If the turn of 2020 didn’t teach business and HR professionals anything but one thing, it is that the world of work is vastly changing. The good news is that as reported by Sage, 72% of HR say they now have more influence in human capital management since the pandemic, with 87% of c-suit executives agreeing that the pandemic has accelerated changes in HR, such as the department having greater influence. This means that the responsibilities HR professionals faced before are growing and they are needing to prepare for the continued changes on the horizon.

 What is the definition of futurism and foresight?

Since humans everywhere have attempted to predict the future, futurism in the social aspect is the study of human behaviour by observing current trends to forecast possible future developments.  In an episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast exploring the future of HR in 2030, Gabriele Rizzo, who is a futurist, an author and executive defence advisor, explains

“Futurism is an archaic and somewhat incorrect way to talk about foresight, more or less on equal footing with futuristics or futurology, so it is an old style and archaic way of referring to that.”

He continues to explain and differentiate,

“Foresight is at the intersection between future studies and strategy. Foresight does not use the future as an objective to reach, but rather as a construct that is expandable with the only to open up an increased understanding of better decisions in the present. Foresight is the ability to eliminate the volume in the future cone of possibilities, trends, and themes to be in the futures, to prevent the loss of initiative and provide strategic advice.”

Hence meaning that foresight gives HR professionals and business leaders the ability to determine what might happen and for what reasons so they can develop business strategies to counter the likelihood of such things happening.

How do you apply futurism into HR?

Differing from person to person in their capability to anticipate the possible future, futurism can be learned. Futurist literacy is a powerful skill giving HR professionals the capability for taking on the challenges the 21st century is presenting. And once those talents are acquired, HR professionals can make a solid difference.

By using futurism, HR professionals can prevent a loss of initiative and provide strategic advice based on painstaking research, design, engineering and development of human capital policies and procedures that are more inclined to succeed. This is because they have a broader and cleaner view of the possibilities and in turn make better decisions.

Another means of implementing futurism is by upskilling in the discipline of HR hacktivism, which encompasses a passion for tinkering and fiddling around with a number of different ideas, whether they are new, expansionary, or even radical. It is the idea of playing with ambidextrous notions.

In other words, it is like finding the angle not seen. Taking the road less travelled. Challenging the established norms. And thriving in an orthodoxy, that is very rapid and agile.

So, implementing futurism is preparing for the unimagined and the unthinkable. And this is all important because companies today need to anticipate the future and correctly anticipate what is in the far future such as incoming disruptions that could negatively affect the organisation’s ability to reach set goals.

Why are HR leaders so important in helping organisations prepare for the future?

HR and HR leaders are vital for company growth and future planning. As the governors of one of the organisation’s most vital resources, their employees, the HR department works hard to maintain engaged and productive employees. What HR and HR leaders project for the future based on their experience and people analytics helps businesses overcome future challenges and remain competitive in a tight labour market.

HR leaders such as HRBPs, People Analytics leaders, and CHROs all see first-hand what needs to be addressed in the overall employee experience. To prepare companies for the future, they collect pertinent data and communicate their discoveries and insight to business leaders so productive solutions can be implemented.

Lastly, they are the champions of the change derived from their data supported conclusions. They will be the communicators that create trust and excitement for the improvements the company works to implement. Largely because they are the mediators between business leaders and the employee. They have the capability to persuade for positive change and then motivate the stakeholders to take action.

For companies to see flexibility in the workplace, an acceleration of a digital transformation, and an enhanced relationship with all the stakeholders, companies are in more need than ever for HR and what HR leaders can deliver.

How is HR changing for the future?

The number one change that is prevalent in the future of HR, is the rapid pace of the changes that are happening in the profession. During the 90s, HR was shifting further away from the repetitive administrative duties they performed before to a more analytic role in business. But what was a slow and steady progression during the last 20 years has suddenly become a marathon after the pandemic changed the face of work.

HR professionals are seeing more challenges and waging a battle against “a perfect storm” as they work to meet the needs and wants of the talent that now has more opposition than ever before and has been witnessed with the great resignation. Many of the influences that will affect the coming years, according to CIPD include:

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  Internal change – including business structures and processes

  
  


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  Digital transformations – including innovations in technology

  
  


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  Changing demographic and D&I strategies – involving improved equality

  
  


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  Diversifying employment relationship – involving flexibility and adaptability

  
  


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  Sustainability, purpose, and responsible business – including transparency and communication

  
  

According to a report from Deloitte, the future of Human Resources will not only impact the workforce, but will have influence over social and business front. They foresee several possible futures, but ideally for a more effective and efficient, the future of HR will look very different than the years past and be:

More automotive

With AI and technology, many of the tedious and time-consuming duties of HR will be handled with automotive processes, such as application tracking and review, employee onboarding, learning and development monitoring and employee engagement. The impact of the digital transformation will allot HR professionals time to shift their energy to other facets of people capital management. Plus, IT will also grant HR another device for supporting staff when they have questions or need something taken care of.

More data driven

Due to the advancements in AI and technology, HR will direct companies to a better road of success. As HR professionals upskill and master collecting and interpreting information so to deliver insight to stakeholders, their contribution will be more focused on the impact they make and business outcomes. As David Green explores in his 2022 HR predictions and trends, organisations have continued to invest in people analytics

In just 12 months actually, from doing the survey in 2020, we saw that the ratio of people analytics professionals to overall FTE in the companies we surveyed, had improved to 1 people analytics professional to every 2,900 employees from 1 to 4,000, which is quite a significant increase. And 75% of those companies told me that those functions are going to grow even more in the next 18 months.

More human focused

Employee have come to prefer to work for companies that show a genuine interest in their wellbeing and professional growth. The focus of HR will shift more to caring for the employees. With time reclaimed from AI and technology handling the administrative side of the job and knowledge obtained from data backed insights, HR will be more influential over employee mental health, career development and training.

More agile and flexible

Hybrid work is proof on how HR shifted quickly to meet the needs of the new environment of work. The focus will be continuing to support the unique needs of a staff working at different locations while continuing to monitor their work/life balance and mental health.

More Trustworthy and community building

Employees are wanting to work for a company that aligns with their core beliefs, now more than ever. From the hard work of HR professionals, the future will see more transparency and open communication, so employees are aware of the common goals. From a shared belief, employees will have more of a sense of inclusion, enhancing their engagement with the organisation.

Gabriele Rizzo added in regard to employee engagement:

And I think they will only reach honest engagement if they care. If they about their employees’ aspirations and when they offered to help co-design their lives beyond their work and to do so, they need to know them, they just need to know their employees. And the name, know your employee, which the acronym is KYE, that comes from the famous KYC acronym, know your customer, which comes from the finance world. So, in the finance world KYC strategies have been developed to avoid fraud attacks, corruption, money laundering, and to enter business sustainability and success”.

Key Takeaway

The best advice for HR leaders and decision makers of today, is to start implementing a foresight practice to build on future decisions based on informed options and have a broader overview of the possible disruptions in the coming years. This way, organisations are ready for the future.