In this article, we share our observations on common oversights. If you navigate these insights correctly, will set your HR operating model up for success.

The quest to become a strategic business partner 

The Ulrich HR business partner model gained popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many organizations opted for an approach in which the traditional HR advisor was expected to become a strategic business partner. This resulted in the same person interacting with the same stakeholders in the same way, with many a CHRO expecting a radically different outcome. And why not? The HR operating model was, after all, transformed. 

As we all know, the reality was that it often took organizations years – if not decades – for their HR business partners to become truly strategic. The intention was noble, yet we did not manage to create the capacity for these changes to occur in execution.

Another, more recent, example is a large financial organization we’ve worked with. They decided to transform HR into a digital self-service environment. This led to a sprawling IT landscape with over 70 disjointed HR apps. The result was the lowest employee experience ever recorded and a total lack of data integration. It took an external team of consultants more than a year to define a digital strategy, clear up the IT landscape, and create one centralized employee portal that integrated the remaining tech solutions.

A third example is a large pharmaceutical organization implementing a data-driven way of working as part of its business strategy. After implementing several self-service HR dashboards, adoption remained in the single digits. Only after extensive training of the HR organization in data-driven ways of working, the organization saw an uptick in adoption. That was two years after they initially introduced the dashboards.

Why HR operating models fail

All these organizations had a clear people strategy that translated business objectives into people priorities. In addition, these organizations were working with an HR operating model that fit their organizational context. They had clearly defined roles and structures. So, why did these models not deliver value? 

If we dive below the surface, we can see that in these scenarios, the HR design lacked a clear understanding of the required capabilities that were needed to underpin the operating model design. Even though they redesigned roles, they never took the time to answer the following questions as part of the overall design process:

• What do we need to be good at in order to execute the strategy through our current operating model?
• How do we build the right capabilities to deliver business value?
• What is our current baseline, and what needs to change in terms of our skills, experiences, technologies, and processes to deliver on our strategy?
• How do we create the required capacity and boundaries for these shifts to occur?

Many organizations made this mistake when aiming to move towards the Ulrich HRBP model. Even though the model allowed for the opportunity to position HR in a strategic way, the required underpinning capabilities were not in place to enable strategic execution. Ulrich himself warned us as the HR community that real transformation needed to stretch beyond just a new organogram. In fact, it required a designated shift in accessing the right underpinning capabilities. 

Similarly, the other two organizations had a clear mission to implement self-service and a more data-driven way of working. However, without the technological capabilities nor the data literacy needed to achieve this, the HR organization missed its mark.

We expect this problem to only increase. According to McKinsey Research, 87% of organizations are facing a skills gap within the next five years. In addition, 54% of all employees will require significant upskilling, according to the World Economic Forum.

An HR capability model

In our experience, organizations can overcome these challenges by creating an HR capability model that describes the required technology, processes, skills, and resources required to execute. The use of this model is threefold.

• It helps identify the future capabilities needed to deliver on the HR or people strategy
• It gives a realistic view of the current state of the HR organization as well as the biggest areas of risk
• It provides a tangible roadmap towards accessing the desired capabilities

The challenge is that many existing HR capability models are old. We had a recent engagement in Moscow, where one of the participants working for an international company shared that their organization’s skills structure was based on the old USSR model that was commonly used in the 1980s.

Not all our capability models may be that outdated. However, there are very few HR frameworks in use that address contemporary skills such as digital dexterity and data literacy within an HR context or describe the requirements for HR to operate in the human experience era. This is one of the reasons why we created the T-Shaped HR professional framework.

However, we noticed that simply having an overview of needed future skills is insufficient for organizations to execute on their HR operating model. That is why we set out to create a process that helps organizations create a capability framework that fits their organizational context. 

We call this process the HR navigator. The outcome is a clear overview of the capabilities required to realize the people strategy and make the HR operating model work. It also provides a roadmap on how to build these capabilities, and identifies the biggest areas of risk to address. HR navigator also shows you a way to implement this using your internal learning resources as well as a relevant selection from the AIHR course library.

We’ve worked with multiple organizations to implement the HR navigator and have seen great results. HR professionals are more fit for purpose, more strategic, and make the business succeed by being able to execute the HR strategy.

As we prepare for a post-Covid workplace and have to deal with distributed organizational models in a digital-first world, we see the importance of having a clearly defined HR capability model become non-negotiable for HR functions of all sizes. In a constant sea of change, can you afford to navigate without a clear roadmap?

If you’re interested and want to learn if you have the required capabilities to execute your HR strategy, visit the HR navigator here.

The post Leading Transformation: Why Most HR Operating Models Fail appeared first on AIHR.

But as many management roles are redefined and as CEOs and companies are required to lead in areas traditionally beyond the scope of their business (e.g. social, cultural, or environmental issues), how can leaders adapt to this new reality and what role does HR play in facilitating this change?

Three ways HR can drive major leadership changes

One of the less talked about consequences of the coronavirus pandemic is that leadership as we knew it has fundamentally changed. This is obviously having a profound impact on businesses and how they operate. 

But an even less discussed issue is the capacity of HR to steer this change towards leadership that is fit for purpose and one that can deliver better business outcomes. 

Here are three ways in which HR can (and should) drive major leadership changes:

#1. Democratization of leadership 

What is at stake

In the past two years, we have seen a massive democratization of leadership responsibilities. The focus is shifting away from middle managers towards workers who increasingly need to autonomously manage their own work. This is caused by the rapid rise of remote and hybrid work. 

This means that many middle managers have been made redundant. Companies such as HSBC or Wells Fargo are “actively seeking to take out layers of expensive middle management”. These cuts are part of their restructuring to become more competitive in the new post-COVID economy. Likewise, these changes contribute to companies’ transition towards a more efficient management system.  

The role of HR

Organizations looking to make such sweeping changes need to rely on data and hard evidence. 

These consequential decisions require CEOs and C-suite leaders to work closely with HR departments which have a unique overview of the company’s workforce. Through data analytics, HR can draw insights that will match the needs of the business against the potential of the workforce. Thanks to people analytics, businesses can thus make smarter decisions and redesign their structure without unnecessary costs. 

Furthermore, as more and more employees will take on leadership responsibilities in their respective roles, HR professionals will be able to help identify the best performers and via custom leadership development plans prepare them to assume more senior roles within the organization.

#2. Repurposing of managers 

What is at stake

Of those middle managers who have not lost their jobs, the chances are many of them will need to redeploy to new and different roles.

For instance, in 2020, the Japanese tech giant Fujitsu pioneered in Europe a new concept of working. The company decided to emphasize local decisions and empower those who weren’t previously involved in management. And while this transition meant the end of middle manager roles as such, the company made the effort to ensure that the people who filled these roles would still remain part of the journey (albeit in a different capacity).

This required more investment in training and coaching to guarantee everyone could adjust and safely transition. It is needless to say that this transition would not have happened without the involvement of HR. 

The role of HR

HR departments are key in helping organizations assess which leaders need redeploying and which managers need upskilling. HR is also essential in helping these managers upgrade their skills, once they have been identified, through skills development programs and coaching.

Managers who will redeploy will need to get trained, among other things, to become more transparent in setting expectations and OKRs, as well as learn how to better measure performance. 

This is particularly relevant because as more and more of us become informal leaders thanks to the new work dynamics, we will need to shift away from measuring output and input towards measuring outcomes (86 percent of employees now say they want to work for a company that prioritizes outcomes over output). 

Furthermore, the democratization of leadership and redeployment of existing leaders require a fundamental change to business culture which, again, will depend on HR’s contribution and leadership. 

Without a culture upgrade, it will be difficult to ensure the shift of the manager’s role will succeed. Without a new purpose and necessary guidance, integration into their new role will be a struggle.   

#3. More emphasis on the top tier management 

What is at stake 

And last but not least, we have witnessed the growing importance of leadership in the top echelons of organizations. A trend that is not new but has been massively accelerated in the past couple of years. 

This means that CEOs, CHROs, and other C-suite leaders have been under more pressure to take a stance on and lead in an increasing number of issues that transcend the walls of their organizations (e.g. addressing inequalities, the global pandemic, or fighting climate change). 

The pressure is both internal (as 68 percent of employees would consider leaving their employer for an organization that takes a stronger stance on cultural and social issues), and external (as 47 percent of consumers now associate personal views of C-suite leaders with those of the whole company, affecting their purchasing behavior). 

