The future of the HR profession: A Q&A with Rich Deal

Now more than ever, the post-pandemic era and the Great Resignation is pushing HR professionals to view employees less as “resources” and more as “success enablers” who will want to stay and progress in their careers.

So says Rich Deal, executive vice president and CHRO of credit scoring company FICO in San Jose, California. In our latest chat in this series, BenefitsPRO caught up with Deal to discuss how HR leaders can best tap into each person’s true potential to not only benefit their personal careers and lives, but also the ultimate performance of the organization.

Katie Kuehner-Hebert: How has the role of HR professionals changed in recent years, and what’s driving it?

While the role of HR still deals with a host of common administrative processes, there’s a growing realization that tapping into what truly drives each individual can yield big results. As a result, measuring workforce engagement and taking steps to address barriers to engagement has become an important priority. One part of that involves leveraging data to gain leader attention and foster accountability for positive change. Another part involves investing in people manager education and tools to help them be more effective. And yet another part involves building and executing cultural and benefit programs that yield a stronger sense of inclusion, belonging and wellness.

While HR has always been about people, it’s evolving to view them less as “resources” and more as success enablers – rather than simply adding more “resources,” the question has now turned to how best to tap into each person’s true potential.

KKH: How has this shift impacted the relationship between the C-Suite, HR and employee benefits consultants?

The C-Suite is increasingly interested in how their people are feeling about the companies’ prospects, how their role fits in, career development, inclusion, physical and mental wellness, etc. – all drivers of engagement. HR now oversees how those drivers are measured, how engagement data is shared and acted upon and whether positive change is taking place. That gives HR an important seat at the C-Suite table, armed with real data to drive needed change.

To deliver on these priorities, HR needs highly effective vendor partnerships. The data has to be accurate, timely and manageable. In the area of benefit consultants, we need help understanding how best to address emerging needs like “wellness” in sophisticated ways that work for global, diverse populations.

KKH: How has technology changed the way you work? How has it changed your role in the company?

Tapping into the potential of each individual requires data-driven insights and access to programs designed to meet each person’s unique needs. Technology is at the heart of addressing both data and customization needs. Workforce engagement data is now anonymously collected online via cloud-based applications and then delivered in real-time to people manager desktops in dashboard formats. Everyone has access to dynamic workforce information via online organizational charts, manager dashboards, enrollment applications, etc. And video-based and mobile technologies have changed the way we interact, enabling a large percentage of the workforce to work from virtually anywhere.

I spend much more time today thinking about how data is collected, stored, shared and managed to inform decisions. As a result, more of my time is spent discussing data-driven people insights and change proposals than ever before.

KKH: Do you see an increasing need for specialization within the field (talent management, compliance, diversity & inclusion, etc.)?

The HR field benefits from a combination of true “generalists” who partner with people managers and senior leaders to help them gain access to the people-related information, best practices and tools they need to be successful, and “specialists” who act as deep domain experts in specific disciplines. While these disciplines exist today in most organizations, the complexity of the domains they oversee is only increasing.

Recruiters need to understand best practice inclusionary practices to attract the broadest audience of qualified talent possible. Compliance specialists now have to deal with data privacy and regulatory concerns. And D&I professionals have been thrust into the spotlight as senior leaders see real value in strengthening social cultures.

KKH: What skills will be most important to HR professionals in the future?

Being able to gather and use data to yield tangible people insights and then leverage it to drive positive organizational change is at the top of my priority list. There are a bunch of discrete competencies in that priority but the ones that are most important involve: HR system knowledge, organizational design, data management and analysis, problem-solving, relationship building, change management and communication.

KKH: What trends, challenges or issues do you see most affecting your profession?

The biggest challenge facing HR right now involves things we’ve learned during the pandemic, and how we address them as we emerge from it. We’ve learned that the overwhelming majority of people don’t want to work full-time from a corporate office – many don’t want to do so ever.

As a result, how do we recruit, onboard and develop new talent in a virtual world where they may only infrequently meet their manager or team members in person? How do we respond to employees who wish to relocate all around the world? What impacts will the new hybrid or work-from-home reality have on workforce engagement? How should policies, compensation systems and benefit programs evolve to address new challenges posed by this dynamic?

HR has always been a dynamic profession – that’s a trend I don’t see changing any time soon.