People as resources are invaluable assets of an organization. For a business to be successful, every company is obligated to enhance their workforce by aligning their human resource strategies with the latest trends. With the advancement in technology, the human resource (HR) departments of companies have been transforming gradually over the years. The global COVID 19 pandemic has compelled HR professionals to swiftly respond to critical business priorities, handle fluctuations in the workforce, and harness the latest technologies. 

With millennials and Gen Z as the largest cohort in the business workforce, employers worldwide are in demand of tech-powered ways to manage, recruit, and engage their employees. The trends of artificial intelligence, diversity, gig economy, cloud-based HR tech, and productivity skills will drive the HR management in 2021 to formulate, implement corporate strategies, and improve employee engagement to boost a business. Curious to know about how to become a successful HR professional up to date with future trends? 

No worries! Here are the top trends of Human Resource Management in 2021 that HR professionals must acquaint themselves with:

• Promote Diversity and Inclusion

Company culture plays a pivotal role to provide a positive experience to its employees. With employees belonging to diverse races, ages, genders, sexual orientations, and cultures, industries ought to make their employees feel that they belong to a community. 

HR professionals need to plant a seed of inclusion and affiliation where the employees feel confident to express their ideas with equity. Research shows that a cohesive work culture boosted employee performance to 56% and decreased turnover risk to 50%. Motivate them to be involved in the company vision holistically. 

• The Trend of Work From Home (WFH)

The Coronavirus pandemic has altered the paradigms of business domains worldwide. This global overnight shift to remote work puts a high value on flexible work arrangements. Four out of five HR managers believe the move to working remotely has caused less employee absenteeism, with employees available online when needed. 

In 2021, many corporations are offering remote-work as a full-time opportunity. With this, HR departments need to adapt to new workplace settings to keep the employees engaged and on track. 

• Cultivate Critical Thinking, Soft Skills, Digital Skills

Gone are the days when education and job skills were the only criteria for the recruitment of employees. The 21st century calls for HR personnel to look for a combination of power skills in the workforce. Search for applicants with digital skills like data analytics and digital literacy. 

Assess critical thinking skills like strategic thinking and conflict management. Soft skills like emotional intelligence and creativity are considered a priority by businesses these days for the humanistic work environment. Choose candidates with learnability and aptitude to operate in a tech-human blended work mode. 

• Employee Wellness Programs

With the fast-paced work culture and competitive race, stress levels of employees have been on the rise. To keep their mental health intact, HR practitioners should advance workplace wellness programs to strengthen employee’s wellbeing to have a work-life balance. Build motivated, engaged, and loyal employees who are cared for and nurtured. 

Some activities to conduct can include healthy lunches, team building activities, site fitness classes, counseling sessions, festive celebrations, and weekly interactive video calls. Educate your employees about mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and stress and how to handle them. 

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning

AI-based algorithms such as applicant tracking software, combined with an increase in cloud-computing, can assist HR professionals in the recruitment of candidates and streamline workflow. AI tools promote merit-based selection eliminating conscious or unconscious bias. 

AI aids HR to manage onboarding, integration, employee training, performance, reporting, payroll, and data administration. Integrate Robotic process automation (RPA) to encompass skills like chatbots, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning to access the data.

• Creativity in Recruitment and Learning Management System (LMS) for Training

HR specialists often complain about the challenge of hiring talented employees. They need to adapt to creative ways to select qualified applicants or the positions they need to fill. Apart from AI, talent acquisition teams can maneuver headhunting firms or recruitment marketing agencies to find potential candidates. 

Assimilate learning management system or tools to facilitate training and workshops To cultivate future talent via the internet. Some LMS include Bridge, GoSkills, Absorb, and Moodle. Further, incorporate mentoring programs to escalate the retention rates of the employees. 

• Train the Workforce with Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)

With the advent of digital integration, every department, including HR, is wielding the best of novel technologies like VR and AR for employee growth and hands-on experience. They have become go-to training methods for a multitude of organizations such as insurance, customer service, retail, construction, and safety training, to name a few. 

The practical learning fostered by them is seen in some training programs to effectively bring about behavioral changes in trainees for them to develop new skills needed for their new job. They also contribute to front-end processes like recruiting and onboarding. 

• Fluid Task Management with Gig Economy

HR staff should know that the younger generations prefer work-life balance with flexible schedules and Telecommuting. The gig economy where people like to work independently is witnessing a sharp spike as people are increasingly looking to work on their terms and conditions. 

Employees are opting out of the 9-5 work schedule to side hustle in addition to day jobs. Others, like freelancers and consultants, like to work for themselves 100% of the time. HR practitioners and team leaders must look for new ways to keep their working forces efficient and agile with this changing trend. 

A company operates by its workforce. That’s why it’s not only essential for the HR professionals to search for the best talents but also try to create a work environment that makes them loyal to your organization. Enhance employee experience, provide continuous learning and skills development programs to upscale your company’s reputation, and make your company ideal for young job seekers.