HR nor HR trends are for HR people. HR is for founders, business owners, leaders. It’s your people who get the work done and bring profit home. That’s why every leader needs to know about these.
Regardless of how much you automatise and how much you delegate to AI and machines; your people operate this technology and automations.
So, what does 2024 have up the sleeve for you in terms of People Matters (sounds much better than HR!)?
I went through 11 trend forecasts and identified seven themes that appeared on more than four of the reports.
These are:
- Emergence of AI and use of data
- Upskilling and reskilling
- Flexible hybrid working
- Employee well-being
- Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
- Employee experience
- Talent and career
Read on to learn more about each one of them.
Trend 1: Emergence of AI and use of data
AI may liberate you from more mundane tasks and raise our productivity, but also raises questions about its application and the use of data. You need to teach your people to analyse data and the use of it, but also make proactive effort to protect personal data available in your systems. You also need to consider where you don’t want to or cannot use AI’s help, for example talent acquisition. Your candidates may not want to be handled or assessed by AI, but prefer to speak to a human being. As large language models learn from data and texts available, they also adopt biases that we have been working on conquering for over a decade.
Trend 2: Upskilling and reskilling
People will not only need significantly better technology and data skills, but also social skills that have been degenerating since the emergence of social media and digital communication. Creativity, critical and analytical thinking, curiosity, compassion, flexibility and morale are also still considered human talents. Another set of skills in increasing demand is related to change management. Change is not showing any signs of slowing pace, so the best you can do is invest in the competence and confidence to manage change for yourselves and your people.
Trend 3: Flexible hybrid working
It’s not just about on-site or remote or hybrid, but also about different time allocations (full-time, part-time, four or five days a week) and employment forms (employees, contractors, contingent and digital workers etc.). Furthermore, flexibility is no longer the privilege of desk-workers, front-line is demanding the same and leaders will need to change their whole management paradigm to accommodate that.
Trend 4: Holistic well-being
Health together with a sense of purpose, appreciation and engagement cannot be compensated nor replaced with anything else. People will rather leave an organisation, than jeopardise their health and well-being. ‘Leave your emotions at the door’ mindset is banished from work talk for good, not because it damages your people’s emotional well-being, but because it damages your business.
Trend 5: Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
DEIB initiatives may have emerged from the so-called minorities’ needs for equal treatment, but they have definitely transformed into business-critical necessities. It is not about accommodating some individual preferences, but allowing yourself access to the best talent.
Trend 6: Employee experience
Job design, psychological and physical environment, conditions and rewards, quality of leadership, trust, engagement, collaboration, autonomy, feedback, traditions and rituals are all aspects that shape people’s experience of working with (not for!) you. You cannot delegate any of that to HR, which is why you need to know about and understand these HR trends.
Trend 7: Talent and career
The one who’s most flexible, has most options to win. The better you are able to utilise all skills that you already have in-house, but have been neglecting, because any specific role does not require them, the less you will need to go out hunting for new talent. Your new talent will also want to make use of all their skills and will opt for an organisation that considers them most holistically. Supporting unconventional and individualised career paths will help you retain the talent that you worked so hard to find.
In addition, leadership and management is changing as well. And there are many overviews of these trends. One thing is sure, the role of a manager and leader moves towards enablement. You need to provide your people with what they need to feel great and perform at their best. If you cannot do that, not much else really matters.