The Five Biggest Issues HR Will Face in 2020

The changing role of Human Resources: more than just processing staff paperwork.
The Five Biggest Issues HR Will Face in 2020
By
Mario DeAlmeida

While the commercial landscape continues to change at an alarming rate, so, too, does an HR (human resource) professional’s role. These days, human resource departments do more than just process staff paperwork.

Many HR personnel hold strategic positions, some of which even sit in on executive leadership meetings. After developing a platform that assesses a candidate’s suitability and skills, I have the ability to offer insight on how a candidate’s behaviors and skills can provide HR groups with priceless information to help them address personnel challenges.

To remain a step ahead of change, consider the following issues that HR departments are likely to face this coming year:

1) Locating and Employing Talent of High Quality

As far as acquiring high-quality talent goes, a lot has changed over the years. The labor market is tight and comes with its fair share of HR challenges. XpertHR released a survey not too long ago revealing that hiring and recruiting were HR professionals’ biggest challenges.

Fifty-one percent of people who responded to the survey claimed that their company faced significant challenges in finding and employing worthwhile candidates. This percentage is more than twice the amount that it was from a couple of years ago (22%).

How can businesses modify cost/time factors to work in their favor? They can develop competitive advantages by providing customized incentives for talent endeavors.

Behavioral assessments and skills tests should be used during the early stages of a hiring phase.

The objective should be to establish what top talent are motivated by. For many new employees, that could entail more money, but for a lot of staff, it could mean an opportunity to contribute positivity to the world, a higher position, greater autonomy, more management responsibilities, versatile working conditions, and development opportunities.

2) The Revolving Talent Door

The WHO (World Health Organization) defined burnout as:

a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

62% of those who responded to Emplify’s “Employee Engagement Trends” survey claimed they suffered from burnout on the job.

Almost 72% of people who responded to that survey said they would be open to a different career opportunity. 77% of those people were employed for 12 months or less by their existing company.

Retaining top talent begins with prioritizing employee wellness. Career Development International published a study in their journal revealing that many staff members that were highly engaged were also eager to work somewhere else because of exhaustion. Organizations risk losing hard-working and motivated employees because of burnout and high levels of stress.

How can this issue be resolved? Processes should be developed to make sure that the workloads employees have are realistic. Versatile work options should be provided to them. A work culture should be created that encourages the right balance between work and life. Teach employees about burnout warning signs to look out for, as well as ways to ward it off.

3) Establishing Leaders for a New Generation

Companies spend billions each year on the development of leadership. The lack of talent in demand, as well as the costly expenses of retaining and attracting talent, means most corporations have focused on in-house talent. A survey conducted recently revealed that staff are motivated to remain with companies that provide leadership training.

With that said, 47% of that survey’s respondents claimed to be dissatisfied with the existent development and learning opportunities provided by their employer. Those respondents preferred to have more versatility when it came to real-life application and learning opportunities wherever feasible.

To retain staff, companies must expand or create programs for leadership development to accommodate their workforce’s needs. Implementing innovative methods to learn different skills — which includes self-navigated online learning, virtual training, and on-the-spot coaching can be beneficial in enhancing engagement, as well as reducing employee turnover.

4) Finding Workforce Development Resources

Although large corporations like Amazon have invested millions in initiatives for workforce development, many companies are hesitant to heavily invest in development and training. While a guaranteed ROI is nonexistent, companies are encouraged to initiate training structures and strategies that expand over time, no matter how big the business is.

They should endeavor to deliver competitive advantages. Making an investment in the development and training of new/entry-level staff is an approach that is quickly gaining momentum. These types of employees have positions that are easy to fill after a trainee advances towards a higher position.

Development and training doesn’t have to eat away at your company’s budget. Online training courses and evaluations are not expensive, and can offer staff comprehensive insight into whatever their skill sets are. They can also create a self-navigated path to help employees improve existing skills or learn new ones. Making an investment in the workforce will result in a productive and loyal team.

5) Using Inclusion to Achieve Diversity

Workplace bias — whether it is unconscious or conscious — keeps impeding the hiring/development/promotion of groups that are underrepresented. While a number of organizations have made significant strides lately, as far as hiring workforces that are more diverse, the odds of companies being able to hold onto those employees without restructuring a workforce that is explicitly inclusive is low.

Assessing skills and acquiring behavioral pattern insight before an interview may be beneficial in fighting biases. Candidates can be assigned and promoted as per metrics pertaining to their job, as opposed to demographics.

If Human Resources were to concentrate on diversity rather than the creation of an inclusive culture, a diverse combination of staff would probably be less inclined to stay (check out this article on workforce diversity and motivation).

Companies need to develop firm policies that protect staff from various negative behaviors. Development of an inclusive culture will enhance retention and serves as a talent magnet, as drawn from a diverse application set. Organizations must work towards building a more inclusive culture. With policy training, people will be more aware of any biases they have. Mindfully refraining from acting on them will be critical.

As tight as the labor market is, it still presents a number of unique challenges. By adopting the recommendations above, you can aid your company in remaining one step ahead!

Help everyone in your team feel included - try Hi5 for free today >