HR leadership challenges in a disruptive world
IN OUR disruptive and fast-changing world, all aspects of business will be affected – that is a given. With digitisation happening at a rapid pace and organisations coming up with new ways to run their businesses, disruption is clearly accelerating.
Disruption can either destroy or provide opportunities to business and even business functions, depending on how you approach disruption.
And one of the many business functions that disruption has affected is human resources (HR). With new digital technologies, and more of the new generation joining the workforce, disruption is affecting HR more than ever before.
About a month back, I was privileged to be invited by the Office of the Civil Service Commission Thailand to share with nine Asean leaders of civil services on the challenges of HR leaders in our constantly changing and disruptive world. The keynote was for their Asean Executive Management Programme 2018 event.
I shared about the challenges, specifically in civil service, that HR leaders will face in our disruptive world. Here are some challenges for HR that are relevant across industries.
According to a research by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and SHRM Foundation, one of the top challenges HR will face is people management. Everything from attracting, engaging and retaining current and new talents are under people management.
The challenge will be more with new talents, especially in this age where more and more younger-generation personnel such as Generation Y are entering the workforce; HR personnel would need to think out of the box.
According to Simon Sinek, a British-American author, motivational speaker and organisational consultant, the biggest challenge that HR will face with Gen Y is they were born in an age where they were protected.
This generation grew up in an era where they were rewarded for simply participating.
It’s not wrong to reward participation but it does devalue the worth of hard work directed towards achievement and winning. Sinek observed that millennials are surprised to discover that they might not get the same gentle treatment in the real world.
There’s no award for simply participating in the real world, and often times organisations have no tolerance for incompetence.
Another issue that HR would face is the rapid pace of digitisation. With our world changing rapidly and the advancements of technology expanding, HR will have to think outside the box and utilise technology in work.
There are other issues that you may be facing to add onto the above two. Whatever they may be, they’re definitely proving to be roadblocks for you and your business. So, as HR leaders, here are a few things to practice in order to keep up with the challenges:
First, you must constantly unlearn and relearn because what you may have known before may no longer be relevant today. You cannot depend on the usual way of doing things, as it may not be able to keep up with the changes of our world.
Second, HR must adopt a digital mindset. You cannot ignore the changes of the world. Failure to adapt will lead to your organisation being left behind. Understand your organisation and look out for the right type of technology that would not only help your organisation but also help you overcome your challenges.
Third you must champion people analytics. People analytics refers to methods that assist in decision-making about people. HR can make use of the data available using statistics, technology and expertise to manage people better.
The advantage of people analytics is that it helps you to make your decision-making process a lot smoother, smarter and more strategic. You’ll not only be able to find great talent to hire but also help you understand your people better so you know what to do to increase engagement.
Fourth, invest in learning and skill-building for your people. Great talents that make your organisation succeed are not born – they’re trained. So, if you invest in their growth, you’re inevitably investing in your organisation’s growth.
Fifth, shift to continuous performance feedback. Feedback can be daunting as it can sometimes be perceived differently by people. To one it may seem like constructive criticism but to others, it may seem as though they didn’t do a good job.
It was such a privilege to share with all these leaders. In the end, I feel like I’ve also learnt from these leaders as well. When it comes to disruption, you may never know what might happen. You may have the answers ready but disruption always changes the question.
Contributed by SIRAYA KONGSOMPONG , senior consultant at SEAC, Southeast Asia’s leading Executive, Leadership and Innovation Capability Development Centre. She can be reached at [email protected]