The role of HR

And it is HR professionals and CHROs in particular that can help CEOs keep their thumbs on the pulse of their workforce and the society at large. They can help them become more socially, culturally, and environmentally conscious. C-suite leaders can then be more active in supporting causes that better align with their personal and business values. 

Thanks to a more strategic role and HR professionals’ increasing business savviness, HR has been able to forge a stronger link between the business and the outside world and help companies serve their consumers and clients better. 

Moreover, due to COVID-19, many leaders are having to suddenly flex muscles that they didn’t have to flex as much before. These include empathy and active listening.

One of the reasons behind the current high attrition rates (often referred to as the Great Resignation or Reshuffle) is the fact that many employees don’t feel appreciated or valued by their company or managers. HR’s role will thus also entail helping CEOs and C-suite leaders develop new soft or power skills and other leadership competencies. 

Leadership has never been more consequential

So whether it is regular workers who have had to acquire leadership skills to become more autonomous, lower and middle managers whose purpose has been redefined or C-suite leaders who are having to reinvent themselves and expand the scope of their role, leadership has never been more consequential for companies’ success. And HR’s role in facilitating this shift has never been more important. 

Shifting towards more democratized, repurposed and values-driven leadership means organizations need to adapt. And because these changes require upskilling, upgrading one’s business culture, coaching, and a better connection between the business, its employees, and the outside world, it is up to HR to strap in, roll up its sleeves, and drive the change.

The post Three ways HR can reshape post-pandemic leadership appeared first on AIHR.

The ‘why’ question is particularly relevant because it implies that workers are not only concerned about how much and where they work, but care just as much about their work’s quality and purpose.

Purpose has become a blind spot business can’t afford 

As a result of people’s changing expectations of work and work environments, not paying attention to or blatantly ignoring the growing importance of purpose has become a major blind spot for many companies. And it is not one they can afford.

In the current context of tight labor markets and the Great Resignation, companies need to use every tool in their arsenal to attract and above all retain the talent they have. Millions of people around the world are rethinking their relationship with work and as a consequence are leaving their jobs. In the US alone, more than 15 million workers have quit their jobs since April 2021. 

Thus, hanging on to your existing talent and attracting new hires is becoming a mission impossible for more and more businesses. Meanwhile, companies are largely out of touch with what is driving people’s decisions to leave. 

While 63 percent of US workers admit the pandemic has dramatically shifted their priorities and 82 percent of them say it is important for a company to have a purpose, companies are far too often fixated on the more transactional elements of work (e.g. compensation and benefits). This creates a mismatch between what employees want and what companies are prepared to give.

And as C-suite leaders will try to bridge this divide in an attempt to retain and attract talent, they will need to increasingly rely on their HR departments to help them connect the business and employees. 

Making work meaningful is a win-win

Behind every decision to leave a job is a myriad of reasons, be it lack of appreciation and purpose, insufficient work-life balance, or better opportunities elsewhere. While a lack of purpose isn’t the only reason companies are struggling to retain talent, organizations have nothing to lose and everything to gain from becoming more purpose-driven.

Having organizational values that are reflected in decisions, conversations, and your company’s behavior across all levels and a clearly defined mission statement can go a long way in giving people that one extra reason to work for you and feel satisfied with their job.

For LinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslanski, the current wave of changes in the workplace is a great opportunity for people to do work “they love at companies they feel passionate about, leading to greater success for organizations who engage their employees with empathy and trust.” 

In other words, running your business with a purpose in mind is a win-win situation. For both your company and your employees. And your HR department will be instrumental in making this happen. 

HR professionals will help introduce and uphold purpose in the workplace while at the same time, their work will directly benefit from being part of a purpose-driven organization – namely by finding it easier to engage existing workers and attract new ones. 

Here’s why. 

The power of purpose and why it matters

#1. More enthusiasm 

Employees who feel aligned with the company values are more enthusiastic and committed to maximizing their potential. Work goes from a job to a source of pride and personal investment. 

#2. Stronger resilience 

This creates a better and stronger relationship between companies and their workers, as well as between companies and customers. Thus, organizations that are purpose-driven tend to be more resilient to market instabilities. 

During the last financial crisis in 2008, for instance, the so-called Certified B Corporations (i.e. businesses that balance purpose and profit) were 63 percent more likely than other businesses of a similar size to make it through the downturn. Similarly, a 2018 study of 1,500 C-suite leaders found companies that defined and acted with a great sense of purpose outperformed financial markets by 42 percent. 

#3. Better performance 

Corporations with engaged, purpose-led employees deliver 21 percent higher profitability than their peers, and according to Harvard Business Review, purpose-driven companies are (among other things) better at product launches and major transformation efforts. 

One more reason why HR should pay attention to purpose

Yes, aligning your organization’s and your employees’ purpose and values makes business sense, and yes, companies that do so tend to perform better than their peers.

But there’s one more reason why you should consider running a more purpose-driven organization: demographic change. 

While it is true that COVID-19 has helped place purpose on the map of new work-related demands, the trend itself was always going to become a key one. It was just a matter of time.

That’s because studies have shown that younger workers (especially Millennials and Gen Z’ers) are more purpose-driven when it comes to working. According to the Cone Communications Millennial Employee Study (published before COVID-19), 64% of Millennials won’t take a job if their employer doesn’t have strong social and environmental values. What’s more, Gen Z is the first generation to prioritize purpose over salary.

We expect that by 2025, Millennials will account for about 75 percent of the global workforce, and the proportion of Gen Z’ers will continue to grow steadily as well. Consequently, purpose will only become more important. 

And this is already having an impact on the ground. One good example can be found in the way Gen Z’ers work with technology. 

According to a General Assembly survey, young people are far less interested in working in tech for the tech’s sake compared to their older peers. If and when they choose to work with technology, it’s usually in the fields that prioritize the “human element” such as UX design or digital marketing. They are interested in knowing how technology relates to people and how, for instance, data science helps solve health, environmental, and business challenges.

Zoom in on your purpose statement and revise your company’s culture

For businesses to survive and indeed thrive, it is no longer a question of whether but when and how organizations should become more purpose-driven. Many companies have previously paid lip service to purpose and its growing importance to workers. But COVID-19 and the generational turnover are driving change here. 

Organizations no longer have a choice but to invest more in ensuring their purpose is clearly defined and better aligned with employees to ensure they will remain competitive and in business. Ultimately, they will need to upgrade their workplace culture to ensure that decisions, conversations, and behavior across all levels are integrated with that purpose. 

And there’s only one department that will be able to drive and lead this change: Human Resources 

That’s because HR professionals with strong business acumen are best placed to connect company-level purpose with employee-level purpose.  They understand how the organization’s values reflect the broader world and how these core values help motivate employees themselves.

HR’s role is to help their organization identify its values, understand how these resonate with employees, update the organization’s business culture accordingly and then work with the management to ensure the company also lives by these values in practice. The result will be a more productive, engaged, and motivated workforce.  

Moreover, having a clearly defined purpose also helps HR with talent acquisition. In the current tight labor market that is heavily tilted in favor of job seekers, having values that resonate with candidates can make or break a job offer. There are many examples of companies that have smartly used purpose and organizational values to their advantage, including Nike, Netflix, and Buffer.

Ultimately, while identifying and staying true to your business culture and purpose may not look like a solution to all your business challenges, it is a first (and necessary) step towards ensuring your organization becomes future-proof. 

The post Building Purpose-Driven Organizations: How HR Can Take the Lead appeared first on AIHR.

From rising inflation, disrupted supply chains to the ever-changing state of play of COVID-19, uncertainty is on top of everyone’s mind and most boardroom meeting agendas. But as companies learn to live with uncertainty, what can business and HR leaders do to ensure their organizations are not flying into this new era of work completely blind? 

The answer lies in data. While it is impossible to accurately predict all of the future, relying on good data can help you prepare for it the best you can.

The potential of data in HR remains largely untapped 

The benefits of data-driven decisions are now largely recognized by organizations worldwide. For instance, 92 percent of the Fortune 1000 companies are currently increasing investment in data initiatives, so much so that by the end of 2023 the big data analytics market will be worth more than $100 billion. 

Yet, when it comes to HR specifically, the potential offered by data is largely untapped. Only about a fifth (22 percent) of companies globally use people analytics even though HR data is crucial in addressing some of the most pertinent challenges such as talent shortages, hybrid work, or digitalization.

