The best HR & People Analytics articles of January 20242024年对HR专业人士来说是充满挑战和机遇的一年。经济不确定性、地缘政治紧张和技术进步是主要的挑战。文章强调了生产力的重要性，以及来自PwC、麦肯锡和埃森哲的洞察。利物浦经理朱尔根·克洛普的离职案例展示了领导力和文化的重要性。文章还强调了人力资源分析的重要性，提供了来自领先公司的见解。
2024年的HR趋势和预测涵盖了人工智能的影响和向基于技能的组织的转变。工作场所的心理安全、多样性、平等、包容和归属感仍然是重要议题。这篇文章为HR专业人士提供了全面的指导，帮助他们在未来一年中导航复杂性。
2024 is set to be a momentous year. With economic uncertainty, rising geopolitical conflict, and rapid advances in technology, it is also set to be a stormy 12 months for the world, for organisations, and for HR professionals too.
Perhaps this explains the slew of insightful resources in January, which has made compiling this month’s collection as challenging as it has been enjoyable. One of the key focuses has been on ‘productivity’, and I’ve brought together a number of resources on this topic. There are also new studies from the likes of PwC, McKinsey, Glassdoor, Accenture, and Deloitte as well as articles featuring practitioners from companies including Spotify, Microsoft, Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. There’s lots to enjoy and learn from.
Join me for a webinar on February 21 to discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact
Are you an HR or People Analytics Leader seeking to transform your organisation’s People Analytics from mere insights to impactful business outcomes? If so, I invite you to join me for a webinar that Insight222 is hosting on February 21. Naomi Verghese and I will walk through the findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends research, unveiling the distinctive characteristics of ABCD Teams that propel organisations to new heights. Naomi and I will be joined by Alan Susi, VP and Global Head of Organisational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global. Alan will share insights into how S&P Global successfully elevated their approach to people analytics, turning data into tangible business outcomes. You can register for the webinar here – or by clicking the image below.
Jürgen Klopp – a study in leadership, culture, and analytics
As a fervent supporter, I’m still processing the totally unexpected news that Jürgen Klopp will be leaving his post as the manager of Liverpool at the end of the current football season. In his press conference on taking the reins at Anfield in October 2015, Klopp stated his goal was to turn Liverpool from “doubters to believers.” He has done this with some aplomb amassing a haul of seven trophies (to date) including the Champions League in 2019 and then, the following year, the Holy Grail of Liverpool’s first league title in 30 years.
But Klopp is more than a brilliant football manager. He is the epitome of an empathetic leader. His emotional intelligence and natural humility not only endears Klopp to his players, but to supporters too for whom he is adored. The reaction to the news reduced many Liverpool supporters to tears. I’m still hoping – probably forlornly - that like Alex Ferguson in 2002, Klopp will change his mind and stay.
In the likely event that he does depart, I’m sure that multiple studies will be made on Klopp’s time at Anfield, and that his leadership skills, use of data and analytics, and ability to build an inclusive winning culture will be deservedly celebrated. YNWA.
Looking for a new role in people analytics or HR tech?
Before we get to this month’s collection of resources, I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers over 500 roles.
Looking for a people analytics event to attend in 2024?
Richard Rosenow has also been busy compiling a study of People Analytics Conferences to attend in 2024 with the data collected from practitioners themselves. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), People Analytics World and the Wharton People Analytics Conference all come out well as does the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat. Thanks to Richard for putting this together.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for January and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on December’s compendium (including those in the Comments below).
If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is published every Tuesday – subscribe here.
THE QUEST FOR PRODUCTIVITY
MCKINSEY - 2024 and beyond: Will it be economic stagnation or the advent of productivity-driven abundance? | PwC - 27th Annual Global CEO Survey: Thriving in an age of continuous reinvention | JOSH BERSIN - HR Predictions for 2024: The Global Search For Productivity | ERIK BRYNJOLFSSON - How AI Will Transform Productivity | BEN WABER AND NATHANAEL J. FAST - Is GenAI’s Impact on Productivity Overblown?
When I talk with CHROs and People Analytics Leaders at the companies we work with at Insight222, one of the words I’m hearing most at the moment is ‘productivity’. Continuing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the promise of AI, and challenging talent demographics are all fuelling the demand for productivity from CEOs. Here are five resources that can be filed under the ‘productivity’ umbrella: (1) McKinsey’s Ezra Greenberg, Asutosh Padhi, and Sven Smit present a model for businesses to capture the three-sided productivity opportunity (see FIG 1). (2) Amongst a ton of takeaways, the standout theme from the annual PwC CEO survey is that the vast majority of participating companies are already taking some steps towards reinvention, while CEOs believe that 40% of their work is wasted productivity (see FIG 2). (3) Josh Bersin draws from the PwC survey in his 2024 predictions, where he outlines The Productivity Advantage where “If you can help your company move faster (productivity implies speed, not only profit), you can reinvent faster than your competition.” (4) Stanford professor Erik Brynjolfsson offers leaders an overview of how AI will transform productivity. (5) Finally, Ben Waber and Nathanael Fast’s absorbing essay in Harvard Business Review cautions leaders on leaning into the hype on GAI’s supposed positive impact on productivity too heavily. The authors break down two of the key challenges with LLMs: a) their persistent ability to produce convincing falsities and b) the likely long-term negative effects of using LLMs on employees and internal processes.
FIG 1: The three-side productivity opportunity (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 2: CEOs estimate administrative inefficiency at 40% (Source: PwC)
GERGELY OROSZ AND ABI NODA - Measuring Developer Productivity: Real-World Examples
Continuing the productivity theme, this is an invaluable resource by Gergely Orosz and Abi Noda in The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter. It provides detail on developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Spotify, and Uber (see summary in FIG 3).
FIG 3: Developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies (Source: Pragmatic Engineer)
2024 HR TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS
JASMINE PANAYIDES - Nine Ways to Put HR Trends and Predictions into Practice in 2024
There has been a flood of articles advising what the key HR trends, predictions, and opportunities for 2024 are, but how are HR professionals supposed to make sense of these? In her article for the myHRfuture blog, Jasmine Panayides provides actionable tips on how HR professionals can apply the trends, predictions and opportunities to their work, and their organisations so they can deliver value to the company and the workforce. Jasmine also helpfully summarises the trends/predictions from a variety of sources into one table (see FIG 4), including from: Visier Inc., Gartner, Bernard Marr, UNLEASH, Mercer, and Culture Amp as well as my own 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article.
FIG 4: Analysis of HR Trends and Predictions for 2024 (Source: myHRfuture)
KATARINA BERG - HR Trends for 2024 | GARTNER - 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 | GLASSDOOR – 2024 Workforce Trends | HUNG LEE - Forecasting 2024 in Recruitment Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 | KEVIN WHEELER - What Does 2024 Hold in Store for Us? | STACIA GARR AND DANI JOHNSON – 2024 Mega Trends and how people leaders should respond (Webinar)
The deluge of commentators offering their HR trends and opportunities continued in January. As such, it is a challenge to sort the wheat from the chaff but in addition to those I highlighted in this compendium in December, and in Jasmine’s article above, I recommend diving into the following: (1) Spotify’s chief people officer, Katarina Berg, highlights ten trends with the common theme being each trend is a bridge, connecting the past with the future, and HR professionals are the architects crafting these vital links – including “Staying Human in the Age of AI – The Humanity Bridge”. (2) Gartner’s Jordan Turner and Emily Rose McRae highlight nine future of work trends for the year ahead (see FIG 5). (3) Aaron Terrazas and Daniel Zhao identify eight workforce trends based on Glassdoor’s data on workplace satisfaction, culture, and conversations. (4) Hung Lee is at the cutting edge of recruiting and HR tech, so his four-part series on recruiting in 2024 is definitely worth checking out – two examples include: “Multi-generational replaces neurodiversity as DEIB hot topic” and “Capital Allocation Shifts from Sourcing & Engagement to Assessment & Verification Tech”. (5) Futurist Kevin Wheeler offers seven insights and predictions together with his self-assessed certainty rating including “Generative AI will dominate, and every product will attempt to incorporate AI. 90% certainty” and “More firms will embrace a four-day workweek 50% certainty”. (6) Finally, I strongly recommend viewing the 2024 Mega Trends webinar hosted by Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson for RedThread Research, which breaks down the key macro factors impacting the world of work and how HR can respond.
FIG 5: 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 (Source: Gartner)
GREG NEWMAN - 10 important topics that HR will likely ignore in 2024
Greg Newman takes an alternative, wry and contrarian approach by focusing his list of “predictions” on ten things most HR teams will continue to ignore in 2024. My favourite three are: (1) speaking the language of the business, (2) focusing AI conversations on ethics before technology, and (3) learning that good data is required to realise the dreams of AI and analytics.
By aligning HR language with business terminology, we can more effectively demonstrate the value of our initiatives in a way that resonates with business stakeholders.
GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ELLYN SHOOK AND PAUL DAUGHERTY - Work, workforce, workers: Reinvented in the age of generative AI
A new study from Accenture, co-authored by Ellyn Shook and Paul Daugherty, on how generative AI is impacting work, provides guidance on how leaders can: “Set and guide a vision to reinvent work, reshape the workforce and prepare workers for a generative AI world, while building a resilient culture to navigate continuous waves of change.” The report reveals a trust gap between workers and leaders on key elements related to GAI’s impact on work, the workforce, and workers. The authors also highlight four accelerators for leaders to navigate the journey ahead: (1) Lead and learn in new ways, (2) Reinvent work, (3) Reshape the workforce (see example in FIG 6), and (4) Prepare workers.
FIG 6: Illustrative example of how work and roles can be reallocated in a GAI future (Source: Accenture)
ROGER W. HOERL AND THOMAS C. REDMAN - What Managers Should Ask About AI Models and Data Sets
The decision on whether to deploy AI models within an organisation ultimately lies with business leaders who may not be qualified to identify risks and weaknesses related to AI models and data sets. In their article, Roger Hoerl and Tom Redman provide (1) A framework (see FIG 7) designed to equip leaders with context and based on their concept of the right data. (2) A set of six questions for leaders to ask their AI model developers before and during modelling work and deployment. (3) Guidance for leaders on how to assess AI model developers’ answers to those six questions.
