Every company needs to have an HR department. It’s the law, actually. But beyond the pressure of governing legislature, human resources are a vital component of every growth-oriented company nowadays, simply because of the value that HR professionals bring to the modern workplace, as well as the brand as a whole. That said, it’s also important to note that HR is not a “set it and forget it” type of department because the HR industry is constantly evolving and changing with the prevailing trends, regulations, as well as the needs of various demographics.
From improving employee engagement to attracting the top talent to your company, all the way to boosting marketing and sales even, there’s plenty you can gain by investing in your HR department, but you need to know which areas of HR you need to invest in first. With that in mind, here are the top trends for HR in 2020 that you need to take to heart.
HR is moving to the cloud
The remote culture is growing exponentially across the modern business world, as more and more companies are opting to switch to flexible work schedules as well as flexible teams that work from home, or abroad. Managing remote teams, therefore, requires a company to sync into the cloud, in order to provide one centralized platform to its management and employees where everyone can collaborate and work towards the same goals efficiently and effectively.
Naturally, this means that HR should also migrate to the cloud, in order to take human resources into the 21st century, improve efficiency, and allow HR professionals to directly influence every relevant process and the company’s culture in real time. This allows HR reps to work with real-time data, but also utilize the cloud’s features to support employees as well as the higher-ups in their work.
Focusing on employee mental and physical wellness
The wellness revolution is raging strong across the globe, as more and more people are starting to value personal mental and physical health above all else in life. What this means for you and your HR department is that your employees will have no problem leaving your company if they feel that their job is affecting their physical or physiological health in a negative way. That said, this also opens up an amazing opportunity to emphasize employee wellness through HR, and capitalize on the trend.
Needless to say, a happy and healthy employee is a productive employee, so your HR reps need to come up with various ways to make your team members feel valued and appreciated. The best way to do this is to, of course, provide plenty of perks that revolve around physical and mental health, such as having a gym and a healthy canteen, but also allowing HR professionals to talk to other employees in order to learn about their needs and provide the guidance necessary for them to become happier at work.
Emphasizing perks and employee motivation
Speaking of various perks, it’s vital to recognize the importance of proper employee motivation, and how motivating your team members through various reward programs or functional changes can help you boost productivity and positivity around the office. Say you decide to save money by optimizing your payroll process. There’s not much related to HR here, right? Well, not quite.
One of the solutions could be to introduce personalized payroll cards to cut extraneous expenses, but it will be up to your HR professionals to familiarize your employees with the new system, how it benefits them, how to use their cards, and most importantly, help your brand use the cards to evoke the right emotional response. The key here is to find these types of opportunities in every change you make, so come 2023, be sure to find ways to weave HR into every process in order to capitalize on employee motivation.
Optimizing and enhancing the recruitment process
Human resources are vital for the recruitment process, but beyond creating interview questionnaires for your applicants to fill out, HR can completely revolutionize your recruitment process and enhance everything from your brand’s culture to your various selling points to attract the best of the best in your industry. You can achieve this by allowing your HR reps to enhance the recruiting experience with personal communication as well as the technology.
For example, integrating a chatbot, like MobileMonkey, into the recruiting process is a great way to appeal to the millennial job seekers, but you need your HR team to optimize the branding, wording, and the tone of voice of the chatbot in order to create an amazing experience for your applicants.
Leveraging HR to improve employer branding
And speaking of applicants and job seekers, it’s also important to elevate your reputation as an employer in the over-saturated job market. There’s no shortage of lucrative career opportunities for a talented millennial, so if you want to attract the best of the best in 2023, it’s imperative that you build up your employer brand with the help of HR. Have your HR professionals optimize the narrative across all online platforms, including your own site, social media, relevant online forums, and more.
Wrapping up
HR is a vital part of modern business, and with its help, you stand to improve numerous processes throughout your company. With these trends in mind, you can get a head start and leverage the power of HR to develop your competitive advantage in 2020 and beyond.