What HR departments need to do to prepare for the future

Human resource departments are struggling to catch up with the changing realities of today’s business world, a new report from Deloitte says. The report, “The Future of Enterprise Demands a New Future of HR,” outlines the challenges HR will face as technology, disruptive innovation, and workforce changes displace the old way of doing business.

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The report’s authors, Arthur H. Mazor and Michael Stephan, described three futures that HR will be dealing with:

1. The future of enterprise, which they said will be affected by a “tsunami” of data, along with changes in the lifespan of enterprises, and the expectations that consumers have of companies.
2. The future of the workforce is another key element. The Deloitte papers noted that the length of careers are increasing in years, while the skillsets of workers are shortened as older workers retire. The rise of the “talent economy”—freelance and contract workers, will also have a large impact on businesses and HR, they said.
3. The future of how work gets done, or the ongoing evolution of work. The authors said that technology is changing how humans work together, and the emergence of AI is creating other new dynamics. They add that this future will “create new roles for workers we have yet to even imagine.”

The authors include a wide range of descriptions for what the future of HR will look like, with many elements involving technology, customization/personalization, and communication. So many solutions are listed at the end of the report, there’s a danger of it appearing simply a collection of buzzwords. However, the report does stress the importance of HR delivering measurable value.

The authors conclude by saying, “There’s no single path driving value through HR.” The future remains to be written, apparently, but the many ideas provided will give HR professionals food for thought.