A comprehensive trend report that covers all the major and minor HR industry trends that are shaping the industry in 2018, including how technology (AR, VR, remove conferencing, etc) is changing the way HR professionals are getting their work done.

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Global HR Industry Trends and Insights 2018

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According to a new report by Grand View Research Inc. the global HR industry is projected to reach US $30 Billion by
2025. The HR industry is witnessing lot of development, including the development due to the increased adoption of
technology in the hiring process. This can also be attributed to the smart use of people analytics in the hiring process
and the software systems that assist in making the HR team’s life easier.
Increased cloud deployment across all industries is expected to increase the demand for HRM solutions in the coming
months. Organizations will be using cloud technology for fulfilling modern HR functions at reasonable prices without
the headache of maintaining on-premise technology infrastructure.
But the growth in the industry will not be without its fair share of challenges. One such challenge is managing the rise
of virtual/remote workforce. We will try to find out an answer to that in the form of statistics.
In this info graphic we discuss the above and all other trends that are sweeping the HR industry, so that you have a
better idea of where the industry is headed.

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WHY PARTNER WITH cFIRST?
1. Changing demographics of the workforce
With the emergence of Millennials in the workforce and the baby boomers already staying on the job longer there
are four different generations that are working in the workplace: Silent, baby boomers, Generation X and
Generation Y (Millennials). This makes it very important for HR managers to balance their needs from hiring and
training to retirement and benefit packages.

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2. Continuous performance reviews will become a norm
There is a growing debate amongst HR personnels about the effectiveness of an annual performance review.
Generally, it has been observed that there has been a dip in the employees’ performance once the review is
done and dusted. This makes the case for organizations to move towards continuous performance reviews. It
enables the managers to conduct meetings with the staff on a regular basis (bi-weekly basis) rather than
evaluating the performance of the employee on a yearly basis. This can have huge benefits when Millennials are
working in your organization.

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3. Freedom for employees to work from home
Employees in this current competitive recruitment field are finding strict schedules to follow and requiring to
work in the office a major restriction that hampers their productivity. Expect HR personnel's to allow flexible
schedules and work from home options to employees in the coming months. With the advantage of technology,
it is possible for the employees to remain in contact through emails and innovative tools which assist sharing
and collaborating. So, there is no need to make employees stay at work place when the ultimate objective is
high quality output. Flexibility can also assist in providing proper work-life balance to the employees.

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4. The emergence of blended workforce
On top of already increasing number of employees opting to work remotely, there is a growth of freelancers or
contracted employees. This has lead to the emergence of a blended workforce combining on-site and remote
employees working in conjunction with these so called gig workers. The major challenge for the HR personnel would
be to find ways to assist this blended workforce to communicate effectively with each other so that the values of the
corporate culture can be passed on to those who are not in the office for a long period of time.

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5. Sexual harassment policies coming under the scanner
During the past year, there have been several corporate scandals that have sent shockwaves throughout the
business world. This has led for HR managers to increase their scrutiny towards sexual harassment policies. It is
the responsibility of the HR to ensure that every employee who joins the organization irrespective of their
gender, race and belief should be treated fairly and respectfully in the workplace. Create safe and ethical working
environment by ensuring that the policy is being followed at all the levels of the organizational hierarchy.

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6. Health savings account (HSA) will become more prevalent
During the current year, expect organizations to provide comprehensive health insurance coverage to their
employees by opening a health savings account. This type of plan has lots of benefits for employees. It can
become a tax-free retirement saving resource for the employee. HR professionals need to promote their
employees to take maximum advantage of this health insurance coverage.

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7. Wellness benefits for employees will get a boost
In 2018, organizations are going to invest in health insurance and other types of employee benefits. The one
category that will experience an uplift is wellness. Wellness here represent more than eating healthy and being in
shape. It is also about the mental and financial wellbeing of the employees.

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8. Conducting pre-employment background checks that is driven to
enrich the candidate experience
During the current year, you can expect HR professionals to avail of background screening services wisely by taking
into consideration their accreditations, compliance standards and turnaround time. Remember, the key is to
ensure that you do not lose out on great talent and provide valuable feedback to the candidate at the quickest
possible time, which will aid in enriching the candidate experience during the hiring process.