FIG 7: The Right Data Framework (Source: Roger W. Hoerl and Thomas C. Redman)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
STEVE HATFIELD, SUE CANTRELL, AND BRAD KREIT - Beyond the quick fix: How workforce data can drive deeper organizational problem-solving
The premise of this thoughtful article by Steve Hatfield, Susan Cantrell, and Brad Kreit is that without the right context, even simple measurements can undermine efforts to convert people data into value. They then explore several examples – in the workforce, in the workplace, and in the work – where organisations might be limiting their analysis to the surface level and how deeper analysis can reveal systemic issues that lead to opportunities for transformation. Guidance on three actions leaders can take to help ensure they are not missing important context in their data analysis are provided: (1) Bring data from different domains and sources together for analysis. (2) Make sure you’re measuring what you should—not just what you can. (3) Identify potential biases in data collection algorithms.
If organizations want to move beyond quick fixes and use work and workforce data to drive deeper—and often more challenging—problem-solving, it is important that they look at the data in context.
NAOMI VERGHESE - How to Measure the Value of People Analytics
My Insight222 colleague Naomi Verghese digs how to measure the commercial value of people analytics, highlighting a powerful case study from Jaesun HA and LG Electronics. Naomi provides detail on four key areas where people analytics adds value (business performance, workforce experiences, driving an analytics culture and societal benefit) as well as providing data on the characteristics of companies that ARE creating commercial value from people analytics (see FIG 8).
FIG 8: Characteristics of people analytics that disclosed and measured commercial value of people analytics solutions (Source: Insight222 People Analytics Trends, 2023)
ANDRÉS GARCIA AYALA - 5 Change Drivers Impacting People Analytics & How To Thrive In Them | WILLIS JENSEN - Attrition versus Retention: Which Should I Use? | KEITH McNULTY – Regression Modeling in People Analytics: Survival Analysis | LYDIA WU - The Market Sucks and You are Looking for a Job, Now What? | SEBASTIAN SZACHNOWSKI - 16 HR Metrics for IT | ERIN FLEMING AND NICK JESTEADT - People Analytics Perspectives from the Fringe: Current Priorities and a View on Optimized Teams in 2024
January saw a slew of articles from current and recent people analytics leaders, which typically act as a spur and inspiration for the field. Six are highlighted here: (1) Andrés García Ayala highlights some of the key change drivers impacting people analytics and ways to incorporate them into our work. (2) Willis Jensen builds on the recent primer on attrition metrics by Ben Teusch that I highlighted in December’s edition. He explains why we should be using attrition and retention as separate terms that lead to distinct metrics with different objectives (see also FIG 9). (3) Keith McNulty provides another indispensable practical guide for people analysts with a step-by-step tutorial to conducting survival analysis in R. (4) The prolific Lydia Wu turns her attention to providing some handy guidance for those looking for their next people analytics / HR tech role. (5) Sebastian Szachnowski provides a useful breakdown of 16 HR metrics for technology companies. (6) Last but definitely not least, Erin Fleming and Nick Jesteadt provide insights from their survey of fellow people analytics practitioners. Insights include a) 41% of respondents (n=49) operate as a one-person people analytics team, and ii) the main current focus areas of work include employee turnover, cultural engagement, return to office, and restructuring.
FIG 9: When to use Attrition and Retention (Source: Willis Jensen)
MAX BLUMBERG - The Big List of GPTs to Revolutionize Your People Processes | JOHANNES SUNDLO - GenAI for People Analytics
Two articles addressing the opportunity for generative AI in the people space. (1) Max Blumberg (JA) ?? sets out 93 potential ways to upgrade your People Processes with AI and GPTs across four categories – workforce planning and strategy, recruitment, learning and development, and employee wellbeing. (2) Johannes Sundlo provides examples of companies using GAI in their people analytics work to support analyses on engagement data, skills, and tailoring training recommendations.
GPTs are an amazing tool for scenario planning, forecasting future workforce needs, identifying talent gaps, and developing integrated talent strategies.
THE EVOLUTION OF HR AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
DAVE ULRICH, NORM SMALLWOOD, AND JOE GROCHOWSKI - Why and How to Move HR to an Outside-In Approach
When asked the question, “What is the biggest challenge in your job today?” HR professionals will typically provide answers such as: “Build a skills-based organisation” or “Help our employees have a better experience”. As Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Joe Grochowski write, these answers would be far more powerful when a “so that” is applied e.g. “Help employees have a better experience so that customer experience improves.” The article demonstrates that greater value is created with an outside-in approach that starts with the needs of external stakeholders (customers, investors, community) and then figuring out the implications inside the company for meeting those needs. Dave, Norm, and Joe also present their Human Capability Framework and a tool that provides an assessment of an organisation’s outside-in performance (see FIG 10).
FIG 10: Human capability from the outside-in - diagnostic questions (Source: Dave Ulrich et al)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
AMY WEBB - Bringing True Strategic Foresight Back to Business
In her article for Harvard Business Review, Amy Webb defines strategic foresight as “a disciplined and systematic approach to identify where to play, how to win in the future, and how to ensure organizational resiliency in the face of unforeseen disruption.” Her article also advocates for the integration of strategic foresight as a core competency in every organisation, regardless of size. Moreover, Amy provides guidance on how to operationalise strategic foresight by unveiling a ten-step process. Read alongside another article authored by Amy for HBR: How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist, which includes Amy’s Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (see FIG 11).
FIG 11: A Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (Source: Amy Webb)
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM AND PwC - Putting Skills First: Opportunities for Building Efficient and Equitable Labour Markets
As the introduction to this compelling collaboration between the World Economic Forum and PwC begins: “Skills and talent shortages are critical challenges facing societies and economies today. The absence of relevant skills impedes business growth, hinders economic prosperity, and inhibits individuals from realizing their full potential.” The report identifies five specific opportunities for intervention where the gains from skills-first solutions are most likely for employers and workers alike (see ‘Skills-first Framework’ in FIG 12). Additionally, the report also showcases 13 Skills First “Lighthouses”, including IBM, Siemens, Standard Chartered and Sanofi. It concludes by offering key takeaways regarding six success factors in implementing skills-first approaches including (1) Sponsorship from leadership, (2) Alignment with business needs, and (3) Data and evaluation for iteration. (Authors: Genesis Elhussein, Mark Rayner, Aarushi Singhania, Saadia Zahidi, Peter Brown MBE, Miral Mir, and Bhushan Sethi).
A cultural shift to skills-first approaches needs both sponsorship from executives and governance from human-resources professionals
FIG 12: Skills-first Framework (Source: World Economic Forum
PETER SHEPPARD - Learning from our Skills Journey | BEN AUTY - What are the new skills people will need for the future of work? | TANUJ KAPILASHRAMI - How Standard Chartered is Unlocking the Power of Skills in the Workplace
Many of the organisations we work with at Insight222 have embarked on the road to becoming a skills-based organisation. It is not an easy journey, so it is helpful to learn from other companies who are treading this path. Three of these are Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. (1) In his article, Peter Sheppard shares learnings from Ericsson’s skills journey including a) it’s not jobs or skills; it’s skills and jobs, b) it’s a whole organisation activity, c) Less is more with skills, and d) Data drives value. (2) Ben Auty shares insights as to why Lloyds Banking Group is developing a learning culture to build the workforce of the future at the bank, the main skills they are focusing on, and the central role the recently established Reskilling Team is playing. (3) Tanuj Kapilashrami shares how Standard Chartered catalysed their work on skills by identifying adjacencies between ‘sunset’ and ‘sunrise’ roles.
We looked at skills adjacencies between ‘sunset’ jobs and ‘sunrise’ jobs: so, what are the jobs that are going to go away? What are the skills that help employees get reskilled into some of these sunrise jobs? We ran five proofs of concept, we showed some real redeployment opportunities and started making the skills narrative real.
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
JENNIFER E. SIGLER WITH STEPHANIE DENINO - So Many Stakeholders, So Little Time: State of EX 2023-2024
The fifth annual State of EX study authored by Jennifer E. Sigler, PhD on behalf of The EXchange, Inc, TI PEOPLE and FOUNT Global, Inc. is a treasure chest of insights on the fast-evolving practice of employee experience. It highlights the top four priorities for EX as: (1) Redesigning experiences, (2) Getting broader buy-in for EX work across the organisation, (3) Building an EX roadmap for the organisation, and (4) Getting more / better data. One other standout finding from the study suggests that senior leaders are increasingly focused on EX with a majority of respondents (63%) saying their organisation’s senior leaders view EX as equal to or even more important than other corporate priorities. This bodes well for the future of EX. Thanks to Stephanie Denino and Volker Jacobs for highlighting the study.
FIG 13: EX Team Priorities YOY Change (Source: The EXchange, TI People and FOUNT Global, Inc)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
NADJIA YOUSIF, ASHLEY DARTNELL, GRETCHEN MAY, AND ELIZABETH KNARR - Psychological Safety Levels the Playing Field for Employees | PETER CAPPELLI AND LIAT ELDOR - Can Workplaces Have Too Much Psychological Safety?
Two perspectives on psychological safety in the workplace. In the first article, Nadjia Yousif, Ashley Dartnell, Gretchen May, and Elizabeth Knarr present the findings of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) research, which finds how psychological safety benefits inclusion, reduces attrition in diverse groups and effectively acts as an equaliser - enabling diverse and disadvantaged employee groups to achieve the same levels of workplace satisfaction as their more advantaged colleagues. The study also highlights the direct relationship between empathetic leadership and feelings of psychological safety in the workforce, giving leaders a clear directive to be empathetic and thereby engender psychological safety. The second article by Peter Cappelli and Liat Eldor presents research that found that when you move from average to high levels of psychological safety, performance in routine jobs actually declined.
FIG 14: Psychological safety has an outsize impact on retention for diversity groups (Source: BCG)
RASMUS HOUGAARD, JACQUELINE CARTER, AND ROB STEMBRIDGE - The Best Leaders Can’t Be Replaced by AI
While there are some areas where AI is already surpassing or will surpass human capabilities, there are several it cannot replace. Based on their research into employees’ comfort with AI in management, as well as their decades of research on the qualities of effective leadership, Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter, and Robert Stembridge identify the promise (and perils) of AI-enabled management (see FIG 15), as well as the three uniquely human capabilities leaders need to focus on honing, especially as AI begins to figure more in management: (1) awareness, (2) compassion, and (3) wisdom. For more from Rasmus, I recommend listening to his podcast discussion with me: How To Be a More Compassionate Leader.
Leaders who deepen their ability to lead with humanity will win at attracting, retaining, developing, and motivating top talent.
