The future of HR is Open Source

We are living in a time of unprecedented change. This applies to politics – with the worrying rise of Donald Trump in the US and the EU in/out Referendum in the UK, to economics – in the wake of the financial crisis, to technology – where Moore’s Law has multiplied and is set to go into hyperdrive and to business - where digital is changing every single business model.

The impact to the world of work is already multifarious and set to reach epidemic proportions. It’s rare that a day goes past without the likes of Harvard Business Review, The Economist or Forbes declaring that humans are set to be imminently supplanted by robots in the workplace. Even if some of the most dramatic headlines are hyperbole, most of us would concede that the next 5-10 years are going to see work change beyond recognition to an extent perhaps not seen since the Industrial Revolution

As custodians of the people that work for their organisations, HR is right in the frontline. How should it face this onslaught?

Traditionally, HR functions have worked in splendid isolation but perhaps it is time as The Beatles once sang to try to ‘get by with a little help from our friends’. It has certainly served the tech community well where collaboration or ‘Open Source’ has become the norm. Not before time this ethos has arrived in HR. 

HR Open Source (#HROS)

Collaboration, education and inspiration are three of the key themes of the excellent HR Open Source (#HROS) initiative conjured up by Ambrosia Vertesi, formerly of Hootsuite and now VP People at Duo Security, and Amplify Talent’s Lars Schmidt.

The intent of #HROS is:

“…to make it easier for practitioners to access the resources, tips, tools and tricks they need to succeed in today’s world of work while hiring and developing the top talent of tomorrow.”

It is less than a year since Ambrosia and Lars launched the #HROS initiative (see video below from last year's LinkedIn Connect conference in Anaheim), and it has really captured the imagination of a HR community increasingly keen to share, learn and make a real impact within their respective organisations. 

Ambrosia Vertesi and Lars Schmidt launch #HROS at LinkedIn Connect, 2015

#HROS is a movement designed to encourage employers to open up their HR playbook, share their best practices, inspire and learn from their peers. Fellow HR practitioners are able to access real world examples that they can use and adapt for projects in their own organisations. This is the simple vision – and spirit – driving HROS. 

Check out the Case Study page on the #HROS site for great stories from the likes of Cisco, Dell, Hootsuite and CA Technologies, but to highlight three others:

• Read how Opower embarked on a journey that saw them progress from simple dashboards to an optimised talent acquisition team driven by data, insights, and analytics.
• Check out how Earl’s Kitchen & Bar linked culture and strategy to drive employee engagement and create an inspired workforce.
• Finally, read the latest #HROS case study on how tech company Greenhouse activated its employees to support its rapid growth in 2015 from 47 to 186 employees

The UK HR and recruiting cognoscenti descended on Bar Topolski in London last week when Ambrosia was in town for the London launch of #HROS. Hat tip to Leela Srinivasan and Jennifer Candee for hosting and organising what was a great evening. Also in attendance were the likes of Bill Boorman (arguably the grandfather of open source in HR through his #truMunity unconferences), Gareth Jones, Mervyn Dinnen, Matt Buckland, Andrew Mountney, Shane Gray, Neil Morrison, Matt Alder, Andy Curlewis, Samantha Ramsey, Rob Jones, Andrea Nicol and Steve Othen - a veritable who's who! One suspects that the momentum generated will help propel #HROS to new heights this side of the pond. 

‘Let’s Make Work Better’

#HROS is not the only high-profile example of Open Source HR either. Validation that Ambrosia and Lars have helped create a concept that will fly can be seen in Google’s re:Work initiative. Similar to #HROS, re:Work provides a set of tools and lessons from Google and partner organisations, which are designed to ‘make work better’ irrespective of the organisation. re:Work is organised into four key areas: Hiring, Managers, People Analytics (hurrah!) and Unbiasing, which are four areas Google believes HR practitioners can make a big impact in their respective businesses. There are some great case studies and 'how to' guides from the likes of JetBlue, Gap and Google themselves.

As another example of the type of material on offer, check out the video below from the recent re:Work conference, where Prasad Setty, VP of People Analytics & Compensation at Google, outlines the importance of storytelling when it comes to people analytics.

There are other examples of Open Source out there too. For two years, Glassdoor has published its annual recruiting metrics in recognition that the vast majority of recruiting teams struggle to see how they compare to other organisations. This concept of giving something back to the wider HR and recruiting community is to be applauded. 

Open Source in People Analytics

In the people analytics space I inhabit, collaboration and open source are arguably vital to help what is still a nascent concept go mainstream. Josh Bersin suggested earlier this year (see article) that the exponential growth of people analytics could be set to go into overdrive. I certainly hope so, but still feel HR has some way to go to overcome the three C’s Volker Jacobs, formerly of CEB, described at HR Tech World in Paris: Criticality (being able to prioritise efforts based on critical business questions), Capability (being able to apply business judgment to data science), and Credibility (being able to drive end-user ownership of talent analytics). 

The plethora of dedicated people analytics conferences that have sprouted up go some way to facilitating collaboration between practitioners. I have chaired, spoken at and/or attended conferences in San Francisco, Amsterdam, London, Sydney and New York this year. At each, the willingness of practitioners to share and learn from each other has been palpable. Long may it continue. I should also highlight the work Al Adamsen is doing at the Talent Strategy Institute, which as well as conferences has created an active community of people analytics practitioners who meet regularly to share and discuss common challenges.  

It is good also to see other initiatives like a confidential one I am part of where several organisations at a relatively advanced level of maturity in the application of people analytics together with academics and other influencers are working closely together to define ‘what next’.  We have gone from sitting around the table together and sharing best practice to effectively going into a joint-venture, investing equally in order to experiment, collaborate and share in what will likely be significant and mutual benefits in the future. 

Final Thoughts

As I wrote at the outset of this piece, the pace of change in the workplace is already phenomenal and set to increase. Attempting to cope with this on your own will likely prove impossible. Collaborating with your peers may seem an alien concept to many, but bold initiatives like are required for the future of work and #HROS is one such initiative that may help HR functions keep up.

_____________________________________________________

Note 1: An earlier version of this blog originally appeared on the HRN Blog in December 2015.

Note 2: For those interested in finding out more on #HROS, check out the homepage, Facebook Group (with over 1,200 members), follow on Twitter @HROpenSource and also see on LinkedIn.

_____________________________________________________

About the author

David is a respected influencer, writer and speaker on people analytics and the future of work. He was recognised as Best Writer at the 2015 HR Tech Writers’ Awards, and was awarded one of ten LinkedIn Power Profiles for HR in January 2016. David’s role as Global Director, People Analytics Solutions at IBM enables him to help clients apply an analytical, insight led and business outcome focused approach to their talent strategies and people decisions. 

David also speaks at and chairs industry events. He has been co-chair of Tucana’s People Analytics Conference in London for the last two years, is one of the judges of the 2016 Workforce Analytics Excellence Awards, is a keynote speaker at the Workforce Analytics Summits 2016 series in Amsterdam, Sydney, New York and Singapore, is a member of the HR Tech World Blog Squad, #HROS Volunteer and will moderate a session at Beyond - The Global HR Leadership Forum in Amsterdam on 30th June.

Connect with David on LinkedIn, follow him on Twitter and read his blogs on HR Tech World and ERE.

Keywords: HR, Human Resources, HR Analytics, People Analytics, Talent, Recruiting, Hiring, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, HR Metrics, Cost Per Hire, Workforce Analytics, Talent Analytics, Data Driven HR, Employee Engagement, Performance Management, Future of Work, Quality of Hire, Evidence based HR, HR Open Source, #HROS