Jewell Parkinson, senior vice president and head of human resources at SAP says, "We're still the stewards of information and our people, that is going to be our role."
Times have changed radically over the years and so have the trends, however, the core principle remains intact. A recent study reveals that 60% of employees are looking forward to a job change, which puts the pressure on HR professionals to raise their game in order to attract and retain the best talent. Estimated to reach $30 billion by 2025, the business of creating innovative HR is on the rise. With that said, here are 3 important HR trends we’ll be discussing below:
1. Personalization
2019 is all about individuality and personalization; as an organization, you need to be mindful of the individual wishes & capabilities of the employees. Historically, HR departments have been known to go by their approach of “One-Size-Fits-All”, but shifting to a more modern approach that takes into account every individual’s needs will make a world of difference. It will not only open up doors for a new level of engagement but also companies will get to reap the benefits.
2. Integrating with AI
Along with other areas of industry, technology has played a big role in the recruitment process as well. “We're looking at ways we can use AI or machine learning to automate the talent acquisition experience so we can dive deeply into the one-on-one relationships”, says Lisa Sterling, Chief People and Culture Officer at Ceridian. Likewise, Irina Novoselsky, CEO of CareerBuilder said they’ve integrated machine learning into their job search platform for a
touch of personalization. For example, people searching on CareerBuilder for jobs at Disney might see the term ‘client’ instead of ‘guest’ which is a standard swap of lingo for the entertainment industry.
While the integration of AI does make tedious work much easier and faster, it doesn’t always address everything. Co-founder and CEO of Triplebyte, Harj Taggar says, "It doesn't help with bias — and in fact, it exacerbates [it]," in an interview with HR Drive.
3. Taking Diversity to the Next Level
HR leaders today are adopting a new definition of diversity that goes beyond LGBTQIA status, gender, race or religious affiliations to include a multitude of other factors such as:
Educational level: HR leaders of today are no longer focused on the amount of degrees as much as the potential that a candidate possesses. Big companies like Google and Ernst & Young look for candidates with the necessary skills, instead of focusing on their degree, which isn’t mandatory anymore.
Geolocation: Remote workers who hail from rural or suburban areas can now interact with onsite team members.
General affiliation: The modern workplace now also embraces five generations, their respective cultural norms, and communication.
A successful company is one that can embrace change over time, is able to adapt to new norms and ensures a pleasant work culture for its employees. And HR leaders who realize the importance of human resource marketing will be the real champions of 2019.