FIG 15: AI versus Human: A matric of leadership activities (Source: Potential Project)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
JULIE COFFMAN, ALEX NOETHER, BIANCA BAX, CASSY REICHERT, AND KRYSTLE JIANG - The Business of Belonging: Why making everyone feel included is smart strategy
Revealing data from a Bain survey of 6,000+ employees across four countries, which finds employees who have seen their companies intentionally invest in inclusion since 2020 are three times more likely to feel fully included than employees who have not seen such investment from their employers. Other findings include (1) Combining diversity and inclusion maximises a company’s capacity (by 4x) to innovate, and (2) Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (see FIG 16). (Authors: Julie Coffman, Alex Noether, Bianca Bax, Cassy Reichert, and Krystle Jiang).
FIG 16: Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (Source: Bain)
SHUJAAT AHMAD - DEIB Is At A Crossroads—It’s Time for Bold Action and Clear Metrics
Given recent developments it’s reasonable to say that Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is at an existential crossroads. As Shujaat Ahmad writes in his excellent article for Round: “Boards, leadership teams, and investors hold the power to set the tone, shape the policies, and allocate the resources to support DEIB initiatives: for DEIB to work effectively, they must shift from well-intentioned wordsmiths to committed drivers that hold the organization accountable for outcomes and positive change.” Shujaat then unveils his blueprint to help leaders assess progress and drive meaningful change, clarifying the ‘why’ before diving into the ‘how’ covering measuring what matters and interventions (see FIG 17). For more from Shujaat, I recommend visiting Belong and Lead.
FIG 17: Source – Shujaat Ahmad
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from January that I recommend readers delve into:
ERNEST NG - If the Pitch is Too Smooth, It Probably Is: Why AI in HR is Difficult – Part 2 of an insightful essay from Ernest Ng, PhD of HiredScore (see also Part 1 on disclosures here) where he cuts through the hype to assess how we should be implementing AI in HR.
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED - A Tale of Two Cultures - In One Company - Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD from Revelio Labs highlights the growing disparity between junior and senior employees (see FIG 18) and identifies the factors causing this malaise. Thanks to Ben Zweig for highlighting.
FIG 18: The growing disparity in sentiment between junior and senior employees (Source: Revelio Labs)
JEREMIE BRECHEISEN - Where Employees Think Companies’ DEIB Efforts Are Failing – Jeremie K Brecheisen presents findings from Gallup that reveals a disconnect between how well employees and HR leaders believe their organisations are doing when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging: 84% of CHROs say their organisations are increasing investment in DEIB, while only 31% of employees say their organisation is committed to improving racial justice or equity in their workplace (see FIG 19). The article then outlines ten needs employees say are not being met and then offers strategies to help organisations address the disconnect.
FIG 19: How employees and HR leaders differ on perceptions of DEIB progress (Source: Gallup)
FRANCISCO MARIN - Navigating the ONA Landscape: Trends and Challenges for 2024 - Another good read from Cognitive Talent Solutions, as Francisco Marin explores the key trends and challenges shaping the ONA space in 2024.
IAN WHITE - The three C’s of effective performance management – Ian White, CEO at ChartHop, presents the three C’s of performance management — continuous, contextual and cultural — designed to help companies understand their employees more holistically.
CHRISTINA JANZER - The surprising connection between after-hours work and decreased productivity – Christina Janzer presents findings from Slack’s Workforce Index, which identifies findings on how to structure the workday to maximise employee productivity, well-being and satisfaction – including the connection between after hours work and decreased productivity.
FIG 20: Source – Slack
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
AMY EDMONDSON AND LAURIE RUETTIMANN – Right Kind of Failure – Amy Edmondson joins Laurie Ruettimann on the brilliantly named Punk Rock HR to explore the essential role of failure in our professional and personal growth.
STACIA GARR, COLE NAPPER, AND SCOTT HINES - People Analytics & HR Tech Research by Industry Analysts – Stacia Sherman Garr, one of the industry’s top analysts, joins Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on the Directionally Correct podcast to discuss the research Stacia and her team at RedThread Research do in the people analytics and HR technology space.
RICHARD ROSENOW, MADDIE GRANT, AND SANJA LICINA - How to Build an Integrated Framework for Workforce Listening – In an episode of the Empowering Workplaces podcast, Richard Rosenow joins hosts Maddie Grant and Sanja Licina, Ph.D. to talk about The Three Channels of Workforce Information: conversations (“what people say”), surveys (“what people say they do”) and systems (“what people do”) as a way to build a comprehensive understanding of your workforce.
McKINSEY - The shape of talent in 2023 and 2024 - In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Bryan Hancock, Brooke Weddle and host Lucia Rahilly highlight the trends that shaped last year’s talent landscape—and those poised to ‘redefine its contours’ yet again in 2024.
MATTHEW BIDWELL AND DAN LONEY – Forecasting 2024 Workplace Trends – Wharton Professor and convenor of the Wharton People Analytics Conference, Matthew Bidwell, joins host of the Wharton Business Daily Dan Loney to look at the year ahead in the workplace.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
CHRIS LOUIE, TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC, TERRI HORTON, AND LINDSEY SHINTANI - Power a dynamic workforce by embracing AI
An enlightening panel discussion from the recent LinkedIn Talent Connect where Chris Louie, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR, and Lindsey Shintani discuss how AI is changing learning and career paths. They provide guidance on how to overcome AI anxiety and empower impactful futures.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
KEVIN WHEELER AND BAS VAN DE HATERD – Talent Acquisition Excellence
An excellent new book published by Kogan Page and authored by Kevin Wheeler and Bas van de Haterd (He/His/Him). It provides an insightful and detailed analysis of how technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning in combination with analytics can improve talent acquisition and recruitment.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
YUYE DING AND MARK (SHUAI) MA - Return-to-Office Mandates
A huge thank you to Nick Bloom for bringing my attention to this paper from Yuye Ding and Mark Ma, which studied the impact of 137 Return to Office mandates on the performance of S&P500 firms from 2020-2023. The key findings, as summarised by Nick, are illuminating: (1) RTO mandates are more likely in firms with poor recent stock performance, and in those with powerful male CEOs. (2) Glassdoor data finds RTO mandates significantly reduce employee ratings for job satisfaction, work-life balance, and senior management. (3) There is no significant impact of RTO mandates on either firm profitability or firm stock-returns.
FIG 21: Distribution of firms’ RTO mandates (Source: Yuye Ding and Mark Ma)
FROM MY DESK
January saw the first three episodes of Series 36 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by our friends at ScreenCloud. Thank you to Luke Farrugia.
DAVID GREEN - The best 60 HR & People Analytics articles of 2023 Part 1 | Part 2 – My tenth annual collection of HR and people analytics resources is spread across two articles and ten themes. Part 1 covers i) the future of work and people strategy, ii) workplace design and strategy, iii) AI and the world of work, iv) people analytics, and v) employee experience, listening and wellbeing. Part 2 covers: vi) the evolution of HR, HR operating models and the CHRO, vii) building a data driven culture in HR, viii) workforce planning, skills, and talent marketplace, ix) leadership and culture, and x) diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
THOMAS RASMUSSEN, DAWN KLINGHOFFER, AND JEREMY SHAPIRO - HR in 2024: The Impact of People Analytics, AI & ML – In a special episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast to kick off 2024, I was joined by Thomas Rasmussen, Dawn Klinghoffer, and Jeremy Shapiro to discuss the outlook for HR and people analytics in the coming 12 months.
SERENA HUANG - How to Enhance Your Career in People Analytics - Serena H. Huang, Ph.D., who has led people analytics functions at companies including GE, PayPal and Kraft Heinz, joins me to discuss the common career paths observed in the people analytics field and how they have evolved over the years.
KAZ HASSAN AND LUKE FARUGGIA - How to Bridge the Gap Between Customer and Employee Experience - What can HR learn from marketing's journey in using data, analytics and technology to understand and personalise the customer experience? How can we leverage these insights in HR to boost our employee experience initiatives? Kaz Hassan and Luke Faruggia join me to discuss these topics and more.
THANK YOU
Finally, this month I’d like to thank:
Recruit CRM for nominating me as ‘The People Analytics Pioneer’ in their list of 50 Recruitment Influencers to Follow in 2024
Likewise, a huge thank you to 365Talents for including me as one of the Top 50 HR Influencers to Follow in 2024
Similarly, thanks to HRCap, Inc. for including me in their list of 10 HR Influencers who Provide Remarkable Insights
The Social Craft (here) and The Talent Games (here) for also including me in their lists of HR and HR Tech leaders to follow.
HRDConnect for quoting me in their article Data Literacy: A must-have for HR professionals in 2024.
Gianni Giacomelli for including the Data Driven HR monthly in his list of seven must-read newsletters.
HR Geckos for including Excellence in People Analytics as a book recommendation in their HR Bytes Newsletter for January 2024.
Sebastian Szachnowski for including Excellence in People Analytics in his list of books to get better at people analytics.
Leapsome for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of its Top 10 HR Podcasts for 2024.
Similarly, Alexandre Darbois for also including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of his 5 HR Podcasts.
Melissa Meredith for using my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article to highlight the importance of the HR-Finance partnership in building a thriving company.
Bill Brown for also highlighting my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article in his Eleven Trends Transforming the Future of Work in 2024.
Mirro.io for including me as a contributor in their list of 15 HR Trends for 2024.
Dhanesh K for including as one of his 10 Top HR Leaders to Follow.
Lanteria HR for recommending me as one of their HR Experts to Follow in 2024.
Semos Cloud for including my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 as part of their round-up of HR insights.
Thomas Kohler for including my Best HR and People Analytics Articles of 2023 in their collection of HR resources to read.
Thinkers360 for including me in their Top Voices EMEA 2023.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Green ?? is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 90 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value was published in the summer of 2021.
SEE ME AT THESE EVENTS
I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work, and data driven HR at a number of upcoming events in 2024:
Feb 21 - Discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact (Webinar)
Feb 28 - People Analytics World 2024: Exploring the Potential of Analytics and AI in Employee Experience (Zurich)
March 4-6 - Gloat Live! (New York)
March 14-15 - Wharton People Analytics Conference (Philadelphia)
April 24-25 - People Analytics World (London)
May 7-9 - UNLEASH America (Las Vegas)
September 24-26 - Insight222 Global Executive Retreat (Colorado, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
October 16-17 - UNLEASH World (Paris)
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
HR trends
2024年03月02日
HR trends
10个方法让你更好地营销人力资源科技10 Ways to Become a Better HR Tech Marketer为有效拓展并参与到人力资源领域，人力资源科技公司应该采取全面的市场营销策略，囊括多种渠道，响应目标群众，展现价值主张。具体步骤包括：理解人力资源领域，强调投资回报率，创造有价值的内容，与行业影响者合作，细分受众，参与行业会议，展现前沿行业思想，加强线上展现力，培养客户友好关系，跟踪前沿趋势。人力资源营销的成功需要时间的积累与不懈的努力。祝你好运！
To effectively reach and engage the HR community, HR technology firms should adopt a comprehensive marketing strategy that encompasses various channels, resonates with the target audience, and demonstrates value proposition.
