Traditional industries are being disrupted, economies are facing headwinds and workplaces are evolving rapidly.
These are just some of the many factors affecting human resources management and the time-proven practices of recruitment, performance management and workplace training. To better prepare for these challenges, human resource (HR) managers can strengthen their expertise with a Master of Human Resources Management (MHRM).
Here are five challenges human resource management is facing that HR managers should be preparing for today.
Government regulations
Human resources management practices around the world are regulated by government legislation that outlines fair practices for both businesses and employees. In Australia, all businesses and human resources managers must heed commonwealth legislation that includes (but is not limited to):
- Fair Work Act 2009
- Racial Discrimination Act 1975; and
- Sex Discrimination Act 1984
However, despite the existence of this legislation, a Fair Work Commission and a Fair Work Ombudsman, mistakes are still being made.
One of Australia’s biggest single employers, Woolworths, recently revealed that they had been underpaying employees.
They had short-changed workers employed under awards that are protected by the Fair Work Act.
Woolworth’s misdeeds came hot on the heels of a smorgasbord of underpayment cases in restaurants and the hospitality industry. Before that, there were more underpayments at Coles, McDonald’s and KFC.
With such large organisations failing on just one aspect of government regulations, we can expect individuals and organisations to be paying closer attention to these and other regulations in the future.
Economic growth
While international economies are experiencing negative economic growth – that is, the value of the goods and services they produce is decreasing – Australia’s economic growth is being measured in fractions of a per cent.
This doesn’t mean those individual organisations can’t turn a profit, but it does put more pressure to perform on every business function. Human resource management is one area of business that has a number of levers to pull that can improve economic growth.
The process of strategic human resources management integrates business strategy and human resource management to achieve economic goals. It’s something that’s been identified as a capability gap across the Australian Public Service (APS) – which includes Treasury, the Australian Tax Office and several government departments.
To address this gap, the APS has introduced a human resources profession stream, similar to practices in the UK, New Zealand and Singapore. This involves the development of an HR professional network and an HR workforce strategy for the APS.
Outside of the APS, businesses are increasingly looking to human resources management for economic advantages from recruitment, performance management and workplace training. As economic growth becomes more challenging to achieve, strategic human resource management will play an essential role in the success of a business.
Social issues
There are many social issues that arise in workplaces, such as:
- gender inequality
- racial inequality
- wage inequality
- sexual harassment; and
- occupational stress.
In addition to affecting employees and becoming a factor that affects human resource management, these issues can also have a personal and direct impact on those in the human resource management team.
Of all the social issues, gender inequality is one of the most significant challenges facing employees in Australia, with no change in the 20.8 per cent pay gap over the past year.
This stagnation comes despite around three-quarters of businesses implementing a gender equality strategy or policy. Unfortunately, less than a third of businesses are scrutinising those policies.
Governments are now starting to take action on gender inequality. Meanwhile, Football Federation Australia made international headlines by confirming equal pay for both male and female national teams.
Human resource managers can also play a role in closing the gender pay gap with a deeper awareness of issues in diversity and contemporary strategic human resource management. You can achieve this by upgrading your qualifications with a Master of Human Resources Management (MHRM).
Employee engagement
Employee engagement has been described as the holy grail of employers, but there’s a wide range of definitions to explain what it actually is. It’s often reduced down to discretionary effort – that little bit of extra care and attention that employees choose to put into their work. This is what can lead to more satisfied customers, lower expenses and improved outcomes all round.
The challenge for human resource management is that the attitudes of individual employees are usually influenced by those working with and around them, not by someone from human resources. Instead, employee engagement can be improved by human resource managers through better recruitment and workplace training.
For example, transformational leadership is a leadership style that encourages interpersonal communication – something that creates a high involvement workplace and a strong, healthy culture.
By hiring managers with transformational leadership skills or providing training in transformational leadership, human resource management can play a critical role in improving employee engagement.
Technology advancements
Until recently, the great advancement in technology for human resource management was HR management software. These computer applications store information about individual employees, their goals, training and many other data points. However, while HR management software has revolutionised some human resource management practices, there are some new technology advancements to look out for.
Data security was once as simple as locking the filing cabinet – and maybe the office door for added security. When things went digital, network security protected with an impenetrable, invisible ring around the office.
Now human resources management data is likely to be stored in the cloud and accessed from multiple locations by laptops, tablets and phones. Data security is now a factor affecting human resources management as Sony found out in 2014 when hackers stole 38 million files – including the personal information of employees.
Another technology advancement that will affect human resources management is AI or Artificial Intelligence. Data science advisors to the Australian Government, Data61, have developed a roadmap for key areas of AI specialisation in healthcare, urban development and natural resource management.
Unlike the doomsayers who predict job losses from AI, Data61 predict that AI will change what work looks like, but it will create jobs rather than destroying them.
Once the domain of the information technology department, human resource managers must be aware of these and other technology advancements. With a Master of Human Resources Management (MHRM), you can ensure you’re ready to manage these challenges for reduced risk and increased competitive advantage.