There’s no going around it. The use of people analytics in HR and business decisions, in general, makes perfect business sense – organizations that use data in HR see an 82 percent higher-than-average profit over three years compared to their low-maturity counterparts. 

What we all can learn from people analytics in retail

One good example of where people analytics in HR has a huge potential to drive positive business outcomes is retail, as the sector is ripe for more use of data. 

According to a recent McKinsey Global Institute report, as much as 52 percent of all activities in retail can be automated (including data processing and data collection), making it one of the most exposed industries to digitalization. 

While much of our attention on retail digital transformation and the use of data has been focused on the operations side of the business (undoubtedly indispensable to serving customers amid the COVID-19 crisis and lockdowns, as well as to changing consumer behavior), there’s a truly fascinating push towards digitalization and data use beyond the level of customers. And it’s inside HR.

For CHROs, the main challenge coming out of the coronavirus pandemic has not necessarily been the digitalization of operations as such but rather making sure their businesses have enough employees to run their operations in the first place. 

The Great Resignation, shortage of labor, and employees’ changing demands have meant that HR departments have been forced to step up their game. 

For instance, one US retailer has found an innovative way of collecting and using candidate data to improve the recruiting and hiring process. 

Through an app that they had developed, the HR department was able to screen potential employees, gather feedback, collect credentials, schedule interviews, and track candidates as they moved through the pipeline. 

Having access to this data and using it to improve the hiring process has led to impressive results. The retailer saw a 60 percent increase in the applications’ processing speed, an 80 percent reduction in paperwork, and higher employee retention rates. All of which has had a positive impact on the company’s bottom line – in particular in today’s tight labor market. 

Other examples from other industries on how better workforce data drives business impact are no less impressive (for instance, HR analytics helped Credit Suisse save $70 million a year by reducing turnover risk factors). 

So if the benefits of the use of people analytics (and technology) in human resources and workplaces are so impressive, how come only a fifth of all companies use it?

Why so few HR departments are using people analytics

It’s all about skills. As with most solutions to most problems these days, when it comes to people analytics, HR practitioners simply do not have sufficient skills to make the most of it. According to our own research, only about two-fifths (41 percent) of HR professionals have sufficient data and tech knowledge.

This does not mean they need to breathe and live data. But it does mean that they need some level of data literacy (on top of understanding technology). 

Let me explain.

In today’s world of work, digitalized data is a must. Companies need to be able to collect, analyze, and then utilize data – and do so in a way that will lead to better business performance. So where exactly in this data chain does HR fit?

It’s not necessarily in data collection – most data these days is collected through technology, such as apps or self-service portals (although HR should definitely be involved in helping the IT department choose the right tools to serve the right HR purpose).

And it’s neither in data analysis. Most companies already have strong data analytical teams. This is true for about two-thirds (69 percent) of organizations globally with 10,000 employees or more. These teams are usually situated outside of HR departments. 

It is indeed in the last link of the data chain – in putting data to good use – where HR can bring the most added value. 

To that end, however, they need to develop data literacy skills to understand and utilize data. Only then will HR be able to help make key strategic decisions by turning data insights into action. 

How to master data literacy 

Mastering data literacy as a competency requires two things:

First, HR professionals will need to be data-driven to have the ability to read and use data. They should be able to understand and utilize metrics, reports, and determine KPIs. And second, with these skills, they should be able to translate data (provided by the analytical team) into action, policies, and decisions that have a direct impact on the business.

To be more specific, every data-literate HR professional should: 

• Comprehend and be able to establish metrics and KPIs;
• Read and interpret reports;
• Learn how to produce data visualizations (i.e. dashboards) and use these for data story-telling; 
• Understand the intersection of people data and the business they serve (which necessitates some level of business acumen).

Beyond what this means for HR professionals individually, data literacy also implies a shift towards a more data-driven culture. Without it, your HR department or organization at large won’t be able to leverage data to its full potential. 

A data-driven culture requires the right: 

• Mindset – HR professionals should treat data as useful in their daily work lives;
• Skillset – your HR team will need to upskill to become more data literate; 
• Toolset – as evident from above, people analytics and technology go hand-in-hand. This means you will need your IT department to work closely with you; 
• Dataset – people data is not a destination, it’s an ongoing process. The data collected, analyzed and used will need to be constantly assessed to prove accurate and useful.

Don’t wait. Just get started 

Data might not be almighty; it won’t provide all the answers you’re seeking and it won’t always help you predict the future. After all, people analytics, to paraphrase Microsoft’s chief scientist Jaime Teevan, is about having to make long-term decisions with short-term data. 

But the limits to the use of data are far outweighed by the fact that having some data is always better than having none and that even though data won’t map out the whole journey ahead, having an accurate picture of current reality will give you the advantage of knowing what’s around the corner – and that’s much further than most companies will be able to see if flying blind. 

So don’t wait around. Get started now! Become data literate and help upskill your HR department so that your decisions will be based on reality, they will reflect what your organization and employees need and will be instrumental in tackling the current and future challenges.

The post Data-Driven HR mindset: Only 2 out of 10 HR departments use data to guide their decisions appeared first on AIHR.

People Analytics has fast become an important specialization within HR, and the expectations are high. That’s why Capgemini was looking for ways to empower the team leading the People Analytics efforts with specialized online training.

Capgemini’s goals were clear, as Jan Krögel explains. “We need to be credible to the business, and we need to understand the business, as well as the data and analytics aspect. We thought that going outside and working with a curated source would really help us with that effort.” 

And that’s where AIHR comes in.

Selected HR practitioners already involved in People Analytics and reporting were enrolled in the Academy to Innovate HR to take their data and analytics skills to the next level. In addition to following specialized courses, participants also worked on real-life projects helping leaders within the organization tackle their business challenges. “Some of these are being grown into big projects,” Kröger says.

That’s not to say that Capgemini didn’t face challenges in this project. For example, it can be challenging for learners with full calendars and lots of responsibilities to find the time to learn. Watch the full video to find out how Capgemini overcame this challenge.

You will also hear more about:

• How Capgemini encourages people to implement the learnings in their day-to-day work
• Examples of projects implemented as a result of the training, and insights gained
• Measuring the ROI of learning initiatives

What we can reveal is that the project has been a success for Capgemini. Their next steps are expanding the scope of the project to include larger HR populations. But that’s not all. “We’re asking, how much needs to be part of the standard curriculum for HR? And the other question is, what else do we need to give the leaders we have identified to make them successful?”

Curious to see how AIHR can help you dodge the skills gap and empower your HR organization with future-proof skills? Explore our HR Skills 2025 framework, or learn more about our team licenses.

The post Customer Stories: Empowering Capgemini’s People Analytics Practitioners appeared first on AIHR.

Consider this trend:

Up to 40 percent of the global workforce are considering leaving their employer this year. 

Now, combine that with the fact that 69 percent of employers globally – a 15-year high – are struggling to find workers with the right set of skills and you get a massive headache for companies and their HR departments. 

Not only are businesses struggling to get new talent which is in short supply, but a big portion of the talent they already have is thinking of leaving them. 

And so they’re quickly having to switch gears. From being worried about reopening their offices and operations to now being even more concerned about keeping their operations and business going once they do reopen. This requires a more strategic approach from HR departments than just focusing on the day-to-day business and seeking simple silver-bullet solutions. 

So is the answer to all your problems more flexibility? 

The Great Resignation is already happening. In the United States, 4 million people quit their jobs in April alone. The reasons are manifold including people reconsidering their career paths, wanting to take time off after COVID-19 to focus on themselves in search of a better work-life balance, or they just simply don’t feel they have enough flexibility at work now that their offices are being re-opened. 

The latter reason is particularly acute. One third (33 percent) of the UK workers have said they would quit their current job if the employer would not allow for flexible work. This figure is even higher for younger workers with 49 percent of Millennials and Gen Z’ers globally saying they would do the same if forced to return to office work full time. This represents a major shift.

So the answer seems obvious. Give people more flexibility and all will be fine, right? No. Not right. 

The solution to the Great Resignation is not as simple as it seems

Flexibility isn’t a silver bullet. Sure, most of us want the flexibility to choose where we work (and we all want different things – see the infographic below), but flexibility alone won’t make us feel satisfied or productive at work. 

According to Accenture’s recent findings, oftentimes, what determines people’s satisfaction has less to do with where they work and more to do with having all the resources they need to be productive. 

