Top HR Drivers in FY21
As the new financial year dawns and the severity of the pandemic increases in the country, a bitter pill of caution and hope must be prescribed. Last year, all energies were spent on braving the onslaught of the pandemic where leaders had to heed governmental regulations, prioritize employees' wellbeing, rapidly digitizing operations, shift to & manage remote staff and consider hybrid work styles. Added to the list now are Covid-19 vaccination mandates and a new host of workplace safety precautions.
With all this and more, 2021 is looking to be a year of many transitions and here are some of them that HR professionals can stay on top of-
1) Hyper-personalized Learning
With the first lockdown, companies looked inward and rapidly digitized all processes to survive in a virtual workspace. The Learning and Development departments of organizations jumped into digitizing their physical modules and hosted various webinars and expert sessions. Looking ahead Carmistha Mitra, the Chief Learning Officer of Axis Bank offers that Hyper-personalization of learning content will be the new trend.
Talking to BW People she said,
“Learning will evolve, and the focus should be on hyper-personalization, in terms of how they (employees) want to develop themselves. It has to cater to quick and slow learners both and support whichever area they want to learn be it domain skills, technical skills or soft skills…it could be something as simple as excel training or data analytics or training to understand customers on a psychological level based on what each employee needs”
2) Safety compliances and Vaccination Drives- a top priority
As COVID-19 numbers surge in the country, more and more companies are likely to arrange for organization-wide vaccination drives to show their commitment to employee health and safety. Leading companies are expected to make bulk purchases of COVID vaccine for their employees and exact a host of stringent on-location safety mandates.
Joining the list of companies that renewed their commitment to employee wellbeing is Harshvendra Soin, Global Chief People Officer & Head – Marketing at Tech Mahindra who said,
“We recently launched an exclusive COVID-19 vaccination drive for our associates and their dependent family members to keep them safe from the deadly virus across India, starting from Noida, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. We are covering the cost of vaccination for our associates and the third-party employees as well”
Harshvendra explains how the company leverages artificial intelligence and data monitoring through a custom-built COVID-19 screening app that will ensure the health and wellbeing of their employees and those who come in contact with them.
3) Internal mobility and job hybridization
The pandemic year has had a significant impact on recruitment and talent management strategies. While predictions abound of geographically distributed talent and increased female participation, a change in the talent architecture is expected. LinkedIn's Future of Talent report suggests that Organizations are filling open roles internally and now allow more of their workforce to work remotely. In a bid to maintain agility amid budget cuts and role hybridization, 65% of companies were reported to have said they prefer to hire internally for jobs that require an insider perspective. Additionally, it was revealed that 82% of businesses relied on role hybridization in 2020.
4) Big gains from Big data
As companies increasingly acclimatize to predictive analytics and gleaning insights from big data, it will grow to become a predominant tool in hiring. These data points can be instrumental in fostering a workspace that is diverse and free of inequalities. Reports indicate that 44% of companies surveyed by LinkedIn have used data tools for mapping skills and 82% of companies use data in hiring decisions.
While the possibilities of data science applications are limitless, Santosh Ghate, the Human Resource Managing Vice-President of Gartner, grounds this optimism with reality. He states,
“The Gartner Future of Analytics Survey found that only 40% senior leaders seek out data when taking talent-related decisions”
This proves that while data science is available its true potential is yet to be realized. Ghate recommends,
“Companies should increase the actionability of talent analytics. It is critical to understand the problem they need the data to solve and hence start with the end goal in mind. Two, create partnerships to ensure the credibility of talent data as this would allow different functions to combine their unique skills and build analytics capabilities throughout the organization. Three, talent analytics should be made more accessible to decision-makers by combining technology and training”
5) Nipping burnouts in the bud
Employers have not just adapted to Work-from-Home but have also come to prefer it. For employees, this runs the risk of continued flexible timings that might result in higher burnouts. On the other end of the spectrum, the increased distance from physical workspaces can also prompt a sense of detachment that will lower morale and productivity. As the definition of flexibility changes from location to time, employees should be on the lookout for symptoms of burnout and prolonged stress.
Carmistha Mitra, CLO of Axis Bank answers how organizations should provide encourage peer interaction in these times.
“I would say organizations should invest in helping peers come together and interact and share their problems and find solutions for the same, becoming a strong support system for each other. And this can cut across levels. We should also focus on creating a visible platform for business situations for those on the field. It can be anonymous or not, but the focus should be on finding solutions and providing support"
6) Well-being is more than a catchall term
With the surge of covid cases fresh in public memory, the personal experience of employees is marred by health scares, anxiety and tragedy in some cases. As many companies braved higher attrition figures in the past year, it becomes more important for employers to help towards managing employee’s personal experience along with their 'employee experience.' Milan Chattaraj, CPO of MTR Foods offers,
“The reality and fatigue of working virtually have hit us home after a few months. In this new normal, unrecognized stress, detachment, low mental energy after a long day’s work and, at times, burnouts are adding new challenges to organizations.” He remarks, “‘Reaching out’ is the most important antidote...Employees at all levels should be encouraged to share their thoughts, concerns or what is bothering them at work. Careful listening can develop compassion, empathy and show that the organization cares”
He goes on to add that companies now have a responsibility towards emotional wellbeing and in helping employees with ways to manage the work-from-home environment for better work-life balance.
7) Resilience is the name of the game
Investing in upskilling employees to ensure they stay relevant and learn on the job continues to be on the agenda from the previous year. There is also a degree of openness to hiring employees from across industries as long as they possess the necessary soft skills like resilience, problem-solving and creative thinking.
Gartner’s Santosh Ghate remarks,
“In a post-COVID world, organizations recognize that resilience will trump efficiency and help build a collaborative, connected and conscious workspace. Resilience requires flexibility, and flexibility requires the freedom for people to be the best versions of themselves. In this age of personalization, organizations have to be courageous enough to be compassionate, break down barriers and give people the freedom and flexibility to create previously unseen opportunities.”
