The consumerization of HR: HR’s days as middle man are overby Anita Lettink

Imagine, if you will, your company without an HR function. Now suppose you're asked to set up HR: What would you do? Would you create something similar or radically different? Would you create it at all?

We’ve arrived at a turning point in history where new technology is profoundly changing people's way of life as well as methods of manufacturing, distributing and selling goods. The changes brought about by the Digital Revolution will have a deep impact on the way businesses are organized and people look at work. And though we expect to return to “normal” after we’ve overcome the financial crises, the “new normal” will be vastly different. The recovery will be jobless, as advancements in technology allow companies to replace manual labor by automation, robotics and artificial intelligence.

The workforce, HR’s primary focus, is changing: the future workforce will be smaller, as companies rely more on technology. The future workforce, encompassing 5 generations, wants a career lattice that caters to individual needs. They will move fluidly between companies and assignments, while the lines between their work and personal live will become blurred. Workers will bring their own devices and expect to use them in the enterprise. They will bring their own apps allowing them to complete assignments as they see fit. The future workforce will be placed all over the world, with people from different cultural and economic backgrounds working together in virtual teams.

What does the future workforce expect from HR? Start with accepting they don’t need anything at all! They expect that they will be paid on time and that their benefits are taken care of, but any service provider can handle that. The future workforce is used to doing things themselves, as the ongoing automation has cut out the middleman. Just think about how they listen to music, sign up for classes, buy insurance, book travel: they do it all online. They rely on their business leaders to coach them and help them achieve results, but they don’t expect any help from HR.

That means that the Human Resources function will have to change too: going forward, HR will be remote, mobile, social, automated, specialized and smaller than in the past. The consumerization of HR means that managers and employees expect direct access to HR on their smart devices, thereby cutting out HR as the middle man. HR must focus on how to get the best results from people while eliminating anything non-essential from their schedule. Their main focus must be on designing leadership support programs that bring tangible results.

21st century HRWe expect the new HR to be supported by a high degree of automation and governed by a ‘one to many’ approach. HR professionals of the 21st century must be technology-savvy and incorporate new technologies in their way of working, as it is the most effective way to communicate with current and future staff. HR must adopt a straightforward, practical and uncompromising digital strategy with technology embedded in all aspects of HR.

The new HR must base decisions on data: Employers are sitting on a wealth of information about their workforce stored in HR systems, but are often incapable of finding answers because data cannot be accessed, is not aligned. As business cycles grow shorter, processing people data quickly and intelligently

becomes a matter of survival when making critical decisions. One of HR’s key responsibilities must be to ensure that relevant, real-time workforce data supports strategic decision-making, and that all people decisions are based on data and analytics.

No corporate function can exist without being clear about the value it creates. As the knowledge-based economy transforms into a networked economy, the changes in the outside world mean that HR must reinvent itself to support a changing workforce. If the workforce of the future is smaller, more diverse, more dispersed, wanting a career lattice to support individual needs, expects direct access, and is digitally divided, than HR can’t do anything but adapt to this changing environment. If our business models become more agile, then agility is a fundamental requirement when designing the HR function.

We’ll see corporate HR develop into an organization which is increasingly centralized, organized at the global level with local involvement where necessary. HR must think of itself as a function that drives the business forward. Study after study confirms that people issues are top of mind with CEO’s – subsequently, dealing with people must be owned by the business as a whole, not exclusively by HR.

We expect the HR function to consist of an HR Service Center (insourced or outsourced) and an HR Consultancy team (combining the former Business Partners and Centers of Excellence) that delivers HR services using a project-based approach to quickly respond to changing circumstances that have an effect on the workforce. Agility and flexibility are key requirements in response to evolving business needs.

This change is not superficial: It’s about creating a single team responsible for designing programs as well as implementing them with the business and demonstrating tangible results. It’s about eradicating the middle man in HR. It’s also about creating a consultancy mind-set in HR, where HR professionals engage in projects that are required by the business and are responsible for delivering results. It’s about quickly assessing the highest workforce priorities and agile responses to business needs. And while a new name in itself does not change anything, it is a constant, visible reminder that the old way of doing things is gone.

The changes proposed here won’t happen overnight. It will take vision, leadership, dedication and resilience to change your current HR organization into a consultancy team. You will need to take a step back and have a good, honest look at the current state of HR and identify what works and what doesn’t. It needs a special focus on standardization and simplification while making sure that HR focuses on business priorities. And it means that you must find a way to demonstrate sound business sense and measure tangible results.

The future of HR is not radically different from what it is today. The changes can’t compare to the big shifts that are happening in our society. Instead of a revolution, we expect an evolution. But just because it’s an evolution that does not mean the changes are small. One thing is clear: The future of HR lies outside the HR department. And if HR professionals don’t grasp that concept very soon, the future of HR will lie outside the company.

Questions? Comments?anita.lettink@ngahr.com@let_Anita

Download the white paper here: http://download.northgatearinso.com/consumerization-hr

And the SlideShare here: http://www.slideshare.net/NorthgateArinso/consumerization-of-hr-the-end-of-hr-as-the-middle-man