In fact, about 40 percent of us can be productive in both onsite and remote settings provided we get the necessary support. 

So the solution to the biggest current challenge for CHROs is not as simple as bringing in more flexibility. Thus if you are among the many business leaders who are asking the question of how to make remote work more possible for your employees post-pandemic, you’re asking the wrong question – or rather an incomplete question. 

Turning the Great Resignation into an opportunity 

The key to any company’s success faced with the Great Resignation is this: how do I redesign our workplace to provide a smooth transition towards a more flexible way of working while leveraging the changes to provide lasting impact? 

That’s why CHROs and HR leaders should focus as much of their attention on providing individual and organizational resources to employees as they do on providing flexibility. It is about looking beyond the imminent challenges and creating a more strategic approach.

Using Accenture’s list of necessary resources, we have created two types of HR practices exemplified through different action points. The first type supports the idea that your HR department should solidify your workforce to ensure that people who already work for you, stay working for you also in the future. The second requires more innovation and focuses more on helping your organization become attractive enough to pull in new employees that you will need for your future growth.

A successful company in the post-pandemic economy will need to invest in both sets of practices and resources.

By giving people flexibility, autonomy, and ownership of their work, by ensuring your workplace has sufficient health and mental health processes in place and by encouraging strong social bonds at work, you will make it more likely that your employees will be more productive and will feel more satisfied. This will reduce their likelihood of leaving your organization. 

But that alone won’t be enough. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is to move beyond mere flexibility and shape workforce practices that create lasting value for the employee and the organization.  

As a CHRO who wants their organization to thrive, not only survive in the post-pandemic era, you will equally want to look for opportunities that will give your company a competitive advantage by tapping into new external talent pools. This is what we refer to as ‘differentiating’. 

Offering upskilling programs for employees, developing their digital skills, building an intelligent and agile organization and fostering leadership that listens more than it prescribes, are some of the things that will help your company thrive in the months ahead and attract new and much-needed talent. I have explained some of these more in detail in my previous article.

By both solidifying your existing workforce and by differentiating your organization to attract new people, you will be able to turn the current biggest challenge, the Great Resignation, into a great opportunity and thrive in the new future of work. 

Are you a CHRO and you’re struggling to upgrade your organization for the post-pandemic era of work? The best place to start is your own skills. At AIHR we have developed an HR competency model that is designed to help HR professionals interested in making their own career and their organization thrive in the hybrid world of work. You can test how equipped you are already through our assessment tool.

The post From Great Reopening To Great Resignation Of Employees appeared first on AIHR.

Indeed, if there is one lesson to be drawn from the impact COVID-19 has had on the world of work, it is the recognition of how people management can make or break the organization when the going gets tough. This is true so much so that employees are now perceived as more impactful when it comes to a company’s success than are its customers, shareholders and the communities it serves.

That is not to say that technology, for instance, will play no part in the new era of work. Quite to the contrary. The intersection of humanity and technology is only expected to grow stronger. The Bank Of America, for instance, anticipates that because of accelerated automation as many as 100 million workers will need to switch their jobs by 2030.

But the future of work is not an either-or dichotomy. It is not a choice between robots and humans but it is rather a combination of both. This is what the Bank of America calls the era of Robo-Sapiens – an era of humans working alongside robots rather than being replaced by them entirely.

Contents
The post-pandemic world of work will require investment in humans
HR professionals need new skills
Four must-have competencies that HR professionals need
The future of work depends on HR professionals who in turn depend on their skills

The post-pandemic world of work will require investment in humans

Therefore, investing in robots without equally investing in humans whose jobs are to be augmented by these robots will not make any sense. Taking good care of one’s employees, investing in their skills and wellbeing, creating an inclusive and diverse workplace as well as embracing more flexibility has long stopped being a luxury for an organization to have. It is now a necessity. Not despite technology, but precisely because of it.

And at the heart of this effort stand HR professionals who have not only been driving the change during the COVID-19 pandemic but are now faced with an even bigger challenge: how to help upgrade their organizations for the new hybrid era of work.

So what can HR professionals do to start future-proofing their organizations? 

HR professionals need new skills

The answer is simple. They need new skills. The new era of work has emphasized new competencies that were previously not recognized as essential. Namely, competencies that allow HR professionals to collaborate and innovate across disciplines and their companies’ departments. 

Thus HR professionals need to move beyond their traditional HR specialization and develop additional, more general HR skills. Only then will they be able to develop innovative solutions to new and increasingly complex issues that the new flexible era of work will bring. 

To that end, we at AIHR have developed a new T-shaped HR 2025 competency model that combines these horizontal (i.e. more general) with vertical (i.e. specialized) skills. HR professionals who have used this framework have become T-shaped and have been able to rely on the breadth and depth of their HR knowledge to tackle problems they were never before equipped to deal with. [For more on why HR professionals need new skills, click here].

Compensation and benefits policy: Example of how T-shaped HR professionals can shine in the new era of work

To better illustrate what skills HR professionals need to develop, let us zoom in on one particular challenge that many in HR will be grappling with in the coming months: hybrid work and its effect on organizations’ compensation and benefits policies. 

According to the latest McKinsey survey of 100 executives, nine out of ten organizations will be combining remote and on-site working – with some employees working entirely remotely. This means that many companies will need to revisit the way they pay and reward their employees to reflect this change.

Here are four must-have competencies that HR professionals need:

#1. Business acumen: understanding your business and the world around you

For HR professionals to do their job well in these turbulent times, they need to better understand their own business. They need to be acquainted with their organization’s purpose, mission, goals and strategies. But that’s not all! They should equally be interested in what is happening beyond their company to identify and react to broader trends. 

That’s why, when it comes to the compensation and benefits policy, HR professionals need to get a good grasp of how their own company has changed due to COVID-19. But they should also understand how this trend has played out in the broader economy and look at other companies. Examples are ranging from Facebook and Twitter – which have pegged their workers’ salaries to their location – to Reddit – which has decided not to do so. 

Similarly, HR professionals should also keep an eye on legislative changes. The Irish government, for instance, has approved the National Remote Working Strategy that has introduced the so-called “right to disconnect” policy that gives employees the right to switch off outside normal working hours. Earlier this year, Austria passed a directive on remote working and so has Argentina. These are all relevant changes that can determine the future of one’s new compensation and benefits policy.

#2. Data literacy: turning your knowledge into data 

But learning enough about one’s organization and the world around it will only get you so far. The new compensation and benefits policy will furthermore require the collection and analysis of all kinds of new data. These include the number of days people work from home and from the office and the level of tax and social security contributions in various locations (if applicable). 

Moreover, to ensure people are offered the right amount of flexibility they want, HR professionals will also need to regularly check people’s perceived priorities. For instance, and surprisingly to many, the majority of employees of companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Apple have said they would rather pass on a $30,000 pay rise than lose their ability to work from home. When it comes to business decisions, it’s better not to make assumptions and use hard data.

Of course, becoming data-literate does not mean that every HR professional will now need to live, breathe, and sleep data. Rather, it means that they are able to read, apply, create, and transform data into valuable information to influence decision-making processes. More and more companies will require this skill as 73% of them say people analytics will be a major priority for the next five years.

#3. Digital proficiency: keeping abreast with data requires new digital tools

Furthermore, to collect this new and necessary information on remote workers, the HR professionals will most likely need new technology to help them. For instance, they could set up a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) or update the existing one if the company has one already. 

HRIS would then allow employees to directly provide some information regarding their time spent working remotely and the location where they worked instead of expecting the HR department to do so for them. 

The use of technology is meant to help HR professionals get their work done more efficiently and free up their time to focus on other more strategic tasks. 

#4. People advocacy: building a new business culture 

But that’s not all! Even after the new compensation and benefits policy has been developed, the work is not done yet completely. HR professionals will still need to ensure the new policy is sufficiently communicated to the employees and embedded in the company’s business culture. This is to allow for the new policy to be understood by both the current and future employees and to align it with the company’s values and mission.

When it comes to HR solutions, there’s no shortcut bypassing the human element. After all, you can’t spell human resources without the word human in it. The many complex challenges of the present day require a combination of both data and a human approach. 

Being a people advocate means building a strong internal culture, communicating skillfully, getting the best out of people, and acting as a trusted employee champion. No overhaul of the compensation and benefits policy will be a success without these skills.

