Where is human resource management headed? The changes and challenges brought by the millennial generation
By: Ignacio Barros C.
The world of work in general, that is, the set of different ways in which people work and companies hire, is undergoing changes with enormous impact at a global level. The rise of the gig economy, which implies the evolution towards specific hiring for specific jobs, such as Uber or Airbnb, with the flexibility and economic benefits that this entails, the increasing use of artificial intelligence and the terrifying prophecy that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have not yet been invented (1), these are three points that deserve to be highlighted. But how can one prepare for what is to come?
To answer this question, it is first necessary to review and understand three major global trends that are occurring in the labor market and in the areas of Human Management in organizations.
Empowerment of people. –
Changes in the way we work – remote jobs, the home office, the gig economy just cited above, and the ever-growing millennial workforce – are revolutionizing the way people approach their careers. It is called people enablement -or people enablement, in English- to the technology, processes and content that allow individuals and teams to develop and improve their performance by their own means.
Traditionally, the role of the Human Resources areas has been to promote the performance and development of the people in their charge. But often these areas lack the tools, knowledge, or time to manage and train large numbers of people effectively. As a consequence, workers no longer expect this to happen and are increasingly taking career development into their own hands.
As Impraise CEO Steffen Maier, one of today’s most current voices on the subject, points out, empowering people is about taking a “people-first” approach, under the premise that harnessing and optimizing moments to learn, socialize and improve have the power to transform roles into careers, and forge cultures where individuals feel valued, motivated and empowered.
Implementing a culture of feedback in organizations is a concrete way of developing people enablement, because when people feel free and are able to ask their co-workers for feedback on their performance, it gives them greater autonomy in their careers and opportunities for growth. growth. Fostering spaces and moments of feedback can help a company provide more and better recognition to its executives, and that recognition can be an extremely powerful tool. This point seems obvious, but many Latin American companies are just learning to do it. Recognition done right can help with increasingly important staff retention, engagement, company culture and resource productivity.
People empowerment will continue to rise as a global trend. According to Deloitte (2), the most avant-garde companies are trying to change their current focus on career lines towards a focus on work experiences.
Decisions based on accurate information. –
Although it is true that the Internet and technology provide us with a large amount of data on a daily basis, companies must know how to use all this to obtain meaningful information. While software and technology companies have always done this, companies in other industries are only just beginning to catch up. Particularly in Human Resources, a people-centric department with tons of underutilized data, an information-driven approach to management can have a huge impact.
Various tools exist to help HR departments streamline and improve their processes, giving you valuable insights. For example, when organizational climate or engagement level surveys are applied, what does the company do with the responses? What can it learn from the data it is collecting? How do people prefer to work? organization is ideal for optimizing people’s performance? How often do employees exchange comments? What content are they consuming and why? What platforms do they prefer? Those answers are an opportunity to strengthen the organizational culture and close any gaps that appear.
IBM’s renowned Talent Acquisition Manager, Lee Andrews, mentioned during the last Onboard (3) fair in Amsterdam how the company is using the data extracted from its onboarding portal for new employees to improve the entire recruitment experience and process. , and provide relevant content. So are other companies like LinkedIn and SAP, who are fine-tuning their new job openings through insights fueled by recent hires. LinkedIn recently launched the Talent Insights tool, which allows companies looking for certain types of executives to use LinkedIn data in a more intelligent way, matching the skills and interests of the profiles found with the specific needs of the vacant positions. of recruiting companies. On the other hand, SAP bought Qualtrics, a platform that enables engagement surveys to be carried out on staff, which demonstrates the growing desire of companies to learn more about their people.
But again, it’s not just about having the data, it’s about what you do with it to create an improved and more meaningful experience for your employees, and more importantly, so that this improved experience translates into economic benefits for the organization.
Mental health at work. –
Finally, an issue that is gaining more relevance every day in organizations is the search for mental health -or anti-stress campaigns- for their staff. In the generations prior to the millennial, an executive profile seems to have prevailed in the world working under the implacable corporate rules of the rat race, with excessively long working hours and fierce internal competition. It has been possible to establish a direct correlation between these trends and the increase in physical and especially mental health problems (stress and overwork) that affect people at work.
The Thriving at Work (4) report published by the British government in 2017 showed that the number of people forced to stop working as a result of mental health problems was 50% higher than those who did so due to their physical health conditions. Initial steps are being taken to address this. In 2018, Prince William launched the Mental Health at Work (5) website, designed specifically to raise awareness and support those in need. As a result, many British employers have increased their wellness programs and related benefits, but for now they remain superficial efforts, more focused on campaigns to encourage physical exercise and good diet, which are not insignificant but the problem Basically it goes further. There is still much to be done in this field.
As people become more open to talking about their struggles, employers can find smart ways to support them. There are some questions that HR departments can start to ask themselves: What are the issues that employees most frequently raise? How can we foster an environment where people feel comfortable talking about the issues they are experiencing? can we support each other?
Conclution. –
When thinking about a change in trends, one usually thinks exclusively of the application of new technologies: what are the new tools that we can use to increase efficiency? How will it make our lives easier? And so on. But perhaps in the case of human resources we should start the other way around because, by definition, it will always be a people-centered issue, as a consequence we must look at it from the perspective of the human experience: how do we motivate and engage people? Do we get the best out of them? How do we design a career line for them, including satisfactory work experience, of mutual benefit? And with those clear answers, let’s see how technology can help us make it happen.
References:
(1) The next era of human/machine partnerships (The Institute for the Future & Dell Technologies, 2017)
(2) Human Capital Report 2018 (Deloitte)