HR Priorities for 2024
As we look to the coming new year, human resources leaders are facing various challenges that are helping them define their HR priorities for 2024. The pressure to help improve operational efficiency, the continued skills shortage, the impact AI is having on the workforce, and the employee-employer relationship challenges are just a few of the issues informing their decision.
A recent Gartner study sought feedback from more than 500 Human Resources leaders across 40 countries to get a better understanding of how these leaders can take action to plan for success.
Leader and Manager Development
According to the study, three-quarters of the respondents said managers are overwhelmed with their job responsibilities. And nearly as many (73%) said their organization’s leaders aren’t equipped to lead the change.
The typical response is to provide skills training and implement technologies that will increase productivity. However, these steps don’t address critical challenges, which include reducing their jobload, understanding their motivational drivers, and changing processes around the job.
Leading companies are taking the following actions:
- Resetting role expectations by enabling managers to support employees with coaching and development and addressing the scope of the role.
- Rebuilding manager pipelines with self-discovery by ensuring they see all sides of management roles and making it acceptable to opt out of a management role.
- Rewiring managerial habits to help them build more vital people management skills, creating repeatable routines, and making time for self-reflection.
- Removing process hurdles that are low-value and create more of a burden than a benefit.
Organizational Culture
The hybrid work environment results in fewer in-person interactions and less time in the office. This has forced HR leaders to evolve the culture experience. A strong company culture requires alignment and connectedness, in a sense, a rational and emotional connection to the company.
More than ever, this must be an intentional process. For example, instead of fostering culture in the office, it must be done through the work itself. With less time together, the physical aspect of connectedness must be replaced by the emotional part. And with fewer significant group events, find ways to build a culture in small group experiences.
Human Resources Technology
Technology advancements, especially generative AI are creating more complexity for HR teams while demand remains for human-centric employee experiences. HR leaders should consider the following criteria when adopting technology.
- Governance – who owns and manages the technology?
- Workforce Readiness – what is the impact on skills, roles, and responsibilities?
- Risks and Ethics – does it meet regulatory requirements? Are there ways to mitigate risk?
- Vendor Landscape – is now the time to implement? Are there other established solutions?
Change Management
The pace of change and related uncertainty has employees feeling hesitant and disempowered and has impacted employee well-being and productivity. Addressing change fatigue is essential as new initiatives are rolled out. It must be part of each plan and communicated to employees.
Career Management and Internal Mobility
The standard career paths are no longer viable. This has left a majority of employees unsure of how to move forward in their careers. HR leaders should design adaptive options that offer career-option experiences.
According to the research, “Dynamic organizations approach career pathing in an adaptive way by dividing work into short cycles and frequent iterations. Adaptive career designs also provide tools to help employees build experience rather than just providing information about careers.”
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