为加强营销力量，以下是行动策略的具体步骤：
Here’s a breakdown of actionable strategies to enhance marketing efforts:
Understand the HR community: Thoroughly understanding the needs, challenges, and aspirations of HR professionals is crucial for crafting relevant and impactful marketing messages. Conduct surveys, engage in industry forums, and interview HR leaders to gain insights into their preferences and pain points.
Highlight the ROI: HR professionals are data-driven and results-oriented. Clearly demonstrate the return on investment （ROI） of your HR technology solutions. Quantify the benefits, such as cost savings, increased efficiency, or improved employee productivity.
Create valuable content: Develop informative and engaging content that addresses the specific needs of HR professionals. Produce blog posts, white papers, infographics, and case studies showcasing real-world success stories.
Leverage industry influencers: Partner with industry thought leaders, bloggers, and social media influencers to reach a wider audience. Collaborate on content creation, webinars, and social media campaigns to gain credibility and trust.
Engage in targeted outreach: Utilize digital marketing tools to target HR professionals with personalized messaging. Segment your audience based on their roles, industries, and interests to deliver relevant content and offers.
Attend industry events: Actively participate in HR conferences, trade shows, and networking events to connect with potential customers and showcase your solutions. Build relationships with key decision-makers and industry peers.
Demonstrate thought leadership: Establish your company as a trusted resource by sharing expert insights and perspectives on HR trends and challenges. Contribute to industry publications, participate in panel discussions, and offer webinars to position your brand as a leader.
Build a strong online presence: Develop a user-friendly and informative website that clearly communicates your value proposition and showcases your solutions. Utilize social media platforms to engage with HR professionals, share content, and respond to inquiries promptly.
Nurture customer relationships: Prioritize customer satisfaction by providing excellent customer support and proactively addressing any concerns. Gather feedback regularly to improve your products, services, and marketing strategies.
Stay up-to-date with trends: Continuously monitor emerging HR trends and technologies to ensure your marketing efforts remain relevant and aligned with the evolving needs of the industry.
HR Tech marketing is all about being persistent and consistent over time.
Good luck!
SOURCE HRTECHFEED
HR trends
2024年01月23日
HR trends
Top 7 Recruitment Strategies for 2024Hear from the HR leaders delivering breakthrough experiences for their people and get the latest insights and advice from our team of XM Scientists. Nicole Parish and Ruth D'Alessandro working at Qualitrics for many years are introducing us the top 7 recruitment strategies for 2024.
As the disrupted world of work evolves, so do the challenges and opportunities for recruiters. We explore the top 7 recruitment strategies - from employer branding to AI and data-driven decision making - to help you attract and hire the best talent in 2024.
The challenges for recruiters and HR teams over the last four years have been immense. The Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath, the almost overnight switch to remote working, workplace disruption, global instability, talent shortages, The Great Resignation, balancing hybrid working with business outcomes, and the explosion of AI technology have tested even the most experienced human resources specialists.
And HR departments themselves, especially those in the tech sector, have been hard hit since the spring of 2022, with lots of layoffs further stretching the teams. As a result of high recruiter unemployment, these teams may be short-handed, and unable to take on more responsibility.
This is where recruitment strategies need to help people work smarter, not harder. The key to staying competitive in talent acquisition and recruitment is understanding the important new trends and where HR technology slots in to be friend, not foe.
Free eBook: Employee lifecycle feedback
1. Get your employer branding right
Employer brand has historically been seen as a ‘nice to have’, but is now moving into the ‘must have’ space - highlighting how recruiters need to be employer brand focused, even if they don’t have an employer brand team.
Employer branding is how a company markets itself to both internal and potential employees. If you were to ask employees what it’s like to work for a company, they’re unlikely to talk about the products, goods and services – instead they’ll highlight management, conditions, culture, and values.
What if you could capture all the above in a single, comprehensive document to present to job seekers that says,‘what can we offer you as an employee?’ You can. It’s called an EVP (employer value proposition) and it’s your shop window to show that you’re a desirable employer.
An EVP outlines:
Opportunities
What the people are like
Organization’s prestige
What the work is like
The rewards
The very best EVPs focus on the ‘Give and Get’ concept: while they outline what the organization offers, they’re brutally honest about what employees are expected to do in return. This ‘warts and all’ transparency naturally sorts applicants by attracting the right, passionate, resilient candidates who embrace challenge, and putting off casual applicants who might be a fit for the job, but who might find a mismatch between their expectations and what the company provides. When a company aligns great employer branding with an enviable EVP, it’s a recipe for attracting and retaining top talent.
2. Go all out with recruitment marketing
While employer branding and your EVP defines who you are as an organization, what makes you different and the value you can give candidates in return for their commitment and hard work, recruitment marketing is how you get that message out there.
It’s a marketing process that begins before candidates even apply for a job: using specific campaigns to attract and nurture talented people so that they apply for specific jobs in specific locations as they become open.
There’s a trifecta of stages in the recruitment marketing process:
Awareness: moving from “I haven’t heard of this brand” to “this brand seems interesting”
Interest: then moving from “this brand seems interesting” to “I might apply for a job there”
Consideration: finally, moving from “I might apply for a job there” to “I have applied for a job there”
And some of the ways to get your recruitment marketing rolling include:
Attractive job ads
Bright, bold design, screaming your brand and littered with snappy, search-optimized copy will ensure your ads get found in searches, and that they catch the eye and pique interest.
Content marketing
Great content that informs, educates and entertains, offering more than advertising, will bring your brand to life. Ideally create your own content, or use materials that are already circulating in the organization to publish blogs, articles and listicles that add value for readers.
Social media campaigns
Nearly everyone’s scrolling through the likes of TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, X, Facebook, and Snapchat, so it follows that social media is a powerful recruitment marketing tool. But your postings have to be engaging and authentic, catching the trends and memes of the moment, not boring corporate job ads.
Build multi-purpose content and then activate it everywhere you can! Identify the channels and types of content you can produce, then ensure each piece of content you create can be used in all of those spaces in some way. Niche job boards, popular job fairs, your careers page, college recruiting. You’ll maximize your inputs and create a seamless brand look and feel.
3. Create the best candidate experience
Today’s candidate that you turn down may be tomorrow’s candidate, or maybe tomorrow’s client, so it pays to treasure every candidate, successful or not, and keep that positive connection going.
Candidate experience is the sum of all the interactions a candidate has with you as a potential employer, across the whole recruitment cycle, from job ad to interview to hire (or not) and beyond. It’s crucial that you manage every candidate well. For those who join your company, it sets the tone for their employee experience – how engaged they’ll be and how well they’ll perform. For those who are not successful, you’ll leave a good impression that may make them want to reapply and recommend you to other people.
There are three areas where you can make a real impact on your candidates’ experience:
Application process
Communication
Feedback
Application process
All too often, the application process can be long-winded and clunky. For example, you have candidates’ resumes – they don’t need to keep retyping all their information into open text boxes over and over again. Similarly, you don’t need to have the same briefing call in person with every candidate before their interview – consider sending a pre-recorded video with all the necessary information, then giving candidates space to digest it before a follow up. Focus on efficient hiring and streamlining decision-making at critical milestones along the candidate journey.
Communication
One of the most dispiriting things for prospective candidates about job applications is spending several hours of their lives filling in application forms, crafting covering letters, maybe attending interviews – and then hearing nothing. And the chances are the candidates won’t have a good word to say about the brands that couldn’t be bothered to contact them.
Communicating well and often with candidates instantly sets you apart as a good employer. And with the availability of information technology and automation, there’s really no excuse not to send even an automated email or message to keep people updated about their application.
You can go a step further and make it easy for qualified candidates to contact you. Maybe appoint a designated contact person for questions or concerns, or even set up a Slack stream for candidates to chat with current employees while their application is processed.
And although it’s not fun to do, it’s also essential that you let your unsuccessful job seekers know when the position has been filled.
Feedback
For a lot of candidates, one of the most important aspects of any recruiting process is the feedback they receive — whether they’re successful or not. And the reason for this is simple: it helps them to identify where they can improve. And for the organization, as well as helping them decide whether to hire someone, it helps them understand how their interview and recruitment process is performing.
Interview feedback should:
Be concise and actionable
Cover the whole hiring process
Be collected in a timely way
And – importantly - don’t forget to ask candidates how they felt about the recruitment process – this is essential for identifying gaps in your candidate experience so you can close them, and meet the expectations of every job seeker who engages with your organization.
4. Use your hiring manager and hiring team
You already have powerful advocates for your recruiting process – your hiring manager and their teams. Their networks may give more access to appropriate talent than recruiters, and carry more weight. The hiring manager is often a candidate’s ‘go to’ professional to be convinced that they’re a great fit for the job. Conversely, some hiring managers tend to micromanage their recruiters, wanting more and more candidates, without appreciating quite how influential they themselves are for attracting them – if only they can direct their energies in the most useful way.
Here are some ideas for making your hiring managers and their teams useful:
Screen-record a short fireside chat with the manager and their team, talking about the new role and how it fits in their organization. Upload it to LinkedIn to create engaging content and attract more qualified candidates for very little work.
Get the hiring manager to make a short LinkedIn video about the job, and what they're like as a manager. Bonus points if they talk about how they’re developing based on feedback in their engagement scores!
Ask the hiring manager and the team to share the job on their professional networks, using EVP-aligned messaging about the role, the company, and the team
If you have a Brand Ambassador program, enroll the hiring manager or hiring team members in it, so they can be proactive about sharing company news, professional developments, team photos to show how they function – and the open job
Encourage the hiring manager to publicly celebrate their team or team wins where appropriate, (and if that's their management style)
Interact with the job posts made by the recruiter, hiring manager or a member of the team to drive better engagement from the LinkedIn algorithm.
All these things can bring additional value to the attraction phase of the recruiting process, and also add value to the recruiter’s communications (for example, use that same fireside chat in an In-Mail or a nurture campaign during the recruitment process).
