But as many management roles are redefined and as CEOs and companies are required to lead in areas traditionally beyond the scope of their business (e.g. social, cultural, or environmental issues), how can leaders adapt to this new reality and what role does HR play in facilitating this change?

Three ways HR can drive major leadership changes

One of the less talked about consequences of the coronavirus pandemic is that leadership as we knew it has fundamentally changed. This is obviously having a profound impact on businesses and how they operate. 

But an even less discussed issue is the capacity of HR to steer this change towards leadership that is fit for purpose and one that can deliver better business outcomes. 

Here are three ways in which HR can (and should) drive major leadership changes:

#1. Democratization of leadership 

What is at stake

In the past two years, we have seen a massive democratization of leadership responsibilities. The focus is shifting away from middle managers towards workers who increasingly need to autonomously manage their own work. This is caused by the rapid rise of remote and hybrid work. 

This means that many middle managers have been made redundant. Companies such as HSBC or Wells Fargo are “actively seeking to take out layers of expensive middle management”. These cuts are part of their restructuring to become more competitive in the new post-COVID economy. Likewise, these changes contribute to companies’ transition towards a more efficient management system.  

The role of HR

Organizations looking to make such sweeping changes need to rely on data and hard evidence. 

These consequential decisions require CEOs and C-suite leaders to work closely with HR departments which have a unique overview of the company’s workforce. Through data analytics, HR can draw insights that will match the needs of the business against the potential of the workforce. Thanks to people analytics, businesses can thus make smarter decisions and redesign their structure without unnecessary costs. 

Furthermore, as more and more employees will take on leadership responsibilities in their respective roles, HR professionals will be able to help identify the best performers and via custom leadership development plans prepare them to assume more senior roles within the organization.

#2. Repurposing of managers 

What is at stake

Of those middle managers who have not lost their jobs, the chances are many of them will need to redeploy to new and different roles.

For instance, in 2020, the Japanese tech giant Fujitsu pioneered in Europe a new concept of working. The company decided to emphasize local decisions and empower those who weren’t previously involved in management. And while this transition meant the end of middle manager roles as such, the company made the effort to ensure that the people who filled these roles would still remain part of the journey (albeit in a different capacity).

This required more investment in training and coaching to guarantee everyone could adjust and safely transition. It is needless to say that this transition would not have happened without the involvement of HR. 

The role of HR

HR departments are key in helping organizations assess which leaders need redeploying and which managers need upskilling. HR is also essential in helping these managers upgrade their skills, once they have been identified, through skills development programs and coaching.

Managers who will redeploy will need to get trained, among other things, to become more transparent in setting expectations and OKRs, as well as learn how to better measure performance. 

This is particularly relevant because as more and more of us become informal leaders thanks to the new work dynamics, we will need to shift away from measuring output and input towards measuring outcomes (86 percent of employees now say they want to work for a company that prioritizes outcomes over output). 

Furthermore, the democratization of leadership and redeployment of existing leaders require a fundamental change to business culture which, again, will depend on HR’s contribution and leadership. 

Without a culture upgrade, it will be difficult to ensure the shift of the manager’s role will succeed. Without a new purpose and necessary guidance, integration into their new role will be a struggle.   

#3. More emphasis on the top tier management 

What is at stake 

And last but not least, we have witnessed the growing importance of leadership in the top echelons of organizations. A trend that is not new but has been massively accelerated in the past couple of years. 

This means that CEOs, CHROs, and other C-suite leaders have been under more pressure to take a stance on and lead in an increasing number of issues that transcend the walls of their organizations (e.g. addressing inequalities, the global pandemic, or fighting climate change). 

The pressure is both internal (as 68 percent of employees would consider leaving their employer for an organization that takes a stronger stance on cultural and social issues), and external (as 47 percent of consumers now associate personal views of C-suite leaders with those of the whole company, affecting their purchasing behavior). 

The role of HR

And it is HR professionals and CHROs in particular that can help CEOs keep their thumbs on the pulse of their workforce and the society at large. They can help them become more socially, culturally, and environmentally conscious. C-suite leaders can then be more active in supporting causes that better align with their personal and business values. 

Thanks to a more strategic role and HR professionals’ increasing business savviness, HR has been able to forge a stronger link between the business and the outside world and help companies serve their consumers and clients better. 

Moreover, due to COVID-19, many leaders are having to suddenly flex muscles that they didn’t have to flex as much before. These include empathy and active listening.

One of the reasons behind the current high attrition rates (often referred to as the Great Resignation or Reshuffle) is the fact that many employees don’t feel appreciated or valued by their company or managers. HR’s role will thus also entail helping CEOs and C-suite leaders develop new soft or power skills and other leadership competencies. 

