Numerous professions and companies have called out for what they want to see and what they predict will occur in 2020 for the world of HR.
Perkbox believes flexible working will “reign supreme in the 2020 workplace”.
Perkbox said:
In the not so distant past, flexible working was seen as a perk provided only by certain businesses and in many instances only in isolated occasions. Today, in contrast, flexible working is the make or break factor for many employees. This has led from the smallest startup to the largest corporate, like Barclays, Cisco and Vodafone offering flexible working. Some, such as Simply Business have gone as far as starting to offer 4-day weeks. Expect many many more of this in 2020.
Lisa Sterling, chief people & culture officer at Ceridian thinks that learning experiences are the best way to answer the problem of the skills gap that many businesses think they will encounter in the next two years, according to a Ceridian report.
Ms Sterling said:
Learning has to be quick, easy, accessible, and in the context of an employee’s role. Part of the reason we face this skills gap is because we don’t give people time to learn what they need to in order to enhance their productivity. Leaders have to think about this far beyond providing reimbursements for training and certifications, and be more progressive in their approaches. It’s about education, experience, and exposure. We have to advocate for continuous learning so people can continue to evolve and learn what’s necessary now, and in the future, for their roles.
Julie Chell, chief people officer at Civica sees the increasing role of technology in 2019 to carry on in to 2020 and playing a big part in the role of the HR function.
Ms Chell said:
Technologies, will continue to play a large role in the HR function as we see it become increasingly data driven. In this new age of technological advancements, we may see a shift from using data to analyse people, to a way of creating a more open dialogue between business leaders and employees. 2020 will see organisations championing a data driven culture that keeps people at its heart through asking themselves how their employees can benefit at the start of every people analytics project.
Chris Gray, the brand leader at ManpowerGroup says that as now there are five generations in the office, more than two need to represent a company’s leadership team. This is something that he feels businesses should be aware of as we enter 2020.
Mr Gray said:
Many workforces now comprise five generations of employees, but only have two or three of these represented within their leadership teams. Going into 2020, business leaders need to be cognizant of this and avoid implementing a one size fits all approach to their employees. They need to consider how the needs and priorities of Generations Z and Alpha differ from their predecessors and make sure that they’re viewed as an employer of choice by this cohort. This is imperative if they’re to future-proof their talent pipelines.
Ronni Zehavi, CEO of Hibob, outlines why he thinks the future of work is agile and how businesses can best manage and engage an agile workforce.
Mr Zehavi said:
While agile working methods stemmed from software development, it’s no longer just technology companies and development teams that are adopting agile as a way of working. The next year will see even more businesses across a variety of industries shift towards an agile working model to enable them to remain relevant in an increasingly talent driven landscape. Agile working not only trusts its employees and cares about their wellbeing, but is simultaneously tied to strategic organisational goals. Ultimately, it allows companies to deepen their talent pool, accelerate productivity levels, streamline processes and keep people connected to the company for longer.
In the year ahead, then, it will be important that businesses put tools and processes in place to manage their agile workforce successfully. Communicating constantly will be crucial and making sure agile collaboration guidelines are established from the outset is essential. With this, implementing the appropriate technology tools to enable remote working will help strengthen a company’s collaboration culture and keep employees engaged. There are a variety of specialist platforms available, from chat apps to telepresence robots, which can be easily integrated with an organisation’s HR system that will help to reinforce the agile workforce culture.
Finally, David Morel, founder and CEO of Tiger Recruitment sees AI playing a noticeable part in the recruitment process.
Mr Morel said:
AI and tech will revolutionise the way we recruit. I expect that, through gamification and problem-solving questions, the candidate testing process will move away from traditional assessments. In the business support sector particularly, these tests – such as touch-typing and words-per-minute checks – no longer adequately reflect the scope of an assistant’s role in the modern world. AI testing, however, will enhance our ability to match candidates with roles based on their abilities in practical and realistic situations.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
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