Understanding HR Today

The role of human resources is evolving, and industry now demands far more from the personnel function than ever before.

A Workplace Forecast study outlines the most significant trends in HR over the last decade as:

• A more competitive global business landscape
• The impact of information and communications technologies
• A more complex legal environment, laws influencing employee rights
• The aging workforce and the retirement of the Boomers generation
• Problems finding skilled workers
• Economic uncertainty and volatility
• Greater demand for work/life integration

Twenty-first century HR leaders are now pushed to have a deeper, more applicable understanding of business so policies have a defined and valid return on investment, as the thin line between profits and people becomes more blurred.

Organizations require the recruitment process to be completed must quicker and often across borders, while the ever-increasing and rapidly changing legal world presents more rules and regulations for human resources to contend with.

With technology as the fiercest driving force behind most of these changes, it has revolutionized the way HR works and for the most part has made the process quicker and easier than traditional paper. It has also allowed for the personnel department to connect with skilled workers across the globe, increasing the amount of remote workers and telecommuters in today’s business world.

Aside from technology, the legal system remains to have an effect on the role of human resources.

CPEhr, outlines the biggest legal developments impacting HR in their HR Update, naming the introduction of medical marijuana in the US, an increasing demand for paid mandatory sick leave and changes in healthcare law as significant challenges employers will be dealing with in the next 12 months.

As many of these issues are hotly contested in the media, companies should begin to prepare their policies on these upcoming issues as a pre-emptive strike so that guidelines remain relevant and the company may adapt to changes smoothly.

These issues are coming to the surface at the same time we are losing the Boomer generation to retirement, leaving us with a vacancy of skilled and experienced workers who must be replaced with sustainable leaders already in the organization, or by recruiting trained candidates who can not only take on the role but exhibit the company culture and further the business’s objectives from a managerial level.

This may seem like an arduous task at a time when the economy is more unpredictable than ever, which has influenced many businesses to outsource workers and pluck skilled talent from various corners of the globe, perhaps even those who offer a lower desired salary which piques the attention of executives.

While remote workers may be financially beneficial, the people operations team must not neglect the personal development of at-home staff when seeking to expand the business worldwide, as regardless of any modern changes, talent must always remain at the center of HR’s movements.

As well as providing opportunities for career progression, education and compensations and benefits that improve job satisfaction, we must also be aware of how modern technology has affected the typical employee’s work/life integration.

As emails, spreadsheets and every other manner of most roles is accessible through the internet or smartphones, one of the biggest challenges facing HR today is the impact of these productivity-increasing objects on our talent’s wellbeing and ability to “switch off” after work.

As the definition of HR changes, people management professionals must be vigilant of the landscape and change with it if they intend to stay relevant and in control of their organization’s needs.

© New To HR