Leadership has never been more consequential

So whether it is regular workers who have had to acquire leadership skills to become more autonomous, lower and middle managers whose purpose has been redefined or C-suite leaders who are having to reinvent themselves and expand the scope of their role, leadership has never been more consequential for companies’ success. And HR’s role in facilitating this shift has never been more important. 

Shifting towards more democratized, repurposed and values-driven leadership means organizations need to adapt. And because these changes require upskilling, upgrading one’s business culture, coaching, and a better connection between the business, its employees, and the outside world, it is up to HR to strap in, roll up its sleeves, and drive the change.

The post Three ways HR can reshape post-pandemic leadership appeared first on AIHR.

The ‘why’ question is particularly relevant because it implies that workers are not only concerned about how much and where they work, but care just as much about their work’s quality and purpose.

Purpose has become a blind spot business can’t afford 

As a result of people’s changing expectations of work and work environments, not paying attention to or blatantly ignoring the growing importance of purpose has become a major blind spot for many companies. And it is not one they can afford.

In the current context of tight labor markets and the Great Resignation, companies need to use every tool in their arsenal to attract and above all retain the talent they have. Millions of people around the world are rethinking their relationship with work and as a consequence are leaving their jobs. In the US alone, more than 15 million workers have quit their jobs since April 2021. 

Thus, hanging on to your existing talent and attracting new hires is becoming a mission impossible for more and more businesses. Meanwhile, companies are largely out of touch with what is driving people’s decisions to leave. 

While 63 percent of US workers admit the pandemic has dramatically shifted their priorities and 82 percent of them say it is important for a company to have a purpose, companies are far too often fixated on the more transactional elements of work (e.g. compensation and benefits). This creates a mismatch between what employees want and what companies are prepared to give.

And as C-suite leaders will try to bridge this divide in an attempt to retain and attract talent, they will need to increasingly rely on their HR departments to help them connect the business and employees. 

Making work meaningful is a win-win

Behind every decision to leave a job is a myriad of reasons, be it lack of appreciation and purpose, insufficient work-life balance, or better opportunities elsewhere. While a lack of purpose isn’t the only reason companies are struggling to retain talent, organizations have nothing to lose and everything to gain from becoming more purpose-driven.

Having organizational values that are reflected in decisions, conversations, and your company’s behavior across all levels and a clearly defined mission statement can go a long way in giving people that one extra reason to work for you and feel satisfied with their job.

For LinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslanski, the current wave of changes in the workplace is a great opportunity for people to do work “they love at companies they feel passionate about, leading to greater success for organizations who engage their employees with empathy and trust.” 

In other words, running your business with a purpose in mind is a win-win situation. For both your company and your employees. And your HR department will be instrumental in making this happen. 

HR professionals will help introduce and uphold purpose in the workplace while at the same time, their work will directly benefit from being part of a purpose-driven organization – namely by finding it easier to engage existing workers and attract new ones. 

Here’s why. 

The power of purpose and why it matters

#1. More enthusiasm 

Employees who feel aligned with the company values are more enthusiastic and committed to maximizing their potential. Work goes from a job to a source of pride and personal investment. 

#2. Stronger resilience 

This creates a better and stronger relationship between companies and their workers, as well as between companies and customers. Thus, organizations that are purpose-driven tend to be more resilient to market instabilities. 

During the last financial crisis in 2008, for instance, the so-called Certified B Corporations (i.e. businesses that balance purpose and profit) were 63 percent more likely than other businesses of a similar size to make it through the downturn. Similarly, a 2018 study of 1,500 C-suite leaders found companies that defined and acted with a great sense of purpose outperformed financial markets by 42 percent. 

#3. Better performance 

Corporations with engaged, purpose-led employees deliver 21 percent higher profitability than their peers, and according to Harvard Business Review, purpose-driven companies are (among other things) better at product launches and major transformation efforts. 

One more reason why HR should pay attention to purpose

Yes, aligning your organization’s and your employees’ purpose and values makes business sense, and yes, companies that do so tend to perform better than their peers.

But there’s one more reason why you should consider running a more purpose-driven organization: demographic change. 

While it is true that COVID-19 has helped place purpose on the map of new work-related demands, the trend itself was always going to become a key one. It was just a matter of time.

That’s because studies have shown that younger workers (especially Millennials and Gen Z’ers) are more purpose-driven when it comes to working. According to the Cone Communications Millennial Employee Study (published before COVID-19), 64% of Millennials won’t take a job if their employer doesn’t have strong social and environmental values. What’s more, Gen Z is the first generation to prioritize purpose over salary.

We expect that by 2025, Millennials will account for about 75 percent of the global workforce, and the proportion of Gen Z’ers will continue to grow steadily as well. Consequently, purpose will only become more important. 

