HR Will Have a Pivotal Role To Play In Making Organizations Future-ready
The appropriate HR leaders can assist in putting your business and people in a future-ready state
By Mahesh Singhi •
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Human resource (HR) professionals are constantly searching for fresh approaches to help their firms become more flexible, adaptable and future-proof. The rightly suited HR leaders will have a key role to play in overcoming the business issues your firm may encounter, even though they may not be directly involved in the business and it is impossible to forecast exactly what challenged the business may have in the future. Disruption is becoming the standard for the corporate world in the post-pandemic era. What is pertinent in the current setting could not apply to enterprises in the future.
Simply put, the role of HR extends from mere 'selection of the right people at the right place' to constant conditioning of the team, reskilling them, integrating them with the organisational culture in order to achieve long-term goals of the organisation and imbibe a sense of belonging to make them future ready.
Only about 1/3rd of HR leaders are investing in workforce learning and reskilling as part of their future workplace strategy. To deal with shifting business dynamics, the HR department must be crucial in assisting team members in becoming responsive, flexible, agile and hungry as well and be ready to change with the changing times.
Here are just a few of the many innovative steps HR leaders are taking to create organizations that are prepared for the future:
Creating and carrying out workforce planning effectively
To achieve efficiency, most firms have fixed teams with packaged expertise. However, organizations of the future must be more adaptable. They require teams that can pool their various specialties and leverage upon commonality.
HR professionals can use workforce planning to build flexible networks of teams that enable workers to operate freely while still sharing knowledge and completing tasks quickly. It may also provide valuable information on the long-term talent market needs.
Workforce requirements are constantly evolving as a result of automation and technological advancements. To maximize the benefits, workforce planning must be a continual team effort between the HR leaders and the organization's primary departments.
Luring prospective talent
You must find and keep the best personnel to create organizations that are prepared for the future. However, it cannot be easy to find bright talent driven in today's economy. EVPs (employee value proportion), which describe how an organization differs from the competition, can be created by HR leaders to benefit companies.
EVP provides information on what is expected of employees and what benefits they may receive in exchange from the organization. A strong employer brand can be developed for the business and aid in luring the best candidates.
Retooling the company and reskilling its workforce
What worked in the past might not work in the future because the corporate landscape is always evolving. Retooling and reskilling corporate processes is a priority for the HR department. But to be genuinely successful, the HR department must first retrain and upgrade its capabilities.
Only when an organization's HR team can develop the new abilities and mindset necessary for the shift to occur will the organization advance and become future-ready. HR directors must take the initiative to ensure that workers go above and beyond the tasks, they have been given and adopt an attitude that encourages continual skill acquisition. Developing a futuristic vision and matching people's strategies to business goals can help HR pave the way for making organizations future-ready.
Supporting talent mobility
It is feasible to relocate people around the organization thanks to talent mobility. Employees are given a chance to learn new skills and advance beyond their typical career track.
Organizations may build a strong leadership pipeline and increase employee engagement and retention by utilizing talent mobility. Because the remaining positions may be completed internally, your HR department's hiring efforts will only need to be concentrated on the most specialized and challenging to fill positions and at the same time hiring talent who fits into organisational culture in building a homogeneous organisation without creating too many power centre.
Conclusion
The appropriate HR leaders can assist in putting your business and people in a future-ready state. But for that to happen, the HR department itself needs to adopt a new strategy. When we analyze the global and Indian business landscape, we realize that while some brands have stood the test of time, others have faded into oblivion. The mantra for businesses to persevere and transform into viable future-ready enterprises is 'change before you are forced to change'. A little change every day, in anticipation of changing landscape, makes a big difference at the end of year. If companies do not display a determined vision and willingness to change, there is no denying the fact that they will perish.