These actions won’t take up much of a hiring manager’s time, but they’ll create:
Greater engagement with their jobs
Resources that can be used any time they recruit for that job
Higher candidate engagement through the recruitment process, resulting in better offer acceptance rates and higher new employee engagement
Increased brand influence
Speedier hiring.
And the best part? The hiring manager and their team can do all of these things in less than 20 minutes a week and with zero budget.
5. Nurture your talent communities
What is a talent community? In short, anyone showing an interest in your organization is your talent community, and they need nurturing in robust and meaningful ways. A talent community provides two-way communication and information sharing between recruiter, potential candidates, and sometimes current employees who act as brand ambassadors.
A talent community doesn’t form on its own. It needs to be created, nurtured and maintained, usually digitally, via social media, messaging and email newsletters. It’s your opportunity to build awareness and provide transparency into critical parts of the employee experience that applicants want to know about before they join your company, thereby avoiding late-stage withdrawals. And unsuccessful candidates receive short, nurturing emails that are consistent and useful.
At Qualtrics, we treat everyone as part of our talent community. We send a monthly global newsletter aligned to our EVP, and then segmented newsletters once a quarter to align with our focused areas of talent. We think this is best practice because it provides options for candidates to opt out, gives consistency, and ensures our EVP (and its Give and Get) are at the root of our relationship with the candidate.
6. Embrace automation to make candidate experience better…
Recruiters love to hold the reins for everything, but that can sometimes become too much, so AI and automation are your friends here. HR technology such as candidate relationship management systems (CRM) can help:
Identify and engage with passive, qualified candidates
Surface ‘good fit’ candidates for job opportunities
Screen suitable candidates
Track applicants with an applicant tracking system (ATS)
Update applicant status
Schedule interviews
Perform background checks
Keep in touch with talent communities
7.…but don’t lose the human touch
CRM systems can have so much automation that it’s easy to forget that, ultimately, you are dealing with real people. so, best practice is based on emphasizing the human experience:
Bring some humanity into the process
Everyone deserves basic courtesy. While most people accept a ‘thanks for applying’ to an initial application, once people have been through some interview rounds they deserve to be ‘courteously declined’. Providing feedback, suggestions for developing skills or experience, and/or an honest assessment of the candidate’s chances of being considered for another role, all make the process much more human.
Acknowledge every candidate
65% of people say they rarely, if ever, receive communication about their application status. Candidates with poor recruitment experiences are more likely to leave negative ratings on employer sites such as Glassdoor. Communicate personally and regularly with every applicant.
Keep the door open
Only around 25% of talent managers stay in touch with unsuccessful candidates. Yet a good CRM system can make much of this contact for you when all your candidates are added to it as a talent database.
How Qualtrics can help with your recruitment strategy
We know that candidate experience doesn’t just impact the quality of your recruitment strategy and hiring – it impacts your employer brand, the employee experience for those who get hired, and even organizational performance.
We’ll help you design and improve your candidate experience, to attract the best candidates and grow your talent pipeline, and tighten up processes around sourcing, recruiting, and interviewing talent – saving money.
You’ll receive insights into every candidate experience touchpoint that matters:
any stage of the candidate journey to see what went well and the actions you need to take to improve the experience
the data you need for every stage of the candidate’s experience, while making sure you’re not causing survey fatigue
total control over how often, when, and how your candidates are contacted, based on your preferences
We know that candidate experiences differ from role to role and organization to organization. That’s why Qualtrics® Candidate Experience Management Software is built to flex and contribute to any successful recruiting strategy.
SOURCE Qualtrics
Top 10 HR and People Analytics Themes of 2023
As we near the end of another successful year here at Insight222, we want to reflect on the top themes that have emerged in our content.
From data-driven insights to real-world examples, our team has worked meticulously to deliver informative and persuasive articles that aim to enhance the HR and people analytics function. And we have seen some exciting changes and advancements in the field this year.
So, without further ado, here are the top themes that have taken front stage in our content during 2023.
Psychological Safety in the Workplace
Psychological safety in the workplace has been proven time and time again that without it, a team cannot thrive. In fact, we like to think of it as the epitome of successful teams.
Therefore, it's no surprise that this theme carries over from last year. Some of our most popular blogs discuss measuring psychological safety in the workplace, understanding how organisational culture impacts it and exploring how companies like Microsoft are transforming their organisational culture to prioritise psychological safety and promote a positive work environment.
Behavioural Science in HR
(Source: People Analytics Trends 2021)
The integration of behavioural science into HR and people analytics practices has been gaining traction for the past few years, and this year was no exception. With the changing nature of skills and roles in HR, the need for understanding human behaviour and decision-making has become increasingly important in driving impactful business outcomes.
With this, our article on exploring the role of behavioural science in HR and how it can be leveraged to improve employee engagement, performance, and productivity was one of our most popular reads of 2023.
How AI is Changing the HR Landscape
No discussion about the future of work is complete without considering the role of artificial intelligence (AI).
(Source: The Impact of GPT and Generative AI Models on People Analytics (Interview with Andrew Marritt))
AI has been incorporated into HR for some time now. We have been using it to automate routine tasks, streamline recruitment processes and improve HR analytics. However, with the birth of generative AI models like Chat-GPT, it is an understatement to say that AI has revolutionised every aspect of HR. Better yet, it's safe to say that it has and will continue to revolutionise every business function within an organisation.
From utilising AI in people analytics to how it is transforming the HR landscape, our articles on the impact of Chat-GPT and generative AI models and how AI is changing HR analytics have been among the most popular reads of this year. And for good reason - with the potential to improve decision-making, streamline processes, and enhance employee experience, AI is a topic every HR and people analytics professional should pay attention to.
The Impact of Analytics on HR
Our Insight222 research has shown time and time again that organisations that invest in people analytics drive better business outcomes, which is why, this year, we continued to dig deeper into this topic by exploring the New Model for People Analytics.
With the rise of digital transformation and the increasing importance of data in driving strategic business decisions, our articles on using statistics to drive actionable outcomes, why people analytics is so important for HR, and how social capital can be measured have been highly sought-after reads.
Upskilling the HR Function and Building Data Literacy at Scale
Considering the previous points, it's understandable that upskilling the HR function and building data literacy at scale have emerged as key themes this year. To fully leverage the benefits of AI and data analytics, HR professionals must develop a strong understanding of data and how it can be used to drive strategic decision-making.
As such, in July, we released our research, Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale, which outlines the skills and competencies that HR professionals need to succeed in the digital age. It also highlights how HR leaders need to build an effective skill-based workforce planning capability.
(Source: Measuring the ROI of Employee Training and Development)
Interestingly, this research has also sparked discussions on who holds the responsibility for scaling data literacy across HR, which we explore in our article Who Holds the Responsibility for Scaling Data Literacy Across HR?
Measuring the ROI of Employee Development
Building upon the theme of upskilling and data literacy, it's important to also focus on measuring the ROI of employee development. As professionals in the HR sector, we know all too well that investing in employee training and development is crucial for an organisation's long-term success.
But with senior executives increasingly asking (and expecting) HR to demonstrate the value of these investments, our article on measuring the ROI of employee training and development has been one of the most popular reads this year.
Delivering Greater Value for the Business Through People Analytics
At its core, people analytics is about delivering greater value for the business. Our 2022 research, Impacting Business Value: Leading Companies in People Analytics, is a testament to this. Leading Companies (organisations that drive the most business impact through people analytics) have consistently shown better financial performance, higher employee engagement and retention rates, and overall greater success compared to their less data-driven counterparts.
This is why, in 2023, we have seen a surge of interest in articles on delivering greater value for the organisation with people analytics and the growing influence of people analytics in strategic business decisions.
And this trend will only continue as more and more organisations recognise the importance of incorporating data-driven insights into their decision-making processes.
Challenges to Building Data Literacy
If there is one thing we have identified as a common theme this year, it's the challenges of building data literacy within HR. From understanding the technical aspects of data analysis to gaining buy-in from senior leadership, organisations face various hurdles when trying to build a culture of data literacy.
(Source: Insight222 Research: Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale)
However, as we continue to uncover the value that analytics brings to HR and the business as a whole, these challenges will become easier to overcome. And with more resources and tools available to support data literacy efforts within organisations, we are confident that this theme will evolve in 2024.
Evolving the HR Practice
In all, as we wrap up another year, it's clear that people analytics and data-driven HR practices have become even more ingrained in our work. From the importance of psychological safety and behavioural science to the impact of AI, measuring ROI, and delivering greater value to the business - these are just a few key themes that have shaped our content this year.
However, as we move forward, HR professionals must continue developing their data literacy and upskilling themselves to drive the success of their organisations further.
To that end, we look forward to seeing how these themes will evolve and shape the future of HR in the coming years.
Manpreet RandhawaDecember 18, 2023
HR trends
2023年12月22日
HR trends
12 Opportunities for HR in 2024: From Support Function to Strategic Partner
This decade has been uniquely challenging to business with economic uncertainty, geopolitical tension, and the aftermath of the largest global pandemic for a century. But in the coming years, disruptions are likely to increase in frequency and severity (1). The business environment is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and often ambiguous (2). Coupled with rapid advances in technology, organisations are transforming at an unprecedented pace and frequency – from ‘episodic transformation’ toward ‘continuous transformation’ (3).
At the same time, companies are confronted with a series of organisational shifts that have significant implications for structures, processes, and people. These include complex questions around finding the optimal balance between in-person and remote work, building new organisational capabilities in the face of challenging workforce demographics and talent gaps, and focusing on developing a healthy, inclusive, and thriving company culture (4).
HR is the CEO's right-hand in enlightened organisations.
(Barbara Lavernos , Deputy CEO at L'Oreal (5)
HR’s journey from support function to strategic partner has accelerated in recent years. During the pandemic, the CHRO and the HR function became as important to the company as the CFO and the finance function were in the global financial crisis (6). The importance of the CHRO and the function they lead will likely continue as many of the most significant challenges facing organisations (see FIG 1) essentially have people elements at their core. The ability of CHROs to assume new responsibilities, drive transformation for the enterprise, and reinvent and upskill the HR function, and therefore meet these higher expectations, will be critical to organisational success (7, 8).
CHROs have the ability to drive a company’s growth and business outcomes by effectively using people strategy, data insights, and technology to the company’s advantage.
Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO at Cisco (9)
FIG 1:
For over a decade, I’ve published an annual set of predictions or trends that will shape work and HR for the upcoming year. For 2024, I want to frame these instead as ‘opportunities’ rather than ‘predictions’ – mainly because they will likely take more than a single year to play out. They are informed by the research and work we do at Insight222, interviews with guests on the Digital HR Leaders podcast, conversations with senior HR leaders, thinkers, and industry analysts, and market analysis. References are numbered throughout, and a comprehensive list is included at the end of the article.
