2021 – The Year of Super HR

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In 2020 we all witnessed the biggest disruption ever. Everyone has to learn to navigate through these unexpected, unprecedented and sometimes unbearable new realities in private as well as professional lives. One striking difference from earlier business disruptions is that this crisis had people at the centre and that HR was placed in the driver’s seat to enable organizations to steer through these really rough times. 2020 has clearly been the year of HR as a function.

HR as a function navigated the world of work to a new place world – a world full of flexibility and new expectations, however, the older HR practices and mindsets were rendered ineffective here. As we are entering 2021 with the world looking at rebooting itself on the back of the new vaccine, work, workers and the workplace are entering an era of supernormal. This super new normal is presenting some unheard of challenges that are diagonally opposite to traditional HR thinking.

Therefore, 2021 will be the year of not only the efficient, innovative HR but of super HR. Super HR will have the following superpowers.

1. Technology: Technology will be one of the important superpowers of super HR.  Ai, Automation, Machine Learning are no longer non-entities for HR. Remote Working, the highlight of 2020, was possible only because of technology. Technology will continue to work like the conduit between employers and employees, that are scattered across locations. AI will become an integral part of most new-age HR practices. AI algorithms will understand and automate repetitive tasks and will free up more time for HR teams, who can instead focus their energy on strategic and high-impact tasks. What’s more, AI-powered HR tools will enable easier access to curated data and visualization, which will make insight-driven, strategic thinking a lot easier. Augmented analytics will automate insights using machine learning and natural language processing. This becomes a more self-service and user-friendly way to analyze employee data and generate actionable insights. Technology for super HR will play the same role as arc reactor played for IronMan.
2. Empathy: Yes, I know it seems counterintuitive to put empathy just after technology. But the world has faced one of the biggest catastrophes in terms of human lives in the past year. People have lost families, friends, jobs and most importantly the human connection. According to an Oracle and Workplace survey, 2020 has been the most stressful year ever for the workforce. HR leaders have to be empathetic towards each other and have to make concessions or ways to adjust according to specific needs. These adjustments can be special timings to incorporate child care, elderly care or just some break time. In 2021 and beyond.
3. Mental Wellness: Mental Wellness will be more important than ever. The stigma attached to mental health and seeking help to deal with mental issues have come down to a very large extent. HR leaders will have to be sensitive towards the topic and will need to provide a safe and unbiased workplace for people to come forward with their issues. CEOs and CHROs need to understand that mental well being of the workforce is not just a big boost for their brand value, it is also a boost for their businesses.
4. More emphasis on upskilling & Reskilling: Gartner has placed reskilling and upskilling in the top five priorities for HR in  2021^[1]. HR needs to have a dynamic approach to reskilling and redeploying talent in which all impacted stakeholders work together to sense shifting skill needs and find ways to develop skills at the time of need. 2020 has taught us that we cannot rest on our existing skill sets, we need to learn new skills constantly. The rate of obsolescence is frighteningly fast and we cannot afford to be caught napping. Super HR will need to make sure that there is a process in place to make sure that the existing workforce can be re-skilled and upskilled in order to face the new market realities and challenges.
5. Value System: the Year 2020 has brought the topics of inclusivity, sustainability and diversity to the discussion table. People have become very conscious about these issues and keenly observe their employers’ leanings as well. Gone are the days, when employees will worry about their salaries and will shrug their shoulders while talking about these larger topics. It will come down to HR Leaders to make sure that management decisions are guided by these locally relevant issues along with business and sustainability issues.
6. The Policy of ‘No Policy’: 2020 has demonstrated that modern-day organisations are capable of allowing supreme levels of flexibility to their employees and this is only possible by adapting to the new normal. To make this a successful model, HR needs to play the role of an adapter and innovator which can work towards a policy that is well-defined and modern. They should not leave any room for tentativeness or ambiguity as they drive their business through this transformation. In fact, they need to expand their repertoire and remain relevant for a seamless transition. New ways to measure productivity will emerge with this approach as HR adopt super normal modus operandi to be agilely compliant.

This list is only indicative and not all exhaustive. Keep in mind that this list is evolving constantly. These superpowers can become redundant in the next quarter. The bottom line is that all the organization functions and more so HR has to be fast enough to feel the pulse of the environment and be agile enough to adapt quickly. The inertia to rest can become for HR what krypton was to Superman.

^[1]https://www.gartner.com/ngw/globalassets/en/human-resources/documents/trends/top-priorities-for-hr-leaders-2021.pdf