And this is already having an impact on the ground. One good example can be found in the way Gen Z’ers work with technology. 

According to a General Assembly survey, young people are far less interested in working in tech for the tech’s sake compared to their older peers. If and when they choose to work with technology, it’s usually in the fields that prioritize the “human element” such as UX design or digital marketing. They are interested in knowing how technology relates to people and how, for instance, data science helps solve health, environmental, and business challenges.

Zoom in on your purpose statement and revise your company’s culture

For businesses to survive and indeed thrive, it is no longer a question of whether but when and how organizations should become more purpose-driven. Many companies have previously paid lip service to purpose and its growing importance to workers. But COVID-19 and the generational turnover are driving change here. 

Organizations no longer have a choice but to invest more in ensuring their purpose is clearly defined and better aligned with employees to ensure they will remain competitive and in business. Ultimately, they will need to upgrade their workplace culture to ensure that decisions, conversations, and behavior across all levels are integrated with that purpose. 

And there’s only one department that will be able to drive and lead this change: Human Resources 

That’s because HR professionals with strong business acumen are best placed to connect company-level purpose with employee-level purpose.  They understand how the organization’s values reflect the broader world and how these core values help motivate employees themselves.

HR’s role is to help their organization identify its values, understand how these resonate with employees, update the organization’s business culture accordingly and then work with the management to ensure the company also lives by these values in practice. The result will be a more productive, engaged, and motivated workforce.  

Moreover, having a clearly defined purpose also helps HR with talent acquisition. In the current tight labor market that is heavily tilted in favor of job seekers, having values that resonate with candidates can make or break a job offer. There are many examples of companies that have smartly used purpose and organizational values to their advantage, including Nike, Netflix, and Buffer.

Ultimately, while identifying and staying true to your business culture and purpose may not look like a solution to all your business challenges, it is a first (and necessary) step towards ensuring your organization becomes future-proof. 

The post Building Purpose-Driven Organizations: How HR Can Take the Lead appeared first on AIHR.

From rising inflation, disrupted supply chains to the ever-changing state of play of COVID-19, uncertainty is on top of everyone’s mind and most boardroom meeting agendas. But as companies learn to live with uncertainty, what can business and HR leaders do to ensure their organizations are not flying into this new era of work completely blind? 

The answer lies in data. While it is impossible to accurately predict all of the future, relying on good data can help you prepare for it the best you can.

The potential of data in HR remains largely untapped 

The benefits of data-driven decisions are now largely recognized by organizations worldwide. For instance, 92 percent of the Fortune 1000 companies are currently increasing investment in data initiatives, so much so that by the end of 2023 the big data analytics market will be worth more than $100 billion. 

Yet, when it comes to HR specifically, the potential offered by data is largely untapped. Only about a fifth (22 percent) of companies globally use people analytics even though HR data is crucial in addressing some of the most pertinent challenges such as talent shortages, hybrid work, or digitalization.

There’s no going around it. The use of people analytics in HR and business decisions, in general, makes perfect business sense – organizations that use data in HR see an 82 percent higher-than-average profit over three years compared to their low-maturity counterparts. 

What we all can learn from people analytics in retail

One good example of where people analytics in HR has a huge potential to drive positive business outcomes is retail, as the sector is ripe for more use of data. 

According to a recent McKinsey Global Institute report, as much as 52 percent of all activities in retail can be automated (including data processing and data collection), making it one of the most exposed industries to digitalization. 

While much of our attention on retail digital transformation and the use of data has been focused on the operations side of the business (undoubtedly indispensable to serving customers amid the COVID-19 crisis and lockdowns, as well as to changing consumer behavior), there’s a truly fascinating push towards digitalization and data use beyond the level of customers. And it’s inside HR.

For CHROs, the main challenge coming out of the coronavirus pandemic has not necessarily been the digitalization of operations as such but rather making sure their businesses have enough employees to run their operations in the first place. 

The Great Resignation, shortage of labor, and employees’ changing demands have meant that HR departments have been forced to step up their game. 

For instance, one US retailer has found an innovative way of collecting and using candidate data to improve the recruiting and hiring process. 

Through an app that they had developed, the HR department was able to screen potential employees, gather feedback, collect credentials, schedule interviews, and track candidates as they moved through the pipeline. 

Having access to this data and using it to improve the hiring process has led to impressive results. The retailer saw a 60 percent increase in the applications’ processing speed, an 80 percent reduction in paperwork, and higher employee retention rates. All of which has had a positive impact on the company’s bottom line – in particular in today’s tight labor market. 

Other examples from other industries on how better workforce data drives business impact are no less impressive (for instance, HR analytics helped Credit Suisse save $70 million a year by reducing turnover risk factors). 

