How HR Practitioners' Roles Have Evolved In The New Economy
In the past, human resource (HR) was often viewed as a support function for many organisations. Its main function was merely recruitment. However, many HR practitioners saw rapid changes over the past few years due to several factors that continue to redefine and realign HR and its role in an organisation. These elements are globalisation, digitisation, tougher competitions and above all, the shift from an industrial-based to a knowledge-based economy.
Historically, when HR profession first emerged, its main function was driven by the industrial era where people were sought after for their manpower or as resources. Workers were hired into an organisation to fulfil and execute a specific task at the lowest cost with the least risks and as fast as possible. HR practitioner’s success was determined by the number of personnel they brought into the company with very little time spent on conducting background checks as the skills possessed by these candidates back then were mostly interchangeable.
However, times have changed and knowledge is now recognised as the push-factor for economic growth and higher productivity. Organisations today seek competitive advantages achieved through innovation rather than tangible, large amount of resources. Innovation is the critical enabler that results in the accelerated growth of a company. More importantly, the speed of innovation determines the company’s competitiveness in the market and hence is also one of the main differences between the industrial and knowledge-based economies.
Commonly known as “speed to market (STM)”, the speed to innovation is important because much like you, competitors are investing equally or even more in innovating their products and services. If you delay monetising your idea, chances are that, you will be put behind in the race track. Why else would you think that big competitive brands such as Apple and Samsung are releasing new products every couple of months? Companies are now looking for innovators that can push forward the growth of the company faster, rather than fulfilling a set of pre-defined requirements.
Such competitive environment and the demand for creative ideation push HR practitioners to take recruitment to a whole new level where they need to uncover “superstar” candidates who possessed such desired skills. In addition, HR today is also tasked to work at retaining such talents and to motivate these talents further, harnessing their skills for the growth of the company. Apart from recruitment, HR is now seen as a strategic advisor, often sharing a seat at the management table. It is no longer about filling the headcounts but about sourcing the right talents who are not only good in their job but fit right into the organisation culture and possess the potential to take on bigger roles in the future.
Concurrently, HR is taking on additional responsibilities brought on by the changes in the economic conditions of the 21st century. They are the gatekeepers of employee benefits such as insurance and pensions, managers of employee-related policies, assisting litigation and compliance laws related to the employees, controller of disciplinary sessions, performance appraisals and pay awards. With such large amount of responsibilities comes new challenges such as the difficulty in multitasking, identifying, managing and retaining the “superstars”, allocating time to deliver results in all aspects and constantly be on track in new technological HR improvement.
To help you navigate through such challenges, consider adapting the following strategies:
Establish growth and development programs – Once you have recruited your talent, develop programs that will help increase their knowledge-skills. Encourage them to “think-out-of-the-box” through intensive training programs and seminars.
Retention programs – “Superstars” are naturally very high in demand; therefore, to retain these talents, you’ll need to know what motivates them to remain in your company and how else you can empower them to unleash their creativity.
Train senior executives – Senior executives may tend to be more traditional in their ways. They need to learn to manage these new “superstars” and HR is in the best position to conduct such trainings, bringing awareness to the new change across all levels.
Outsource non-core HR functions – HR practitioners should start outsourcing non-core administrative tasks. With that, HR is able to focus more on strategic planning that could help the company’s growth.
Embrace new technology – Take initiatives to learn new ways to improve your core functions by using tools such as Google Apps for Work (G Suite), a comprehensive suite that can help HR perform their core functions in a practical and efficient manner. This includes functions such as Hiring, Training and Development, Employee Engagement, Performance Management and Safety and Compliance.
Ultimately, the role of HR needs to be in line with the needs of this ever-changing economic landscape. HR is slowly distinguishing itself from its core recruitment roles to making more critical decisions as a strategic partner to facilitate the growth of organisations. There is a need for HR to become more adaptable, resilient and talent-oriented. Change is inevitable and those who embrace this shift will have infinite opportunities while those who do not will soon be left behind.