5 of the most important future trends in HR - and how to cope with them

In the last article I already mentioned the necessity for #HR Management to fundamentally change. This is about further future trends, how they can be used and corresponding recommendations how to deal with them - and what Dirty Harry has to do with it...

The latest developments, such as working at home office or the permanent use of mobile devices are increasing the change from a work-life balance to so-called work-life blending - but that is not without danger.

Danger? Yeah. The sharp distinction between professional and working life disappears, there are no recovery phases and the lack of interpersonal contact with colleagues and employees also fuels fears - precisely because- despite the flood of information- employees often feel cut off from the really important information (which is, let’s be honest, the internal grapevine)

Here are two simple examples: 

Professional emails are more and more often processed in the actual free time (and lead to an enormous loss of time, resources and trust, but in return cause a lot of misunderstandings) and lead to the fact that tasks are done more and more often on weekends, holidays or public holidays - in extreme cases even when an employee is on sick leave.

So this model is not necessarily innovative and beneficial - no, it holds a considerable risk potential.

And if ?Human“ is indeed a ?Source“ - isn't it HRM's primary task to deal with this? And if so, what do HR managers actually offer? Do they have, for example, implemented e-mail communication guidelines in their company? No? Why, the hell, not? That means that either they are not aware about this danger and inefficiency (bad!) or they simply don’t care (even worse!)

Additionally, as a second example, there are serious fears - less existential than fundamental - in times of enormous change in the world of work. This is due to increasing uncertainty - but also to a lack of contact with colleagues. And these fears paralyze enormously. A fitting quote from psychologist and bestselling author Amy Cuddy: Anxiety gets sticky and destructive when we start becoming anxious about being anxious.

I have experienced and seen am remarkable number of leadership programs,-models and -trainings - but hardly anyone deals intensively with the employees' fears. But that must not be overseen - according to Bernard Marr, government and management consultant and bestselling author, "Fear of Change" is one of the Top 5 Fears That Hold People Back At Work.

 In particular, the special fears of the #millenials, the target group that companies are supposed to be so keen on, are generally not taken serious nor by managers neither by #HR. Why? Maybe it’s a generational question.

?Over 6000 young people, aged 25-33, from the four corners of the world were recently surveyed by LinkedIn and almost exactly 75% of them reported having a “Quarter-Life Crisis”—pressure to succeed in career, relationships, finances.

In other words, pressure to succeed in life.

Based on the majority of comments this news elicited, most members of older generations feel scorn. “Oh the poor little darlings—get over it.” wrote Whitney Johnson, named one of the world's fifty most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50in 2017 in a remarkable article about #Millennials and the Quarter Life Crisis

So in these two areas alone (among many others) there are important and forward-looking strategic tasks that HRM should definitely claim the leading role in solving.

What can I do as a human resources manager?

#Human Resource Management 4.0 has to, if not to be completely overrun, become more of an internal service provider and change agent with a strategic orientation.

A central task will be to design an agile organization that can react quickly and innovatively to changes. However, the (digital) competencies in HR are often not sufficient to manage this change process.

 Here you find a highly interesting article from Janina Kugel, Chief Human Resources Officer, describing how Siemens faced this challenge. First it is important to have the right perspective of the role of HR (” If companies want to remain successful in the future, HR must play a different and more strategic role…”) and than mentioning the model that is core for Siemens business as well as professional and agile.

Can HR fulfill these complex requirements without external help? I quite doubt.

Sure: It is certainly very difficult to realize that one might the competence, the experience and the expertise and may need outside help – especially for a department that is not used to working with external experts – HR.

However, in order to create the path to #transformation, it might be advisable to be supported and advised by external experts. Dirty Harry used to say: Man’s got to know his limitations – and who would argue with Dirty Harry?

It really is important to know when one's own know-how reaches its limits. And of course I would like to mention here that I can help you here - otherwise I would certainly not be good at marketing myself…

In addition, the ability of employees to work with intelligent machines will play a central role.

A further significant field of action will be changing the existing mindset in the company. The desired "#digital mindset" should be anchored both in the HR Managers themselves and in the employees of other departments and levels. This requires a high willingness to change on the part of all involved.

When facing IAL 4.0 developments, the management culture should also be adapted to digital change. Leading digital teams requires a transfer of control in connection with increased trust in one's own team. Hierarchical structures are flattened and personal responsibility increases.

Disruptive changes make the training and further education of employees more essential than hiring of highly qualified staff.

So in order to successfully establish social learning, not only technical or spatial framework conditions should be made available, but also a corporate culture which permits and actively promotes it.

There is still a lot to do here, because you often experience the following situation: "Where is colleague XY?" - "On a further training course." "Oh sooooo..." Then eyes are twistet combined with an abusive hand movement as if the colleague was on holiday.

In addition, learning concepts are needed that can be geared more closely to the individual needs of employees and are based on the learning needs identified in the company. Depending on the job profile, for example, digital competences are required to varying degrees.

