In the year to follow, the intense need for value will result in increased compensation for senior HR executives and higher turnover rates.

As senior executives demand even more from their company's talent, they will make tough choices with HR executives who are not able to deliver a highly skilled and engaged workforce. Those HR executives who focus on slow and steady execution will be replaced by more strategic, risk-taking and driven leaders. This search and replacement process will show that a thin talent pool exists in HR, which will drive compensation sharply higher for the top 10 percent of the profession. These are highly qualified professionals who have taken on family responsibilities and can only work part-time and to get these into the workforce is a big challenge.

Companies are increasingly frustrated with HR enterprise software that costs 10 crores and up and yet makes executing HR processes a huge task for users. In 2012, corporate users will begin writing off these investments and piecing together web-based software that provides the same functions with an easier interface and at a far lower cost. In an area like Performance Management, software by companies like Rypple and Sonar6 will begin to edge out the overly complex products of Oracle, SuccessFactors, etc.