The future of HR: Lessons from the Pathfinders
EN:
Digital transformation and the profound impact of COVID-19 have changed how work gets done. The World Economic Forum calls this the "double disruption" and it sent many well-laid-out plans spinning. While many organizations struggled in this transition, others used the disruption as a catalyst for change, reimagining the workforce and the organization’s operating model.
In KPMG’s research in 2019, while many business leaders view HR as an administrator, there is a group of HR organizations, about 10 percent of that global sample, who are considered value drivers within their enterprises. They coined the term ‘Pathfinders’ for this cohort.
HR organizations who are focusing on integrated and mutually reinforcing capabilities such as employee experience, data and analytics, workforce shaping and digital HR and learning. Based on KPMG International's 2019 and 2020 research, this cohort makes up approximately 10 percent of the sample in both years.
KPMG International conducted in-depth interviews with 18 HR leaders from across the globe who they believe showcase characteristics of Pathfinders. They have sought to understand how these organizations are navigating this double disruption and how they’re shaping the workforce for the future.
The findings reveal that today’s Pathfinders are:
—Tackling head-on the evolving challenges around inclusion, diversity and equity (IDE) in the workforce, and understanding what this means for employee experience, culture, and the talent pool of the future.
—Challenging existing approaches to talent management and embracing a new ‘total workforce’ philosophy that fills talent gaps, going beyond the high-performers, and focusing on everyone for both current and future skill needs.
—Experimenting with new ways of working and emerging technologies to help employees adapt to a disrupted reality, while rethinking preconceived notions of how work gets done.
—Questioning HR’s own strengths and opportunities and using data and analytics to explore how the function can work better with other business functions to shape the work force of the future.