Get involved – what should opportunities #11 and #12 be?
Readers may note that the title and accompanying image indicate 12 opportunities, whereas only ten are outlined. That is because – as was the case in the previous three years - I’m keen to crowdsource the final two opportunities from readers. What other opportunities should be included? Please let me know in the comments section below, and I’ll add my favourite two to an updated version in the New Year.
THE 2024 OPPORTUNITIES FOR HR
The first ten opportunities for HR to accelerate its journey from support function to strategic partner are set out below:
1. Prove the value of a fairer, healthier, and more humane organisation
One of HR’s key responsibilities as the steward of people and culture in the organisation (10) is to advocate for a ‘people, first’ approach. With record levels of burnout (11, 12, 13), deepening skills shortages (14), and raised employee expectations about work (15), HR has a pivotal role to play not only in hiring, developing, and retaining great talent, but fashioning the culture and environment to enable talent to perform and thrive. Putting wellbeing at the centre, developing an inclusive and equitable culture, personalising the employee experience, and listening and acting on the employee voice, are just four ways to deliver on this opportunity. Collectively, these initiatives are designed to reinforce the ‘H’ in HR and demonstrate that building a fairer, healthier, and more humane organisation isn’t just the ‘right thing’ to do for the workforce, but that it drives business success too (16). Indeed, research by firms including McKinsey, BCG and PwC (see FIG 2) finds that companies that provide a clear people advantage, who consistently invest in building and developing their human capital and imbue a compelling employee value proposition and experience are more resilient and enjoy better financial performance than their peers (17, 18, 19).
FIG 2:
2. Prepare the organisation and HR for the age of AI
While the hyperbole about generative AI has deepened HR’s engagement with AI (20, 21), research from Gartner finds that only 22% of HR leaders are highly engaged in enterprise-wide discussions on the topic (22). HR should seek to play a leading role as early studies find that AI doesn’t just boost operational performance and productivity (23) but can be used to build better organisations too (24). Four areas where HR should lobby to get involved – all while reinforcing the ‘H’ in HR - are (i) Aligning the workforce transformation that will be required due to AI in line with company strategy and vision (25). (ii) Leading on the development of responsible AI policies and enablement programs (26). (iii) Prioritising high-impact use cases for deploying AI across HR programs and the employee lifecycle (27, 28, 29, 30, FIG 3). (iv) Reimagining the work of key HR roles including the automation of repetitive tasks and increasing the focus on high-value strategic work (31, 32) (v) Building upskilling programs for leaders, managers, employees, and HR professionals. Research finds that if companies can activate the growth combination of data, technology, and people, they stand to gain a premium of up to 11% on top-line productivity. (33).
AI is the defining technology of our time, creating a massive paradigm that will transform the way we work with even greater impact than the introduction of the PC
Kathleen Hogan , Chief People Officer at Microsoft (34)
FIG 3
3. Redesign workplaces and work for the hybrid era
Since the pandemic, 90 percent of companies have embraced a range of hybrid work models (35) with most employees now working remotely over 25% of the time (36, FIG 4). Moreover, eight out of ten CHROs say they have no plans to decrease the amount of remote work in the next 12 months (37). Indeed, Nick Bloom predicts here that in the coming years remote work will experience a ‘swoosh effect’ due to the impact of technology as well as new firms and managers being more open to remote. (38, 39). The debate shouldn’t just be fixated on where people work, it should also provide an opportunity to test traditional assumptions about how work is done and whatwork even is (40). It’s likely that this transition will play out over many years (41), and will require experimentation, data collection and analysis, and iterative learning. This provides the opportunity for chief people officers – and their people analytics teams - to play a leading role in the redesign of work and workplaces for the hybrid era. Research is already being published on topics such as when in-person matters most (42, 43), how teams that are intentional about collaboration are more productive (44), and how to drive innovation through adaptive teaming (45). Hybrid is here to stay, so let’s make hybrid work!
FIG 4
4. Shift people analytics from insight to impact
As Isabel Naidoo, chief people officer at Wise, articulated at the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat in Colorado in September, 2023: “People Analytics is the fastest route to credibility for the chief people officer.” (46). Certainly, for HR to be a truly strategic business partner, it has to have an impactful people analytics function. Insight222's fourth annual People Analytics Trends study, (47) finds that the discipline continues to grow in importance and influence with 22% of people analytics leaders now reporting to the CHRO (compared to 13% in 2020). The challenge for many companies is to move people analytics from insight to impact (48, 49). Our research identified eight distinct characteristics (see FIG 5) that set Leading Companies apart from their peers and enable them to deliver value on a consistent basis. Chief people officers wanting to shift their people analytics team to an ‘A Team’ (see FIG 6) should focus on understanding their organisation’s most pressing business priorities and then align and prioritise people analytics activities that will support them. A capable and flourishing people analytics team eases the path towards a quantified organisation (50) and an evidence-based HR function (51) Certainly, people analytics is a foundational capability to helping HR progress and realise the opportunities outlined in this article.
People Analytics is the fastest route to credibility for the chief people officer
Isabel Naidoo, Chief People Officer at Wise (46)
FIG 5
FIG 6
5. Partner more effectively with Finance
Deploying financial capital and human capital together is the secret to the success of a talent-driven organisation (52). If HR seeks to become a truly strategic partner to the business, then it needs to have an effective partnership with finance not least because of increasing regulation about the disclosure of human capital information (53, 54). Research by Insight222 (55) finds that when it comes to delivering value with people analytics, a strong relationship with finance can make the difference. Of the 65 (out of 271 companies) surveyed who confirmed that they had built a partnership with finance, 99% reported that the people analytics team had delivered measurable outcomes over the last 12 months. In HR, we need to be better at building business cases for investment, and in quantifying the commercial value of what we do – just like other business functions. Building a strong and mutually beneficial partnership with finance – like Alan Susi at S&P Global (56) and Laura Wright Shubert at MetLife (57) have achieved – is a good place to start.
6. Build the skills-based organisation
Talent gaps and shortages represent the most pressing challenge that companies face (58), with three-quarters of CEOs being concerned about how the availability of key skills will impact on their growth strategies (59). These talent scarcity challenges will only be exacerbated by shrinking working populations – especially in the G7 economies (60) and rapid advances in technology meaning that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted by 2028 (61). This is leading to a shift from the traditional focus on jobs to one on skills (62) and the continued rollout of internal talent marketplaces (63, 64) with one study finding that 90% of companies are moving towards a skills-based approach (65). The effort to do so should not be underestimated with the same study finding that less than 20% are currently adopting skills-based approaches to a significant extent. While it is still early days, benefits cited by companies that have made this shift include (i) Standard Chartered unlocking productivity of $2.1m from a talent marketplace pilot in India (66, 67), (ii) IBM improving diversity through skills-based hiring (68), (iii) Unilever increasing productivity by 40% and significantly reducing attrition through its internal talent marketplace (69), and (iv) J&J democratising career development and mobility for its employees (70). The undoubted potential of skills-based approaches for hiring, learning, internal mobility, compensation, and workforce planning is tantalising, but it also makes it difficult for organisations to know where to start. HR can help by identifying a challenge in a specific business function and/or location, partnering with a senior business stakeholder and piloting a skills-based approach, starting to build a skills taxonomy, and then learning and iterating as you go.
As companies jostle to build a complete picture of what they need (for the future of work) and how to get there, we’re fast learning that the real currency is skills
Placid Jover, Chief Talent Officer at Unilever (71)
FIG 7
7. Make workforce planning strategic
The shift to skills, the pace and frequency of transformation, and rapid technological advances have all increased the urgency for organisations to become proficient in strategic workforce planning. It is now a top three challenge for people leaders (see FIG 8, 72). The availability of data-driven insights is altering the landscape with responsibility for SWP increasingly coming under the auspices of the people analytics team – this is the case in 50% of companies, based on 2023 research by Insight222 (73). This is driving the expansion from a pure focus on cost and operational based workforce planning to strategic and skills-based workforce planning (74, 75), which enables organisations to get a clearer view on future talent needs and how to close any gaps (76, 77). Steps for HR leaders to do this well include (i) Linking SWP to the business strategy (78). (ii) Joint ownership of SWP with the business and close collaboration with finance. (iii) Prioritising the most critical workforce segments. (iv) Focusing on skills as well as cost. (v) Combining HR, business, and external data to get a full picture (79). (vi) Measuring the impact of workforce planning activities and linking these to business outcomes. (80, 81)
FIG 8
8. Advance diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
The business case for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) continues to grow stronger. In a recent McKinsey study, leadership diversity is convincingly associated with company performance, societal impact, and employee experience (82, FIG 9). Moreover, research by Insight222 found that in 2023 – for the third successive year - DEIB is the area where people analytics is adding the most business value (83). These timely reminders of the value of DEIB are important in a year where the US Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action led to some companies rolling back on their DEIB initiatives (84, 85). As such, HR leaders have a critical role to play in advancing the DEIB agenda in their organisations, demonstrating that it isn’t just the right thing to do, but that is demanded by employees and leads to better business outcomes. People analytics can help in terms of enabling the organisation to measure outcomes and drive action (86), using advanced analytics to get deeper insights on belonging and inclusion, and supporting organisational moves to be more transparent – including providing data that forms the basis of annual DEIB reports e.g. Microsoft (87). Also, with demographics meaning that 150 million jobs will shift to older workers by the end of the decade (88), HR has an opportunity to ensure that their organisation is able to attract, develop and retain older workers, and enable them to thrive.
FIG 9
9. Empower and invest in people managers
75% of HR Leaders say that their managers are overwhelmed by the growth of their job responsibilities (89) while more than 50% of managers report feeling burned out (90). These concerning statistics are not surprising given that the role of the manager is being changed beyond recognition due to digitalisation, hybrid work and agile initiatives (91, 92). The pressure is exacerbated by companies cutting middle management roles in the current macroeconomic climate. Given that studies find that investing in people managers leads to better firm financial performance (93) and is key to realising the opportunities from AI (94), it’s time to better support and empower people managers. One way HR can do this is through democratising people data to help managers to be more productive, support decisions on hiring, promotion and pay, and equip them with insights to be more effective and human leaders. The benefit of successfully democratising people data to managers are vast, with one 2023 study calculating that in a 10,000 person organisation, this could amount to $400 million in cost savings, and almost $200 million in revenue expansion (95, 96). HR leaders can also support people managers through being more thoughtful about spans and layers, reimagining the role of the manager, implementing capability building programs, and prioritising manager experience and wellbeing (97).
