In recent years, the role of HR expanded dramatically. HR leaders face a daunting task as we approach 2030: balancing the rapid technological change, changing employee expectations and the constant push to improve organisational resilience.
In the coming decade, HR will be driven by social change. The shift in power is challenging the HR systems of old and our approach to caring for people as employers. HR plasticity has become the new norm.
In order to navigate this constant change, I’ve run a number of sessions this year with the people teams of some of the biggest brands in the world to try and help them. They understate the impact of their work on their organization, and also find it difficult to link their efforts to overall success.
Here are 10 intentions that I designed from these meetings to empower HR leaders to embrace their influence and navigate new challenges in their organisation.
1. Employee Voice Advocate
HR teams are now more than just policy enforcers. They are champions for the workforce. The HR department is the place where employees look for transparency and assurance.
Years ago Reddit threads were full of people’s terrible experiences with HR. In 2024, the majorities will believe that HR has their back and they will look to them for support more than ever.
HR must bridge this gap between employee expectations, and the leadership vision to meet these needs. The employee has become , officially, the most important stakeholder in a business. They are more influential than investors or shareholders. They should be heard more often by the HR team and together with them.
Reflective questions
- How can you better amplify employee voices and champion them?
- Listening to feedback and implementing it in your organisation is a good way to start.
- Do you involve people in changes to policy that directly impact them?
2. Aligning HR strategy with business strategies
HR is no longer an isolated function. HR strategy today must be integrated into the wider organisational fabric. HR should support the business goals, and be seen as an important partner in the success of any organisation.
Organisations that combine their business goals and HR goals will be significantly more likely than others to reach their business goals.
Reflective questions
- Are you HR initiatives helping to solve core business issues?
- How well do you influence and align with key stakeholders?
3. Using data to gain insight and influence
Data fuels modern HR by transforming insights into actionable strategies. Despite the fact that 91% of HR executives agree on the importance of data, only 11% are confident in their analytics.
HR will need to use data to not only inform its decisions, but also to create stories that resonate with the entire organisation. This data must be used to create a story, and not just presented to the people. How do we show our key stakeholders that we help them be better? What data helps us prove our impact as an HR team?
Reflective questions
- How can data be used to influence and prioritise your organisation’s challenges?
- Are you using data to craft compelling narratives?
- Do you use data to demonstrate the impact of HR on your leaders and their team? You are the best person to showcase your accomplishments.
4. Human experience: Designing work with care
The modern workforce is looking for more than just a job. They want to be treated with empathy. HR should emphasize experiences that demonstrate employees’ value beyond their output.
We need to design roles that integrate work and life, so employees can have some control over the structure of their day. This involves promoting an attitude of people over policy and making fewer changes to policies.
Reflective questions:
- How do you create roles that people can adapt to, instead of expecting them to conform to rigid roles?
- What makes you an employer of preference?
5. Empathetic design: Commitment DE&I and ESG
Empathy is not just a soft-skill; it’s the foundation of effective HR. HR can create environments in which employees feel valued and seen by integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles and Environmental, Social, and Governance principles into their employee experience. Our ESG and sustainability strategies must include the wellbeing of our employees. We need to think about how to use our people to become more resilient and sustainable.
Reflective questions
- What HR initiatives reflect your commitment to sustainability and inclusivity?
- How important is the social dimension of ESG to your sustainability plan?
6. Flexibility and balance in a hybrid environment
HR faces a complex challenge in trying to balance employee needs and productivity within a hybrid workplace. Flexibility is not a luxury anymore; it’s an essential.
HR needs to be the champion of balance as work evolves. They must ensure that productivity does not come at the expense of work-life harmony. To rebalance the definition of a high-performing employee in 2025, we need to destroy what we thought time and productivity meant. The location and time of the work are irrelevant.
Reflective questions
- How can you ensure that both flexibility and productivity are respected in your organization?
- How can HR promote a balanced employee experience?
7. Cultures of care: beyond wellbeing programmes
HR is in a unique position to create “cultures” of care, where wellbeing is not just a program but is embedded into the company’s culture. Prioritising mental, physical and emotional health can improve employee satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout or health crises.
I developed a model called “The Health Hextad” that combines three decades of research. It reveals how employee well-being is directly related to key measures of success for organisations, such as shareholder returns, corporate valuations and brand reputation, profitability and stock market performance.
Reflective questions:
- What can you do to improve the lives of your people through work?
- Do you create spaces that promote health and resilience?
- How can you make it so that someone’s health is better if you work for them?
8. Stability and predictability in the face of change
Rapid pace of change can leave employees feeling lost, which leads to disengagement and resistance. Glassdoor is awash with negative reviews regarding rapid changes to policy, configuration and management. HR can play a stabilizing role by providing clear career paths, establishing consistent expectations and preparing staff for the unknown.
Reflective questions
- How can you predict the future in an unpredictible world?
- What can you do to prepare your employees for change and foster a sense security?
- How can policy be used to ensure consistency as leadership and structure changes?
9. The Networks of Human Resources: empowering managers and building relationships
HR cannot act as a gatekeeper anymore; it must instead empower managers to own their HR-related responsibilities. HR can create a culture of collaboration and prioritisation by partnering with leaders from across departments.
Reflective questions:
What are your HR co-creation practices?
What can you to do foster better relationships within your organisation?
How can HR strategies be developed in collaboration with managers rather than being imposed on them?
10. Technophiles: embrace technology’s role in employee experience
It is important that HR keeps up with the rapid pace of technology advancement. This includes using technology to improve employee satisfaction and streamline HR processes. HR must promote technology that engages and empowers employees, from AI-driven recruiting to virtual onboarding. How are we using the right technology to bridge physical gaps that exist between us and our employees?
Reflective questions
- How can you improve employee experience with technology?
- Do you strike the right balance between digital efficiency & human connection?
- Is your staff using a lot of technology that is inaccessible and dispersed?
Organisational success is largely determined by the quality of people operations.
It surprised me how many HR professionals I met in this past year didn’t understand the importance of their job. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since HR has been maligned in the past. For anyone working in a team that deals with people, it is important to understand how your decisions affect the future of the organisation.
It’s important for HR to become much more adept at advocating their own interests. The people in an organization are the biggest investment, the most difficult to manage and now their most influential stakeholder. In most of the group reports that I have read, HR’s role and its work are rarely mentioned. HR must sell themselves.
HR: Embracing its future
HR’s role has expanded dramatically over the last few years as we approach 2030. HR leaders today are responsible for the company’s culture, but they also have a role in fostering societal impact.
These ten intentions will help HR professionals navigate the ever-changing, fast-paced landscape and make meaningful contributions to both their organisation and wider community. HR professionals can play a larger role in driving resilience, inclusion, and growth by embracing their expanded role. This will help them to ensure that their organisation is prepared for an unpredictable future.
