A large part of the 2015 growth story will depend on how organisational leadership will manage the opportunity that the positive sentiment of the new government presents. It is, perhaps, no surprise that the charge of growth will now truly be led by human capital management in the Indian economy. As the world around us becomes increasingly uncertain or VUCA, experts are unanimous in declaring that human capital will be the most important capital for any organisation. It will be the leadership that will single-handedly determine the path the industry takes towards growth. An SHRM 2015 research pegs that two factors will likely be the biggest priorities for HR in the coming months- managing demographics and leadership development. It is needless to say that, at the backbone of this growth surge, technology will be a key contributor.

In what areas will technology contribute to this growth surge in 2015? Let us have a look at the top five.

Social and mobile: Almost every business activity will likely be touched by the social and mobile wave. Irrespective of what end-objective it is, any business activity involving humans will merge with a heavy influence of social and mobile. Whether is it connecting with customers, driving learnings to employees, or improving business processes- social and mobile will lead the charge from the front.

Performance management: As performance of any kind moves away from point in time to real-time, the subject of performance management will be digitised. Whether it is in the form of gamification or big data, performance will be viewed with in entirely new light.

Learning: Learning will drastically change to accommodate the demands of the new workforce. Training will disappear and will be replaced by pervasive learning. Once again, technology will play a central role.

Talent acquisition: Old paradigms will be abolished as tech-enabled analytical approaches to talent acquisition take over. Sourcing passive talent, social hiring, and mobile-based screening will become commonplace.

Leadership: Whether it is developing the succession pipeline or hiring external leaders, all aspects of leadership strength will depend upon how strong an organisation can utilise analytics and data for building a strong leadership team.

If it is true that 2015 will be the year of growth, then it is equally true that technology will be at the core of this growth. The sooner an organisation’s human capital adopts a technology-based approach, the better is its likelihood to capitalise on the opportunity.