The future of work depends on HR professionals who in turn depend on their skills

The future is human – even if our work will be increasingly augmented and accompanied by the power of AI and technology.

No organization will survive, much less thrive without humans in the post-pandemic era of work. To harness the power of humans, however, will require a new approach from companies and organizations. It will require a new emphasis on HR departments and HR professionals and more specifically on their skills.

The post The post-pandemic world of work: ‘Robo-Sapiens’ and the role of HR appeared first on AIHR.

In this video, Erik van Vulpen, founder of AIHR, speaks at the Bucharest Tech Week (HR Master’s Summit) about the changes that the pandemic has caused in the workplace, how these changes impact the way we will work in the future, and the skills we will need to come out of the pandemic stronger.

In this video, Erik discusses the topics:

• HR is changing: Three Trends
• Competencies required to adapt
• The new normal: HR in flux

Transcript: 

Presenter: So we are back. And I am very pleased to introduce the next speaker because he’s a globally recognised HR thought leader in digital and analytic skills. And especially because he’s the founder of the Academy to Innovate HR, so as I was telling you earlier, he’s here to talk to us about how, as HR professionals, we can prepare better for the future to overcome these challenging times, and to develop ourselves because, you know, it’s important to always start with you and be a role model for for the rest. So Eric, thank you for being here with us today. And the mic is on to you.

Erik van Vulpen: Thank you very much for having me. Hello, everyone. And let me start off by saying very, very happy international HR day. Today is international HR day. So from that perspective, I think we have a good day to be here at this conference. So today, I would like to share something about HR skills in a post pandemic workforce. I think the original title was about employees skills, but since I know HR much better than the more general population, I’ll focus on the HR skills required in a post pandemic workforce for the next 30 or so minutes. 

And I would like to talk about three specific topics. First of all, HR is changing, I would like to take you through three key changes and key trends that cause HR to change. And the next I would like to look at how this is impacting HR and what this means how we in HR can best tackle these changes. So the competencies required to adapt to these changes. And then in the last few minutes, if there’s still any time left, I’ll spend a few minutes on the new normal, which I call HR in flux. 

HR is in an ever changing state of change. Essentially, my name is Eric van Vulpen. I have a background in law, psychology and Business Administration, and I’m the founder of the Academy to innovate HR, or AIHR. In short, the Academy to innovate HR is the largest global training or online training provider in HR worldwide. We upskill HR professionals from around the world to become more HR savvy and more business driven, so to add more value to their organisations through being stronger in HR, but also through adding to the business. And from that perspective, I’m in the luxury position to speak to a lot of different HR leaders, and HR practitioners in the fields, learn from them, see what their challenges are, and how we can come up with solutions with learning interventions to solve those challenges.

That’s my perspective, I would love to take you through three challenges, three reasons why HR is changing. And the first one has to do with transformation and automation. And I don’t know how you feel about the void of transformation, but it’s one of my least favourite words, because it’s very overused. But I think HR is in transformation. And the question is, what is that transformation really about? Well, that transformation has two elements.

If we look at the numbers, the World Economic Forum last year, in the midst of the pandemic released a survey showing that 84% of companies plan to increase the digitization of work processes. And in a similar vein, 50% of companies plan to accelerate or go even faster with the automation of tasks. For me, transformation is on the one hand about digitization, on the other hand, it is about automation. And bringing those two together requires a new way of working. A similar survey from KPMG shows that only 1/3 of HR executives in tech companies, so specifically for the tech industry, feel very confident about HR’s ability to really transform into a technology driven future. So if we’re looking towards the most leading organisations because usually the tech organisations are the most advanced organisations when it comes to employee skills. Also in HR, you see that the majority is not very confident about HR ability to drive that transformation. And I think that’s a bit worrisome.

When we talk about, you know, transformation and automation, automation has been going on around us for a long time already. And when we define automation, there’s two elements to it. On the one hand, it’s the digitization process that’s already happening all around us. They call this the algorithmic wave. So rule based systems that help to make decisions when it helps to digitise processes. For example, the automation of simple compute computational tasks or digitising pen and paper processes on well, I know this is a virtual conference, but before the pandemic on the real conferences, I always like to ask the question like, who in HR is still working with pen and paper based processes. And usually, then it took some time for people to stick up their hands, but then about half of the people in the audience, you know, would put up their hands looking right and left, if there were also other people still working with pen and paper, the reality is at least before COVID, that a lot of the HR processes are not a lot there are still pen and paper based processes in HR. 

Well, I think the pandemic has changed a lot of this. I’m very excited to ask this question again, in our live audience in front of me to see how many hands will still go up. But this first wave of transformation is really about the digitization of these more manual paper based processes. An example is an organisation that had a cafeteria benefit system. So individual employees could choose their own benefits and opt in for them. And this was an eight page document that people printed, and then they filled it in with a pen, made the calculations and then they handed that in, and that would be their benefits package. And there was an administrator who then looked at all the notes, put that into the system, checked the calculation, and you know, if anything was back, they would go back and check it, double check it and then put it into the system. That system was not necessarily easy, but it’s not a complex process to digitise it was digitised it was implemented. And the satisfaction for this specific process went up from a 6.4 I think for a pen and paper based version to an 8.3 on a 10 point scale for the digitised version. So it’s, I think, a great example of digitization in HR, and how that can already make a difference. 

But it was not just the user raising of the employee satisfaction that went up with that specific HR process. It was also the HR administrator who used to, you know, fill in those documents into a system and essentially copy data and do data entry. That administrator is now advising people on the best benefits for their specific situation. So you see someone who is working at a very operational level, now moving up because of digitization to a more tactical level, making more of an impact being more employee centric, and creating more value for the organisation because some of the more manual processes that involve more labour were automated. I think that’s a fantastic example of the first wave of automation, as PwC calls it, the algorithmic wave.

Now the second wave that’s coming in five to eight years, is the augmentation wave. This is about a dynamic interaction with technology for support and decision making. Where today, if you’re, you know, talking to a chatbot, or, you know, talking to customer services, you have the feeling that there’s a computer at the other end of the of the line, you know, you don’t really want to talk to a computer, you want to talk to a human. In five to eight years, there’ll be the other way around, because our computer, a chatbot, will be able to provide you answers quicker, and will have all the required information already available for you. So it’ll be easier to talk to a chatbot compared to you know, someone in HR, filling in customer service tickets, for example. So, in the near future, we see more and more complex administrative processes that are also changing that are becoming more and more automated. 

And similarly also more complex tasks like basic data analytics, for example, will also be automated. And an example that I like to use is if now on, I don’t know if any of you have ever worked with Google Analytics, but that’s website tracking data. Google engine that tracks all the data on your websites, all the Visitor Information, and then comes up with recommendations based on that pile of data. So Google can come with a recommendation saying I see I noticed that this page speed is low. At the same time bouncers, you know, people coming on the page and then quitting the page directly, are also up if you reduce the page, loading time, and the bounce rate also go down. And you can reduce the page loading time by changing these two images that are too big. 

So Google already is able to make, you know, for everyday users for you and I recommend the best courses of action when it comes to web traffic. And in a couple years, we will have a similar situation in HR, where we have so much and so much more data available that also refreshes at a quicker rate, that you’ll call that it is possible to generate these kinds of automated insights and automated recommendations, just based on the static data that you know, the changes changes over time, the recommendations can already be made in a couple of years by an algorithm. And then the art is not necessarily you know, doing these analyses yourself. It’s about the implementation of these analysis in your day to day practices, work practices, that will provide value within HR. So that’s when we talk about trends. Those are, I think, one of the key trends, resulting in an HR function where you spend less time on business as usual activities. But more time on more project based, more agile work processes will be more movement between roles, technology, adoption will be one of the key differentiators of an organisation. If your organisation is good at driving technology adoption quickly, you’ll be better off than a competitor who’s less able to do show, and there will be an abundance of data that will be analysed automatically. Through smarter algorithms that can identify hiccups in the data outliers and provide solutions or at least bring those to your attention automatically. That is the first strength to show transformation and automation. 

The second trend why I think HR is changing is the rise of agile. Lately, I’ve heard the word agile and agility more and more mentioned in one on one conversations with senior HR leaders. And I’ve always been a little bit puzzled because I thought agile is a bit of a buzzword that everyone is talking about. But no one really has a deep understanding of what it is. And maybe that is one of the reasons actually why a lot of people are speaking about it. But I think there’s slightly more to it, because working in a slightly more agile way will help a lot of especially large organisations, I think tremendously.

