Human resources (HR) has undergone a significant transformation over the past few decades but that’s nothing compared to the last five years. The role of the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) has evolved from administrator to strategic leader, integral to driving company success. In the age of intellectual property (IP), where ideas and innovation are paramount, people are recognized as the most valuable asset. Now more than ever, HR must leverage data-driven insights, align closely with business goals and act proactively in order to demonstrate its strategic value.
Your People are Your Biggest Asset
One recent study demonstrated that while fifty years ago tangible assets like hardware and machinery composed 80% of an organization’s total assets, in the past decade this has been turned on its head. Intangible assets like intellectual property (IP) are now 90% of an organization’s total assets. Since IP comes from people, organizations focus, now more than ever, on creating and executing on a People Agenda, a strategy led by the head of HR.
HR has been pushed front and center not only because of the recognition of employees as the biggest asset, but also due to the ever increasing complexity of the workplace, as marked by three seminal events:
Social movements like MeToo kicked into high gear the awareness that women, for all of their efforts, were struggling to get ahead and putting up with microaggressions, bias, and even harassment. This was followed in 2018 with the killing of George Floyd which reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and brought it straight into the workplace to demand change and recognition of black people. Before long, this became all people of color and other marginalized groups like LGBTQ, the disabled, neuro-diverse employees, and more. The workforce had found its voice and relied on HR to enable them to be heard and demand corporate social change.
Covid-19 created the necessity of working remotely from home and still being productive and engaged with work responsibilities. An entire nation of office workers proved that technology had advanced such that it was possible to be successful without being physically in the office. Now employers are trying to entice or demand employees’ return to the office (RTO) in the hope that they can move back toward the old corporate norms of the workplace. The future prediction of that effort is still unwritten.
Technology not only enabled employees to be as productive, if not more productive, when working from home, but it allowed women, in particular, to juggle their already complex lives at a more equal level with their male counterparts. But perhaps the most important technological breakthrough was the ability to gain insights into all employees along the employee lifecycle in order to make strategic decisions based on people analytics powered by AI.
Protect Your Biggest Asset
In order to deliver on these new responsibilities, HR needs to reevaluate its approach. We are seeing a fundamental shift from HR as a siloed department to one that orchestrates a cross-functional accountability among division leaders. Deloitte expands on this part of the HR evolution by explaining, ‘Boundaryless HR...where people expertise isn’t solely owned by HR, but where the people discipline in an organization becomes a responsibility and capability of all, woven throughout the fabric of the business to create multidisciplinary solutions to increasingly complex problems.” Technology is key to this shift, allowing division and department leaders to be on the same page with HR in rolling out the organization’s people strategy and agenda, and monitoring change as everyone moves forward together.
HR must evolve rapidly beyond traditional roles and embrace change in order to protect their most valuable asset - their people. By advocating for data-driven decision making, aligning with business goals, and collaborating with organizational leaders, HR will be able to lead their organization into the future.
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