Is HR at risk of becoming redundant?
What does HR even mean in today’s ever-changing business and people landscape? Fast moving technological advances. People working from home, the beach, or their beds as a result of technology streamlining. Technological advances replacing the need for people to fulfil foundational Human Resource practices. There is now competition for exceptional talent, which continues to be a challenge and thus businesses have their work cut out for them. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Today’s businesses just a need to view their HR requirements in a different light.
People are wanting to work differently than they did ten years ago. Businesses who keep up with the pace are reaping the rewards.
But.. is HR still stuck in the dark ages?
Moving with the times is an essential for business today. Ensuring old style best practice methodologies are adapted to modern day work preferences and attitudes is going to be of significant importance and we fly into the next decade. Whilst there is a plethora of thought leaders out there on innovative HR and people management strategies and practices, most businesses are continuing to do what they have always done. Like what? well, for example, creating pages and pages of policies that employees arduously read through on their first day, for example. Performance review processes that fail to inspire or provide any connection to business strategy. Bulging personnel files and ‘bum on seat’ recruitment practices are also still all too common.
The future of HR?
HR of the future requires much more than simply being a receptacle for complaints and a paper processing expert. For many companies, outsourcing of these functions will make the most sense and will allow their Human Resources team to reposition themselves as a strategic partner in the business.
Human Resource practitioners of the future will need to have the ability to understand and translate business operations and strategy, as well as know the best ways to harness and optimise talent.
The experts at Buck Consultants cast an even wider net. They claim the need for Human Resource Consultants to think like marketers will expand beyond recruiting. “HR will evolve the ‘internal marketing’ role to include social marketing coordination and brand ownership, that is, outside talent ‘buying’ into the brand–the company–to potentially work in the organization,” they say. (Osterhaus, Erin; ‘The HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold Predictions’ 2013)
Staying relevant in HR requires a commercially viable and innovative mind-set approach. So is the importance to move to a paperless HR office. Why? Because this frees up time for more value add HR initiatives is going to be critical to success. Failing to adapt will result in being