8 Emerging HR Trends to watch out for in 2018

1. Review culture and continuous feedback.

One of the most predicted HR trends for 2018 is the culture of reviews and continuous feedback in the workplace. The methods that people use to
give feedback has changed over the years. As an HR leader or a manager, you should focus on improving your departments by providing frequent
and constructive feedback. According to several studies, most employees would prefer real-time reviews or feedback instead of the annual
performance reviews. This is because the practice helps them to know where they might be going wrong, and offer them a chance to correct
themselves before the annual evaluation. They do not have to wait for twelve months to learn where they went wrong. Continuous feedback will also
help the organization grow and avoid significant loses.

2. Speeding up of performance management.

We have come to learn that job satisfaction and performance go together. Both seem to develop when employees have an opportunity to explore
their creativity. Most leading enterprises apply this knowledge to offer growth of their employees. By developing systems which measure and also
manage performance, you can be able to speed up growth and notice the significant transformation. It is vital to promote healthy performance
management to both individual level and organizational level if you want your company to succeed.
3. Digitized rewards and recognition
One of the best motivators for most employees has been receiving praise and recognition from their managers. In 2018, every person expects the
trend to advance. We all hope to see digitized rewards and recognition. Hence, to make your employees productive, digital recognition is a trend you
need to implement. Another HR trend expected is peer to peer recognition. Start by using the social platforms and offer a suitable platform for your
employees to recognize and reward their contribution.
4. HR Bots (Artificial Intelligent driven HR)
Another interesting HR trend to focus in 2018 is AI ( Artificial Intelligence) driven human resources. Even though it is not expected to eliminate the
usual human HR, it will transform and help to analyze the data. It will also assist in the primary repetitive HR tasks. When you use Artificial
intelligence to recruiting the workforce, you will be able to eliminate bias. It will help to access the candidates based on their requirements without
favoritism. It will also let your team focus on employee relations instead of being caught up in unexciting tasks.
5. Learning management systems
The need for skills development is important for all your employees no matter which stage of career they are at the moment. Constant learning is
expected to be among the most popular and emerging HR trends in 2018. It is essential for any organization that wants to grow to provide learning
opportunities to all employees. Through learning, your employees can be able to improve their skills and be able to give the best while working. Your
organization can have learning management systems that will help you to check and track your employees learning process accurately, and also help
to promote collaboration between various departments in your company.
6. Increase in part-time employment and contingent workforce management
In most advanced countries, there is a usual trend where more than 40 percent of employees are being hired on a contingent basis. This means you
need to learn more about your workforce structure and whether you can reconsider structuring it. You need to learn and understand the type of
systems and technologies that can be implemented in your organization. Even though it is not practical for any organization to adopt a new
workforce structure instantly, it is essential to be aware of the emerging HR trends. Keep in mind that your workforce is the most critical asset in your
organization.
7. Use of Online skill assessments
Online assessments have also become increasingly popular as an effective talent management tool. Employee assessment is no longer just about
complying with an organization’s guidelines. It is now an integral part of management strategy. In today’s highly competitive global economy, an
organization has to have a grip of what exactly the workforce knows, or doesn’t know. Online assessments including tests, surveys, quizzes and
exams have been used to mitigate the risks or relying on mere self-assessment.
8. Fitness and wellness apps to develop employee engagement
Another vital HR trend that most organizations are expected to focus on is fitness and wellness apps. Most companies these days are focusing on
creating life and work balance. If you want your employees to be productive, and to be able to build a sustainable workforce, you need to balance
work and life. To achieve this objective, you can introduce wellness and fitness app for your employees. The apps will help to create a balance
between their professional and their personal lives. For example, your employees can have access to dietary counseling, yoga, and work and life
counseling among many others.

Should consider digital tools as a support for your organization strategies, and not for them to drive your organization entirely. It is crucial to be open and
flexible before embracing new technologies to support your HR department. Also, do not lose sight of the bigger picture because of the availability of tools and
emerging trends.

