insight | HR'S EXPANDING ENTERPRISE ROLE
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dangers of over-skill
the
THE DRIVING DEMAND FOR SKILLS SUCH AS; PEOPLE ANALYTICS, BEHAVIOUR SCIENCES AND EMPLOYER BRANDING, TYPIFIES THE INCREASINGLY EXPANSIVE AND ENTERPRISING ROLE OF HR TODAY. BUT IF HR DIRECTORS ARE REQUIRED ONCE AGAIN TO BE A JACK OF ALL TRADES, DO THEY RISK BECOMING A MASTER OF NONE?
ARTICLE BY PAUL BURRIN, VP, SAGE PEOPLE - SAGE
“Address the HR skills gaps immediately. HR directors can’t - and shouldn’t - be experts in everything. Identify skills deficits in your team and upskill existing HR experts in new people-focused and technological roles”
The fact is, the world of work continues to change and, as a result, the role of HR is shifting, demanding new skillsets. In the recent research report The Changing Face of HR, 86 percent of HR leaders reckoned that the role of HR Director will be unrecognisable in ten years’ time. Interestingly, the top skills that HRDs identified as important in the coming years were also the areas where they feel they have the biggest gaps in their knowledge and capability - tech-savviness, creativity and people analytics. Really, it’s little wonder, we know organisations are having to work harder to not only attract, but keep, essentially skilled practitioners. Fast-growth progressive companies who want to pull ahead know the value of putting people at the top of the business agenda. More is expected from leaders of HR teams, as a result, as they move from being traditionally seen as backroom function, towards offering more strategic value and contributing to business growth. Combine this with new, increasingly complex compliance regulation in HR; new workstyles such as; the growth of the contingent workforce and gig economy; the varying expectations of a multi-generational workforce; stubbornly low productivity and engagement; and the emergence of new digital technology in both the workforce and HR, then it’s no surprise there’s huge pressure on HR leaders to call on a wider range of skills as they respond in these new emerging roles. So how can HR answer to these expanding enterprise expectations? Firstly, address the HR skills gaps immediately. HR Directors can’t - and shouldn’t - be experts in everything. Identify skills deficits in your team
22 | thehrdirector | DECEMBER 2019
now and upskill existing HR experts in new commercial, people-focused and technological roles. Most companies acknowledge that they must increasingly diversify, and source skills needed from non-conventional routes in HR. In fact, more than a third said they plan to hire non-traditional HR profiles. Secondly, HR must be increasingly tech-savvy and have the impetus to stay ahead with technology like; automation, analytics and cloud. The right technology means up-to-the-minute business reports that can be generated at the touch of a button. Automation helps eliminate the likelihood of human error and, most of all, the best tech frees up HR and People leaders’ time to concentrate on what’s truly important, delivering great workforce experiences for their people.
If so many HR leaders are expressing the concern that their organisation will not keep up with changes in technology over the next ten years, clearly there’s still a lot to do. It’s crucial to make the business case, and this is set against a backdrop of HR and people leaders expressing frustration that they can’t make the business case for change, when critically, it’s non-negotiable for the success of the business. Unquestionably, building a robust and comprehensive business case is a powerful tool you can use to win that all important slice of budget for HR, and in turn, build HR capability and impact. Expectations of HR leaders are evolving, but not just across the business world. Sixty-nine percent of HR leaders polled said they believe employee expectations of HR are changing too. In today’s changing world of work, people want to be part of an organisation that they believe
in and creates great workforce experiences for them. To do that, a company needs to know this right at the top - and that’s where HR come in.
Not only can HR and people leaders demonstrate the value of becoming people- focused on the bottom line, but they can drive these people-focused changes across the business. Yet, these new ways of working require different approaches and skills: analytics; marketing and communications expertise; tech savviness; creativity and behavioural science. The HR and People team of the future will include an army of experts in each of these fields. Ultimately, the HR Director of the future must be a leader of all these trades, and an expert in one; choreographing these new roles and responsibilities, driving people decisions with commercial shrewdness across the business and demonstrating value as a result. It sounds intimidating, but the opportunities are vast. Is your HR team ready?
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FOR FURTHER INFO
www.sagepeople.com
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