The Future of HR: Is There One?

Happy New Year to all my Readers, and welcome to my first Blog of the year. May 2024 bring peace and harmony to the world, and happiness, health and prosperity to you and your loved ones. 

I have been giving a lot of thought recently to the future of HR, seriously questioning whether or not there is indeed a future for HR as we know it. This is against the backdrop of a rapidly changing global business landscape. My assessment and conclusions to this conundrum follow.

There is no doubt that the conventional role of HR has forever changed as it seeks to get into quick step with the ever-changing global business landscape.

Much has been spoken about AI over the past two to three years. Artificial Intelligence is the present and future global HR trend and its presence will be even more widespread. AI’s integration into HR is inevitable and undeniable.

The future is, however, unlikely to see ‘HR Robots’ replacing human HR professionals.

Rather, the paradigm shift will see the reallocation of HR administrative tasks towards AI, thus freeing up HR professionals to focus on strategy and other value-added activities and becoming, in every sense of the word, a strategic business partner within their respective organisations.

In short, AI will not replace human resources, it will augment human resources.

In this context, it is perhaps not surprising that ‘leader and management development’ tops the list of priorities for HR leaders in 2024. This is according to Gartner’s annual HR Priorities survey. Other HR priorities for 2024 include organisational culture, HR technology, change management, career management, and internal mobility. 

Another focus for 2024 will be the integration of freelance, or gig workers, with on-roll employees and ensuring both categories of employees are engaged, motivated, and productive.

As the HR landscape evolves, companies will need to become far more agile and responsive. Strategies for the future will include engaging employees more efficiently, fostering regular virtual interactions for remote/gig employees, providing training, upskilling, and career development opportunities, and ensuring regular monitoring of employee mental health.

The future of HR will demand that companies not only embrace diversity but also authentically cultivate inclusive and equitable workplace environments. HR professionals will, more than ever before, be expected to implement policies designed to prevent workplace discrimination, ensure equitable pay and benefit structures, and provide equal growth and continuous learning opportunities for all employees.

Workplaces of the future will see HR professionals assuming the role and responsibility of culture cultivators, advocates for innovation, and strategic partners in driving business success.

The HR professional of the future will place AI, organisational culture, continuous learning, internal mobility, diversity, inclusiveness, collaboration, and mental health front and centre on the agenda of the organization’s strategic balanced scorecard. 

The ‘HR’ of the future will require HR professionals to be strategically and analytically minded, coupled with a high degree of business acumen and demonstrative leadership qualities. This will ensure the HR professionals of the future assume their rightful places in C-suites around the world and will go a long way in ensuring the future of HR. 

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