So if the benefits of the use of people analytics (and technology) in human resources and workplaces are so impressive, how come only a fifth of all companies use it?

Why so few HR departments are using people analytics

It’s all about skills. As with most solutions to most problems these days, when it comes to people analytics, HR practitioners simply do not have sufficient skills to make the most of it. According to our own research, only about two-fifths (41 percent) of HR professionals have sufficient data and tech knowledge.

This does not mean they need to breathe and live data. But it does mean that they need some level of data literacy (on top of understanding technology). 

Let me explain.

In today’s world of work, digitalized data is a must. Companies need to be able to collect, analyze, and then utilize data – and do so in a way that will lead to better business performance. So where exactly in this data chain does HR fit?

It’s not necessarily in data collection – most data these days is collected through technology, such as apps or self-service portals (although HR should definitely be involved in helping the IT department choose the right tools to serve the right HR purpose).

And it’s neither in data analysis. Most companies already have strong data analytical teams. This is true for about two-thirds (69 percent) of organizations globally with 10,000 employees or more. These teams are usually situated outside of HR departments. 

It is indeed in the last link of the data chain – in putting data to good use – where HR can bring the most added value. 

To that end, however, they need to develop data literacy skills to understand and utilize data. Only then will HR be able to help make key strategic decisions by turning data insights into action. 

How to master data literacy 

Mastering data literacy as a competency requires two things:

First, HR professionals will need to be data-driven to have the ability to read and use data. They should be able to understand and utilize metrics, reports, and determine KPIs. And second, with these skills, they should be able to translate data (provided by the analytical team) into action, policies, and decisions that have a direct impact on the business.

To be more specific, every data-literate HR professional should: 

• Comprehend and be able to establish metrics and KPIs;
• Read and interpret reports;
• Learn how to produce data visualizations (i.e. dashboards) and use these for data story-telling; 
• Understand the intersection of people data and the business they serve (which necessitates some level of business acumen).

Beyond what this means for HR professionals individually, data literacy also implies a shift towards a more data-driven culture. Without it, your HR department or organization at large won’t be able to leverage data to its full potential. 

A data-driven culture requires the right: 

• Mindset – HR professionals should treat data as useful in their daily work lives;
• Skillset – your HR team will need to upskill to become more data literate; 
• Toolset – as evident from above, people analytics and technology go hand-in-hand. This means you will need your IT department to work closely with you; 
• Dataset – people data is not a destination, it’s an ongoing process. The data collected, analyzed and used will need to be constantly assessed to prove accurate and useful.

Don’t wait. Just get started 

Data might not be almighty; it won’t provide all the answers you’re seeking and it won’t always help you predict the future. After all, people analytics, to paraphrase Microsoft’s chief scientist Jaime Teevan, is about having to make long-term decisions with short-term data. 

But the limits to the use of data are far outweighed by the fact that having some data is always better than having none and that even though data won’t map out the whole journey ahead, having an accurate picture of current reality will give you the advantage of knowing what’s around the corner – and that’s much further than most companies will be able to see if flying blind. 

So don’t wait around. Get started now! Become data literate and help upskill your HR department so that your decisions will be based on reality, they will reflect what your organization and employees need and will be instrumental in tackling the current and future challenges.

The post Data-Driven HR mindset: Only 2 out of 10 HR departments use data to guide their decisions appeared first on AIHR.

People Analytics has fast become an important specialization within HR, and the expectations are high. That’s why Capgemini was looking for ways to empower the team leading the People Analytics efforts with specialized online training.

Capgemini’s goals were clear, as Jan Krögel explains. “We need to be credible to the business, and we need to understand the business, as well as the data and analytics aspect. We thought that going outside and working with a curated source would really help us with that effort.” 

And that’s where AIHR comes in.

Selected HR practitioners already involved in People Analytics and reporting were enrolled in the Academy to Innovate HR to take their data and analytics skills to the next level. In addition to following specialized courses, participants also worked on real-life projects helping leaders within the organization tackle their business challenges. “Some of these are being grown into big projects,” Kröger says.

That’s not to say that Capgemini didn’t face challenges in this project. For example, it can be challenging for learners with full calendars and lots of responsibilities to find the time to learn. Watch the full video to find out how Capgemini overcame this challenge.

You will also hear more about:

• How Capgemini encourages people to implement the learnings in their day-to-day work
• Examples of projects implemented as a result of the training, and insights gained
• Measuring the ROI of learning initiatives

What we can reveal is that the project has been a success for Capgemini. Their next steps are expanding the scope of the project to include larger HR populations. But that’s not all. “We’re asking, how much needs to be part of the standard curriculum for HR? And the other question is, what else do we need to give the leaders we have identified to make them successful?”

Curious to see how AIHR can help you dodge the skills gap and empower your HR organization with future-proof skills? Explore our HR Skills 2025 framework, or learn more about our team licenses.

