Each year, many anticipate the next year’s agenda for HR. We do the same through research and engagements with thousands of HR professionals. We have identified four emerging agendas for HR value added in 2024.

1. HR Value Added Outside-in

Over the last 30 years, the HR profession has evolved from focusing on personnel (terms and conditions of work) to human resources (HR practice areas like staffing, training, and compensation) to human capital (delivering talent) to human capability (talent + organization + leadership + HR) that creates value for all stakeholders. In this logic, HR is less about HR, and more about creating human capability that enables success in the marketplace with customers, investors, and communities.
When HR delivers value to customers, investors, and communities, it becomes a true partner to deliver business success. HR should be involved with customers by moving them from buying a product to building a relationship, with investors by having more confidence in future earnings, and with communities by creating positive reputations for social citizenship as well as internal stakeholders (see Figure 2). When HR creates value for these stakeholders, HR professionals become fully contributing members of the management team.

2. Transformation

In a VUCA world where the future is not predictable from the past or present, agility has become a key organizational capability. No one can deny that the pace of change (environmental, technological, social, demographic) continues unabated. Organizations that respond to changes survive and thrive; those that do not wither and decline.

Responding to change has been embedded in a host of concepts (adaptation, agility, change, flexibility, reinvention, reimagination) all of which revolve around transformation. Transformation means proactively responding to changing circumstances to ensure success. HR professionals play a key role in making transformation happen.

We envision specific skills and tools for transformation at three levels:

1. Business transformation means helping the business adapt to new environmental circumstances through strategic clarity, building the right culture, and making change happen.
2. HR transformation means helping the HR function operate more effectively by improving the HR organization and by upgrading HR professionals.
3. Personal transformation comes as individuals make choices about their careers, identity, and personal energy.

When HR professionals recognize the challenges of transformation and master these transformation skills, they are likely to be more effective.

3. Digital Technology (AI) & HR

The world of technology is rapidly changing. See the latest digital trends in Figure 3. In particular, AI has shaped not only how businesses manage information to make decisions, but HR practice areas.
HR professionals will likely play a significant role in creating a digital business agenda by enacting six steps in Figure 4.
 
In addition to helping build a digital business agenda, AI will become part of many HR practices described below.

1. Acquisition of talent: job descriptions, administrative steps in recruiting, initial screening, reduce cycle time of hire, build an internal marketplace for mobility, validate skills and certification.


2. Pre-board/on-board: automate end-to-end onboarding, do compliance and other training, after the offer, ensure frequent tasks to ensure acceptance, have a network of mentors.


3. Retention: use predictive analytics to find who leaves and stays, look at risks of retention and include in reports, do stay interviews, have a “save” desk of those at risk of leaving, give job assignments to key people, get people to behave as if committed.


4. Performance management: use commentary of performance reviews with analytics data, have refined analytics to determine review (e.g., gender, age, race); train managers on positive conversation, focus on conversation; rate managers on quality of performance review.


5. Communication/community: share more information broadly, have “pull” not push access to information, do mini-training


6. Employee engagement: look at the careers of employees; determine what factors drive high-performing employees; engage employees at risk of leaving; focus surveys on key items and do pulse checks; help leaders know how to retain the best employees.


7. Employee relations: celebrate employee success and broadcast it; be available 24/7 for employee concerns; focus on what is right not just wrong; do a “speak up” campaign; find forums for employees to vent and be heard.


8. DEI: change name to belonging or inclusivity; focus on what is the same or positive; have employee resource groups; focus on results of diversity; source and vet suppliers; track diversity questions in survey by subgroups.


9. Compensation: do automated analysis, look for details of compensation (gender, age), share standards and expectations (compensation is a signal), use chatbots for enrollment and benefits.

To facilitate the digital business and create the HR digital agenda, AI will evolve from artificial intelligence focused on information to informed intelligence focused on informed decision-making (Figure 5)

4. Employee Expectations

Employees are the heart of any organization and HR is charged with giving employees a positive experience at work. The employee/employer relationship continues to evolve with studies of satisfaction, commitment, engagement, well-being, and personalization. There has been a legacy of concepts about how to fully engage employees (Figure 6).

Going forward, we see an extension of the work on building a positive employee experience by talking about managing employee expectations and addressing these questions:

• How to identify employee needs (physical, mental, social) of the future?
• How to offer employees a sense of hope through their work?
• How to manage employee expectations about what they should contribute and what they should receive?
• How to care for employees and ensure the competitiveness of your business?

By focusing on expectations and hope, we envision innovative ideas on how to help employees have a more positive experience at work that leads to positive stakeholder outcomes.  
We know that there will be any number of specific HR practice areas getting more attention in 2024 (skill-based and upskilling organizations, psychological safety, wellness programs, total rewards, mobility, analytics, belonging, etc). but we want to highlight the overarching agendas that will shape HR’s future. These four agendas (value creation, transformation, digitalization (AI), and employee expectation) are themes we plan to explore with RBL Institute members. They put HR into an even more value-added role and responsibility.

Author Bios

	Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at The RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value.
	Joe Grochowski is the Managing Director at the RBL Institute.

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