You need to learn, understand, analyses and consult widely before reacting to any of the emerging trends. For example, AI is a fantastic tool that is the future
of HR and other departments. However, you need to learn the benefits and the problems that cannot be solved by the Bots. Today, the HR department is no
longer a support function. Hence, it is necessary to have proper infrastructure this critical department.
With a new political landscape and continuous changes in our demographics, 2017 is going to be a rapidly changing year for the HR world. HR is
going to have to stay on the forefront of legislative changes and may even need to get more engaged in influencing those changes. Plus, with the
continuous evolution of our workforce, what has always worked may not work anymore whether it be recruitment, compensation, or even
workplace policies.

So what’s keeping HR up at night and on our toes during the day????

TREND 1 – Retiring Baby Boomers

For years, the work force has been dominated by the Baby Boomers. The masses of Baby Boomers in the workforce have dominated the other generations by
sheer numbers. Slowly this is changing. As of April 2016, the Baby Boomers are no longer the largest generation in the workforce as the Millennials surpass
them. Currently, around 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day according to PEW Research. Some Baby Boomers are retiring while others are plunging into
their next career.
Considerations: With a mass exodus of Baby Boomers, whether to retirement or a new career, how will your company manage this loss of wisdom, knowledge,
and experience? What can your organization do to retain the Baby Boomers at some level to minimize the loss? What steps can you implement to transfer
this knowledge to the younger generations?

TREND 2 – Entrance of Generation Z

Welcome Generation Z (born 1991 to present) to the workplace. According to Bruce Tulgan’s research on the “Great Generational Shift,” Gen Zs grew up
“over supervised, coached, and constantly rewarded by their parents.” As a result, this generation has high expectations for themselves, their boss and the
company. They have a lot of wants and want to know exactly what they need to do to attain those wants including clear goals, precise timelines, and
acceptable rewards. While some feel this is the trophy generation where everyone was a winner, truth be told, it was the parents that did not “keep score”,
the kids certainly did. They are competitive and they know how to keep score.
Considerations: This generation does not “trust” the system and wants clear goals tied to rewards. HR is going to be challenged to create an environment that
will accommodate these workers including new programs such as training managers, creating clear milestones, developing incremental rewards, ensuring open
and regular communications, and more. Gen Z won’t be appeased with “if you work hard, here’s where you’ll be in 3-5 years”. They want to see more
immediate rewards – next week, next month, 6 months out.

TREND 3 – Workforce Flexibility

To begin with, flexibility in the workplace is no longer a request by moms and/or Gen Xers. Both genders and every generation are looking for workplace
flexibility for their own reasons.
Considerations: To stay competitive, organizations will need to figure out how to accommodate these requests for flexibility such as flexible starting and ending
times and options to work from home as needed—perhaps even adjusting the normal work day to a 5 – 6 hour day.

TREND 4 – Gig Workforce

An even bigger challenge is going to be the emergence of the Gig Workforce. It’s not really new but according to Freelancing in America more than 55 million
Americans do freelance work, and 79% of them prefer freelance work to a traditional job.
Considerations: To attract and retain the gig workforce, you’ll need to make shifts in how you handle these freelancers all while staying in compliance with the
laws around employee versus contractor. An added complication can be determining whether this individual is truly a contractor, or should they be classified
as an employee. It’s a fine line and the Department of Labor has been watching closely.

TREND 5 – Tight Labor Market

The labor market continues to get tighter and tighter. It is becoming more and more challenging to find talent let alone technical talent (STEM). Plus, a tight
labor market means it is a candidates market and candidates know it.
Considerations: Companies will need to continue to partner with education institutes to develop candidates with these skills. They will also need to be willing
to grow the skills internally rather than expecting to find them on the street. In addition, companies will need to begin focusing on the candidate
experience. It will be critical to break down the journey a candidate may take from beginning to end with your organization and ensure it is very positive in the
eyes of the candidate. Timeliness will also be critical. If you think a candidate is great, so does someone else. Lastly, hiring is just taking longer, and costing
more – from resources to the time to fill. Keep an eye on your metrics, so you’re not caught off guard.

