The 4 HR paradoxes for 2021
The world is changing and organisations are struggling to cope with the growing complexity and adaptability required of them. I think HR leaders will need to think and act differently if they want to be successful in the year ahead.
The macro trends which are at play call for a new corporate play book one which HR can lead.
- The developed world is getting older, ageing populations will create pressure on business, social institutions and governments to respond. It will also change how people work and retire.
- Inequality is increasing and social mobility is declining the global consensus of the last 50 years is fracturing with growing nationalism, popularism. This is creating a lack of trust in our governments and the institutions that have underlined our society. How do businesses play a role in creating greater equality and pushing back on shareholder return as the only measure of success.
- Technology be that AI or ML driven innovation and automation will create greater polarisation within our labour markets and amplify inequality.
- Polarisation will increase. Where talent is scarce people who posses those skills in demand will have increasing choice about not just about where they work but also from what location and for how long. While those without the skills that are in demand will be subjected to the whims of the labour market often having to work in two or three gig jobs just to make ends meet.
- Finally there is the environmental challenge of climate change and how we create sustainable economies.
These forces are asking new questions of organisations way beyond how we compete and organise optimally to serve our customers. Organisations need to apply 21st century thinking to 21st century problems, leaders need to understand these forces and how they interact with one another. I believe that post the Covid pandemic HR has a once in a generation opportunity to bring the outside in and help business find a response to these issues.
However to do this effectively HR will need to approach problems while holding seemingly contradictory qualities in mind by embracing the 5 paradox’s as I’ve called them. We all gravitate toward what we like doing and hence are good at but paradoxes require us to balance competing beliefs at the same time. This tension of being able to hold conflicting thoughts and approaches while simultaneously creating organisation solutions requires a new capability.
People have asked me why are HR leaders so well positioned to grapple with these external challenges when by its very nature HR is an insular internal facing function within an organisation. Well great HR leaders whether they are called Chief People Officers or Chief Human Resource Officers (we do love a good name change!) have an amazing ability to work with pardoxes be that how to be an objective adviser to the CEO and a team player or how to optimise organisation performance and drive positive values and behaviours.
The new paradoxes that HR leaders will need to master if they want to assimilate the role I am describing include
- Technology champion v Humanist
- Sustainability advisor v organisation optimiser
- Talent Hunter/retainer v Efficiency deliverer
- Cultural protector v learning champion
The challenge for HR leaders is to enable change to happen rapidly without inciting insecurity and creating change fatigue. To stay relevant professions need to adapt to the environment in which they and their organisations operate. If we go too fast we could create disenfranchise our peers and even our people but if we change too slowly we risk irrelevance. So as the paradoxes require it’s all a balancing act.
One example of HR changing its approach should be moving away from solely focusing on employees to being the masters of supply chain management where we start to think of our organisations as ecosystems. This new way of thinking will require HR to proactively develop and enhance the wider workforce. When you ask HR leaders how many contractors, freelancers, temps and fixed term workers they are using you often get a blank stare ! But these human beings are being paid to help our organisation deliver customer value. They are part of the organisation even if it’s for a short period they are part of the organisations workflow. What’s is the talent deal for these workers they provide skills and capability we need how do we provide an experience which encourages them to give discretionary effort. How do we get them to innovate and go beyond doing what’s contracted to being an proactive contributor?
How do we provide meaning and belonging so these talented individuals keep choosing to return to our business rather than going to work for one of your competitors?
The big message for HR professionals is if we want to grab this new role then we must invest and develop ourselves. It’s not something we’re good at but it’s now or never as the HR profession is at a tipping point in 2021. I hope we step up and invest in ourselves so that we can help our organisations adapt to this fast changing world.
Kevin Green 20/12/20
Author, Speaker, Consultant, Craft Brewer. Committed to helping you change your culture
3 年Good read Kevin. However I would argue there is no paradox between protecting culture and learning. Cultures are never static and learning is always relevant.
Strategy| Organisational Design & Effectiveness | Leadership Development | Talent Management
3 年If this is a once in a generation moment for HR, requiring a different mind and skill set, we all need to develop ourselves. Where are the strategic HR programs to help our function raise the bar? A global one stop shop where we can all access resources, articles and podcasts? To build and refresh skills and knowledge on business partnering, internal consultancy, commercial excellence, strategy creation etc.
HR Leader and Executive Coach
3 年Thank you for sharing; very interesting. We are facing the biggest challenge and opportunity in decades for our profession. I think our profession can sometimes be its own worst enemy by continuing to peddle processes that we know are no longer fit for purpose, which is why we can be seen as an admin function. I agree that an organisation living its purpose and values are set up for success; the same goes for HR.
Change Agitator ? Business Change done differently - better ● Capability Development ● Service Design ● Hands-on Problem Solver & Consultant ● Speaker | Podcast Host “The Change Chair” | ChgMI - Collaboration Lead
3 年Interesting thoughts. I would say the bigger problem for most HR functions (for quite a few years) in most organisations is that they remain an administrative function to "manage" onboarding, performance and retention of employees. Despite the unique position and insight they have on the core enabler of most organisations.....its people....they fail to capitalise on that knowledge to impact the strategy of the organisation. If you have no way to impact strategy then all you can do is tackle the problems at the edges. HR need to get louder, reposition their function in a firm and only the can these 4 or any other items of significance be tackled. Or would you say HR teams have addressed this now?