In an ever-changing work landscape, HR teams find new challenges and opportunities. These require innovative solutions to meet organisational and employee needs. What are the current trends in Human Resource Management, and what tools can human resource professionals use to cater to these new needs?
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Human Resource Management (HRM) is essential to most businesses. This is because it involves managing the people working for an organisation and ensuring they are motivated, productive, and engaged. HRM has evolved significantly over the years, and with the advent of new HR tools, there are recent trends shaping Human Resources management. This article will discuss the current trends and challenges in HRM.
What is HRM?
HRM involves the proper management of people in an organisation. This management includes the processes of recruitment, selection, employee training, performance management, compensation, and benefits. Consequently, one of the key goals of HRM is to ensure that the organisation has the right people with the best skills and capabilities to achieve its objectives.
Why is HRM important for businesses?
HRM is vital for businesses because it can contribute to organisations achieving their strategic goals. By effectively managing its workers, businesses can create a positive work environment where employees feel valued and engaged. This, in turn, can help lead to increased productivity, improved customer satisfaction, and higher profits.
What are the current trends and challenges in HRM?
Workplace trends have been influenced by various factors that can transform the future workforce. Different factors, from current labour shortages, challenging economic growth and the recent surge of AI, can condition employee demands and HR trends. Businesses can turn to different software solutions to try and face these new trends and challenges. Here are seven trends for HRM and the technologies that can help them address them.
Flexible work arrangements are not dissipating
A recent survey in the UK showed that 83% of businesses wanted their employees back in the office. However, many employees have learned to love the flexibility of remote working and expect their employers to respect that. Businesses can offer flexible work hours that can be monitored with time-clock software. Along with this, HR professionals can use workflow management tools to monitor processes and balance employees’ workloads and project management tools to help plan and prioritise tasks for workers.
Diversity and inclusion should be considered in recruitment
Diversity and inclusion have become a top priority for many organisations. Not only that, it is also important for employees. Gartner research found that in a diverse workforce, performance improves by 12% and intent to stay by 20%. Consequently, businesses should deploy tools that help instil diversity and inclusion. This can be done in several ways. Some recruitment software can offer screening tools that remove personal information and allow for anonymous applications to avoid discrimination bias.
For HR teams actively seeking specific demographics to include diversity, HR analytics tools can help them achieve these targets. Additionally, collaboration software can also help HR teams create a more inclusive workplace by providing tools that facilitate communication between virtual teams and teamwork across different departments.
Leave Management Systems can bolster employee wellness
HR teams should look for ways to support employees’ physical, mental and emotional health. This can be done by helping employees maintain a stable work-life balance by, for example, offering parental leave or encouraging vacations for employees. Attendance tracking software can help HR managers track employee hours to ensure they are not overworked. With this information, leave management systems can then be used to allow organisations to manage employee time off, set up leave policies, and automate approval processes.
Employee development and collaboration tools can help your business
In a Capterra Survey, 36% of UK employees cited learning and development opportunities as one of the top three most important factors when considering a new job. Businesses should ensure they help their employees grow. Learning management systems can help workers develop hard skills and soft skills to adapt to new work environments.
Communication skills are a soft skill that many employees need, whether in on-site, remote or hybrid environments. For remote and hybrid teams, team communication software is crucial to help members communicate efficiently.
Data and technology can be used to boost employee experience
With work-life balance playing a pivotal role in employee retention, businesses must deploy the right tools to foster a positive work environment emphasising team communication, collaboration and trust. While HR analytics can help human resources professionals gain insights into critical data such as employee engagement, other HR software suites can help organisations manage human capital. Depending on their objectives, businesses can use Human Resource Information Systems or Human Resource Management Systems to help them optimise HR functions.
Why are HR trends important?
Revising HR trends can help organisations stay competitive in today’s rapidly changing business environment. By adopting new technologies and practices, businesses can, in turn, attract and retain the best talent, increase productivity, and improve the overall employee experience.
This can be done, for example, by continuing to adopt hybrid work that helps employees embrace work flexibility and prioritise diversity and inclusion. However, to reach these goals, HR professionals may need to keep up with the latest trends and use different HR technologies and human resource management strategies to remain competitive.
By staying informed and proactive, human resources and HRM policies can help organisations achieve their strategic objectives and thrive in today’s competitive business landscape.
