Here Is What the Future of #HR Looks Like

• Sharlyn Lauby


• 4 Feb 2016

A wide variety of articles exist about the need for human resources to change. Often those articles talk about the need for HR to be more of a “business partner” or “strategic” or “transformational.” But rarely do we see articles that address what the future jobs in human resources will look like.

Well, a group of human resources professionals has taken on the task. Project CHREATE is the global Consortium to reimagine HR, Employment Alternatives, Talent and the Enterprise. Their initiative is to map the future of the profession. Organizations including the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), PricewaterhouseCoopers, HR People + Strategy, and the National Academy of Human Resources are involved in the effort.

One of their first deliverables was the development of five job descriptions for HR roles in the future. The titles are:

1. Organizational Engineer
2. Virtual Culture Architect
3. Global Talent Scout, Convener and Coach
4. Data, Talent & Technology Integrator
5. Social Policy and Community Activist

You can check out the descriptions here. While I don’t know that these will actually be job titles in the future, I did see some trends that I thought were interesting. It could offer some perspective about the future of the profession.

• Every role seemed to be a “connector.” What I mean by that is the roles connected talent with the organization, or talent with data, or the organization with the community, etc.

• Human resources will have responsibility for corporate social responsibility (CSR.) The SHRM competency model includes CSR so expect to see more conversation about HR’s role in CSR in the future.

• Technology, data, and analytics will be essential skills. And not just using social media. Coding, effective adoption, and influence will be front and center in the HR department of the future.

• Work and life will not be separated. It doesn’t matter if you call it work/life balance or integration. Or if you say wellness or well-being. Bottom line: the whole employee matters. And companies must address it.

It’s very exciting to see groups like Google reWork and Project CHREATE starting to form. They’re sharing their expertise and views about the workplaces of the future. Again the idea isn’t necessarily to take their findings verbatim and implement them in your organization. It’s to think about them and ask yourself, “How would this work in our company?” and “How would we benefit if we did XX in our organization?”

But one thing is certain. Human resources is going to be relied upon heavily in the future. As HR professionals, we need to be prepared for it. Even if we’re on top of our game right now. The game is changing and we need to change with it.

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