And that’s because many of the core HR operating models that we that we have now where you have, you know, three centralised elements, you know, the business partners who are helping the business and communicate with the business, the shared service centres who are doing much of the administrative work, and then the centres of expertise that the specialists who are two of the specialist advisors in implementation of HR processes, that’s that traditional three legged model is starting to show some cracks. And I think a more agile way of working will help us fit those cracks in and will help us operate in a more efficient way. 

Specifically, oftentimes, what you now see is that these specialists working in the centres of excellence or expertise, are providing isolated solutions. So they come up with these brilliant solutions that do not always really fit the business that well. At the same time, the business partners who are customer oriented or customer focused, they’re speaking with the HR managers, they’re often in a much more operational role than we want them to be, instead of being very strategic or tactical, they often are the operational executioner’s or many of the the managers problems instead of looking at what the manager is trying to achieve on a more strategic level. And then interpreting it and seeing how HR can enable it, they’re very often just doing more, much more operational tasks, which is a problem and I’ll cover that in more detail later.

And then the third leg is about shared services. I’m curious how many people in your HR organisations have a deep understanding of automation, but usually that number is not really that big and having a good understanding of what you know, digitization and automation means and being able to implement that quickly in your HR organisation will give give you a an efficiency boost, and will give you a very clear leg up compared to your competition. But that’s that understanding of automation and bringing in those skills into the HR organisation, especially if you have a larger HR organisation is something that a lot of organisations are lagging behind with, and it will overtime become an increasingly important thing to do that quickly to drive adoption. And largely there’s a lack of integrated HR practices. So these three core elements of a natural operating model are failing to communicate, to integrate and to work together in a good way.

That leads us to more agile teams. So as automation increases in business as usual, overtime slowly goes down, we have more time to spend on picking up projects that have high impacts and that create impact for the business. And that, in the end, will help us drive more business impact all at the same time we automate the core, the core elements in these projects. So think about the older model that I mentioned before, the roles in the HR team are starting to change. These teams, you know, will have older expertises as well, such as automation. But you’ll see teams where an HR manager, you know, is acting in the capacity as a scrum master, ensuring the efficiency of the team ensuring that everyone has the right qualifications and that the team is operating in a good in an effective way, where the HR business partner becomes more of a product owner, someone who really understands the business and who prioritises the projects that these project these agile teams are working on. And then in the teams, you have different specialists, together with the business partners, or with a business partner, and with people with other skills, who can then pick up projects, execute them, improve them, automate them, and then move on to the next project. So over time, you see that the business as usual, will start to decrease, while the time spent on more agile projects will start to increase. And probably in your HR roles, the more junior roles will spend more time or at least at the moment oftentimes spend more time on business as usual activities that over time will start to decrease. And you will have a more flexible organisation or HR organisation at least, that is probably also slightly less hierarchical, with people with more different capabilities.

And that brings us to the third change, I promised in the title to talk about the post pandemic workforce, you know, that’s COVID-19, the impact of COVID has been tremendous. COVID is a large driver of digital transformation. And has brought about a change also in skills that are needed. Research from McKinsey showed that in the US in 2021 69% of people of the age of business leaders actually were looking to build more skills compared to two years ago in 2019. And 2019, was already at an all time high. So the COVID not only drove digital transformation and the speed of that, but now it’s also driving the upscaling efforts in organisations. 

And these three trends in HR bring me to the following framework. And as you know, I have about five minutes left, so I’m not even halfway so I’ll go a bit faster. We need to solve this. And I’m not saying that upscaling is the one solution to do it. But I think upskilling is a key part of the solution to solve these problem areas that we’re now starting to run into more and more. And the way we have conceptualised this, it will be called the T shaped HR professional. Though the T shirt HR professional for us has on the vertical part of the T, a number of core competencies that are critical for good functioning in HR, regardless of the role in HR. And then depending on your specialisation, the vertical part of the T is about the functional competency that you have to drill down to have a specialisation that you are really unique at. And in these more agile teams, you have these people that you know can collaborate well because they connect all the core competencies. They understand the business, they understand their peers, but they also have different functional expertises that make them very strong in the area that they’ve specialised in.

Now for us, we have identified based on hundreds of conversations with senior leaders and 10s of 1000s of individual inputs from surveys of HR professionals, we have identified four core capabilities, which are being data driven. So it has the ability to read, interpret and create and transform data into information. So being more data driven. Business acumen, having a deep understanding of the business and being able to structure what you do in HR for the good of the business. It’s about leveraging technology, we call this digital integration – knowing which technology is out there and which technology to bring in to create more efficient and more effective HR policies that create business impact and having an understanding of people and culture. Being a good communicator and a transparent HR professional that builds trust in the organisation. I think those are key elements for being a good HR professional. So those are the four core skills that I see or that we are seeing, I should say. 

And then depending on your role, you have different functional specialisations. So if you join an organisation, as an HR generalist, for example, you need to have a basic understanding of what the organisation is doing. First of all, you need to understand the technology landscape, because you’re probably working with different systems. And, you know, often in a data entry position, if you start, you know, you’re working with systems and you and you’re working with data, and you need to have an, you know, your representative of the HR department in the organisation. So you need to be a clear communicator, and an advocate for the culture that you’re building in the organisation. And then as you progress through the organisation, and you start to specialise, you start to build a functional expertise, while you keep upgrading your basic core competencies. And, you know, depending on the role that you’re at, if you’re in the end, the chief learning officer, you have different functional expertise as well as being a fully T-shaped HR professional having a deep understanding of your core capabilities of your core competencies, I should say. 

Now, being T shaped has a number of advantages. Specifically, it helps HR professionals to better align with the business because they have this horizontal element that connects with owners, specifically being able to interpret what the business is doing and able to leverage HR policies in a way that creates more business impact because of that increased business understanding is one way of doing it. Another way of doing it is being able to understand data and being able to communicate with data, falsify hypotheses, being more data driven, but also having a deeper understanding of manager KPIs, for example. And knowing you know, if the manager is going off those KPIs, what are the HR interventions that we can do in order to help these managers achieve their business goals? That’s very relevant in large organisations, I think that’s even more relevant to smaller organisations where these business KPIs are much more top of mind and relatively seen much more important, or at least more important compared to larger organisations. 

But also, it’s about leveraging technology. In smaller organisations that means that you understand the steps that you go through when you implement or when you’re looking to purchase a technology, it means that you understand how to specify the elements that a technology needs to do in order for it to be successful. And it means that you can implement the technology you know, once you have bought it and the module made the right choice. Having that skill sets or having these one by one person, or multiple people in your organisation that have the skill sets will really help you to implement better technology and to implement the right technology the first time, instead of, you know, trying to implement technology that doesn’t really fit that doesn’t make HR more efficient, and that doesn’t really help drive business results. 

And finally, being more of a T shaped HR professional is about being an excellent communicator, being able to work collaboratively with people in HR, but also outside of HR to pick up those different projects to work on the more agile projects for a number of weeks, and then implement them, automate them and then move on to the next project that requires communication skills, that requires a deeper understanding of the people that you work with. And of course, also a deep understanding of organisational culture. So being a more t shaped HR professional will help in larger organisations and will also help in smaller organisations alike.

And, building more of these core competencies, I think is a key element. Now I have very quickly skip through these, we’ve built a competency framework with different dimensions, and we’ve different behaviours and different proficiency levels. And we’ve defined for each of these behaviours, what good performance in HR looks like. That’s, that’s a 25 page document that I won’t take you through now. But if you’re interested in this, you can find it at AIHR.com/enterprise where you can download these documents. For the sake of time, we spend one more minute on the new normal, which is HR being in flux. I think we need to start facing the reality that we have the world changing at a faster and faster pace. Pace, I should say. HR will start to become more and more being in a situation that is ever changing. IBM Last year in a report put the half life of skills at five years, meaning that in five years, half of the skills or half of the knowledge that you have is outdated. So essentially, when you start your bachelor’s and master’s, at the end of it, half of it is already outdated. So how do you cope with that? How do you make sure that everyone in your organisation does an extra bachelor’s every every five years? That’s the reality that we need to learn to deal with. And if you look at technical skills, that’s even more urgent than the half life of two and a half years.

