No, we have not decided to change the name of the Chartered Institute for Professional Development – we think that as HR professionals we should say “I Continuously Develop Professionally”. Today, we’re looking at building HR capabilities.
We are shifting the focus from the external world HR professionals can influence, to how HR itself has to evolve to remain at the cutting edge, after the pandemic has caused the workplace to transform.
We are going to explore the skills that HR professionals need both now and in the future, to support ongoing organisational change.
Background
As we know, HR is responsible for developing the workforce shape and strategy, which needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the organisation. Part of this includes redesigning the employee experience to attract and retain talent, ensuring people have access to tools, feel like they belong and are appreciated for the value they add.
HR will need to develop different skills, different knowledge and experiences, in order to be able to be agile and fluid, as well as to ensure intentional collaborating with multiple stakeholders.
Here we are going to look at six skills that are going to be essential:
- Business acumen
- Cultural awareness
- Digital fluency
- Data analytics and visualisation
- Managing and engaging people with change
- Consultancy skills
Business acumen
This is the context by which the organisation operates. HR needs to learn about the wider organisation including strategy, goals, aspirations and competitors.
This will require business awareness, as well as strategic awareness, to influence and provide advice and support. HR need to be able to see the whole picture and be involved early on in conversations.
HR needs to be proactive and develop a commercial awareness of the environment in which the organisation operates as well.
Commercial awareness is something that comes up time and again in job adverts and yet it is something that is quite difficult to demonstrate. In order to understand it, you first need to understand the business and the sector or market in which it operates. Ask yourself:
- Does the organisation provide, sell, or buy products?
- Or is it in services or ideas business?
- Who are the customers? Other businesses or what is sometimes referred to as Joe Public?
- What is going on in the market sector?
Cultural awareness
This involves connecting and interacting with people in different cultures, recognising the importance of cultural diversity and inclusion, not only regionally, nationally, or globally but also the sub cultures within groups too.
Having awareness of cultural difference, to not only ensure that meetings are scheduled at a time when all areas are able to meet, but also by making sure that there are not misunderstandings in policies as they are translated into multiple languages and dialects.
HR can encourage people to raise awareness of the different cultures that are present within an organisation. This is not about creating e-learning on the subject, but through an effective employee engagement programme. This enables people to work with others who they wouldn’t ordinarily, and help break down silos.
Digital fluency
This relates to what we wrote about recently in our HR tech blog – Abacus to AI. Digital fluency is the ability to interpret information, excavate the meaning, design content, and communicate ideas effectively and ethically. Automation and AI are here to stay, so HR will need to increase their knowledge of digital skills and remain curious about advancements in technology in order to be agile and find the best solution to meet the changes in business.
Data analysis and visualisation
Having HR expertise in data analytics and data visualisation is helpful to shaping and managing the future workforce. In order to do this effectively the HR function will require the abilities to:
- Translate strategic business decisions into the people agenda through an understanding of the industry in which it operates
- Build insights from analysing data in real time from a variety of different data sources to understand the triggers of issues both internally and externally.
- Work with the leadership team to use data to answer organisational issues and questions
- Have an evidence-based mindset to have a rigorous validation process, in order to make data driven decisions
- Use data analytics to shape the workforce to reconfigure jobs or redeploy workers and skills where they are needed most.
These skills will enable HR professionals to know how to use and manipulate data to provide the evidence and business insights that will inform how strategies and solutions across a multitude of disciplines.
Managing and engaging people with change
Change management has always been a key skill of an HR professional (see our blog on change management).
The ability to use various change models (Lewin, Kotter, Covey) and understand how people manage change (Kubler-ross change curve), understand how ready people are for change and how to manage resistance to change (Stockholm syndrome and Otis Reading syndrome), are all part of the HR professional’s toolkit for managing change.
HR needs to be able to translate these models into a language used by the people in the business. There’s a need to create scenarios that are based on real life, to help people recognise, engage, and adapt to the change that is needed. We need to be able to understand the impact that change will have on people and involve them with it, in order to maintain a good employee experience at work.
HR can act as a facilitator for change that the business initiates.
Consultancy skills
HR in the future will continue to need various consultancy skills, including stakeholder management, continuous learning and improvement, and working collaboratively across boundaries:
1. Stakeholder management
Is the building and maintaining of relationships. This approach should be a personal one, building rapport and supporting stakeholders. This is important for trust and credibility.
2. Continuous learning and continuous improvement
HR needs to be able to learn and reflect on many aspects of work. They need to share that learning with others, and encourage continuous learning and improvement with stakeholders too.
3. Working collaboratively
HR consultancy for change means working with stakeholders throughout the change process. This requires the ability to take shared responsibility and ensure that managers and leaders own the change.
Continual development of these skills not only has benefit for HR, but also for the business. This will enable HR professionals to maximise their contribution and add value. Creating a great employee experience for them, and for the people they provide a service to.
If you would like to hear more about HR capabilities then we would love to hear from you, please drop us a line and say hello.
@Karen
