2021 HR Priorities: A Summarized View of Nine Sources

Note: You can also view this article at www.brianheger.com by clicking here.

We just closed out the second month of 2021 and have benefited from consuming the views of several firms and thought leaders on the trends that will guide HR priorities in 2021 and beyond.

These reports and resources are full of insights and in-depth thinking on how firms can effectively meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.

While each of these reports is enlightening, it can be challenging to sift through the various ideas across the different channels.

To help HR practitioners and leaders distill these insights into a summarized view, I have integrated the priorities and trends from nine resources into a one-page snapshot.

Although the sources used for this snapshot are in no particular order and are not a full representation of all reports, they do provide a sample from respected sources.

The nine sources are listed below and include a hyperlink that will take you to my summary of each report. The summary also provides a link to the original report should you want to explore it further.

• Institute for Corporate Productivity (I4CP) | 2021 Priorities and Predictions From I4cp’s Boards
• Gartner – Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2021
• Deloitte Insights – 2021 Global Human Capital Trends
• McLean & Company – 2021 HR Trends Report (must go through company’s website to access) 
• Glassdoor –Workplace Trends 2021: 5 Trends Reshaping How We Work After Covid-19 
• Josh Bersin Academy – HR Predictions for 2021
• The Hackett Group – 2021 CHRO Agenda Report: 10 Key Issues HR Needs to Act on Now
• Visier – HR 2021 Trends: People Strategies for an Uncertain Future
• Mercer – 2021 Global Talent Trends Report: the Future of Work

The snapshot is not based on statistical analysis; instead, it is a quick “eyeball analysis” where I show the priorities/trends and indicate those with common themes.

It is intended to provide directional insights that HR practitioners and leaders can consider as they shape and execute their talent, workforce, and workplace priorities.

Since it is important to expand the conversation to the workforce practices that firms are employing in response to the trends/priorities, I provide a link to a survey at the end of this article. The survey will allow you to share some of the practices that you are executing or plan to implement.

If I receive enough responses, I will update this article with those results so that we have a crowdsourced view of the collective practices.

I look forward to continuing to share and exchange more ideas on this topic.

Brian

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Key Themes

As shown in the illustration below, there is a range of 3 to 12 priorities/trends across each of the nine sources. Themes that were explicitly mentioned more than once include:

• Culture
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Employee Wellbeing
• Employee Experience
• Digital Transformation
• Reskilling

If you are unable to view the illustration below on your computer or device, here is a PDF.

A Few Distinctions Across the Reports

Aside from the common themes, below are a few additional priroities across each of the reports’ mentioned priorities. You can learn more about these and any other priorities that were referenced in the illustration by accessing the respective report.

• Human Capital Disclosure Requirements (i4CP)
• Current and Future Leadership Bench (Gartner)
• Superteams: Where Work Happens (Deloitte Insights) 
• Remote Work Redefines the Office of 2021 and Beyond (McLean & Company)
• Salary Expectations Get a Permanent Work-from-home Overall (Glassdoor)
• Employee Listening, Hearing, and Communications Go Big (Josh Bersin Academy) 
• Support Enterprise Cost Takeout and Efficiency Improvement (The Hackett Group)
• Problem-solving Through Uncertainty Becomes the New Norm (Visier)
• Sense with Science (augmenting Al with human intuition) (Mercer)

Expanding the Focus from Trends and Priorities to Practices

As we expand the focus from trends and priorities to include workforce practices, here is a link to a survey where you can share the practices you are executing (or planning to) in response to the priorities and trends.

If I receive enough responses, I will publish the results so that we can all benefit from the insights.

I hope you find this quick resource helpful as you refine and execute your 2021 talent, workforce, and workplace priorities. If so, please share it with your network so that we can help each other and the organizations that we support!

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