The post Customer Stories: Empowering Capgemini’s People Analytics Practitioners appeared first on AIHR.

Consider this trend:

Up to 40 percent of the global workforce are considering leaving their employer this year. 

Now, combine that with the fact that 69 percent of employers globally – a 15-year high – are struggling to find workers with the right set of skills and you get a massive headache for companies and their HR departments. 

Not only are businesses struggling to get new talent which is in short supply, but a big portion of the talent they already have is thinking of leaving them. 

And so they’re quickly having to switch gears. From being worried about reopening their offices and operations to now being even more concerned about keeping their operations and business going once they do reopen. This requires a more strategic approach from HR departments than just focusing on the day-to-day business and seeking simple silver-bullet solutions. 

So is the answer to all your problems more flexibility? 

The Great Resignation is already happening. In the United States, 4 million people quit their jobs in April alone. The reasons are manifold including people reconsidering their career paths, wanting to take time off after COVID-19 to focus on themselves in search of a better work-life balance, or they just simply don’t feel they have enough flexibility at work now that their offices are being re-opened. 

The latter reason is particularly acute. One third (33 percent) of the UK workers have said they would quit their current job if the employer would not allow for flexible work. This figure is even higher for younger workers with 49 percent of Millennials and Gen Z’ers globally saying they would do the same if forced to return to office work full time. This represents a major shift.

So the answer seems obvious. Give people more flexibility and all will be fine, right? No. Not right. 

The solution to the Great Resignation is not as simple as it seems

Flexibility isn’t a silver bullet. Sure, most of us want the flexibility to choose where we work (and we all want different things – see the infographic below), but flexibility alone won’t make us feel satisfied or productive at work. 

According to Accenture’s recent findings, oftentimes, what determines people’s satisfaction has less to do with where they work and more to do with having all the resources they need to be productive. 

In fact, about 40 percent of us can be productive in both onsite and remote settings provided we get the necessary support. 

So the solution to the biggest current challenge for CHROs is not as simple as bringing in more flexibility. Thus if you are among the many business leaders who are asking the question of how to make remote work more possible for your employees post-pandemic, you’re asking the wrong question – or rather an incomplete question. 

Turning the Great Resignation into an opportunity 

The key to any company’s success faced with the Great Resignation is this: how do I redesign our workplace to provide a smooth transition towards a more flexible way of working while leveraging the changes to provide lasting impact? 

That’s why CHROs and HR leaders should focus as much of their attention on providing individual and organizational resources to employees as they do on providing flexibility. It is about looking beyond the imminent challenges and creating a more strategic approach.

Using Accenture’s list of necessary resources, we have created two types of HR practices exemplified through different action points. The first type supports the idea that your HR department should solidify your workforce to ensure that people who already work for you, stay working for you also in the future. The second requires more innovation and focuses more on helping your organization become attractive enough to pull in new employees that you will need for your future growth.

A successful company in the post-pandemic economy will need to invest in both sets of practices and resources.

By giving people flexibility, autonomy, and ownership of their work, by ensuring your workplace has sufficient health and mental health processes in place and by encouraging strong social bonds at work, you will make it more likely that your employees will be more productive and will feel more satisfied. This will reduce their likelihood of leaving your organization. 

But that alone won’t be enough. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is to move beyond mere flexibility and shape workforce practices that create lasting value for the employee and the organization.  

As a CHRO who wants their organization to thrive, not only survive in the post-pandemic era, you will equally want to look for opportunities that will give your company a competitive advantage by tapping into new external talent pools. This is what we refer to as ‘differentiating’. 

Offering upskilling programs for employees, developing their digital skills, building an intelligent and agile organization and fostering leadership that listens more than it prescribes, are some of the things that will help your company thrive in the months ahead and attract new and much-needed talent. I have explained some of these more in detail in my previous article.

By both solidifying your existing workforce and by differentiating your organization to attract new people, you will be able to turn the current biggest challenge, the Great Resignation, into a great opportunity and thrive in the new future of work. 

Are you a CHRO and you’re struggling to upgrade your organization for the post-pandemic era of work? The best place to start is your own skills. At AIHR we have developed an HR competency model that is designed to help HR professionals interested in making their own career and their organization thrive in the hybrid world of work. You can test how equipped you are already through our assessment tool.

The post From Great Reopening To Great Resignation Of Employees appeared first on AIHR.

In a year full of unprecedented challenges, Henkel APAC has dedicated considerable resources to investing in their greatest and most reliable asset – their people. This comes as part of Henkel’s global digital upskilling initiative, focused on fostering in-house talent.