10. Prioritise HR upskilling
If HR is to become a true strategic partner to the business and realise the opportunities from new operating models (98) then chief people officers need to prioritise efforts to upskill their HR professionals – particularly on topics such as business acumen, technology, and analytics (99). At Insight222, our HR in the Digital Age study identified nine skills for the future HR professional to be more data driven, experience led, and business focused (100, 101). Additionally, our 2023 study, Upskilling the HR Professional: Building Data Literacy as Scale, highlighted the critical role of the chief people officer and their direct reports in role-modelling the use of people data and analytics (102). With another study by Mercer finding that 41% of chief people officers wish they had had greater depth in people analytics prior to assuming their roles, there is clearly significant room for improvement (103). On a more positive note, 55% of companies now say they have a data driven culture in HR, which is up from 42% in 2021. 2024 is the year to improve this further, and from a data literacy perspective, Insight222 research highlights five skills (see FIG 10) that HR professionals need to develop (104). Moreover, the study also highlights that the investment required is between $600-$800 per person for an upskilling program (see example in FIG 11). Now is the time to invest in upskilling HR professionals.
FIG 10
FIG 11
References
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(21) Kate Bravery, Jesse Bramall, William Self, Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, Benjamin Hoster, and Christopher Lomas - Chief People Officer’s quick guide to generative artificial intelligence (Mercer, 2023)
(22) Whittle and Etheridge (see reference 14)
(23) Kathleen Hogan - What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work? (Microsoft Work Trends, 2023)
(24) Guggenberger et al, (see reference 2)
(25) Baier et al (see reference 1)
(26) Guru Sethupathy and David Green ?? - How to Ensure AI in HR is Fair, Effective and Explainable (myHRfuture, 2023)
(27) Bedard et al (see reference 8)
(28) Baier et al (see reference 1)
(29) Whittle and Etheridge (see reference 14)
(30) Andrew Marritt and David Green ?? - The Impact of GPT and Generative AI Models on People Analytics (myHRfuture, 2023)
(31) Bedard et al (see reference 8)
(32) Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, Helen White, Kate Bravery, Jason Averbook, and Todd Lambrugo – Generative AI will transform three key HR roles (Mercer, 2023)
(33) Shook et al (see reference 9)
(34) Kathleen Hogan - Microsoft’s Chief People Officer shares how AI will impact workers (Fast Company, 2023)
(35) Guggenberger et al, (see reference 2)
(36) Jose Maria Barrero, Nick Bloom, Shelby Buckman, and Steven J. Davis – SWAA December 2023 Updates (WFH Research, 2023)
(37) Ben Wigert, Ph.D, MBA, Jim Harter, and Sangeeta Agrawal - The Future of the Office Has Arrived: It's Hybrid (Gallup, 2023)
(38) Nicholas Bloom predicts a working-from-home Nike swoosh (The Economist, 2023)
(39) Nick Bloom and David Green ?? – Unmasking Common Myths around Remote Work (Digital HR Leaders Podcast, myHRfuture, 2023)
(40) Lynda Gratton – Redesigning How We Work (Harvard Business Review, 2023)
(41) Dean Carter - Top 3 insights I’m hearing now from HR leaders (Guild, 2023)
(42) Michael Arena - Moments that Matter: 3 Network Advantages of Being Face-to-Face (HR Exchange Network, 2023)
(43) Karen Kocher and Dawn Klinghoffer - In the Changing Role of the Office, It’s All about Moments That Matter (Microsoft Work Trends, 2023)
(44) Mary Baker , 4 Modes of Collaboration Are Key to Success in Hybrid Work (Gartner, 2021)
(45) Michael Arena - Effective Strategies for Intentional Collaboration in the New World of Work (HR Exchange Network, 2023)
(46) David Green ?? - Influencing the World of Work: Insights from The Insight222 Global Executive Retreat 2023 (myHRfuture, 2023)
(47) Jonathan Ferrar, Naomi Verghese, and Heidi Binder-Matsuo - Investing to Deliver Value: A New Model for People Analytics (Insight222, 2023)
(48) Thomas Hedegaard Rasmussen, Mike Ulrich, and Dave Ulrich - Moving People Analytics From Insight to Impact (Sage Journals, 2023)
(49) Patrick Coolen, Sjoerd van den Heuvel, PhD, Karina Van De Voorde, and Jaap Paauwe - Understanding the adoption and institutionalization of workforce analytics: A systematic literature review and research agenda (Human Resource Management Review, 2023)
(50) Arthur Mazor, Steve Hatfield, Philippe Burger, Simona Spelman, Nicole Scoble-Williams, and Robin Jones - Beyond Productivity: The journey to the quantified organization (Deloitte, 2023)
(51) Rob Briner - Aligning HR with the business through the evidence-based HR process (HRD Connect, 2023)
(52) Dominic Barton, Dennis Carey, and Ram Charan - An agenda for the talent-first CEO (McKinsey, 2018)
(53) Dave Ulrich - Human Capability Improvement and Reporting: How to Make Dramatic Progress (LinkedIn, 2023)
(54) Yves Van Durme and David Green ?? - How to Prepare Your HR Data for EU CSRD Reporting (Digital HR Leaders podcast, myHRfuture, 2023)
(55) Ferrar et al (see reference 47)
(56) Ferrar et al, S&P case study (see reference 47)
(57) Jonathan Ferrar and David Green ?? – Excellence in People Analytics, Case study with Laura Wright Shubert of MetLife (Kogan Page, 2021)
(58) Baier et al (see reference 1)
(59) Navigating the rising tide of uncertainty, PwC 23rd Annual Global CEO Survey (PwC, 2020)
(60) James Root, Andrew Schwedel, Mike Haslett, and Nicole Bitler Kuehnle - Better with Age: The Rising Importance of Older Workers (Bain & Company, 2023)
(61) Attilio Di Battista, Sam Grayling, Elselot Hasselaar, Till Alexander Leopold, Ricky LI, Mark Rayner and Saadia Zahidi – The Future of Jobs Report 2023 (World Economic Forum, 2023)
(62) Josh Bersin - Introducing The Systemic HR™ Initiative (The Josh Bersin Company, 2023)
(63) Bo Cowgill, Jonathan Davis, Pablo Montagnes, Patryk Perkowski and Bettina Hammer - How to Design an Internal Talent Marketplace (Harvard Business Review, 2023)
(64) Jeff Schwartz, Jeroen Wels, and David Green ?? - Navigating the Talent Marketplace of the Future (Digital HR Leaders podcast, Gloat, myHRfuture, 2023)
(65) Susan Cantrell, Michael Griffiths, Robin Jones, and Julie Hiipakka - The skills-based organization: A new operating model for work and the workforce (Deloitte, 2022)
(66) Tanuj Kapilashrami - Investing for a resilient and inclusive future of work (LinkedIn, 2022)
(67) Tanuj Kapilashrami and David Green ?? - How Standard Chartered is Unlocking the Power of Skills in the Workplace (Digital HR Leaders podcast, myHRfuture, 2023)
(68) Jane Thier - Generative AI is the major turning point in skills-first hiring, says former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty: ‘People are afraid of what their jobs are going to look like’ (Yahoo Finance, 2023)
(69) Placid Jover – The Future of Work is Flexible (2023)
(70) Christina Norris-Watts, Doug Shagam, and David Green ?? - How Johnson & Johnson are Scaling Their Skills-Based Approach to Talent (Digital HR Leaders podcast, myHRfuture, 2023)
(71) Jover (see reference 69)
(72) Baier et al (see reference 1)
(73) Ferrar et al (see reference 47)
(74) Alicia Roach – The Evolution of SWP (LinkedIn, 2023)
(75) Simmi Mehta, Kevin Moss, and Dhruv Patel - Meet business outcomes by evolving to strategic workforce planning (Deloitte, 2023)
(76) Alex Browne and David Green ?? - Nestlé's 4B Methodology to Strategic Workforce Planning (Digital HR Leaders podcast, myHRfuture, 2023)
(77) Laura Wright Shubert and David Green ?? - How MetLife Made a Success of their Strategic Workforce Planning (Digital HR Leaders podcast, myHRfuture, 2022)
(78) Alicia Roach and Chris Hare - How to Democratise Strategic Workforce Planning (Digital HR Leaders podcast, eQ8, myHRfuture, 2022)
(79) Jeroen Van Hautte ? - How unlocking skills lies in capturing business data (TechWolf, 2023)
(80) Jonathan Ferrar - How to Build a Workforce Planning Strategy that Delivers Business Value (myHRfuture, 2021)
(81) Ian Bailie and Caroline Styr – A New Playbook for Workforce Planning (Insight222, 2021)
(82) Dame Vivian Hunt, Sundiatu Dixon-Fyle, Celia Huber, Maria del Mar Martinez, Sara Prince, and Ashley Thomas - Diversity matters even more: The case for holistic impact (McKinsey, 2023)
(83) Ferrar et al (see reference 47)
(84) Paul Rubenstein - Prioritizing DEI Is the Secret to Future-Proofing Your Business (Entrepreneur, 2023)
(85) Lily Zheng - How to Effectively — and Legally — Use Racial Data for DEI (Harvard Business Review, 2023)
(86) Lily Zheng - To Make Lasting Progress on DEI, Measure Outcomes (Harvard Business Review, 2023)
(87) Lindsay-Rae McIntyre - Microsoft’s 2023 Diversity and Inclusion Report: A decade of transparency, commitment and progress (Microsoft, 2023)
(88) Root et al (see reference 60)
(89) Whittle and Etheridge (see reference 14)
(90) Dawn Klinghoffer and Katie Kirkpatrick-Husk PhD - More Than 50% of Managers Feel Burned Out (Harvard Business Review, 2023)
(91) Diane Gherson and Lynda Gratton - Managers Can’t Do It All (Harvard Business Review, 2022)
(92) Stacia Sherman Garr and Priyanka Mehrotra - What’s Holding Back Manager Effectiveness, and How to Fix It (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2023)
(93) Emily Field, Bryan Hancock, Stephanie Smallets, Ph.D., and Brooke Weddle - Investing in People Managers pays off literally (McKinsey, 2023)
(94) Emily Field , Bryan Hancock, Ruth Imose, PhD, and Lareina Yee - Middle managers hold the key to unlock generative AI (McKinsey, 2023)
(95) Lexy Martin - Unlocking Manager Effectiveness: The Next Driver of Value (Visier, 2023)
(96) Lexy Martin and David Green ?? - How to Democratise Data for People Manager Effectiveness (Digital HR Leaders podcast, myHRfuture, 2023)
(97) Bill Schaninger, Ph.D., Bryan Hancock, and Emily Field – Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Key to the Future of Work (Harvard Business Review Press, 2023)
(98) Sandra Durth, Neel Gandhi, Asmus Komm, and Florian Pollner – HR’s new operating model (McKinsey, 2022)
(99) Dave Ulrich, Joe Grochowski, Norm Smallwood, and Joseph Hanson - What Makes an Effective HR Function? (The RBL Group, 2023)
(100) Manpreet Randhawa - 9 Skills HR Professionals Need to Succeed in the Digital Age (myHRfuture, 2023)
(101) Caroline Styr and Ian Bailie - HR in the Digital Age (Insight222, 2021)
(102) Naomi Verghese and Jonathan Ferrar - Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale (Insight222, 2023)
(103) Gordin et al (see reference 7)
(104) Verghese and Ferrar (see reference 99)
A selection of other 2024 HR predictions and trends
There are a plethora of other resources documenting predictions and trends for HR and the future of work in 2024 including:
Gartner - Top 5 HR Trends and Priorities for 2024
Visier Inc. - 10 Workforce trends for 2024: The New Rules of HR
Mercer – 2024 Global Talent Trends
McKinsey - What matters most? Eight CEO priorities for 2024
Ken Oehler – RADICL People Predictions for 2024
Damon Klotz and Didier Elzinga - 7 trends that will define HR in 2024
Dr. Solange Charas and Stela Lupushor - HR and Workforce Trends Predictions for 2024
Dan Schawbel - 10 Predictions for 2024 from a World-of-Work Expert
Joelle Emerson - New Data: 2023 DEI Trends & 2024 Opportunities
Francesca Di Meglio - 8 HR Trends for 2024
LinkedIn News - 34 Big Ideas that will change our world in 2024
__________________________________________________________________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Green ?? is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 90 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value was published in the summer of 2021.
