This is the ‘new world of work’ and Human Resources (HR) is not keeping up with the fast paced changes occurring in business.
A recent report undertaken by Deloitte, the third annual Global Human Capital Trends 2015, indicated a gap exists between what business leaders want, how employees operate and the capabilities of HR.
The capability gap between employees and an organisations’ HR delivery is high in Australia, with only 5% of employees rating their organisation’s HR performance as ‘excellent’.
HR needs to undergo an extreme makeover to deliver and drive greater business impact and innovation.
HR must be flexible, business-integrated, data-driven, and able to attract, retain and develop talent. To be successful, innovative and out-of-the-box ideas for the way people are managed need to be introduced.
Employees value culture, engagement, leadership and development opportunities and are constantly connected through mobile technology which helps to eliminate the barriers between work and life.
The report found that 39% of companies used social media data to improve recruiting, engagement, and employee brand. Monitoring the job market or finding new employment has become easy thanks to networking tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Glassdoor.
Not only are employees and jobs represented online, but so too are companies. Details about an organisation’s culture are available at the click of a button, providing insight to employees and potential employees.
I do know from a personal experience when interviewing for graduate and vacationer positions that each year our candidates are better and better informed on what our firm is doing and what we stand for.
Failing to improve an organisation’s culture could harm future growth possibilities, as the balance of power is shifting from the employer to the employee.
An employment brand or culture must align to the values of the talent the organisation would like to attract. This may include creating flexible and individualised career options, and offering ongoing leadership and professional development opportunities.
Employers also have to evolve around the increasing power of technology – the ability to automate and replace employees is challenging organisations to rethink the design of work and the skills their employees need to succeed.
They are falling behind in helping employees develop the right skills, leading to an urgent need to re-evaluate learning programs.
The workforce is changing, millennials are growing up and entering the workforce and expect accelerated responsibility and paths to leadership opportunities, with greater purpose and flexibility in their work.
Every program introduced into HR must now address issues of culture and engagement, including; how we lead, how we manage, how we develop, and how we inspire people.
Without strong engagement and a positive, meaningful work environment, people will be disengaged and look for work elsewhere.
*Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2015 survey was conducted among more than 3,300 HR and business leaders in 106 countries, and is one of the largest global studies of talent, leadership and HR challenges.