TREND 6 – Return of the Performance Review

In the past, the buzz was to abolish performance reviews. But, guess what? They aren’t going away. The reason organizations were eliminating the reviews
was because an annual discussion was not effective, which was no surprise.
Considerations: Discussions with employees on performance and development need to be happening more regularly, at least monthly or quarterly, if not more
often. An informal or formal approach to ongoing discussions with employees has to be established. The Millennials (Gen Y & Gen Z) are looking for these
regular conversations and the other generations are jumping on the bandwagon. What tools can you provide your managers and how do you hold them
accountable for ensuring these regular discussions are taking place?

TREND 7 – Bonuses versus Raises

With a tight labor market and robust economy, wages are increasing too. More and more companies are shifting to a compensation structure of bonuses
based on performance over the annual merit raise.
Considerations: Employers are trying to get more creative to handle this increased cost by offering bonuses to employees in lieu of pay increases. For example,
an increase of 1 – 4% doesn’t have a huge impact on an employee’s salary on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis. However, a bonus of $500 – $10,000 will
have a bigger and immediate impact. To do this, employers need to start with a competitive base pay and then create formal incentive plans to help
employees know what they need to do in order to get what amount of bonus.

TREND 8 – Parental Leave

Work / Life benefits continue to be top of mind as well. One of the key ones is “parental leave,” meaning both maternity and paternity leaves. Big or small, we
 are beginning to see organizations taking steps to offer time off for both mom and dad for the birth or adoption of a child. Some companies are offering very
generous plans (i.e. 12 weeks paid) that are the same for both, while others are starting out by offering a paternal leave at a different amount than maternal.
Considerations: To be competitive, what will your organization do with regards to parental leave? While there was a lot of buzz on paid leave in the election,
Congress is unlikely to act any time soon. That doesn’t mean your company can rest on its laurels, when so many other companies are stepping up to offer
paid leave.

TREND 9 – Compliance issues for 2017

With any new presidential administration, we can expect a great deal of change in 2017 to workplace compliance such as:
 Fair Labor Standards Act – exempt/non-exempt and overtime requirements
 Paid Time Off – Time off for sick, maternity, and other leaves of absence
 Affordable Care Act
 Equal Pay
 Immigration
Considerations: To effectively help our organizations, we need to stay on top of issues. Some of these changes will be for the good of a company and others
may not. Be sure your voice is being heard on these issues by connecting with your local congressman, and pay attention. It seems that changes are
happening daily, if not hourly.

Finally, we’ve talked about the customer experience and the candidate experience; both of these are directly tied to the employee experience. We don’t often
step back and evaluate the interactions an employee goes through while employed with us. The best place to start is to create a map of the journey an
employee navigates including such points as onboarding, expectations, feedback, recognition, communication, growth and development, workloads, and
more. Now more than ever, it’s critical to consider what you are doing to keep your current talent.

This is just a sampling of some of the key trends we have in store for us in 2017. As HR professionals, it is going to be imperative for us stay alert and informed
about the continued changes to our workforce, recruitment, policies, and legalities in order to be competitive and in compliance.

Technology Leads the Trends

One of the most important emerging trends in human resources is the adoption of more technology and its impact in the HR sphere. For instance, social media
and AI are helping more HR departments be more proactive about recruitment. Technology is also helping HRM groups handle tasks like performance reviews
and employee feedback, training, and wellness programs.

One interesting tech trend that may become more popular in HR departments is HR chatbots. While chatbots have already sprung up in customer service
situations, more HR professionals are seeing the value in adding chatbots to the intranet or to their HR programs to help direct employees to resources about
benefits, job openings, and events, as well as offer feedback directly.

Generations in the Workplace

One trend that HRM leaders need to know is that more baby boomers are retiring, while more of Generation Z is entering the workforce. This can be very
important when considering human resource development practices. Gen Z values very different things than the boomer generation, and so workforce policies
will need to reflect that if they want to attract and recruit talent.

As you think about emerging trends in human resource development, remember that Millennials and Generation Z are now the driving force behind change in
the workplace.

HR departments are no longer passively processing paychecks or ensuring compliance, nor are they simply a center for hiring and training. HR has taken on a
much more recent role in the “vibe” of a company, helping to establishing the culture of the business and the brand. While establishing a company’s “brand”
may seem more like a C-suite or marketing decision, it makes sense that HR would have a bigger hand in it as the role of company culture continues to be a
large factor in why people decide to accept a job offer or stay with a company.

