“HR to become the differentiator between successful and also-ran organisations,” Kinjal Choudhary

More power to HR in 2019

People are increasingly becoming the differentiator between successful and also-ran organisations. As we move into 2019, the people factor is likely to become even more critical. How we hire, develop, retain and motivate employees to put in their very best in the organisation will determine the extent to which organisations are able to win in the marketplace.

“All four generations will be working together, Gen Z is very different from Gen Y as they are the true digital natives “

Organisations have to focus on engaging the whole-person paradigm of their employees — not just their physical presence, but also their heart, mind and soul. 2019 will also be the year when four generations will be present in the workforce. Gen Z is very different from Gen Y as they are the true digital natives, many having had Facebook accounts much before they finished primary school. Managing such a diverse workforce and ensuring that all generations that comprise it are equally engaged and committed, is going to be a challenge which not many organisations are fully prepared to take on. HR has to take the lead in preparing the organisations to engage the diverse workforce in an increasingly complex, volatile, ambiguous and uncertain world.

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The biggest challenge for HR in your sector

The biggest challenge for HR in 2019 will be to attract and retain employees and enhance their productivity. As the industry becomes more competitive and customers become more quality and price conscious, it will become increasingly more important to have agile, innovative and customer centric employees who have immense drive for results, besides having domain expertise. The demand for employees, who demonstrate these competencies will be immense and the challenge will be to ensure that not only is the organisation capable of attracting such talent but also of retaining them, besides continually enhancing their productivity on an ongoing basis.

“HR has to look at every initiative from the organisational impact point of view, and discontinue those that have no effect on the organisational results”

Less is more: HR to cut steps and create more impactful and innovative initiatives

HR has to look at things from a business perspective, instead of operating in a siloed manner. It has to begin to view things from an end-outcome and impact perspective as far as the business is concerned, instead of being merely activity focused. HR will need to examine how it is making an impact in terms of making the organisation more customer centric or helping the company gain market share, and so on. HR has to look at every initiative from the organisational impact point of view, and discontinue those that have no effect on the organisational results.

Role of technology in HR in 2019

Artificial intelligence will become an integral part of HR before the end of 2019, and people analytics will become more and more critical in people related decision making. Decisions related to hiring, promotion and compensation will increasingly become dependent on people analytics.

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