Part 6.

Summary

and conclusions

If recent human civilisation has been characterised by its rapid change, then the last five years could be the most human era we’ve lived through yet. Our lives, both personal and professional, were transformed by the pandemic. Technology has accelerated in step, making it easier to stay in touch and collaborate during this enforced physical separation.

In parallel, HR teams have seen their influence grow substantially as new data and analytics tools paint a clearer picture of the intersection between communication, performance, wellbeing and organisational success.

Do these tools make their jobs more interesting? More rewarding? Unequivocally, yes. For anyone who chose HR as their career because they’re interested in helping people to achieve their full potential, and in supporting their employer to make the most of that potential, this is a transformational time.

For organisations willing and able to invest in the right tech stack, many of the transactional HR processes which ate up so much resource can now be left - within limits - to run themselves. A CPO or CHRO is now as likely to have a key objective around growth or revenue as they are about engagement numbers or training and development initiatives.

Despite the shifts in focus, almost all of our panellists felt that their duty of care to employees has increased. We understand that wellbeing is a vital cog in the engine of productivity. We know that having clear policies on diversity and inclusion contributes to better wellbeing. We know that equity of opportunity benefits everyone.

Perhaps these factors could be looked at through a self-serving lens - after all, the business benefits from happier, more committed workers. It is clear, though, that the leaders we interviewed believe in them passionately for their own sake. Helping people to be themselves at work, listening to their needs and finding ways to address them, is the right thing to do - from both a human and commercial point of view.

Technology comes, as always, with questions and reservations. AI is not viewed by all employees with enthusiasm. Some believe that it will change job roles and affect their employability. Some have legitimate concerns about how it uses data, and whether their privacy will be affected. And of course there is a generational factor. Not everyone is comfortable with talking to an interface about the new job they want, or how engaged they are, and more than one of our panel highlighted older generations as resistant to that sort of change.

But the picture we saw was one of real enthusiasm for the possibilities of HR in this shifting landscape. While some business functions might choose to embrace new technology because it’s useful or interesting, HR people are able to judge its impact both at the commercial level (which problems does it solve?) and the human level (what impact will it have on how we interact with each other?).

One of the clearest messages which came out of this research was the fact that HR leaders are talking about growth as well as engagement; revenue and share price as well as wellbeing.

As one of our panellists said, AI will be a disruptor - and while disruption breeds opportunity, it needs to be balanced with careful consideration.

We’ll need pragmatism and compassion to find our way through it. HR is uniquely placed to lead on that.