Learning nuggets, which are thematically delimited, can be used to optimally integrate further training into everyday working life. In order to create the path from learning employees to a jointly learning organization, knowledge can be prepared collaboratively. By setting up an intranet, internal wikis or social media applications, the exchange and networking of knowledge carriers within the company could be promoted. Especially when exchanging information with external persons in forums, blogs or social media applications, HR Management should communicate additional guidelines for dealing with social networks. Every employee active in digital forums should be perceived as a representative and figurehead of the values of the respective company - and not as a potential danger that might still divulge unpleasant things from the company.

Since the Internet is increasingly being used for questions or complaints, negative image influences due to inappropriate communication must be avoided at this point. In order to create the basis for a learning organization within the framework of comprehensive knowledge management, it would also be conceivable to make the existing competencies centrally visible on a digital, cross-location or cross-departmental platform. In this way, employees who are looking for advice could find out which colleague is an expert in Excel, a specific language or other areas. The HRM would be responsible for developing and introducing these platforms.

In addition to the fields of action already mentioned for empowering employees and the organization as such, HRM's own processes should also be revised. In order to ensure strategic focus and alignment with corporate goals, sufficient capacities must be available in the HR area. The automation and digitalization of repetitive processes and time-consuming administrative tasks should be the solution to relieve HR Managers. One might think of a digital e-file, automated certificate generators or the shift of responsibility to the user, as in the case of #Employee Self Services.

In order to be able to maintain a competitive position in the market against the background of a shortage of skilled workers, a modern HRM system should also consider innovative recruiting tools. For example, the use of social media applications or #Robot Recruiting helps to attract talent to your company. (Find more information about innovative and software-based recruitment tools in my next article.)

However, it must be ensured that the use of these applications is demand-oriented. If positions are to be filled in which a certain digital affinity or a digital mindset is considered an important prerequisite, it is likely that exactly these people will feel addressed via digital channels and will rate this as positive. However, depending on the qualification profile sought, it might be useful to continue using conventional procurement channels such as trade fairs, job centers or other classic instruments. HR Managers should have both options demand-oriented in their application in order to be able to position themselves broadly.

Furthermore, some larger companies have already discovered the potential behind the use of Big Data in the context of workforce analytics. Especially for those having access to sufficient amounts of data, results from analytics can optimize strategic HR decisions.

Smaller companies might encounter difficulties when using analytics. Often the necessary IT backgrounds are missing and costly. The benefits of HR Analytics therefore also depend on the size of the company and should be weighed up according to the situation.

Behind all the new digital possibilities that will be available to HR managers and other functionaries in the future. One example: 

Andreas von der Heydt, Amazon’s Director Talent Acquisition asked in a highly interesting article :” Have you ever thought about e.g. having a highly skilled team in place answering questions of people who think about working for you? Maybe via web video or web chat to keep it scalable? Do you have dedicated metrics and a comprehensive reporting set up to monitor and review the satisfaction levels of your applicants for each step of the interview process?”

Interesting, isn't it? Well, it may still be unusual at the moment, but new, innovative ideas are needed to avoid falling behind in the run for the best talents.

In conclusion, it can be said that in order to realize all the fields of action and innovative trends outlined above, first and foremost the necessary mindset, willingness to change, a certain acceptance of the digital world and an overarching understanding of other company areas on the part of the HR Managers should be present. If this is not the case HR Managers have an insufficient overview of other departments so they will not be able to pick up the relevant employees.

For HR Managers this means not only learning to use all the new tools and features, but one more thing – maybe even more important: 

Getting out of their office. Away from their own desk. Leaving the comfort zone.

Today's HR Manager needs in-depth knowledge of the "hidden agendas", the practical side of the processes, but also the corresponding rumors and the "corridor radio". This can only succeed if he shows presence and also shows himself, be it in the canteen, be it in the recreation room, be it in the cafeteria, once and chat casually with members of other departments.

Yeah, I know, this happens - but let's be honest: still far too rare and too isolated.

Since the strategic HRM is confronted with new tasks, it is also conceivable that human resources departments should consist of new, creative digitally affine employees who are also willing to leave the comfort zone and to deal with new technologies as well as confidently act as "business partners", especially for internal customers.

In our highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (“VUCA”) times it is more than ever necessary to prioritize the economic AND social effectiveness and efficiency in organizations to not just survive and get through, but to prosper and continuously ideate, create and distribute positive value with as little waste in the process and result as possible. says Florian Hochenrieder, a leading expert - not for HR topics, but for Leadership Excellence.

As André Düsenberg, a specialist for integrative personnel management, repeatedly pointed out: "Survival of he fittest does not mean the survival of the stronger. But the most adaptable“.

 Let us adapt.

=> What do you think? And what has to be done in order to successfully manage that?

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#Meik B?deker is a #lecturer at several universities, author, #speaker and consultant who cares about the most emotional, illogical and valuable resource of any company: the human being

Key Words: #HR / # HRManagement / #HR4.0 / Digitalization / #IAL 4.0 / #digital mindset/ #social learning / #learning nuggets /#Employee Self Services / #Robot Recruiting / #Big Data