with permission.
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