HR trends
2023年12月14日
HR trends
Anita Lettink Challenges HR Norms: Adapting to the Unpredictable Work Landscape of 2024ANITA LETTINK：Why I'm not writing 2024 HR trends
Anita Lettink, in her newsletter, discusses why she is not writing the 2024 HR trends. She emphasizes the importance of a dynamic, continuous strategy over annual predictions in HR. The article reflects on the evolving nature of work and the need for a fluid, adaptable approach. Lettink argues that understanding and navigating HR challenges require responsiveness to rapid changes in technology, economics, and workforce dynamics. She introduces the 2024 HR challenge, encouraging HR professionals to maximize the use of their HR solutions and focus on making incremental changes to better support their workforce.
推荐给大家；
Hey future of work friends,
I probably find you during budgeting and planning time. For me, it’s the end of conference season. I did my final keynote on the New Employee Experience at Indeed FutureWorks last week. And now I am back home, and will use December to read everything I bookmarked to surprise you with new keynotes and articles next year. I’ll also write my annual HR Tech Startup report.
And if you’d like an in-company webinar on what to expect from AI in HR or how to prepare for Equal Pay please reach out - I’ve got you covered!
Thinking about the Future of Work is important. And yes, you’d already assumed I would say that. I've spent years analyzing trends at the intersection of economics, business, technology, and human resources. Each year, I've distilled these insights into trend articles, aiming to forecast the year ahead. However, I've realized that our rapidly evolving world demands a different approach. In this newsletter, I'll share why I've moved away from annual trend predictions and why we need a more dynamic, continuous strategy in understanding and navigating HR challenges. I'll explore how embracing a fluid, responsive stance can better equip us to handle HR (tech) developments.
Why I am not writing 2024 HR trends
I've always been deeply invested in keeping a finger on the pulse of our industry. For years, it was a tradition of mine to sit down at the end of each year and write an article on emerging trends in Human Resources, based on my analysis of developments in economics, business, technology, and HR. I wrote them to reflect on the past year and help you - and me - prepare for the next.
I stopped this tradition. And if you wonder why, it's not for a lack of trends or changes in the industry—far from it. The HR landscape is as dynamic as ever, perhaps even more so. But I've realized that these annual trend articles, while insightful, may not be as beneficial as I once thought. Sure, they give a nice overview of what’s happening and what might happen, but you can’t run after every trend. And most years there were way too many of them.
The world of work is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and the tools and strategies that were groundbreaking a year ago might now be outdated. In this fast-paced environment, I believe that what we need isn't annual predictions but a continuous, adaptable approach to understanding and navigating HR challenges. When you want to provide a stable environment for employees and your company, thoughtful, strategic adjustments might be much more impactful.
So, instead of offering predictions, I'm taking a different path. I want to share with you the reasons behind this shift in my thinking and why I believe it's crucial for all of us in HR to adopt a more fluid, responsive stance towards industry trends.
Embracing a fluid approach
This change was sparked by several realizations. Firstly, the very nature of HR is fundamentally about people, and people are inherently unpredictable. People also like stability. And while trends can give us a broad outline, they can't capture the nuanced, often sudden shifts in employee needs, workplace dynamics, and organizational cultures. We all remember the start of the pandemic, when we put everything aside to make sure that employees could work safely, and where possible, from home. And while we might think this was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, we also know the world has become more unpredictable, and we should be ready to deal with similar sudden events.
And that means we should think more in terms of how we can offer a stable base that can handle these sudden shifts. That also means we should not be so quick in dividing work in “the past” and “the future”. While some people argue you should only look at the future of work, I believe we should take a much more nuanced approach.
As example, the picture above: it’s often used to show the past and the future of work. In my thinking, both sides represent the future. It’s not either/or, it’s and/and. And when I speak about the New Employee Experience, I use it to encourage HR professionals to cast a wide net: how can you offer all work options, so you appeal to a larger section of the workforce? It’s not about discarding the past and looking at the future. It’s embracing both where you can. Some people like the 9-5 day, working from an office. Some people find profit more important than purpose. It’s about offering a wide range of choices, to attract and retain people in a time when the labor market is tight. That’s especially important when you work in the Global North, and a next major shift is upon us: a shrinking workforce due to demographics in combination with the lack of skilled workers.
How useful are predictions anyway?
Secondly, I noticed a pattern over the years. Many of the trends I predicted would either rapidly evolve or be overtaken by entirely new developments before the year was out. Just look at Generative AI: at the end of last year, no one predicted that this would be the main topic of 2023. This rapid (r)evolution made me question the usefulness of annual predictions: why do we write them only at the end of the year? In a world where change is the only constant, static yearly forecasts seem almost counterintuitive. How can we even begin to predict what is coming, when recent events put everything we know upside down?
And lastly, I also started to wonder if focusing too heavily on future trends might pull us away from the present. When we always look ahead, we might miss crucial opportunities to address current issues effectively or fail to build on the strengths we already have. It can sometimes cause us to miss out on addressing the immediate needs and challenges facing our employees and organizations.
By constantly chasing what might be ahead or new, we risk not fully leveraging the strengths and successes we currently possess. It's vital to strike a balance between preparing for future changes and optimizing our current practices. This way, we can ensure that our efforts are not only geared towards what the 'future of work' might look like but are enhancing today’s HR strengths, thereby creating a more holistic and effective HR strategy.
2024 Challenge
And to illustrate the above with a practical example, let me ask you this: what percentage of your HR solution do you actually use? I am not asking for an exact number, just an estimated guess. When you look at its current functionality, do you use all of it? Half? Maybe even less?
When you close a contract for an HR cloud solution, the vendor will not only maintain the solution in its current state, but also improve it over time. And the fee you pay covers all those new features and functionalities. That means you get more bang for your buck. But if you don’t activate any of these features, then the vendor is wasting development capacity, and you are paying for something you will never see. Would you consider that good use?
And the problem isn't just the use; you will also miss out on the potential to support your workers better and change your workplace. Every unused feature in your HR solution is a lost chance to improve employee engagement, streamline processes, or uncover people insights.
So, here’s my 2024 HR challenge for you:
1. Guess: How much of your HR solution do you use today?
2. Pick one unused feature in your HR solution, explore it, and make it available!
Try to make a gradual change every month. Repeat that during the first six months of 2024 and then evaluate your success or learn from your mistakes! And don’t forget to tag me with the results! Instead of focusing on yet another 2024 HR trend, let’s make sure that we first use our HR solution to the fullest, one feature at a time. I think this will be more helpful to your organization than you might think.
Let’s continue the conversation
I don’t want to leave you with the impression that looking forward isn't important. On the contrary, it's crucial. If only for the reason that what we build today will affect our future workforce the most. But we should do it with the understanding that HR is less about predicting the future and more about creating it through proactive, ongoing engagement with our workforce, our company, and the world around us. To maybe not take giant leaps but make incremental changes that benefit the people we work with most. People are tired of constant change. However, we can draw inspiration from social media tools - by implementing small, gradual improvements, we can consistently enhance the experience, allowing people to smoothly adapt to these changes over time.
This shift is not just about how we talk about HR trends; it's about how we do HR. It's a move towards a more dynamic, responsive, and collaborative approach that recognizes the complexity and fluidity of our work. It's about creating a living dialogue that evolves with our ever-changing environment.
We must talk about the future. But it shouldn’t be confined to the end of the year. There is no reason for such a hard cut. I look forward to engaging with you, in continuous conversations about what we're seeing, doing, and expecting in real-time. This approach, I believe, will not only keep us more connected to the immediate needs of our organizations but also better prepared to adapt to whatever the future holds.
While I don’t write HR trend articles anymore, my commitment to helping you understand and make sense of the future of work is as strong as ever. I will keep you posted on the latest developments as I see them. I will continue to write this newsletter about my observations on how we can improve work with the help of technology, especially new tech.
Good luck with planning the year ahead. And let me know if you would have preferred a list of 2024 HR trends,
Have a great day, Anita
What’s next for compensation?
Pete Tiliakos, Anke Mogannam and I participated in an online #WDAYChats. We shared insights and POV’s on modern payroll operations and how payroll leaders can help their organizations minimize cost and accelerate innovation.
Decusoft asked me how companies can prepare for pay transparency and equal pay. You can find my answers here.
Indeed asked people if money really makes them happy. Find the surprising answers, an interview with yours tryly and more compensation charts in this insightful Dutch report: De toekomst van compensatie.
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