Time to consider the HR Trends for 2018

The HR Trend Institute was founded nearly four years ago. Our first annual HR Trends prediction appeared in December 2014. In this article the
overview of major trends we consider relevant for 2018. “Power to the People” and “Employee Intimacy” made the list.

2015: No more performance reviews

Our list for 2015 had 9 subjects.

1. No more performance reviews

2. The org chart is fading away
3. Privacy seems to be less of an issue
4. The sharing economy is also entering organisational life
5. Mobile/mobile/mobile
6. Real time succession management
7. Robots in the board room
8. The end of PowerPoint
9. Community management as a recruitment tool

The reality is, that only a few of these trends really became mainstream in the past three years. The early adaptors that abolished performance
reviews are coming back on their decision. Privacy is becoming more of an issue, not less. Concepts like the sharing of talent across
organisations are rare. Robots are kept out of the boardrooms, and PowerPoint is still the corporate standard. Are org charts fading away?
Maybe a little bit, but not very fast. Yes, mobile is more and more important, but even in 2014 that was not a very difficult prediction.

2016: HR embraces agile

For 2016 our list was extended to 11 items.

1. HR embraces agile
2. Back to the office
3. HR goes soft on performance ratings
4. Individualisation
5. Talent everywhere
6. Artificial Intelligence
7. Detecting and selecting the best
8. Moving away from big systems
9. Rewards: less external benchmarking
10. Maturing of people analytics
11. Keep it simple

2016 looks like a better year with regards to sensing the important trends in HR. HR embracing agile is maybe overstating it a bit, but many HR
teams are considering agile ways of working. The scope of talent management is certainly broadening. AI was one of the hot topics in 2016 and
2017 and people analytics is really maturing. Keeping is simple (and focused) is still a challenge for many HR teams.

2017: The consumerisation of HR

The 9 subjects we selected as important trends for 2017 were:

1. The consumerisation of HR
2. Performance consulting
3. From individuals to teams to networks of teams
4. Man-machine collaboration
5. Algorithm aversion
6. HR Operations
7. Data ownership
8. The end of open space
9. The battle of the apps

2017 is still in progress, maybe a bit to early for an evaluation. The consumerisation of HR is certainly an important topic, and many
organisations are now looking into ways to measure and improve the employee experience.

What do we see as the major trends for 2018?

1. From PTB to EI

Dave Ulrich’s “Human Resource Champions” has probably been the book with the largest impact on the HR profession in the last decades.
Unfortunately, many people did not read the book, but only saw a picture with the four archetypical roles for HR. For many the book was
summarised in one key message: you must become a Strategic Business Partner. As strategy was a role of top management, this meant you
had to get close to management, or even better, become part of top management! Many of today’s CHRO’s have grown in this area. Therefore,
HR has focused too much on pleasing top management, and forgot to develop one of the other key roles Ulrich described: Employee Champion.
The tide is slowly turning, from PTB (please the boss) to EI (employee intimacy). Really understanding the wishes, needs and capabilities of
employees is getting more important, and this employee intimacy is required to design relevant employee journeys. Read our earlier blog
post: To a more human and holistic HR.

2. Renewed focus on productivity

In the last years, there has not been a lot of focus on productivity. We see a slow change at the horizon. Traditionally, capacity problems have
been solved by recruiting new people. This has led to several problems. When you need many people, it is difficult to apply very stringent
selection criteria. Because you compromise on quality, and because if you grow you generally need more coordination mechanisms (often
management), productivity goes down. When focusing more on productivity, the benefits for the organisation and the employees can be big. You
need to hire less people, and the potential of the employees is better used. People analytics can help to determine what the characteristics are
of the best performing people and teams. The findings can be used in recruitment and in people and team development. Read: 3 reasons to
stop counting heads.