Together with the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR), Henkel established their first HR Learning Academy dedicated to developing digital skills for their top HR talent. The ultimate goal of the academy is to empower HR to increase operational efficiency and maximize the impact of HR on business outcomes.

What makes this academy unique? The focus on training for skill and competency-building, through a highly practical curriculum and on-the-job practice.

Innovation is HR-Driven

Henkel’s 140 years of innovation, continuous improvement, and delivering excellence is only possible with a strong focus on employee development. In fact, “developing people with passion” is one of Henkel’s core leadership commitments.

But who’s at the center of developing people if not HR? According to a KPMG report, HR is essential in shaping the workforce of the future and preparing them for increased digitalization, automation, and AI. Yet 80% of HR professionals are not equipped to do so.

With digital transformation in its highest gear, Henkel has taken their commitments seriously, and decided to develop the digital capabilities of their HR teams:

At Henkel, we dare to make an impact. Digital transformation is a key strategic focus for Henkel which involves not just the technical aspect but, more so, a cultural transformation. HR enables the business to achieve this and it is imperative that our HR team have the competencies to support it. I am very pleased to partner on this journey with AIHR.
Jackie Ngai, HR Head Asia Pacific

Building Digital Competencies in HR

To establish the HR DIGI+ Academy, Henkel APAC partnered with the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR): a reputable HR training provider that can support Henkel’s HR talent at every stage of their upskilling process. 

The personal and professional development of our employees is very important at Henkel, which is why I am pleased to see the start of the HR Learning Academy. AIHR’s courses are enabling our employees to succeed in an increasingly digital world.
Jackie Ngai, HR Head Asia Pacific

AIHR’s comprehensive approach to competency-building binds well with Henkel’s focus on practicing on the job – a key element in Henkel’s HR Academy.

AIHR’s courses are structured around the three key components of learning: knowledge, skill, and experience.

• Learners gain KNOWLEDGE by watching engaging instructional videos, tutorials, and going through the recommended reading material.
• They acquire SKILL by completing assignments, creating projects, and participating in interactive role plays.
• And they gain EXPERIENCE by repeatedly applying their newly acquired skills to solving real life business problems.

The EXPERIENCE level is where learners gain mastery of their skills. Yet this aspect of learning is often overlooked. This is why Henkel’s commitment to fostering a true culture of learning is so inspiring. Henkel opted for a practical and immersive approach to learning by creating a collaborative environment, where participants can practice their skills on real business projects. This makes Henkel’s HR Academy unique in the world of corporate learning.

Corporate Learning Reimagined

Imagine a learning program that promises to deliver business impact, innovation, and real behavior change. That’s what Henkel’s HR Academy stands for.

Within Henkel’s HR Academy, AIHR has designed a two-year program for their top HR talent. The aim of the program is to create real change agents, who will drive innovation from within the company.

In the first year of the program, the participants follow the curriculum of AIHR’s Digital HR Certificate Program. This includes four courses designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed for digital leadership.

In the second year, the participants will select three courses from AIHR’s extensive catalogue, in preparation for their graduation project, where participants will apply their knowledge and skill to drive innovation in their department. The projects will be judged by a panel of experts and the top rated ones will be implemented.

Training for Success and Impact

Every year, companies around the world invest 370 billion USD in employee training. Still, many training programs fail. So what makes Henkel’s HR Academy unique?

Three aspects:

1. It focuses on skills that are vital for the future of HR and the organization
   Henkel’s HR Academy focuses on training key digital skills that prepare the participants for an increasingly digital future.

2. Learning is connected to daily work activities & to broader company objectives
   The participants can apply their newly acquired skills and knowledge to their daily work activities, and help further the company’s mission of innovation.

3. Success is recognized and rewarded
   The participants’ completion of their training program hinges on the quality of their projects. And the most impressive projects will be recognized and implemented.

In short, the participants are not just given the opportunity to learn, but also to apply their new skills to make lasting impact on Henkel’s business outcomes.

Investing in Upskilling In-House Talent

Driving innovation and creating lasting change starts with training digital leaders and creating a culture of learning in the organization. Henkel’s new HR Academy drives home the point that the most successful organizations are the ones where business growth is driven by employee growth. And this is even more important when it comes to HR.

HR has a pivotal role in preparing the business and the workforce for the challenges of the future, and making sure they are well equipped for this role is the key to business success.

Because the simple truth is that, at this point, if you don’t upskill HR, you effectively underskill your workforce.

The post Henkel APAC: Building Digital HR Capabilities with an In-House HR Learning Academy appeared first on AIHR.

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Laying foundations

Founded as the Cementos Argos Company in 1934, Grupo Argos has grown into a holding with over 13,000 employees spread across their almost 100 subsidiary companies. All employees and subsidiaries are served by a single HR organization, which is part of Grupo Argos’s Shared Services Center.

