8 Trends every HR Professional should know about

After covering skilling for Marketing, Digital Marketing, Finance, Technology, Sales, Content, Graphic, this week we will talk about yet another function that many of you might be interested in - Human Resources.
 
While we will speak this week about the new things happening in this space, skills of today and the future, our sincere recommendation is that you don’t spend time perfecting these new skills, since that could take time and you would be losing out on precious on-the-job experience. So start applying today to get into the groove and back into the game.
 
Now let’s look at what is going to happen in the field of Human Resources over the next few years.
 
Here below are 8 trends that every Human Resources Professional should know about:
 
1# Fight for good talent
Globally around 45% of employers are struggling to find good talent as per a recent Manpower report, and this number is 56% for India. This means that good talent is becoming scarce and will be hotly fought over in the years to come if businesses want to thrive or even survive in the highly competitive market place.
Businesses today are waking up to this fact and talent acquisition and retention is becoming a very strong focus for everyone. Be it listening to the employee, creating career roadmaps for them or giving them the perks and benefits they need, talent retention today for the top talent in the organisation is serious business.
 
2# Specialisation knowledge
Barring a few big organisations, earlier Human Resources teams used to be generalists. But today that is changing with more emphasis on specific expertise and so we have HR people specialising in Talent Acquisition, Compensation & Benefits, Learning & Development, Employer Branding, etc. It’s a great time to figure out your interest and make it your strength
 
3# Gig economy i.e. outsourced talent
It is estimated that by the year 2020, ~50% of the US workforce is likely to be freelancing i.e. working on contracts for mostly short duration assignments with organisations. This model is known as the ‘gig’ model, and has multiple benefits for employers including
- agility and speed i.e. the ability to quickly hire the right talent from a freelance pool
- access to talent that is trained and ready to hit the ground running
- access to special skill-sets which are required by the organisation only for a certain duration
- optimised costs due the talent being contractual and short duration - so less overheads, and the ability to pay only for the work consumed
- the ability to scale up and down quickly without time spent making long-winded hiring or firing decisions
 
It is said that the size of the gig economy in India will be 20-30 Bn USD soon, and will be a force to reckon with
    
4# Push towards Flexible working
The fight for good talent will mean giving employees what they need. In many cases today, due to the shape of society with more nuclear families, both husbands and wives working, and a general pull towards wanting more balance in life especially for millenials, we see that organisations today are willing to make flexible working a reality by letting employees avail various kinds of flexibility - flexi hours, flexi location, job shares, sabbaticals, etc
 
5# Management of a Blended workforce
With gig workers and flexible workers both likely part of organisations of the future, the workforce is going to be ‘blended’ with a mix of different types and styles of working and working arrangements. Human Resources will have to figure out how to make performance measures, appraisals and growth prospects, work for all these different types of workers, and organisations will need teams and people who can take this task on for them
 
6# Continuous Learning
Alot is being said currently about skills of the future being different from those today, and that employees will have to constantly upgrade themselves to retain the edge. This holds true for organisations also, who will have to play their part in keeping their employees up to date. That means continuous learning programs, delivered in more personalised and impactful ways
 
7# The rise of HR Tech
HR today is one of the most cutting edge areas with a host of startups trying to use new-age technology to improve processes and make them more impactful and efficient. Whether it be new technology enhanced recruitment methods like face recognition,voice analysis, psychometric evaluations, game-based evaluations, etc or employee data capturing and analytics technologies like SAP SuccessFactors and Workday, the possibilities are endless. The technologies of tomorrow Augmented and Virtual Reality promise to give new meaning to working remotely, and make organisations of the future more global than ever before
 
8# The diversity phenomenon
While on the one hand, technology is becoming more a part of Human Resources, on the other, Human Resources is becoming more Human. Diversity is a big part of strategy for many organisations today and is likely to become more so in the years to come, with the definition of diversity going beyond gender, to include sexual orientation, people with disabilities, single mothers, etc. Diversity is a big driver for business and can help improve the topline and bottomline of companies as many researches have shown. It is one of the key ways businesses do well by doing good
 
So in conclusion, Human Resources is a great place to be in today, with many exciting things happening across Technology and Human experiences. So if HR is what interests you, and you have a flair for it, we have more tips for you this week that will help you brush up your skills and make your career in it! But like we always say, don’t wait to reach perfection, instead attain it on-the-job. So start applying today to get into the groove and back into the game.
 
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We at FlexiBees have placed such talented career returners like you in Human Resources jobs across industries and sectors. Go to https://jobseeker.flexibees.com/ and register with us, so we can reach out to you when we get any requirements that match your skills.