Navigating the Future of HR

The rapid and volatile business environment today necessitates a shift in how HR functions to support the needs of their organizations and employees.

So HOW and WHAT should HR change?
The article by Gartner on the “5 Imperatives for HR Operating Model of the Future” provides a practical and effective approach to this question.

#1 From HR Business Partners to Strategic Talent Leaders

• No more high-level executives trying to address an entire organization’s talent challenges and opportunities.
• Position dedicated talent leaders within business units to own the talent strategy for that unit.

Key skill requirements:
Partnering | Influence | Problem-solving | Collaboration | Business Acumen | Analytical reasoning.
Allocation of HR staff compliment: 10%

#2: Pool of problem-solvers

• This team comprises people with exceptional problem-solving skills working on a variety of projects.
• They are tasked with defining talent problems, testing hypotheses and building solutions. Working closely with their customers (end-users) and the Centre of Excellence (COE) team.

Key skill requirements:
Critical thinking | Analysis | Experimentation | Empathy | Entrepreneurial mindset
Allocation of HR staff compliment: 40%

#3 Agile support for next-gen COE’s

• The focus: To deliver skilled expertise to business. Working closely with the problem-solving team to co-create policies and procedures as business needs evolve. COE’s can comprise contract workers or part-time resources.

Key skill requirements:
Critical thinking | Problem-solving| Agile mindset | Collaboration | Business acumen
Allocation of HR staff compliment: 10%

#4 From talent analytics to Human Capital Intelligence (HCI)

• The focus: Providing robust talent insights to employees and business leaders to improve talent-based decision-making.
• Deliverables can include trend analysis, predictive modelling, and forecasting with a highly customer-centric approach that flexes as business leaders' needs change.

Key skill requirements:
Analytical thinking | Critical reasoning| Data analytics | Partnering | Influencing
Allocation of HR staff compliment: 10%

#5 Robust HR ops and service delivery teams

• This team comprises an HR Technology team, People Relations Managers and Shared Services led by the HR Chief Operating Officer or HR COO.
• The COO’s focus is to tie different HR roles together to maximize functional effectiveness.
• The HR technology team ensures a comprehensive tech infrastructure by incorporating advantages such as automation and analytics, supporting the entire employee experience and efficient HR outcomes.
• People relations managers provide operational and functional support to other HR teams, employees and managers through a centralized pool. Owning much of the outputs formally delivered by the HR function, focusing on compliance, employee relations, IR responsibilities and people-management coaching.

Allocation of HR staff compliment: 40%