Top 10 HR Trends in 2020
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Table Of Contents
What’s on the horizon in terms of HR Trends in 2020?
HR professionals are expected to be at the cusp of new ideas in their industry. Luckily, there are many great online resources to help HR managers stay up to date on what’s going on in the ever shifting and growing HR industry.
Adapted Communication Channels
These days, people are very demanding of their technology. They want faster WiFi, faster responses, better coverage, etc. We also expect our systems to adapt to us, or to the way we prefer to use these systems.
For instance, in a work context, we want to communicate in a way that’s most convenient for us. About a decade ago or so, nobody would even think of texting their bosses, in any circumstance. Nowadays, it is an absolutely common and even encouraged practice. Texting and various other online modes of communication are definitely part of the HR Trends in 2020.
For HR professionals, it is really important to understand how teams want or prefer to communicate. Is it by email, WhatsApp, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or some other system?
HR needs to be informed on the latest systems used by their teams and be agile enough to implement the systems that their teams want to work with.
Learning on the Job
Everyone should strive to be a life-long student. In the workplace, this mindset needs to be encouraged and cultivated.
First of all, HR departments can help to foster this kind of mindset by hiring people who don’t necessarily have all the exact knowledge or skills for the job. But rather, they should seek out people who are curious and willing to learn on the job.
As part of the HR Trends in 2020, continuing education will be in the forefront.
However, if a company encourages continuous learning, it must provide the right resources. For instance, if a company doesn’t have the right systems or tools in place in order to make it easy for employees to seek out information, it will not help encourage learning. In fact, if an employee must spend time actively searching for a learning module that he or she needs, it will be counter-productive.
Focus on Productivity
As illustrated in the previous example, time spent searching for files or information is a low-productivity task. Employees are getting impatient with their employers, and do strive to be productive.
Everyone comes into work wanting to do a good job. However, some obstacles might be in their way. These obstacles can be technological, such as a technical issue with a web-based software.
Yet, bad team dynamics, a mismatched set of skills on a team, or simply poor communication can all cause non-productivity. All of this could lead to a lot of frustration. It’s a common mistake to bring a new person on to a struggling team to help move the work along.
However, improving the productivity of existing employees is generally much more advantageous than adding new people to a team.
Better Evaluation Processes
Employees, and millennial employees in particular, are often weary of rigid performance review processes. As managers wishing to stay on top of the HR Trends in 2020, you can survey your teams to ensure that the participants are happy with the different aspects of the performance review process.
Then, if your organization has that flexibility, you can incorporate the feedback into the following evaluations. Making the process less rigid and more conversational is generally the right move.
Moreover, it would help to improve the matches between employees and managers, or mentors, who have compatible personalities and approaches. This, of course, is always easier said than done.
More Focus on the “Why”
When anything new is implemented, it’s important to explain the “why”.
Unfortunately, employees and managers are not mind-readers. Sometimes, do not clearly see the benefits of new HR-initiatives.
To properly implement any new tool, process improvement or initiative, it’s important for HR managers and teams to clearly state the “Why”, or the reason behind their decision. In order to frame this well, it’s important for HR teams to understand their “customers”, or the team members. They need to be aware of their concerns and their needs, in order to provide an adequate solution.
More Holistic HR Practices
As part of the HR Trends in 2020, HR is taking a more holistic approach.
In a nutshell, this means being even more human centric. Feedback from internal and external stakeholders will become increasingly important. Indeed, every external stakeholder is seen as a potential employee or client.
Holistic HR means thinking for the long term, and making informed decisions based on analytics. It also means creating value for all stakeholders, with an equal focus on all levels in the hierarchy.
Focus on Analytics for the People
In the HR Trends in 2020, analytics will be used to improve employee experiences. Analytics are often used to look at the behaviours of customers or external stakeholders.
Yet, in 2020, with the right applications and systems, it’s possible to gather information and feedback from employees. Decisions that benefit the workforce can be made by analyzing this information.
Some key analytics metrics that can be looked at for employees are: productivity, tenure, internal promotion rates, sick days, used PTO, etc.
Automated systems exist to track some of these key metrics. Specifically for leave tracking, you can try Vacation Tracker, a leave management tool that’s fit for the new decade.
Flatter Hierarchy
The trend to remove hierarchies and titles isn’t new. However, one of the HR Trends in 2020 is more inclusive leadership. As companies grow, they don’t always benefit by naming new managers. In fact, managerial duties could be spread amongst the team members.
In 2020, organizations will have to reanalyze their approach to leadership development.
Focus on Diversity and Equal Opportunities
Even in 2020, there are still significant pay gaps in a lot of industries. There are also still lines or work or specific jobs where women are under represented. The HR managers of the new decade will have to fight to shrink the gap and to grow diverse teams.
In fact, impactful actions need to be taken by HR. This is an important issue to a lot of employees; therefore it is crucial for workplaces to at least address them openly.
Encouraging Activism
The millennial workforce in particular needs to feel like they are working for a purpose. Some progressive companies are not afraid to voice the values that they stand for, even if they are somewhat controversial.
Teams want to rally themselves behind causes they believe in. Therefore, to encourage change through activism and grassroots movements is another one of the key HR Trends in 2020, that every organization needs to be keeping track of.
Kristina Ousmanova
Kristina recently left behind fast-paced life of Human Resource Business Consulting to freelance as a Content Writer. A regular Vacation Tracker contributor, she can be found working remotely from her home in Montreal, usually while eating a variety of snacks.
