Work from Home Facilitator, Workplace Environment Architect, Distraction Prevention Coach, Human Bias Officer or a Director of Wellbeing – it all sounds a little futuristic and a little out of this world, doesn’t it?

But this is not a sci-fi thriller… no, this is the 2020s and, more specifically, HR in the 2020s.  

This is according to a study conducted by The Cognizant Center for Future of Work and Future Workplace. The research presents 21 HR jobs of the future and Caroline Leroy, PayFit Chief People and Fulfilment Officer, discusses how HR will have to adapt to meet the needs of the new workforce shaped by advanced technology and the COVID-19 pandemic.

An evolution in HR is certainly long overdue; however, any change is subject to employers recognising the capabilities and expertise that exists within their HR teams. 

While other business functions such as sales or marketing have evolved, modernised and embraced technology, HR has remained relatively stagnant. This is partly due to the lack of investment within HR as a whole, but also because HR has long been seen as a luxury rather than a necessity. 

However, this year really has been a watershed moment for HR. Just as the 2008 financial crisis changed the way that Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) operated within organisations, the coronavirus crisis could lead to HR professionals gaining an equally key voice at C-level. 

Although, for this to happen, organisations have to be willing to adapt their HR methods to the ever-changing needs of their employees, or risk not keeping and attracting the market’s top talent. 

COVID-19 – a wake-up call

The coronavirus crisis highlighted how HR departments were unable to deal with the overnight implementation of remote work. 

With the vast majority of businesses shutting their offices, employees were forced to work away from their offices for a sustained period of time. 

The success of remote work has been widely documented in recent months, but for it to become a long-term working practice, HR needs to evolve to meet the requirements and expectations of employees. 

This may take shape in the creation of roles designed specifically to facilitate remote work; equally, it may herald a new age in the use of data or artificial intelligence to improve existing HR functions such as recruitment and employee learning and development. 

Employee wellbeing remains a challenge

Perhaps, in the short-term at least, organisations may choose to focus on ways that they can build wellbeing programmes that support employees, even when working away from the office. 

Indeed, employee wellbeing has been a recurring theme throughout the last 12 months. The pandemic exposed the fragility of employment and, in fact, life, and it became apparent that existing wellbeing programmes were unable to meet the requirements and expectations of employees. 

A recent employee survey from insurance provider Hooray found that less than a third of respondents were happy with the provisions made by their employer for their wellbeing and, a separate study conducted by life insurance provider YuLife revealed that over a quarter felt that their employer did not look after their wellbeing. 

It does seem that HR departments have been aware of these issues for some time. A study PayFit conducted pre-COVID revealed that almost 40% of HR professionals believed that employee wellbeing was their greatest challenge. Fifty per cent also suggested that employee wellbeing had the most significant impact on a company’s chances of success. 

Data such as these do seem to indicate that HR departments have been unable to adapt and evolve their provisions to meet the needs of their employees. 

Previously, the benchmark when it came to employee benefits centred around offering perks such as cinema or concert tickets, table tennis tables in the office or after-work drinks. 

But in a post-coronavirus world where the use of offices could be reduced and social interactions kept to a minimum, less emphasis is likely to be placed on these superficial benefits and more put on wellbeing and the ways in which employers can help and support their employees beyond just their professional lives.

“Wellbeing strategies for businesses have become less about generic solutions, such as fresh fruit in the office, and more about individual empowerment.” Kate Whitelock, Head of Wellbeing at YuLife

The appetite for change is clearly there – at least from an employees’ perspective. The report also suggests that HR professionals have identified the areas within their function that need to be addressed. 

Seemingly then, the only resistance appears to be coming from key decision-makers who struggle to see the link between investing, adapting and modernising the HR function and the overall success of an organisation. 

Yet, if employers were ever in any doubt about the benefits of implementing wellbeing programmes, they should consider the results of YuLife’s survey which also found that wellbeing programmes increased employee loyalty by up to 87%. 

With over 70 million workdays lost each year in the UK due to mental health problems, wellbeing is no longer just a PR stunt and should be a regular part of the agenda for all company leaders.

 The risk of losing talent

The current climate has increased demands for benefits that provide a genuine service to employees – e.g. life insurance, income protection or financial education – and employers should be conscious of the fact that their wellbeing programmes must answer relevant employee pain points. 

Understanding what these pain points are is critical and employers should look to garner and leverage the goldmine of information their employees hold so that they can adapt and modify their wellbeing programmes to meet the expectations of their employees. 

Whether it’s overall wellbeing, mental health and happiness, remote working or job security, this year has brought new challenges and employee trends which HR leaders should follow to keep hold of talent. 

However, many HR teams are currently not equipped to understand new employee trends and drive company transformation. 

Coming back to the initial report from The Cognizant Center for Future of Work and Future Workplace, job titles such as Work from Home Facilitator are not just trending buzz words. High employee expectations are here to stay and HR teams must adapt and cater to the needs of their workforces. 

While rebuilding the whole HR department might sound scary and costly, there are many possible alternatives. Companies should stay open-minded and look within their internal teams for professionals with transferable skills. They should consider working with external partners who can fill the internal company knowledge gap.

The value of implementing such changes within HR functions could yield immediate and immeasurable results in employee loyalty, wellbeing and productivity. 

For this to happen, transformation is critical.

HR departments are the moral compass in an organisation, the mediators between managers and employees and the instigators when it comes to implementing organisational culture and values. 

Therefore, it is within the interest of leaders and key decision-makers to see the pandemic as an opportunity to reconstruct their HR function and ensure that it is ready to tackle problems, both present and future. Because nobody knows what lies ahead in 2021.