As HR leaders worldwide bank on their new agenda for HR transformation, which closely connects to the larger enterprise transformation, the digital landscape has put forth unprecedented challenges and opportunities.
With everybody agreeing upon the need for digital transformation for at-scale business outcomes, the flipside of this agenda that HR executives must fully realize is digital disruption. Profound shifts are inevitable across sectors and workplaces as decision-makers drastically change how they implement work processes, business strategies, and work culture.
Against any disruptive change, investing in learning strategies continues to be a move toward the correct path.
The IT Skill Gap is Real
Research suggests that about ¾ of IT businesses witness critical skills shortages across their workforces. This digital divide is in itself a crucial indicator of the disruptive side of digital transformation, demanding greater investments in learning opportunities.
As such, HR employees must make time on their own to learn new skills and be on par with the pace of their company.
So, what skills must the HR department develop to cope with the ever-evolving digital workplace landscape? Read on to know more.
Need for Speed and Agility
No doubt, the COVID-19 crisis has upended workplaces in several ways. But has it actually changed that much when it comes to HR skills necessary for digital transformation?
While the required skill sets have remained the same, the speed and agility they were implemented with went into hyperdrive.
The ongoing global health events have compelled businesses to turn on a dime, be it a complete revamp of staffing to support remote work or shifting from in-office work interactions to tech-powered video conferencing and collaborations.
HR pros, thus, need to help carry out these changes faster, more flexibly, and with less planning and support than ever before.
Embracing Hybrid Workforces
Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are helping companies tackle increasingly complex issues like hybrid work, talent shortages, or market fluctuations. All these challenges require better data assessment and connection between employees, the organization, and the broader world.
In this digital switchover, HR executives will help underline the tasks and roles that should be automated and the skills required to perform those tasks. Also, they will help the employees build those skills, or begin a recruitment drive.
To that end, the HR domain itself will have to undergo a digital transition to get more intertwined with the organization, its goals, and its employees. They will need to upgrade themselves to take the business to the next level.
A Knack of Technology
HR pros do not have to be statisticians or technologists. But they must have a proper understanding of how technology works. Also, that incorporates the data available through deploying new solutions and tools, and how tech and data provide better insights to support strategies, decision-making, and people-centered programs.
When organizations become virtual, HR executives must begin leveraging more tools to manage communication, monitor recruiting, onboarding and offboarding, and gauge employees’ happiness.
Soft Skills still Matter
When it comes to HR and digital transition, professionals should not compromise their soft skills, especially the following.
- Organizational skills: Reorganize how businesses run, starting from offices, work-from-anywhere norms, software, and internal communication – all these changes in a relatively brief span.
- Effective communication: Be precise while communicating with colleagues, particularly as formal or informal conversations are happening online, via emails, chatting, or video calls. It is easy to get misinterpreted and create unwanted confusion.
- Relationship creation: Be close to people to be a business partner. Creating a system that prioritizes employees’ needs in real-time is critical to building a more effective “people team.”
Upskilling and Reskilling is the Way Forward
The complementary and contradictory processes of digital transformation and digital disruption will unfold in exciting ways as HR becomes increasingly digital. In the HR realm, these dual forces will continue to affect how present and future workforces experience the company. Moreover, as the HR role will stand in the vanguard of these changes, HR pros must build adaptive skills in the behavioral and sociological aspects to support digital-driven workplaces.
This requires identifying the opportunities these twin processes offer and how learning will help HR leaders utilize those very opportunities for better business outcomes.