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9. Mobile will be the key to success for the HR
With the emergence of Millennial coupled with the increase in the smartphone ownership and connected devices,
more and more organizations are going to use mobile optimized tools to communicate with their workforce. This makes
it highly imperative for the HR to get acquainted with the mobile technology. It will help them to get invaluable
information pertaining to the employees. They can hear the queries from the employees and try to increase their
engagement with the organization. It also assists HR to attract potential candidates anytime, anywhere.

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10. Gradual shift towards cloud-based applications
HR professionals will gradually shift towards user-friendly, cloud-based solutions that assist them to manage the
different tasks from recruitment to talent management easily. With the help of cloud-based solutions, HR will be
able to store large volume of data with the advantage of security and accessibility. These applications being very
low maintenance will assist recruiters in delivering a much higher net ROI.

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11. Use of block chain technology to carry out essential HR functions
Block chain is one of the emerging technologies in the business domain which will be used to carry out essential HR
functions in the coming months. With the help of this technology, human resource professionals will be able to
decentralize documentation, aid legal documentation, speed up data processing and manage employee payment
effortlessly. The most exciting part is that it can be used as a part of the compensation for international employees
making it less expensive and quicker to operate.

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12. Artificial intelligence and machine learning will make the task of HR
professionals easier
With the introduction of artificial intelligence and machine learning in HR, all the activities conducted by the HR will
yield swifter, smarter and more responsive results. Many people would be of the opinion that involving machines in the
human resources department will reduce the human element and personalization factor. But, on the contrary, it will
assist HR professionals to take a more humane approach and personalize their tasks starting from recruitment to
employee engagement and education. Artificial Intelligence tools will be the worthy companion and will assist humans
and make the HR process more efficient.

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Five Practical Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in HR
Mya systems have developed a recruiter chat bot, named, Mya. The bot uses artificial intelligence to communicate
and interact with job seekers.
Relink is a Copenhagen based startup that sells APIs for screening and matching candidates. These APIs use machine
learning to identify different patterns in CVs and accordingly match them to a particular job.
Hiring solved has developed an AI powered advanced “talent matching and search” technology called Talent feed.
Talent feed analyzes billions of data points across the social web to come up with a pool of talent along with data of
their skills, experience and more.
Powered by machine learning and Natural Language Processing, Textio smartly analyzes millions of job postings and
recruiting outcomes to recognize the patterns that result in some posts getting greater success than others in terms
of applies.
The Hirevue Video Intelligence platform aims to speed up the recruitment process by reducing reliance on CV and
combining video interviews with predictive, reliable I-O science and artificial intelligence.

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13. Virtual and augmented reality will streamline HR functions
Virtual and augmented reality will smoothen the HR functions by giving a new dimension to the recruitment
process. It will assist HR professionals to evaluate the candidates’ reactions under specific circumstances. The
onboarding process of the new employees will also get an impetus by providing a virtual tour of the organization
or imparting training to them from virtual colleagues.
Practical application of virtual reality in HR
1. Simtars in Australia has made their induction training in safety more interactive with virtual reality technology.
2. The British Army has created a series of virtual reality experiences for new recruits, including a mission in a
Challenger 2 tank. It uses reality technology in recruitment to actually access candidates in the virtual reality
work situations.
3. Boeing is employing virtual reality for training of pilots giving them a real feel of what the cockpit is like by
sitting in an office cubicle.

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14. Big data will come to the rescue of HR professionals
Big data is all about collection of huge chunks of information about how, when and where people work at their
best and their worst. The HR department then needs to make sense of the data and derive valuable insights.
Through big data, HR professionals will be able to strategize and assist employees to cope up with the workload,
get the most out of their work and provide life and work satisfaction.

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15. Gamification in HR is on the rise
Gamification is still at an infancy stage when it comes to its adoption in the HR industry. But it has the potential of
being used by HR professionals to drive engagement and improve the retention of learning material. This trend is
likely to grow as more and more HR professionals give more importance to employee experience.

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16. Growing challenges in managing remote teams
Remote working or working from home will be one of the biggest transformations in the workplace which most HR
professionals have to deal with. There are lot of collaborative software launches or new technologies for video
conferencing coming up which assist employees to work from remote locations. According to some estimates there
will be more than a billion people who will start working virtually in the next couple of years.
But there are certain questions in the minds of HR leaders when it comes to supporting these so called virtual
teams.
1. How would we deal with the implementation of training across cultures, languages and oceans?
2. How can we prepare the managers to lead and manage a team that are located remotely?
3. What is the best way to deal with the issues concerning accountability, mentorship, succession planning, conflict
resolution and mentorship?

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