INTRODUCTION
The business world is changing at bullet-train speed – technology, the global economy, increasing regulatory scrutiny, the looming talent crisis, the recognition that mental illness is dramatically affecting the workplace. All of these are having a huge impact on the HR profession.
The c-level is finally starting to realize how important your role is. They want you to get out of the day-to-day administrivia - while still making sure everything is done perfectly, mind you. They want you to measurably contribute to the top-line and the bottom line, and help mitigate risk.
There are ten major trends that you need to be aware of as your role evolves to meet these challenges. Let’s start with the most obvious.
#1. The Changing Role of the HR Professional
We need to put the “human” back into human resources. Employees are humans, not commodities, and HR departments have to start seeing them differently. With the current push towards strategies that engage employees, attract top talent, and contribute to the bottom line, this change is imperative.
We need to stop whining about being at the table. These days, almost every book or article you read about the role of HR talks about HR needing to be ‘at the table’ or to be more strategic.
It’s my observation that in almost every respected company, HR is at the table. So for most HR leaders, the question is not ‘how do you get to the table’. It is ‘now that you are at the table, how do you best contribute to the success of our organization?’. ‘How can you be taken seriously at the table?’
Clearly the first step is to make sure that the organization’s HR practices are effective. The practices should create competitive advantage by building strong organizations, strong leaders and managers, and strong teams and employees. But few HR departments do this in a measurable way. CEOs are
demanding