Virginia SHRM Recap: Discussing the Future of HR

Eric Horwitz, PeopleDoc’s VP of Partnerships, attended the Virginia SHRM state conference, and presented “Revolutionary HR: The Do's and Don'ts of Marching Forward”. 

Eric asked the audience to think about the past, present, and future of work. He spurred their memories and their imaginations by playing clips from movies set in the past- such as 9 to 5, movies set in the present- such as the Devil wears Prada, and movies set in the future- such as The Matrix.

He then asked, is your HR dept responding to the changes currently happening in the workplace? Are you ready for the future of HR?

Together, Eric and the audience of HR professionals thought about how they could adapt and prepare for the workplace of the future. They listed 3 things to stop doing, and 3 things to start doing.

Things to Stop Doing

1)     Stop coddling people

Employees should be empowered to easily find their own answers. There should be one channel for them to reach out to HR if they cannot find the answer on their own.

2)     Stop being reactive

HR should automate processes, so that they have more time for strategic activities. Also, by using dashboards to monitor key performance metrics, they can identify problems before they become larger issues.

3)     Stop resisting the change

HR has changed a lot over the past 30 years, and will continue changing at a rapid pace. It is important to build a flexible HR organization that can rapidly respond to the changing needs of the business.

Things to Start Doing

1)     Start assessing your data security

HR must comply with global employee laws, maintain data security, and uphold employee privacy.  Cloud technology is equipped to securely handle the storing and sharing of documents and data.

2)     Start upgrading your skills

In the future, HR will need to be both more technically competent and more emotionally aware. It is important to focus on improving both of these skillsets.

3)     Start achieving intergenerational interaction

There are many generations now in the workplace: the Baby Boom generation, Generation X, and the Millennials. Enable employees of different ages to learn from one another.