McKinsey came up with a very recent report about three weeks ago, they said, one of the best practices is to launch an upskilling program to have an element in your organisation that, on the one hand, spots the learning content that is required for people to stay up to date. And that encourages people to continuously learn to continuously educate themselves, in order to stay top of mind. And I think it is our responsibility as HR professionals to think about this, how we implement this in HR, but also in the broader employee population. How do we ensure that people continuously educate both on the job, but also through more formal learning that we try to bring as close to on the job learning as possible. And I think that is a formidable challenge that I would like to give you today. Not giving you the answers, because this is a challenge that we need to figure out over the next couple of years. But it will be about bringing upskilling and the reality of work closer and closer together and integrating them so that through work people continuously upskill through training that is very close to reality of work, because I firmly believe that the organisations that are competitive today, and especially competitive tomorrow, are organisations that are able to continuously learn, continuously improve and become better. 

Because they tap knowledge and they bring in knowledge from outside of the organisation in a continuous way, they flow that knowledge into the organisation, so the organisation becomes richer, equals more experienced, and people’s skills stay up to date. That’s it from my side. And I think there was an opportunity for a Q & A. So I think we have a few more minutes for questions. 

Presenter: I actually have a few questions for you, Eric, thank you so much. It’s always helpful as an HR professional to see, you know, a map that can guide your learning process. So thank you so much for sharing with us. I have two questions. In a way they connect with each other. So basically, one of them leaves you asking, how does the line between human actions and digital actions change? Now we’ll get to the pandemic fourth has to go into more digitized HR processes. So what’s in your view the you know, the balance between human intervention and using digital to replace it?

Erik van Vulpen: That’s an interesting, very broad question that I think we can do an entire keynote on. I don’t think that pandemic in that sense has changed much. I think the pandemic has mostly accelerated it. And I think it’s a broader trend where technology comes closer and closer to our fingertips. And technology is kind of the integration between the humans who’re doing their work. And then technology is an integrative layer between it. So technology is enabling, you know, humans to work in the end. And a very simple example is, you know, the laptop or the order computer that you’re, you know, working on when you’re answering your email, there’s a layer of technology between the person and the actual work. And work is happening through that technology. 

And I think that that seamless integration that we’re already seeing now, because you know, your work, you leverage technology in order to do your work, I think that will only only increase more and more. At the pandemic, we’ve seen that because, you know, even this conference is now online. Moreover, I’m speaking to you through an online environment. I think that integration will increase more and more and will become less seamless. So you know, where you used to start up your computer, and you know, wait two minutes, now your computer is online, within five seconds, you know, you’re up and running. And I think that’s that that’s that element that that layer between the human and the work will only get bigger, but also at the same time become less and less, will become seamless, essentially. That’s the abstract answer. And I think that will only increase and I think that the pandemic has been much more of an accelerator rather than really a game changer in that sense. I think they’ll just continue probably at a slightly slower pace, maybe also at a faster pace. Because the world is changing faster, faster.

Presenter: Thank you. And the last question, you know, HR professionals more experienced HR professionals who entered the field early on. And mostly maybe because they wanted to do creative social work, getting in touch with people. So they are not necessarily friends of numbers or data in digital skills. What do you recommend for them to do in order to be friends, that data and analytics and in order not to create a huge generation gap in the field?

Erik van Vulpen: Yeah, well, I think a lot of the new people who are joining HR have a similar motivation for entering HR because they want to connect with people, they want to help people. So I’m not advocating for a generational gap between you know, the new HR professional who’s fully data driven, and the old HR professional, who is not, I think, rather, it goes much more hand in hand, it’s an integration because, you know, if you see a data point, if you see, you know, objectives in a certain department is up, the question is, why is that up, you know, that that’s an insight from a data point, and an algorithm can can, you know, shoot it out and sell it to you, but then you need your human intuition to go to that department to look what’s going on. 

And it might be someone who has a long term illness, you know, was unable to work. And you know, that’s because there’s one person who’s able to work will drive it up. So it’s still very much you know, that sensing and that much more human and social connection that you need in order to interpret that data. So I’m absolutely not advocating for you know, you need to be data driven. And as the solution, I think, if you, you know, if you’re very good at that sensing and being in the organisation and being connected to different stakeholders, because you know, that comes to you very natural, then you need to invest more into, you know, also building that more digital and data driven capability. Because we’ve both together, you’ll be a stronger HR professional. 

Also the other way around, if you’re very strong in numbers, and in data and in technology, but you lack that human connection, you know, that that’s, that’s in the end, the same t shape, if you’re very strong on those two elements, but you’re not a people’s affricates, you don’t have that stuff, that sense for culture, that alignment, that communication skills, then you need to work on those other skills. So I think it’s very much a balancing act where you really need both of them. And in the T shape, you know, there’s the people’s advocates, and I talk about it less, because usually HR is already quite well developed in that aspect. 

But HR definitely needs that aspect. And I think it’s very much an integration that goes hand in hand. So I’m not advocating in that sense for a generation gap. I think it’s good to identify where am I good at? Where do I have strong ads? And what are the elements that I can still improve on, and then work on those elements. So you have at least a minimum balance. And until you have the minimum balance, you know, keep focusing on the things that you’re good at. But having a minimum balance, I think, good, you know, in this case, intuition and data, I think when they come together, you have a much stronger connection, and you’ll be a more effective HR professional.

Presenter: Thank you so much, Eric., for being with us, and for sharing all that information very, very useful again, to just lay out some development plans for ourselves as professionals in the industry, not just to take care of the others. So thank you again, hope you had a great time with us and maybe see you in the future. My pleasure. See you later. Bye bye. 

The post HR Skills in the Post-Pandemic Workforce appeared first on AIHR.

During COVID-19, HR professionals made the impossible possible

When last year Amazon saw its demand surge to an all-time high due to COVID-19, the company was faced with a colossal challenge: how to successfully hire and onboard tens of thousands of new workers to continue to satisfy its customers’ needs. Other companies such as IBM pulled out all the stops to (practically overnight) transition their employees from working on-site to working remotely.

But whether it be online retail giants of the likes of Amazon, technology companies such as IBM or millions of other small, medium or large-sized businesses, they all shared one thing in common: in their hour of need, they turned to their HR departments for leadership and guidance.

COVID-19 has written many business stories, but none of the successful ones would have happened without one essential character – the one that has, among other things, overseen the recent world of work revolution: HR professionals.

New strategic role – will it last?

As a result, the past twelve months have transformed the HR’s role and how HR is perceived by organizations’ leadership. HR professionals and CHROs have an increasingly more significant impact on how organizations are run, and vice-versa, board members and CEOs increasingly rely on CHRO’s advice and insights when making decisions. 

According to Sage People’s research, 87% of C-suite executives credit their HR departments with having accelerated change throughout their organizations during COVID-19. For instance, chairman and CEO of the medical company Pfizer says that he is sometimes “more involved in discussions with [his] HR heads than with [his] research heads”, and The Adecco Group’s chairman Jean-Christophe Deslarzes now wants more considerable involvement of the board of directors in talent management because the company’s success depends on having the right people in the right place. After all, managing human resources is just as strategically impactful as discussing the company’s financials.  

One thing is clear: HR has never been more important than it is today. In the words of Allan Jones, CEO of Bambee, a Los Angeles-based human resources company: “the way that I look at it is: COVID acted as a giant, year-long Super Bowl ad about how businesses need HR.”

And yet, HR professionals should not take their newly acquired position for granted! Half of C-suite leaders (52%) believe these new changes to HR are only temporary, and thus, HR professionals will need to keep proving themselves even after the pandemic. 

So what exactly can HR professionals do to reaffirm their new strategic role?

New challenges require new human resource competencies

The answer lies in three words: skills, skills, and yes, you guessed it, skills. At the time when our economies and labor markets are marred with continued uncertainty, challenged by growing skills gaps (according to the OECD, we will need to reskill more than 1 billion people by 2030) and conditioned by accelerated digitization and automation, the greatest asset companies have at their disposal is their people and their skills. And the more complex issues businesses and organizations have to deal with, the more advanced those skills need to be. 

This is undoubtedly true for HR professionals. The new world of work revolution has thrown at them a curveball, and they have been trying to adjust to it and turn it into an opportunity for their organizations. 

And thus, this new era has emphasized new competencies that were previously not recognized as essential. Namely, competencies that allow HR professionals to collaborate and innovate across disciplines and their companies’ departments so as to not be too isolated from the business – and from themselves. 

