The year gone by has seen dramatic changes in identification and supporting talent. This has led to a shift in HR skills required. While “people skills” remain key, it is important to be ‘equally adept’ at numerical reasoning, fiscal responsibility and understanding the impact of automation. Traditional HR models are shifting to evidence-driven HR models that focus on employee experience design backed by scientific and data-based processes.
A great employee experience is a key to attracting and retaining talent. A prerequisite to designing or improving one is seeing the world through the eyes of your employees to understand their varied wants and needs. In addition to experience, employee branding and the entire employee value proposition is becoming a matter of focus. Every person who is part of the organization, no matter the level, is a brand ambassador who can deliver an authentic message about the advantages of working at your company. Today, employees, especially younger workers seek individualized, tailored career experiences from their employers. Some employers have started understanding this and provide customized guidance, while others are still grappling with the trend.
Some trends of 2018 that will grow in importance in the year to come include:
- Upskilling: Addressing the skills gap is a must for employee growth and development. A one-size-fits-all training based on old-school learning management systems will not equip employees to win in today’s agile, competitive environment. Organizations have a range of digital tools to create a new kind of learning experience that makes learning interactive, virtual, mobile, and available on-demand for the employee. A Learning Management System (LMS) with robust capabilities can help a company ensure that employees are prepared with the skills and knowledge to meet current and future challenges.
- Flexible Work / Remote Working Arrangements: Flexi hours / Remote working arrangement is becoming popular across industries. These arrangements give employees the freedom to work, keeping their motivation levels high and allowing them to get more work done. These arrangements also provide an opportunity for a large number of women to get back to work, enabling them to balance both career and home. Studies indicate that in corporate India, only 17% women are in the formal GDP workforce, with only 5% in leadership roles. Almost 48% of women drop out of work before reaching middle management levels and many do not return. Flexible arrangements will encourage more women to get back to their careers. According to a McKinsey Global Institute report, if women participation in the economy were at par with that of men, India’s GDP in 2025 could be around 60% higher. While a few organizations are cautious about embracing this change, the ones that have embraced it have seen positive growth and won loyalties.
- Financial Literacy: It is exciting to seek out young talent, but you will not have the full attention of millennials and Generation Z workers if their financial wellness is ignored. Financial well-being takes into consideration factors such as being in control of your wealth, ability to absorb a financial shock, being on track to meet your goals and the flexibility to make choices. When an organization applies this framework to their employees’ financial life, it can help them feel more satisfied on the job.
- Partner with C-suite peers: It has been observed that people are building trust, aligning thinking and coordinating actions with their peer CxOs. This includes on-boarding new-to-role executives, partnering on cross-functional strategic plans and embedding talent into CXOs’ decision making. This brings a great synergy into the organization and builds a great culture.
So let 2019 be the year you action these trends! Remember, happy employees, are good for business!