What skills will the HR leader of tomorrow need? | 8 experts reveal how HR skills are changing

What a year it’s
been in HR. Have you had chance to catch your breath yet?

The global pandemic has been a huge challenge for HR and People leaders, but HR has stepped up. In many cases, it has expedited existing HR priorities, catapulting things like remote working and digital transformation to the top of the HR agenda. In the words of Josh Bersin, “All the talk of ‘seat at the table’ is over – HR professionals are leading the charge.”

We’ve used this opportunity to take stock: how is the role of HR evolving? Our ‘changing face of HR’ research report revealed four skills vital for the HR leader of the future – communications, people analytics, creativity, and tech-savviness. So, we asked eight HR experts: how can HR and People leaders upskill in these areas? What skills do they think are needed for the HR leader of tomorrow?

They reveal
their top tips, share how HR leaders are building capability in recent months,
and how to get ahead.

1. The most
important step starts in the mind

“To stay
relevant as the world around us changes, we must drastically re-imagine values
and beliefs about our profession, and the relation we have with other
stakeholders in our organization,” explains CEO of Jumpstart HR, Joey Price.

“HR leaders
are being forced to don new identities that are agile, tech, and data-oriented,
and readily embracing change. That battle will be won in the mind of the
professional before it can be won within an organization.”

Joey adds not
to underestimate the need to be tech-savvy to improve workplace culture and
give you a competitive advantage also. “For quite some time, HR leaders have
shied away from technical conversations because we’ve felt the greatest value
that we bring to an organization is our heart,” he explains. “But we must
accept the reality that the world has evolved. We are not in the same
professional landscape as we were a year ago.”

2. Creativity
is vital, but it cannot happen without learning from mistakes

Modern
research organizations create breakthroughs in science not by following one
path, but by trying thousands of experiments until one gives the results it
needs.

“The best HR
leaders I know pilot new ideas, with a view that four out of five may fail,” explains
Anthony Ryland, CEO, Tap’d Solutions. “It’s the learning and adapting that they
see as a key part of creativity. This needs an open culture of learning by
mistakes.”

3. Communication
is more important than ever

Communication
goes beyond typical rhetoric and needs to be emotionally engaging, believable,
stretching, inclusive and timely, says Perry Timms, Founder of People and
Transformational HR. “With so much ‘corporate propaganda’ people need to
believe in what’s being shared, so HR’s sense check on what makes a difference
– acting as internal communications auditors and evaluators – should not be
underestimated.”

“Those open
organizations seem to have weathered recent changes in the world of work,
because they have been strong in communication as their starting point.”

4. HR leaders
need to be ‘super-connectors’

HR and People
leaders must show that they can be “super-connectors of an organization” and
build collaborative networks while breaking down barriers or silos to keep
people engaged, says Exaqueo’s Employment Brand Strategist, Emily Fritz. “The
workforce is becoming increasingly more virtual and dispersed, needing HR
leaders to become more creative in how they connect with employees.”

5. Follow the
money

Founder of
HRnB Consulting, Talia Edmundson, suggests considering how a COO or CFO reports
to the person in the company’s driver’s seat. “They’re direct, succinct, and
matter of fact,” she says. “Practice phrasing. Learn how to read a P&L.
Follow the money. Understand your company’s market and customer. Most
importantly, communicate like a business leader.”

6. Early tech
adopters will get ahead

Paul Falcone,
CHRO at Motion Picture and Television Fund, believes that HR leaders that
demonstrate a natural inclination to pursue technology will thrive in
tomorrow’s HR world. “Early adopters of data-driven intelligence will have a
significant advantage over their competition and remain in high demand,” he
says. “Now, more than ever, the time to capitalize on these new tools will
cement your place in HR’s future.”

7. It’s not
data that’s important – but what you do with it

For Dave
Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of
Business, “People analytic skills is not the key competence, but HR needs to be
able to ‘do’ analytics to deliver business results.”

He explains:
“HR dashboards, scorecards, and insights are less important than creating
information asymmetries that help a business win in the marketplace.”
Ultimately, talent, leadership, and organization analytics need to link to
business outcomes.

8. Shape
business needs, don’t just respond to them

“Throughout much of history, HR professionals expected the
organization to define business needs, and then HR would respond by designing
and implementing competencies and capabilities,” says Wayne
Brockbank, Clinical Professor of Business at Michigan Business School. “HR leaders need to shift from away from being reactive to business
needs, to being proactive.”

‘HR leaders
can lead with courage in today’s uncertain world – if they have the confidence
to step up’

“Ultimately, business leaders are asking HR and People leaders about the best way to navigate the gig economy, pandemics, artificial intelligence, the largest multi-generational workforce of all time, and other topics – all at once,” says CEO of Jumpstart HR, Joey Price. “These are challenging times that are demanding; HR and People leaders are uniquely positioned to lead courageously and with confidence.”