‘HR Is Facing Off Against Challenges Of Rapid Disruption From Technology’
Q&A with Mike DiClaudio, Principal, Human Capital Advisory, KPMG
Posted on 03-30-2020, Read Time: Min
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"We are finding that 'Pathfinding HR' organizations are thriving in the new digital world by focusing on four discrete capabilities: shaping the workforce of the future; designing a “consumer grade” employee experience; nurturing a purpose-driven culture; and leveraging evidence-based insights," says Mike DiClaudio, Principal, Human Capital Advisory practice, KPMG, in an interaction with HR.com.
Mike comes with 20 years of business consulting experience. Mike’s job is to help organizations meet the needs of a 21st century workforce by driving an enhanced employee experience. He consults regularly to HR leaders in the Fortune 500.
Q: What are the main challenges/adversities that HR will face in future?
Mike: HR is facing off against challenges of rapid disruption from technology including intelligent automation, a diversifying workforce, contingent labor and “gig” workers as well as shifting consumer mindsets. Our latest KPMG International survey, the Future of HR 2020, found that HR leaders believe that the HR function will rapidly become irrelevant if it doesn’t modernize its approach to understanding and planning for the future needs of the workforce.
Q: How should HR deal with these adversities/challenges?
Mike: We are finding that “Pathfinding HR” organizations are thriving in the new digital world by focusing on four discrete capabilities: shaping the workforce of the future; designing a “consumer grade” employee experience; nurturing a purpose-driven culture; and leveraging evidence-based insights.
Q: How important would be employee experience in future?
Mike: In many labor markets demand for specialized skills exceeds supply. With record low unemployment rates in many countries, workers have greater leverage than ever before. In addition to impacting attracting and retaining talent, we know that employee experience can directly influence customer experience and centricity.
HR executives are ranking employee experience among their top three current initiatives over the next 2-3 years. Ninety-three percent of “Pathfinding HR” organizations believe that employee experience design is a strategic priority for the entire organization.
HR executives are ranking employee experience among their top three current initiatives over the next 2-3 years. Ninety-three percent of “Pathfinding HR” organizations believe that employee experience design is a strategic priority for the entire organization.
Q: What needs to be done to improve this aspect in an organization?
Mike: Employees want meaningful, rewarding work, on-demand customer service, simplified transactions, and instant access to information. Organizations need to be deliberate about the design of their employee experience if they are to attract and retain the most talented. Employee experience can’t be considered without looking at the work that a person does, the tools they are provided with, and the environment they are surrounded by. And it should be mentioned that companies should also look for quantitative (email, messaging, calendar) and qualitative (focus group, town halls, surveys) ways to monitor and measure employee experience.
Q: How adept are HR with new technologies?
Mike: Historically, technology has been within the realm of the CIO, not the CHRO. Moving forward, HR should be prepared to support a process of ongoing technology modernization, both for employees in the broader organization and within the HR department itself. The Future of HR survey found that sixty percent of pathfinding HR organizations agree that embracing these new technologies will require a significant change to roles within HR.
Q: How can HR use these technologies to their benefit?
Mike: Technology is poised to be an incredible enabler for the HR function, freeing them up administrative work to focus on more strategic projects. Specifically, automation technologies are having a significant impact on the work that HR performs as well as how HR interacts with the business. In the near-term, HR can use intelligent automation on repetitive tasks and processes, such as entering data from forms, and vastly reduce the amount of repetitive, manual, and transactional work that HR currently performs.
Over a longer timeframe, more complex automation technologies can support HR teams in having a clear view of the employee experience, help drive smarter decision-making and even provide recommended courses of action.
Over a longer timeframe, more complex automation technologies can support HR teams in having a clear view of the employee experience, help drive smarter decision-making and even provide recommended courses of action.
Q: What sort of organizational cultural changes are we looking at in future?
Mike: Culture has risen to the top of the c-suite agenda and is seen as a critical driver of success. Our Future of HR survey found that 61% of HR executives are in the process of aligning their organization’s culture with their organization’s purpose. Evolving culture starts with understanding organizational purpose and then driving behavior to match that purpose. Culture is specific and nuanced and there is no one “right” culture for every organization. Organizations may choose to foster different cultures such as innovative, digital, or compliance-driven based on their goals.
HR is central to establishing the culture agenda and plays a vital role in driving cultural change. The survey found that a differentiating characteristic of pathfinding HR is their perceived ownership of maintaining culture. “Pathfinding HR” organizations are six times as likely to strongly agree that they have a strategy in place to monitor and maintain their cultures.
HR is central to establishing the culture agenda and plays a vital role in driving cultural change. The survey found that a differentiating characteristic of pathfinding HR is their perceived ownership of maintaining culture. “Pathfinding HR” organizations are six times as likely to strongly agree that they have a strategy in place to monitor and maintain their cultures.
Q: What are the top three areas that HR needs to focus on in future?
Mike: There is a lot that is pulling on the HR agenda. But it’s our point of view that HR leaders need to focus on the following three areas in order to adapt to the 21st century workplace. They are also using insights from data to shape these decisions.
- Shaping the workforce for the future: Existing workforce structures are being disrupted by new technology and business models, and they are seizing the opportunity to reshape the workforce and gain the full benefits of humans and machines working together.
- Developing a purpose-led culture: HR plays a vital role in shaping and maintaining a culture aligned with their business strategies and higher-level purpose.
- Building the employee experience: Utilize techniques underpinned by design thinking to address the “moments that matter” to employees and understand that this mirrors the same core principles needed for customer centricity and experience design.
| Mike DiClaudio is a Principal, Human Capital Advisory practice, at KPMG. Mike comes with 20 years of business consulting experience. Mike’s job is to help organizations meet the needs of a 21st century workforce by driving an enhanced employee experience. He consults regularly to HR leaders in the Fortune 500. |
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