Learn more about our online Master of Human Resources Management. Get in touch with our Enrolment team on 1300 701 171.
Eric Friedman is the Founder and CEO of eSkill, a global leader in skills testing and behavioral assessment solutions for employers.
Getty
Human resources (HR) professionals are facing more challenges than at any other time in history. A global health crisis, layoffs, mental health crises, social unrest and an economic downturn are just a few of the key issues keeping HR professionals up at night. Unfortunately, it appears that this disruptive period of workplace change will continue into 2021. This means organizations must carefully consider the implications of the top five HR challenges of 2021 as they begin prototyping new workforce models.
1. Quelling Employee Duress During A Time Of Uncertainty
"Keeping the workforce connected remotely was sustainable for a period of time, but it is harder as it goes on," Hilton CHRO Matthew Schuyler recently told CNBC. In June, the global hospitality company laid off 22% of its corporate employees. Hilton is not alone. Experts project that as many as 42% of pandemic-related job losses are "gone for good."
For some workers, the combination of socially-isolating remote work and a lack of job security has turned the seemingly never-ending health crisis into a mental health crisis. Top public health specialists published an article in the British Medical Journal warning that "the mental health impact of the pandemic is likely to last much longer than the physical health impact."
To quell duress during this time of uncertainty, HR leaders must take concrete steps to actively engage employees, foster social interaction, provide additional mental health benefits and support and remain transparent about the possibility of layoffs.
2. Conducting Objective And Legally Defensible Layoffs
The U.S. economy saw unemployment seesaw from a historic low of 3.5% to a historic high of 14.7% and down to 6.7% in a matter of months. HR professionals know this reality all too well. Unfortunately, workforce downsizing is now a default response to a very uncertain future.
Laying off employees is one of the hardest tasks HR leaders face amid the economic downturn. Layoffs are a significant blow to company morale. However, in today's volatile business landscape marked by tumultuous markets, intense competition and rapid advances in technology, shedding workers may be required to keep a company afloat.
When downsizing is necessary, HR leaders must properly plan, manage and implement fair and consistent processes. Organizations can develop an equitable and transparent process for determining who stays and who goes using skills assessment tests to quantify employees' job-relevant skills and behavioral assessment tests to evaluate cultural fit. When clearly-defined and measurable criteria are used to make layoff decisions, this skill-based approach to downsizing is objective and legally defensible.
3. Delivering On Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Promises
In the wake of recent police brutality and amid a pandemic that is disproportionally impacting people of color, calls for social justice reached the C-suite. Throughout the summer of 2020, organizations declared their commitment to diversity and equitable treatment of all employees. The challenge for many HR professionals now is moving from promises to concrete diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
As business leaders advance in their resolutions to promote DEI, they must consider how they can leverage tech-driven HR tools such as pre-employment testing and behavioral assessment tests to build a more inclusive and equitable workplace. In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, organizations have adopted new technologies at an accelerated pace. Today's rapid digital transformation provides HR leaders with a unique opportunity to blend tech-powered solutions with a human-centric approach toward creating a more equitable workplace. For example, skills assessment testing platforms provide the framework for organizations to leverage an objective and unbiased method of evaluating talent.
Automated skills assessment testing platforms identify qualified talent based on verified skill sets and traits that determine success in those roles. By side-stepping subjective criteria for job-fit, organizations can make employment decisions based solely on data-driven insights. Pre-employment testing platforms even enable employers to remove test-takers' identifying information so that HR personnel can make unbiased hiring decisions.
4. Improving Operational Efficiencies
The Covid-19 crisis made operational efficiency the primary indicator of a viable business. When the pandemic erupted, leading companies broke down silos and left business-as-usual in the dust. They removed boundaries like slow-moving hierarchies to increase decision-making speed, accelerated innovation, and used technology in ways no one thought possible.
Now the challenge for HR departments is to hardwire the adrenaline-fueled operational efficiencies forged during the pandemic into new operating models. Doing so means adopting permanent structural changes that support sustainable and resilient processes, such as:
• Flattening hierarchical structures and delegating decision-making.
• Implementing new technology tools, such as online skills testing and on-demand video interviews.
• Developing processes for redeploying internal talent based on verified skill sets.
HR leaders must ride the wave of accelerated change into 2021 and permanently embed the operational efficiencies developed during the height of the crisis into the fabric of their organization.
5. Making Remote Work, Work
As we move into 2021, it is evident that remote work is here to stay, whether that means fully remote or a hybrid model. Many organizations invested in technology that enabled employees to work and collaborate remotely during 2020, but challenges remain. HR leaders must now foster social cohesion and continually update remote working policies as we move into the "next normal" and beyond.
A year ago, the complex challenges 2020 threw at HR professionals were unimaginable. However, an economic downturn, social unrest and a global health crisis that caused a sudden shift to remote work and led to a mental health crisis have reshaped the way HR functions. As we close out 2020, HR leaders must move from response to resilience and strategically plan for the future of work, whatever that may be.
Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?