In early 2019, a group of 30 HR specialists enrolled at AIHR, the Academy to Innovate HR. The main goal was encouraging a more data-driven mindset in the organization — which was definitely a success.

A dedicated team

Soon after, the HR organization decided to form a dedicated People Analytics team. This was a major shift from the previous situation, where IT had owned all data within the holding.
Thanks to the AIHR courses, Grupo Argos had a group of HR specialists with new analytics, data visualization, and dashboarding skills, and the organization took full advantage of that. “My manager identified people with HR skills as well as the ambition to work with data,” says Guillermo Restrepo, the company’s HRIS admin. He, along with the new Head of HR Analytics and 2 other data-savvy HR specialists who were also enrolled in AIHR analytics courses, founded the Grupo Argos People Analytics team.

Even though the team is just half a year old at the time of writing, it has already managed to make a huge impact on the organization, as we will reveal later in this case. Guillermo attributes this success to skills they learned at AIHR. “We followed two courses about leadership in data teams, which helped us understand how to build and manage an analytics team: the basis of getting started in analytics.”

The case for awareness

The first challenge for the new People Analytics team was data quality. “We took stock of all the data we had, assessed the quality, and made decisions about data cleaning,” says Guillermo. “It was a lot of work.”

Another perhaps less obvious priority for Guillermo was creating awareness about People Analytics among decision-makers — something else he learned during his studies with AIHR. “You need to get managers on board. If they don’t ensure that the company makes data-driven decisions, then HR Analytics isn’t going to work. HR Analytics is important, but it costs money. And it will cost even more money if you don’t do it properly, as you’ll be investing in something you’re not using.”

Awareness wasn’t an issue in the highest level of Grupo Argos’s management, as would soon become clear.

Data-driven crisis response

The People Analytics team was only just up and running when the Corona crisis hit. Nevertheless, the company’s Presidents knew where to turn for the people data they needed to make critical and urgent decisions.

“They asked us to make a data visualization combining data from our HR system with virus data,” says Guillermo. The team created a complete data table and clear graphics, and the final result was used in the Presidents’ weekly meetings.

“We’re very proud to have worked on this project,” says Guillermo. “Our reports were used to make decisions about employee safety. We weren’t just doing our job. We were trying to save lives.”

“Decisions people want and need”

The People Analytics team’s contribution to the Grupo Argos Corona response created awareness throughout the entire organization and demonstrated just how valuable People Analytics is. And Guillermo can already see the difference in his work.

“HR is continuously coming to us for information, reports, and graphics,” he says. “They aren’t making decisions based on gut feeling — they always check if their information is correct so they can make better decisions that our people want and need.”

Now the People Analytics team is on the map within Grupo Argos, Guillermo and his colleagues are working towards their next goals. First on their list is offering predictive analytics services. “We already have all the information we need,” says Guillermo. “Now we just need to perfect it. Offering our internal clients predictions that help them save money and make better decisions: that’s our focus.”

The post Case Study: Creating a Data-Driven HR Organization at Grupo Argos appeared first on AIHR.

We also talk a lot about the role of HR in this digital transformation; how can HR help organizations and their employees to become future proof? What we don’t talk about, or at least not as often, is what HR will look like a couple of years from now. What are the HR roles of the future?

According to a KPMG report, 3 in 5 HR leaders believe that the HR function may become irrelevant if it doesn’t modernize its approach. What’s more, only 37% of HR leaders are very confident in HR’s ability to transform the workforce and itself.   

This highlights the importance of HR professionals future-proofing their skills. If they want to stay relevant, their skills need to be relevant too.

In this article, we’ll take a quick look at four HR competencies that we believe will be key to HR success. We’ll also take a shot at describing three roles that will be crucial for HR in the near future.

HR Competencies for 2025

At AIHR, we have defined four HR core competencies that HR professionals need to perform well in their role in the (near) future. We have based this on existing as well as our own research.

These competencies are:

• Data driven, also known as evidence-based, is the ability to read, apply, create, and communicate data into valuable information to influence decision-making processes.
• Business acumen, also known as business savvy or business sense, is the ability to translate the organization’s purpose, mission, goals, and business context into strategy, positioning HR policies and activities to best serve the organization’s interests.
• Digital integration is the ability to leverage technology to increase efficiency and to drive HR and business value.
• People’s advocate is the ability to build a strong internal culture, communicate skillfully, get the best out of people, and act as a trusted employee champion.

These core competencies are complemented by role-specific functional competencies, for example, compensation & benefits, people analytics, or learning & development.

HR Roles of the Future

As we now have an idea about the skills HR professionals will need to succeed in the future, we can start to think about what the various HR roles of the future could look like.

While there will still be a need for an all-around, generalist type of HR professional, they will need to be equipped with a new range of skills.

