Top 10 HR Trends of 2018
HR industry witnessed various trends in 2017. Rapidly changing dynamics of corporate world led to some of these trends.
2018 is going to be a dynamic year again. Organizational structure, technology and workplace culture is continually changing with time. In such a scenario, HR industry is expected to witness many changes.
Below are 10 HR trends that will be relevant in 2018 –
1. Thinking beyond KRA – The time of designed job profile is fading. Companies are shifting from concept of KRA to designing flexible job profiles. HR will be identifying the core competencies of employees beyond the scope of work. People with broader skillsets will not be restricted to their designated KPA, but assigned different tasks.
2. Focusing on Employee Intimacy – Recently, it has become important to understand employees. What they want, what are their soft skills and how they can contribute to organizations. For this, HR needs to switch from archaic PTB (please the boss) to EI (employee intimacy). By this approach, HR can design and visualize employee journey.
3. Smaller HR Teams – The Artificial intelligence tide is expected to reduce the number of personnel working as HR. HR advisors, assistants and business partners will be replaced by intelligent machines. Organizations will always require the HR professionals that are highly skilled. They will be the one leading the transformation.
4. Real Time Learning – Organizations invest lot of capital on classroom training. However, this trend is changing. Nowadays, companies are looking to leverage technology. Micro learning will be best utilized in 2018. Employees will have easy access to learning material. This will enable HR to simplify the processes and instill virtual yet effective learning.
5. Empowering Employees – Performance management system is likely to change. Employees are expected to take more initiatives and will want to be independent of organizational initiatives. Employees want to feel more independent in making decisions. HR needs to reinvent the system and find a uniform system to balance the older and new ways.
6. Redefining Productivity – There hasn’t been lot of focus on productivity. Productivity problems were solved by recruiting new people. This leads to high costs of recruitment. It is difficult to define strict criteria, but it is important to hire less people and focus on productivity. There are different reasons employees are unproductive at work. These will be discerned and addressed. People analytics will be implemented to identify the skills of people and create the best team.
7. HR Service Center – It has become necessary to focus on employee experience. HR management needs to give equal importance to IT and hospitality. An HR service center where communication with HR personnel becomes easy is a good initiative to start with. In 2018, HR will also be tasked with finding ways to make internal communication between employees and management easier.
8. Blind hiring – The number of organizations indulging in blind hiring in recruitment systems is burgeoning. In 2018, HR industry is likely to move further away from traditional ways of recruitment, like scrutinizing the resume and asking clichéd questions. More focus will be given on people’s core skill and competency in performing tasks. Blind hiring will be need of the hour. This will also help in removing bias in workplace, enhance workplace diversity and provide equal opportunities to employees.
9. Gamification – The technique of gamification has worked in many industries. The idea of turning employee engagement into competitive game works in more than one way. When it comes to hiring, gamification leads to a healthy competition and helps in selection process. Candidates have fun during the process and in turn the employers get the best fit to join their organization. It becomes a win-win situation.
10. Passive Candidates – HR management will be taking a step further in hiring new candidates. Unconventional ways to hunt talent are likely to be used. Social media has made getting in touch with candidates easier nowadays. Talent pool can be identified by searching hashtags and other online communication platforms.
In 2018, HR will be leveraging technologies more than ever. The industry will be ideating smart ways to hire, engage and empower their employees. Subsequently, management will create a diverse and better workplace.
