3. Pressure
HR is under pressure. Most HR-managers feel this. Budgets are cut and processes are criticized. HR needs to
reinvent itself. It needs to find ways to shape its own future. In the past we have lamented about the lack of
strategic “weight” within the company. I have worked for 2 decades in HR and I was always puzzled by this.
Lamentation is never the right option. We need to do something. And we can only gain influence by doing well the
things we are doing. But were we any good? Let’s face some brutal facts.
• According to a Gallup Survey, only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged. They are
outnumbered by the actively disengaged employees.
• 20% of workers in Europe report a poor mental well-being (5th European Working
Conditions Survey). In Belgium half of the employees experience a too high mental
workload (Securex Whitepaper).
• The ILO world of work 2013 survey reports a degradation of job quality between 2007-
2011. The change in job quality is determined by the change in the percentage of
temporary employees, the change in social benefits expenditure as share of total public
expenditure and the growth in the average hourly wages between 2007 and 2011 were
used.
• Long-term absenteeism is on the rise according to a Securex Research study and the
increase of long-term absenteeism is accelerating.
• Research on Karaseks Job quality model, consistently report low figures.
4. Wasted time
And the question is how we can do better. This situation
has been predicted 4 decades ago by Alvin Toffler in his
monumental book “Futureshock“. We are now where he
predicted us we would be. McGregor has defined in the
60ies human-centric style of leadership and organisation
in “the Human Side of Enterprise” and Shumacher
pleaded for economics as if people mattered in his book
“Small is Beautiful“. These and other books from the past,
have predicted our present and future state.
It seems we have been wasting 4 decades to find
ourselves in a difficult situation. So it’s time to act. If
people in HR really want, they can shape their own
future.
5.
6.
7.
8. The Future
• Thinking about the future of how
employers will manage the employees
should make us humble. Indeed we know
the past and the present, but are
ignorant about the future.
• We can think about the future content:
what will be the tasks?
• And we can think about the process:
what will be our role?
9.
10. What will be the tasks?
A research study by Boston Consulting Group revealed 6 tasks
for the future:
• Managing Talent: assessing quantitative and qualitative needs
for talent, managing the talent pipe-line.
• Managing Demographics: managing the loss of capacity and
knowledge, managing the ageing workforce
• Becoming a learning organisation: choosing a learning
strategy, boosting the number of on-the-job development
programs, measuring the return on investment.
• Managing work-life balance: determining what people need,
building programs that afford flexible working hours,
enhancing corporate social responsibility
• Managing Change and cultural transformation: determining
and shaping desired behaviours, ensuring top-management
support.
• Getting the fundamentals right: mastering people processes,
delivering on recruiting and staffing, transforming HR into a
strategic partner.
11. What will be HR role?
Role 1: The Architect
HR no longer owns the people processes.
Instead, HR becomes a facilitator or even
an architect. By creating the right context
in which people can be successful, HR
will deliver its greatest contribution. In
that sense HR is working on culture,
organisation, processes and
environment. The processes are not HR’s,
they belong to the company. Let’s also
not ignore the CEO’s increasing interest
in people, leadership and culture. The
CEO (or the board) is the owner of
people processes. HR takes on the role of
architect. HR will create organisations in
which leadership, cooperation,
innovation, entrepreneurship, … can
develop.
12. What will be HR role?
Role 2: The People and Digital Expert
But to be able to take on the role of architect, HR
needs know-how. In the recent past HR became a
generalist, but in future we will become experts, or
craftsmen. Instead of being a generalist, HR will
offer top-notch expertise about the people side of
the company. Apart from the more traditional
people related know-how, HR will have to master
the digital know-how: Social Media, HRIS,
Employee Self Service, information gathering, data-
analysis… HR will need to incorporate knowledge
and practices from other disciplines into its own
discipline: marketing, finance, service
management, … Learning from others is a great
opportunity for HR.
13. Role 3: The Coach
But HR should be aware of reification of people.
In the quest for a spot at the board table we
might have lost the contact to people. HR needs
to be(come) more empathic. Empathy means to
listen, try to understand and act upon that
understanding. And why should HR not
introduce kindness, compassion and humanity
into the corporate DNA? It’s like we need to
rediscover the human being behind the
employee ID again. This is not an appeal for
meaningless softness. Business needs to be
human in order to help people to be successful.
HR becomes a coach of the organisation, its
management and its employees. In the future it
will be the employee that will determine and
evaluate a company’s people strategy. Coaching
is a way of individualization of the people
strategy.
What will be HR role?
14. What will be HR role?
Role 4: The Data-Strategist
Like any other discipline, HR is
oriented towards results. HR will
work on becoming evidence-
based. That entails not only
looking for data to assess HR
interventions, but also planning
interventions based on available
scientific insights. There is not
much big data in HR today.
However, by analyzing the data we
have, we might be able to shape
the future of our profession.
15. What will be HR role?
Role 5: The advocate
HR leaves the backbench and becomes
an advocate of the importance of
people processes and results. The
people strategy is a part of the
company strategy. HR people are
gaining influence through their know-
how, their fact-based approach and
their proactive contribution to the
business results. Any business decision
has an impact on people and any
business strategy depends on the
quality of the people who execute it.
16.
17. Future HR Digital Business Model
www.humanikabisnisdigital.com
17
CORPORATE SERVICES
HR Digital
RETAIL SERVICES
www.karirku.id
DATA MONETIZING
(Data Research)
18. HR Digital - “Taking Care Your Business”
www.humanikabisnisdigital.com
Integrated HR Process
Interactive
Recruitment Selection Development Career Counselling HRIS & Payroll
Features E-University HRIS E-Counselling E-Payment
Reports Talent and
Personality
Certification Dashboard
Parametric
(multi
company,
job title, and
job level
Self
Learning
Design
Data
Analysing
Live
Counselling
Payment
Gateway
Individual HR & Financial
RESEARCH
BASED
19. Integration
If HR is able to design organisations, based on
its profound knowledge of human behaviour,
combined with the necessary coaching
presence it has a bright future. We need to
take on these 5 roles, all at once. When I
presented this to a group of HR professionals,
it was clear that the role of coach and expert
were seen as the most important and
developed roles. This is good starting point for
any profession. But HR can expand its
influence by trying to look for evidence. And
this evidence can be used to build an HR
strategy through which HR can become the
advocate and the architect of the people side
of business. When we can do this, there will be
no lamentation needed.