Key HR trends to watch through the rest of 2020
Between rigors of their regular responsibilities and the many new issues they've had to deal with due to fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, "overextended" likely does not begin to accurately describe what most HR teams are currently going through. These professionals have handled everything from assisting in transitions to temporary work-from-home frameworks to quickly learning and implementing new regulations affecting unemployment and emergency family or medical leave.
Some of the hectic and intense nature of the current moment will begin to fade away as various companies slowly return to work (subject to all applicable local regulations). Other aspects of it will be more persistent, because they are related to issues that were projected to be relevant throughout 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the world. As organizations make their moves to keep their eye on the ball for the weeks and months to come, it will be important for HR departments and company leaders, in general, to keep themselves abreast of these matters.
Increased importance of internal development
In a blog post for Forbes' Human Resources Council, skills testing expert Eric Friedman wrote that internal development would become a key strategy for many companies in their efforts to prepare the next generation of leaders across all departments. This was already a reasonably broad trend at the time Friedman wrote his article (it was published April 6, 2020, but could've been composed pre-pandemic). Now it's all but certain that more organizations will be pursuing this path than ever before, and doing so more ardently, as a method of mitigating costs in an uncertain business climate.
It's not only timely for businesses to focus on this due to its potential for circumventing high costs of talent acquisition, but also because of the desire among employees for better continuous learning and internal development opportunities. According to a joint survey by Degreed and Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning, 47% of respondents aren't satisfied with their employers' current training and development system – so why not work toward improving it? Friedman's post suggested self-guided and virtual training, as well as on-the-job coaching, as clear-cut ways to make internal training better.
Greater telehealth adoption
HR Dive reported that large companies, in particular, were focusing on the adoption of telehealth and virtual care solutions in 2020. The news provider specifically noted that various definite or prospective adopters of the technology sought it for better management of chronic or otherwise long-term conditions – prenatal care, musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes and so on.
Businesses don't have to be enterprise-scale to implement telehealth solutions and see cost savings as a result, whether for routine or specialty care. While there may be initial resistance among staff, use of these tools will eventually normalize. Kate Brown, leader of the Center for Health Innovation at Mercer, elaborated on this in an interview with HR Dive.
"All signs point to continued growth in the telemedicine … space in 2020," Brown said. "Engagement in telemedicine continues to be a challenge for employers, but as more employees get exposed to the convenience and cost savings that come along with virtual visits, the greater the engagement rates will be."
Improvements to digital transformation
According to Hyphen, HR departments haven't taken to digital transformation as broadly or effectively as other units of various organizations. To some extent this is unavoidable – as just one example, paper records are still required for various compliance-related tasks including the completion of tax, work authorization and health insurance forms. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to create opportunities for greater efficiency through digitization. Plenty of software platforms are available to automate various routine functions of HR – without interfering with compliance needs – and give team members more time to address issues that require their direct attention and unique skill sets.
Fighting the specter of burnout
Employees feeling overwhelmed by work-related stress doesn't necessarily mean they no longer care or are looking to leave – it could be burnout, which the World Health Organization defined as a medical condition in May 2019. It existed to some degree in virtually every workplace before COVID-19, and it's almost certainly increased in many of them, even those with few layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts or other adverse consequences.
In some cases, burnout turns to apathy and can only be addressed through discipline or termination. But this is easier to avoid than some HR and company leaders may think in their own moments of despondency. It's more important now than ever for organizations to invest in resources and initiatives to improve employee wellness. Doing so can take many forms, ranging from more evenly distributed workloads to increased schedule flexibility, but it's imperative to bolster wellness programs somehow. The future of your organization depends on it.