1. Boston Consulting Group European Association for Personnel Development
Future of HR in Europe 2010
Boston Consulting Group
European Association for Personnel Development

2. What is HR? Management of people within an organization
3 major areas: - staffing - employee pay - defining/designing work
Purpose: maximize productivity by optimizing effectiveness of staff
Task is unlikely to change despite increasing pace of change: “the basic mission of human resources will always be to acquire, develop, and retain talent align the workforce with the business and be an excellent contributor to the business" Source: Gubman, Journal of Business Strategy
Future of HR

3. HR tasks (1)
Staffing - hire & fire - job design/ job descriptions - job performance
Pay & benefits
Future of HR

4. HR tasks (2)
Training & development - on-boarding - informing - new skills - safety training - professional/ technical education - supervisor / management training - leadership development
Labour relations
Health & safety
Future of HR

5. Future of HR

6. Critical challenges Managing talent Managing demographics
Learning organisation
Work Life balance
Managing change/ cultural transformation
Leadership development
Measuring HR performance
Performance management
Employee commitment
Diversity
Corporate social responsibility
Managing globalisation
Shared service. Outsourcing HR
Re-structuring organisation
Big 5
9 other issues
Future of HR

7. Future of HR

8. Managing demographics Learning organisation Work Life balance
Big 5
Managing talent
Managing demographics
Learning organisation
Work Life balance
Managing change
Future of HR

9. Report survey 1355 senior executives 27 European countries
Views on 17 topics in HRM
Follow-up interviews with senior 100 executives
Future of HR

10. Summary Top 5 are most important capabilities for future
Top 5 are where companies are currently weakest
Only 30% have begun to tackle all 5
Because of migration willingness, top 5 affect Europe as a whole
Importance if all 17 topics varies between countries
Future of HR

11. Managing talent (1) Shortage of good talent is world-wide
Companies preparing to migrate to emerging markets likely to increase in 5-8 years
Needs for talent reflects business’s strategic plans
Need to identify (1) specific future types of employees (2) best routes for finding them
Future of HR

12. Managing talent (2) Highly skilled talent to be sourced world- wide
Reduced company loyalty
Retention of talent requires: (1) tailored career tracks| (2) attractive rewards (3) full use of talent’s interests, skills, abilities
Employment offer to align with desires of talent and employer’s own brand image
Broaden talent search to diverse groups
Offer meets gender, ethnic needs & goals
Future of HR

13. Managing demographics (1)
Ageing workforce demands re-assessment: (1) loss of capacity & knowledge (2) ageing workforce
Loss of capacity – steps to take: (1) how will workforce change 5,10,15 years? (retirement, attrition, recruitment) (2) What kind /how many employees needed /which function? (3) Difference between (1) & (2)? (4) Plans to address shortfalls & surpluses
Future of HR

14. Managing demographics (2)
Ageing workforce - implications: - productivity - capacity to work in shifts - different ways of motivating - potential to innovate - illness - absenteeism - cost of labour
Future of HR

15. Managing demographics (3)
Ageing workforce - steps to take: (1) health care to minimise absence (2) new career systems (3) adapting patterns of shift working
Future of HR

16. Learning organisation (1)
Need: (1) Speed of change in global economy (2) Help staff cope with complexities
Failure of education to equip new workers with skills to keep pace
Business success dependent on linking training with strategy
Future of HR

17. Learning organisation (2)
Choose learning strategy BEST suited to company culture; - in-class, on-the-job, distance, action learning
Greatly boost on-the-job learning opportunities - job rotation, counselling. Coaching
Return on investment (ROI): - define & measure what expect. Get from learning investment - tangible outcomes, measurable goals - follow-through
Future of HR

18. Work Life balance (1) Boundaries between private and work life blur
Jobs assessed by how job: - helps balances life’s demands - furthers personal goals & values
Flexible work arrangements to attract & retain best talent
Appeal to feeling that staff need sense of greater purpose from work
Future of HR

19. Work Life balance (2) Assess what best staff seek to get WLB
Introduce new ways of working: - flexible working hours - home-working - job-sharing
Adopt corporate social responsibility: - company brand-image - widen market perception & appeal - raise ethical standards of firm - access high-quality staff
Future of HR

20. Managing change (1)
World-wide search for new staff brings cultural challenge
Entering new markets with greater speed requires cultural transformation
HR needs to help line-manager communicate to staff: - need for change - empower staff to make change happen
Future of HR

21. Managing change (2) Change driven from top
Top level change-management post
Ensure changes are completed and succeed
Continual assessment of staff behaviour & reaction
Programmes to shape staff performance
Change staff actions for maximum effectiveness
Future of HR

22. HR – fundamental capabilities (1)
Meeting Big 5 “herculean” task - but not enough for HR
Mastering HR processes - systematically assess & improve - increase efficiency & effectiveness of HR - outsourcing/ shared service centres
Deliver on recruiting & staffing: - innovate recruitment means for ITC economy
Future of HR

23. HR – fundamental capabilities (2)
Deliver on recruiting & staffing: - innovate recruitment means for ITC economy - source new & more diverse types of talent - collaborate with line managers on staffing - internal staff processes & measures
Future of HR

24. HR – fundamental capabilities (3)
HR – Strategic partner: - show business acumen - display business pragmatism - equip HR with “business expertise” - measure own performance against criteria: - qualitative - quantitative - financial
Future of HR

25. 9 other issues Leadership development Measuring HR performance
Performance management
Employee commitment
Diversity
Corporate social responsibility
Managing globalisation
Shared service. Outsourcing HR
Re-structuring organisation
Future of HR

26. Specifics (1) - country, industry, company
External/ internal environments: - ageing baby boomers - changing social contract / job for life - declining loyalty to employers - focus of work life balance
Business challenges: - technological change - legislation & regulation - cost reduction demands - reorganisation for growth & globalisation
Future of HR

27. Specifics (2) - country, industry, company
Assess HR for future demands: - current strengths & weaknesses - capacity to transform - plans to renew/ upgrade
Future of HR

28. Best practice 2 features of high performing HR departments:
Named teams dedicated to particular projects (21% higher)
Identifiable top level support for HR change projects (65% higher)
Future of HR