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What challenges do you face in the HR industry while recruiting people or managing new recruits?
Zenobia Madon, Director HR - Talent, Strategy& Org, Whirlpool
The role of HR in organisations has evolved and increasingly gained importance in recent years. While its surging prominence is a no-brainer, it has happened increasingly so because of the rapidly changing external environment. Gone are the days when we can predict how the next five years will be across the business landscape. With the macroeconomic changes happening so swiftly, like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, cost inflation, or changing energy prices, the HR departments need to be dialled in terms of what’s happening around the world. They need to be agile and resilient while aligning these macroeconomic contexts and their business contexts because they ultimately hold the responsibility of their employees. It presents itself as a challenge as well as an opportunity. As leaders, they have to shape and influence the day-to-day of people, whether they are working remotely, hybrid, or from the office.
Another major global challenge in HR was the Great Resignation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. People started accepting COVID as a way of life, and the mindset changed across the talent landscape. Since the pandemic amply demonstrated that the productivity of organisations is not deterred by remote work, there has been a significant shift in the key parameters required for attracting and retaining talent. The employees want to work in places where they would be valued, and flexibility of work has become one of the top candidate priorities.
With this paradigm shift, organisations had to change their perspective regarding the future of work. One big part of this scenario is the increasing hybrid work environments. While some were reluctant, many organisations have started following the hybrid model, where employees work in the office for 2 to 3 days and then work from home for the rest of the week. We are in an environment where nobody knows the rulebook. With multiple generations in the workforce, managing these talent demands and preferences with what the organisation stands for and believes is challenging. I think it’s ultimately a new future of work, with how the organisations and work culture are evolving. Amid this seismic shift, HR leaders must show up, partnering with businesses very closely and speaking up for the employee base.
What strategies should businesses use to detect and identify the talent that aligns with their business interests?
The HR strategy needs to be centred around the business trajectory an organisation is in. An organisation can go through different growth phases, be it a sustaining phase, ramping up, or ramping down. HR strategies need to evolve based on that stage of growth and the kind of talent necessary.
The most effective strategy for employee retention is listening, connecting with your employees and internal teams, and making them feel empowered in the organisation. With the different data points available, like the onboarding, employee engagement, and exit surveys, HR needs to integrate them and understand what their teams are informing. Accordingly, they must tailor their policies, approaches, guidelines, and initiatives. All the strategies have to be linked to delivering the final outcome the HR wants, which is highly engaged, highly focused, and highly motivated teams with the capabilities they need for today and the future.
What are some technologies that help HR leaders in hiring, retaining, and managing the workforce?
Technology plays a huge role in perfecting the HR models involved in organisations. Many organisations, including ours, have resources focused on three basic pillars of HR,namely HR partnering, HR operations, and HR centres of excellence. While the HR models are broadly around these three pillars, they may change from organisation to organisation.
“The most effective strategy for employee retention is listening, connecting with your employees and internal teams, and making them feel empowered in the organisation.”
All these pillars are anchored around HR processes being more and more digital. There are many functions within HR that have the opportunity to leverage technology. HR departments are increasingly venturing beyond conventional software systems. AI, for instance, plays a significant role on that front by enabling the pulling up of the right candidates from multiple online sources or by allowing information masking to avoid conscious or unconscious selection bias. Similarly, from an employer branding and candidate touchpoint perspective, technology can enhance the whole experience, from showcasing the brand on different digital platforms to staying in touch with the candidates throughout the recruiting process.
Another space where technology plays a big role is in customizing employee touchpoints across different employment cycles when a big reorder is happening. Say, for example, a manager changes. You can utilize AI-based bots to interact with employees and understand their viewpoints. Technology can be leveraged to optimize the succession plan as well.
Benefits administration, recognition, and compensation processes can also be enhanced by embracing technology. Multiple tools are available today to make the whole recognition process very customized and focused, aiding in retaining talent. Again, technology can also play a big role in achieving the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) goals. Whether it is through workshops, virtual sessions, or videos, technology enables us to strike the right dialogue. Sometimes, it will bring across the point in a very, very non-confrontational yet subtle manner to start the right conversation.
What advice would you give your counterparts in the industry to improve their HR strategies?
My call out to colleagues would be that sometimes we are just so caught up in our day-to-day work that we don’t tend to leverage on each other. However, there’s a lot that we can learn from each other. External HR forums, for instance, are an opportunity in that regard for us to come together, connect, and share challenges and best practices. We need more such impactful forums across organizations. Let’s not hesitate to reach out and share with others what’s working and what’s not. Let’s play the role of an ally because, in the end, we all grapple with similar challenges. Of course, it varies from organization to organization, but at the core of it, I think we can learn from each other and do good for our community.
My second point would be that, as a profession, the onus is on us to be that anchor or mentor who encourages the younger generations to come and experience our functions. We should continue to play that leadership role to inspire budding talents.
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