This is the new HR, it's all of us, all the time. It used to be a person at a desk, but in 2023 it is so much more! HR is the part of a business in charge of the very core, the people who live and breathe and accomplish what any business promises. Thanks to helpful technology, HR is always on, always present and in tune with what's going on in the workforce (and it’s people).
In short, HR needs to be close to the people.
The conversation around what HR should, and should not be, seems to be shifting. Before the pandemic, conversations around HRs role often circled around “getting a seat at the table”, being a “reliable business partner” and really proving the very reason of its existence in monetary terms. A natural reaction to years and years of chairs in a boardroom looking down their noses at HR and viewing Human Resources as a cost, rather than a resource.
Then of course the pandemic hit, and every business was affected in different ways. A general theme that seemed to crystallise, was that employers started to see what their business looked like without the people. Without the physical meetings and the jokes in the lunchroom, and I imagine, some employers felt a sense of losing control of their business.
As the world slowly crawled back to something closer to normal, a number of new challenges emerged. Some employees didn't want to go back to the office. Once thriving areas of cities now appear as ghost towns, and some businesses simply quit having an office all together.
Through all of this turmoil, one thing appears to have happened across a number of businesses. The Human Resources Department truly proved their value! Whether it be handling massive layoffs, the shift to working from home, or recruitment without physically meeting candidates, the men and women of the HR world pulled it off!
As we enter 2023 we see trends emerging in the workforce where employees distance themselves from their employers. Quiet quitting is one of them, where employees will do the minimum of what's required to collect their paychecks, but have their hearts and minds elsewhere. Another trend large enough to have its own name coined for it is “The Great Resignation”. Where a lot of people simply quit working. The unemployment rate in developed countries is at a historical low. Which sounds like a good thing, but these numbers could also mean that a great deal of people who were previously employed, simply don't want to work anymore. The unemployment rate won't reflect this, as these people are not looking for work, and hence, not registered as unemployed. Now, inflation and rising living costs is expected to change these numbers in the near future, but all of this has unveiled a need for employers to know more about how their employees are feeling.
"This is what we call “The New HR”, an employer who is in tune with the needs of their employees, who can provide an employee experience that keeps people engaged and productive in their jobs."
And who is better positioned to have their finger on the pulse of the workforce than the people of the HR world? This is where we see HR heading. With less of a need to prove their worth (the past few years silenced any doubt), the HR department is rekindling their focus on employee experience and wellness. This might sound fluffy, but the amount of vacant positions in a lot of industries at the moment leaves employees with an array of options and employers needing to start competing to keep their people happy. In short, HR needs to be close to the people.
This is what we call “The New HR”, an employer who is in tune with the needs of their employees, who can provide an employee experience that keeps people engaged and productive in their jobs. It is by no means an easy job, but our interpretation of the tea leaves seems to be pointing in this direction. HR’s primary delivery should be a closeness to the employees, and helpful guidance to both employee and employer of how to better the relationship.
Now, why are we in Huma talking about this? Because we see the HR-people as our people. We believe in the value of staying close and being our entire selves on the job. This new focus will undoubtedly take time to cement, and it will be taxing on the HR department to deal with in addition to all their other tasks. That's where we see our contribution coming in! With a proper HR-system to support your people-persons in their jobs, they can focus their time on the most important part, which is staying close to the employees, and bringing them in as an active part of HR-processes. Don’t waste the time of your HR department with having them maintain old systems. Let the employees be in charge of their own data, it creates trust, better quality data and frees up the hands of the HR department to focus on what really matters. You are likely to spend about one third of your life at work. Make sure you don´t waste it.
