Human Resource management has long been a huge part of why companies succeed and fail. Having happy, satisfied employees can mean more revenue and staying ahead of the competition, while not being smart about who you’re hiring can lead to a lack of productivity. Sure, your organization will probably still be successful, but will it be as successful as it can be? Not really. In all of these things, HR plays a central role. 

But with recent developments in the world of technology, the disruption in the world economy caused by the pandemic, and the entrance of more young people into the workforce who are more comfortable with technology than ever, HR managers worldwide might need to reassess how they do things. 

Coping With New Modes of Communication 

Calling used to be a really common way of communication, but slowly, it’s dying down. While you would expect your employees to report back to HR on call before, a lot of your younger employees would naturally expect most official communication to happen via email instead. 

While before, professional bios were reserved just for a few select places, now effective examples of bios would include bios for personal websites, the company website, and even social media accounts – each with its own set of requirements and rules. 

HR managers now need to cope with all the different ways communication has changed, and need to rethink the way they ask employees for feedback, train them, and convey their messages. 

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The Automation of Business Processes 

A lot of things that would take up the majority of an HR employee’s time can now be easily automated. Latest employee management software and even AI technology have left HR managers with more time – time that they can dedicate to making the workplace better in more meaningful ways. 

This isn’t the only way HR is benefiting from AI. Thanks to the help of machine learning algorithms, they can now develop models that predict future problems within the company. Now, not only can HR deal with problems as they arise, but it can also deal with them proactively. 

This makes HR more efficient and saves time that can be spent on the development and training of employees both old and new. 

Changing Employee Attitudes 

Not only is the new generation of employees more comfortable with tech, but they’re also demanding more than ever. More and more people recently are breaking away from the traditional working-class mindset, demanding better work-life balance,  better pay, and more beneficial employment. 

As always, it’s the job of the HR department to deal with these employee demands and to advocate for them in front of company executives and the people who are making all the decisions. HR isn’t just upper management’s way to communicate down the ladder, and experts predict that HR will have to act as a representative for company employees more and more in the coming years. 

In a recent Forbes article, Lindsay Lagreid talks about the future of HR in the following words “If HR can shift from ‘getting what I need from employees’ to ‘how can we show our employees we care about them they will be an essential team to the future of successful organizations.”

Remote Work and HR’s Role In It 

Remote work and hybrid working models are becoming the norm, and HR professionals are having to deal with situations that they were probably never trained for. They’re faced with questions like how to make employees feel connected and engaged with their work, even from so far away, and how to make sure their employees get the assistance, support, and training they need to work under stressful circumstances, and in an environment that they’re not used to. 

On the other hand, HR also has to deal with making sure employee performance and output stays the same, and these are not easy tasks when the current global climate is taken into account.