“The only way to have a competitive advantage will be to keep reinventing the fundamentals of HR,”
- Bhuvaneswar Naik, global head of Talent Management at SAP
We have entered the New Year and already a month has passed. It is very much necessary for all of us to understand the trends for this year. A recent survey was conducted at top 100 companies the top priorities have been defined for the year 2017.
HR managers are constantly working to innovate their process in order to help the line functions of the company perform at it bests. The innovation is stemming from the new challenges they are facing.
According to the survey for the HRM Industry this year is going to be employee driven and the top management’s priority for this year will be its employees. One understands that there will be ups and downs in the trends. However, after doing extensive reading and studying few surveys we can always attain certain level of predictability.
Let’s ponder into the latest trends of HR for the 2017.
1. Continuous Performance reviews
An employee is always judged by his performance in the company. The companies are using this tool not so effectively. They are going for annual performance review which is having its own demerits. It has been proven that the annual performance review does not give any kind of positive results. The managers as well as the employee are stressed out in annual performance reviews. This is time consuming. As a result of these issues the companies have finally shifted to continuous performance reviews of their employees. This is an ongoing activity which generates higher rate of success and yields good performance. The errors or mistakes committed by the employees can be overcome in a shorter span, which will yield for better productivity. The new talent that has joined the company is angled at a faster pace and gets in line with the company’s vision.
The most important thing that a HR manger needs to do is to instantly shift to this new trend that has come up. The managers are advised to set up an online performance review system. Once that is in place, it will be easy for the managers to keep a track. This will be a hassle free system for both the managers as well as employees. The managers will be in a position to find out where it is going wrong and would make things fall in line when the mistake is small. This will control the future damage that may happen due to overlooking of a small issue.
2. Predictive People Analytics
Before talking about predictive people analytics lets understand the relatively new concept about people analytics. The term is coined for analysis of large sets of talent, which results in making better management and business decisions for the company. If the HR manager is practising the concept of people analytics then he can make much smarter, more strategic and more informed talent acquisition decisions. This will end up in increased employee performance as well as their retention. This is people analytics
Now imagine that if you are able to predict each and every thing about your employee, as in whom to hire, how to hire etc. then this would be a miracle in itself. If we are to introduce a change in our company and we are able to predict the employee’s behaviour on the issue then we will be able to effectively implement the policy in the organization. This is called as predictive people analytics.
To achieve this phenomenal trend of HR it is not at all necessary to use any hi end products. This can be easily achieved by the way of simple surveys at the company level. However, these surveys need to be response based and should be graphical in nature. The representation of the same will help the managers to predict about the talent.
3. Social Media V/s Hiring
In recent past the social media has been hovering on the recruitment process of a company. The managers with the help of various networking sites scout out potential hires for the company. The more the HR is going tech savvy the more the networking sites are coming up.
Today more than 55% people are internet users and 93% companies are having social presence. On all these networking sites it is possible to post a job and these sites have become sources of potential candidates. All the employers are using these sites as a branding tool for themselves. Online social communities like Ning, Yammer etc are providing a platform for all the stakeholders.
Regardless of being in a candidate rich market, high calibre, professional employees can be just as tough to find today, if not tougher than they have been in the past. With thousands of resumes flooding the market, it often requires a deep and specialist understanding of your sector, business, and more importantly, the intricacies of your vacant role, along with years of recruiting experience to find that one employee who can truly add value to your company.
If we talk in a practical way, then finding the right candidate in the huge pool of job seekers is like finding a needle in the haystack. The paper may have the desired profile but it has to translate it into reality. The seeker must have the potential to grow within the company as well as personally should get benefited. At the same time he must have the ability to adjust in the company culture and should have team dynamics.
To secure and retain the quality of your employee team in the future, it’s important to maintain a good relationship with a truly specialist recruitment business who is well networked across your sector. This recruitment partner will have the capability to utilise a variety of traditional recruitment methodologies, combined with all available social media channels to help you handpick the perfect candidates for your business in any economy.
However, we have to understand the practicality of the issue and have to overcome it. The best way is to stop cribbing about this. We need to accept the constraint and tweak ourselves and our job description in such a manner that the social platform will source us the right candidate. This will take us better than our competitors.
4. Continuous Learning
Just a decade ago, the HR industry was not so dynamic. However, with the change of the economy the field has become vulnerable and is demanding continuous updates. This is making the HR professionals learn on a continuous basis. In olden days we could have probably be in the classroom and did our lectures, used paper pencil mode, but in 2017 we need to turn positively barbaric. The reason behind it is entire information is going virtual. It is a prediction that everything we want to learn henceforth, will be online and will have to check on the content part of it very seriously.
The only mantra for 2017 is GO DIGITAL. I understand that this is the hardest step to be taken. Making everything available in virtual mode is going to be a tuff task. However, it is going to be the best choice ever that you have done for this year. We need to look into the various learning software that our employees can access easily. It is easier for us also to track. The earlier we jump on this trend the easier it is for us.
Naturally, you shouldn’t leave it all up to me. If there’s a new feature or change you want to see in your workplace in the New Year, now is the perfect time to make it happen yourself. Trends happen because people want them to, so don’t be afraid to start a few yourselves.