Global Hr Trends And Challenges

By Author: Anand Palsuley
Total Articles: 2
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In the present scenario, the companies are deploying comprehensive HR Systems not only to automate administrative tasks but also to leverage the value of their investments in human capital.

Large companies prefer centralized and globally installed HR systems whereas mid market companies are opting for hosted HR Systems. This can be elucidated by the increased use of employee online services, workforce scheduling and bolt on components to supplement the Core system functioning.

HRD constitutes of a comprehensive suite of applications for managing workforce. The HRD scope has expanded beyond core functions like personnel records, benefits and payroll to employee development, recruitment, performance management and workforce analytics.

A recent survey has identified following key drivers of trends in HR today:
The recognition of employee value is leading to better HR business alignment
Deployment strategies focus on centralization and globalization
HRD core functions are reaching parity

Current events & challenges in Global HR:

All around the world, political, economic and ...
... social turmoil take their toll on companies and their HR professionals.
For instance; Events like 9/11, Terror attacks of 26/11 in India, the Katrina hurricane disaster are referred repeatedly by employees all over the world. All these events have increased the risk of travel throughout the world and have also raised diversity issues to the forefront. Such events and calamities surely have an impact on the personnel front.
The increasing threat in terrorism has meant that some economies have switched funding from healthcare to defense.

Other challenges include globalization and currency devaluations, with ripple effects across economies, sectors and companies. On a global scale, there is remarkable unanimity, despite national and regional differences. Also, Change management is the most weighted challenge. The issues that may require Change management may be different in different regions, but the competency to deal with Change management is clearly a common skill needed for today’s HR professional regardless of location.

Some of the challenges are elaborated below:

Change management represents a particular challenge for personnel management staff, as this expertise has generally not been a consistent area of focus for training and development of HR professionals. This may also be the reason why it is cited as the foremost issue as HR continues to attempt to help businesses move forward. An intensified focus on training may be needed to develop added competencies to deal with change management.

Leadership development also proves to be a big challenge. HR professionals continue to wrestle with understanding the best ways to keep people in the pipeline and develop leaders for future succession planning. Increasingly recognized as becoming strategic business partners within their organizations, HR professionals are expected to provide the essential frameworks, processes, tools, and points of view needed for the selection and development of future leaders. Across the globe leadership development has been identified as a critical strategic initiative in ensuring that the right employees are retained, that the culture of the organization supports performance from within to gain market position, and that managers are equipped to take on leadership roles of the future so that the organization is viable in the long term.

Measuring HR effectiveness is an interesting new top three focus for HR highlights the profession’s need to measure results –not only in terms of transaction management but also in terms of driving the business. HR professionals have been questioned in the past regarding their business acumen. Utilizing metrics to determine effectiveness is the beginning of a shift from perceiving HR’s role as purely an administrative function to viewing the HR team as a true strategic partner within the organization. In fact, the next section reports that survey participants believe a critical future issue for HR will be organizational effectiveness – again supporting HR’s critical role as a strategic partner to management.

Thus, HR professionals face the same economic, political, social and environmental challenges as other business professionals. Because the role of HR professionals continues to increase in value, more functional skills and greater leadership expectations are placed upon individuals in the profession. Clearly, managing human capital is an ongoing challenge, especially as social, political and economic events take their toll and hence, Strategies must continually be redefined to deliver improved return on investment in human capital.