3. Power to the people (or: Bring your own everything)

Many organisations are still used to work in a top-down way. In those organisations, also HR finds it difficult to approach issues in a different
way. Performance management is a good example. Changing the performance management process is often tackled as an organisation wide
issue, and HR needs to find the new uniform solution. In line with the trend called “the consumerisation of HR” employees are expected to take
more initiative, being tired of waiting for the organisation and HR, and wanting to be more independent of organisational initiatives. If you want
feedback, you can easily organise it yourself, for example with the Slack plug-in Captain Feedback. A simple survey to measure the mood in
your team is quickly built with Polly (view: “How to measure the mood in your team with Slack and Polly“). Many employees are already tracking
their own fitness with trackers like Fitbit and the Apple Watch. Many teams primarily use communication tools as WhatsApp and Slack, avoiding
the officially approved communication channels. HR might go with the flow, and tap on to the channels used, instead of trying to promote
standardised and approved channels.

4. The end of fixed jobs

The slow shift has been going on for years now. The Tayloristic organisation, where everybody has a clearly defined and assigned job, often
does not work so well. Especially when the assignments are not so clearly defined, more flexibility is required. The jobs become more flexible,
and employees get the opportunity to craft their own job, to make the best fit with their wishes, needs and capabilities. Some organisations go
beyond job crafting. When there is an assignment, there is a process to look at the capabilities (qualitative and quantitative) required for this
specific assignment. The wishes, needs and capabilities of people connected to the organisation are known, or captured as part of the process.
A team is established, where the availability of people and the requirements of other teams must be considered. Teams are not build of people
with specific fixed jobs, but of people who have specific skills that are needed to deliver the assignment. People with broad skill sets, can use
certain skills in Team A, and other skills in Team B at their next assignment. The leader of Team A, who has specific skills in building new teams,
might be the agile coach in Team B, as she is also very good in agile coaching. In this new situation, it is not possible to assign static job names
to people. Read:

5. Learning in real time

The learning domain has been slow in using the opportunities offered by technology. Loads of money is still wasted on classroom training for
groups of employees on very broad subjects, often not directed at immediate application, but for possible future use. There are signs this is
changing. Big chunks of material are divided in more digestible small pieces (micro learning). Employees will have easy access to learning
material when they need it (just in time). Knowledge and skills can be learned in a playful manner (gamification), and VR and AR learning
solutions make learning more real (and fun). The learning experience can be tailored to the individual capabilities and needs of employees. A
challenge will remain to monitor and measure the performance of people, to be able to find (or design) the most appropriate learning solution.

6. Hospitality and Service

HR operations has been highly undervalued. The last years we have seen an upgrade of HR Operations. Most likely HR can add most value in
the HR operations area. The requirements for the people in HR operations are different though, and probably we need a new breed of HR
professionals who can run HR as a service organisation. In HR services both IT and hospitality are important. Organisations that measure how
employees experience their journey, often find that employees are not very happy with how they can find relevant HR information (often on the
intranet). A top-notch HR service centre is very important for a positive candidate and employee experience. 24/7. Friendly chatbots that help
employees and managers. High level professionals that can help when the programmed processes do not offer a solution and when the issue is
too difficult for the chatbot.

7. Shrinking HR teams

Most HR professionals will work in HR services. The number of jobs in HR services will decrease, as the level of automation increases.
Example: the sourcing work many recruiters were doing, is rapidly taken over by intelligent machines. HR advisors/ assistants/ business partners
will become less necessary (see also trends 1 and 3). Read: “Basic architecture HR“. HR is certainly a profession. Top HR professionals will be
needed in HR services, and on a high-level HR architects can (and should) play an important role in the transformation of organisations.

8. Letting go

Earlier this year we published “8 talent management trends for 2018“. One of the trends we labelled: “A more organic approach to talent
management”. This trend is related to trend number three in this list (“Power to the people”). A quote from our article: “Planning and control are
overrated. Most talent management programs cost a lot of money, and do not deliver on the high expectations. HR and management are used to
design and implement programs, and life might feel empty without. I was speaking about talent management with a friend, who is working at a
medium sized multinational, recently. She said she was now advocating a “go with the flow” approach. Talent in their organisation often starts
initiatives without any corporate involvement. The main task of the corporate team is to stimulate and not to stop these initiatives, and not to
force them to a global approach immediately. An interesting organic approach.” Surely this approach can also be applied to other areas in HR.