HR professionals who have successfully steered their companies through the COVID-19 pandemic share one essential trait: they all have moved beyond their HR specialization and developed these additional and more general HR skills.

Such double-hatting has propelled them to the board rooms, given them a seat at the table and allowed them to partake in the strategic decision-making process. 

We have seen this double-hatting play out in various places and companies over the past year: 

• We have witnessed HR departments reinvent the companies’ employee communication by deploying, for instance, new technology (as was the case at Burger King Brasil); 
• We have seen data-driven businesses adjust to the remote and hybrid way of work much faster and successfully than their competitors (as was the case of the US-based IT services firm Cognizant); 
• We have observed HR professionals becoming the advocates of their company’s employees to build a more suitable environment and flexible work culture (as can be illustrated by the experience of the American tech giant Dell);
• And we have seen that as many workers demand more and more flexibility and wish to work in a hybrid way, companies are having to rethink their HR policies – policies that, in turn, need to reflect the changing nature of the business and the broader world (such as in the case of Facebook and Twitter and the change of their pay policy to keep up with the new remote way of working).

By relying on more than just their narrowly specialized skills (such as talent acquisition or D&I), these companies’ HR professionals have expanded their possibility to collaborate better and develop innovative solutions to new problems.

The future of HR is T-shaped

In essence, HR professionals whose skill sets are a combination of both the general (i.e. horizontal) and specialized (i.e. vertical) competencies are T-shaped. That is because the horizontal and vertical skills, when put together, take on the shape of the letter “T”, which then represents both the breadth and depth of their HR knowledge. 

An HR professional who has T-shaped skills is digitally savvy, data literate, a people’s advocate, and they show a strong business acumen. 

It is someone who, on top of being an expert in at least one of their disciplines, also:

• understands new technology and actively integrates it into their organization to make HR and the company run more efficiently; 
• is able to read, apply, create, and transform data into valuable information to influence decision-making processes to increase productivity, innovation and revenue;
• understands that there’s no HR without humans, who aims to build a strong internal culture, communicates skillfully and acts as a trusted employee champion to make HR more human;
• has an excellent understanding of their business, its purpose, mission, goals and strategies and is aware of significant developments in the broader world of work to help the organization exceed its expectations.  

T-shaped HR professionals benefit the whole organization 

Therefore, this new T-shaped HR 2025 competency model will benefit individual HR professionals by helping them become better at their job. But as they grow to become agents of change within their own teams, their organizations will benefit too! 

T-shaped professionals are leaders. They possess a wide array of soft skills, including collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving. T-shaped HR professionals also bring unique added value to the board room, helping their companies make better decisions. Their ability to comprehend their workforce and combine that with the knowledge of both their business and the wider world is indispensable. 

Become an agent of change. Become T-shaped

From COVID-19 to digitization, automation, demographic changes and globalization – the world of work is changing. And it is changing fast. The recent trends such as remote hiring and onboarding, remote work and more emphasis on diversity, inclusion and equality have thrust HR professionals into action and board meetings. The role of HR has shifted dramatically. It has grown in importance, and it has become a lot more strategic. 

But this new role will only last for as long as HR professionals themselves are up to the job. For as long as they have the skills to keep up with the changing world and growing demands. To that end, as an HR professional, if you want to become a positive agent of change within your own organization, you and your team need to become T-shaped. You need to upskill and develop both specialized and core HR competencies such as data literacy, digital savviness, people advocacy and business acumen.

You don’t know where to start? Use our assessment tool to see how T-shaped you already are and discover how you and your HR team(s) can develop the necessary skills to become future-proof. Upgrade your and your HR department’s skills today and help your organization strive in the new world of work.

The post The One Thing You Need For Future-Proofing Your HR Department appeared first on AIHR.

In a year full of unprecedented challenges, Henkel APAC has dedicated considerable resources to investing in their greatest and most reliable asset – their people. This comes as part of Henkel’s global digital upskilling initiative, focused on fostering in-house talent.

Together with the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR), Henkel established their first HR Learning Academy dedicated to developing digital skills for their top HR talent. The ultimate goal of the academy is to empower HR to increase operational efficiency and maximize the impact of HR on business outcomes.

What makes this academy unique? The focus on training for skill and competency-building, through a highly practical curriculum and on-the-job practice.

Innovation is HR-Driven

Henkel’s 140 years of innovation, continuous improvement, and delivering excellence is only possible with a strong focus on employee development. In fact, “developing people with passion” is one of Henkel’s core leadership commitments.

But who’s at the center of developing people if not HR? According to a KPMG report, HR is essential in shaping the workforce of the future and preparing them for increased digitalization, automation, and AI. Yet 80% of HR professionals are not equipped to do so.

With digital transformation in its highest gear, Henkel has taken their commitments seriously, and decided to develop the digital capabilities of their HR teams:

At Henkel, we dare to make an impact. Digital transformation is a key strategic focus for Henkel which involves not just the technical aspect but, more so, a cultural transformation. HR enables the business to achieve this and it is imperative that our HR team have the competencies to support it. I am very pleased to partner on this journey with AIHR.
Jackie Ngai, HR Head Asia Pacific

Building Digital Competencies in HR

To establish the HR DIGI+ Academy, Henkel APAC partnered with the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR): a reputable HR training provider that can support Henkel’s HR talent at every stage of their upskilling process. 

The personal and professional development of our employees is very important at Henkel, which is why I am pleased to see the start of the HR Learning Academy. AIHR’s courses are enabling our employees to succeed in an increasingly digital world.
Jackie Ngai, HR Head Asia Pacific

AIHR’s comprehensive approach to competency-building binds well with Henkel’s focus on practicing on the job – a key element in Henkel’s HR Academy.

AIHR’s courses are structured around the three key components of learning: knowledge, skill, and experience.

• Learners gain KNOWLEDGE by watching engaging instructional videos, tutorials, and going through the recommended reading material.
• They acquire SKILL by completing assignments, creating projects, and participating in interactive role plays.
• And they gain EXPERIENCE by repeatedly applying their newly acquired skills to solving real life business problems.

The EXPERIENCE level is where learners gain mastery of their skills. Yet this aspect of learning is often overlooked. This is why Henkel’s commitment to fostering a true culture of learning is so inspiring. Henkel opted for a practical and immersive approach to learning by creating a collaborative environment, where participants can practice their skills on real business projects. This makes Henkel’s HR Academy unique in the world of corporate learning.

Corporate Learning Reimagined

Imagine a learning program that promises to deliver business impact, innovation, and real behavior change. That’s what Henkel’s HR Academy stands for.

Within Henkel’s HR Academy, AIHR has designed a two-year program for their top HR talent. The aim of the program is to create real change agents, who will drive innovation from within the company.

In the first year of the program, the participants follow the curriculum of AIHR’s Digital HR Certificate Program. This includes four courses designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed for digital leadership.

In the second year, the participants will select three courses from AIHR’s extensive catalogue, in preparation for their graduation project, where participants will apply their knowledge and skill to drive innovation in their department. The projects will be judged by a panel of experts and the top rated ones will be implemented.

Training for Success and Impact

Every year, companies around the world invest 370 billion USD in employee training. Still, many training programs fail. So what makes Henkel’s HR Academy unique?

Three aspects:

1. It focuses on skills that are vital for the future of HR and the organization
   Henkel’s HR Academy focuses on training key digital skills that prepare the participants for an increasingly digital future.

2. Learning is connected to daily work activities & to broader company objectives
   The participants can apply their newly acquired skills and knowledge to their daily work activities, and help further the company’s mission of innovation.

3. Success is recognized and rewarded
   The participants’ completion of their training program hinges on the quality of their projects. And the most impressive projects will be recognized and implemented.

In short, the participants are not just given the opportunity to learn, but also to apply their new skills to make lasting impact on Henkel’s business outcomes.

Investing in Upskilling In-House Talent

Driving innovation and creating lasting change starts with training digital leaders and creating a culture of learning in the organization. Henkel’s new HR Academy drives home the point that the most successful organizations are the ones where business growth is driven by employee growth. And this is even more important when it comes to HR.

HR has a pivotal role in preparing the business and the workforce for the challenges of the future, and making sure they are well equipped for this role is the key to business success.

Because the simple truth is that, at this point, if you don’t upskill HR, you effectively underskill your workforce.

The post Henkel APAC: Building Digital HR Capabilities with an In-House HR Learning Academy appeared first on AIHR.