At the same time – driven by current developments on a technological and global workforce level – there will be a need for HR specialists who are, next to having the core skills, experts in their specific area of HR.

A couple of HR roles of the future we could imagine seeing (a lot) more of:

The Digital Evangelist

The current explosion of HR technology is far from over. On the contrary, there is hardly any HR function left that doesn’t have an impressive range of software and tools designed to automate and digitize its processes. In recruitment tech alone, there are about a dozen new solutions a week coming onto the market.

Needless to say, it’s impossible for everyone in HR to keep up with the latest tech on top of all their other activities. Especially since the number of HR tech solutions is likely to further increase over the next years.

As such, we can imagine organizations having their very own Digital HR Evangelist. A few characteristics of this person:

• someone who is passionate about all things HR tech
• equipped with the necessary skills to grasp the essence of new solutions and their potential benefits for the organization
• digitally and tech savvy
• always willing to try new technology and not afraid to question existing solutions
• able to get all stakeholders on board when it comes to the implementation and use of a new solution; the Evangelist part of the job.

The Chess Master

The time when your average workforce mainly consisted of full-time employees is long gone. Today’s employees are a mix of freelancers, part-timers, full-times, contractors, and everything in between.

While this new composition certainly has its advantages – think flexibility, expertise and different perspectives on the business – it also has its challenges.

One of them being succession planning.

Because how do you plan ahead when you don’t know what your needs will be or how much of your workforce will consist of full-timers and contingent workers?

If succession planning was a challenge before, when HR still more or less had a certain visibility on who was going to leave and when, it has become a completely different ball game now.

Think for example of the challenges that come with the rapidly aging workforce or the increasing automation that will cause shifts in both work and workforce.

And let’s not forget about recruitment, because when we talk about workforce planning recruitment is an inevitable part of the equation.

When we think about HR roles of the future, someone who is an expert in strategic workforce planning, or, as we like to call it, a true Chess Master, is indispensable.

A few characteristics of this person:

• someone with a knack for solving complicated puzzles (problem-solving)
• who is well-organized
• with a natural tendency to think outside the box and look at problems from various angles
• digitally and tech savvy
• able to quickly adapt to changing circumstances

The People Data Wizard

It’s impossible to think of technology without data. The vast majority of HR tech solutions is driven by data and has an analytics function. This is one side of the data spectrum.

People analytics is the other. Thanks to the increase of cloud-based HR systems, more and more organizations now store their people data. In order to leverage this data though, they need someone who knows how to work with it.

This means – among other things – a data scientist who knows what data can be used (scientifically validated), where it should be stored (centrally), and, of course, how to get valuable and actionable insights from it that have a positive impact on the business.

But this role entails a lot more.

Digital HR enables us to think smarter about what data will lead to better performance. Based on this information we can build our systems and start doing our people analytics.

The People Data Wizard, therefore, is more of a people data and systems wizard. The below image illustrates this well. 

Image source – PA: FOW conference

And let’s not forget about the fact that a People Data Wizard needs to be able to translate this ‘foreign data language’ into normal people English if they want the rest of the organization to understand them.

When it comes to the characteristics of this person we imagine:

• someone who is very rigorous 
• who loves numbers
• with a strong analytical mind
• able to tell a compelling story
• digitally and tech savvy

The importance of collaboration

While the HR roles of the future will be (much more) specialized, it would be wrong to think of them as separate entities. In order for each function to really work, our ‘special HR units’ need to collaborate closely.

Because, for instance, when the Chess Master starts planning workforce and recruitment needs, they will undoubtedly need relevant people data and supporting technology solutions to create a solid strategy.

This means they will need to consult with both the People Data Wizard and the Digital Evangelist.

The same thing goes for any other kind of HR issue that needs to be dealt with, whether it’s a topic related to performance management, learning & development, or onboarding; in order to come up with a good strategy and execution, all special HR units will have to work together.

On a final note

In a time where automation and new technologies are rapidly changing the world of work, HR will play a big role in helping organizations and their people become future-proof.

But HR itself will look pretty different in the not too distant future too.

HR professionals will need to equip themselves with a new range of skills including people analytics, digital HR, strategic workforce planning, design thinking, and stakeholder management.

While there will still be a need for an all-around, generalist type of HR professional, there will also be a need for HR specialists with deep expertise in their areas.

The three roles we mentioned in this article are an example of HR roles of the future we could imagine seeing (a lot) more of. There are without a doubt more of them that we’ve missed. Feel free to add your vision on future HR roles below and we’ll happily include them in a later version!

If you want to future-proof your HR skill set and develop new HR competencies, check out our All You Can Learn Certification Program!

The post 3 HR Roles of the Future appeared first on AIHR.