HR teams are having their moment right now. They were quickly thrown into a variety of responsibilities that involve training employees who need new skills, connecting a remote workforce, providing support for parents, determining how and if to return to an office, and hiring new employees - all at once. These imperatives are reinforcing the importance of a human resources team for an organization while also stretching members of the HR team to reskill and upskill just like employees they are helping beyond their department.
The Cognizant Center for Future of Work and Future Workplace recently studied the shifting role of HR and developed a list of new human resources jobs that will be needed in the near and long-term future, highlighted in 21 HBR Jobs of the Future. In the near-term they predict roles like University4Life Coordinator and WFH Facilitator, which are already happening in some level at many organizations. 10 years from now, they highlight technology-specific roles like VR Immersion Coordinator and Genetic-Diversity Officer.
As a corporate learning provider selling into HR teams, taking a look at the changing responsibilities of the HR department within an organization provides insight into your own business and sales strategy. HR teams will continue to be under-resourced and under-skilled with the fast pace of changes that are impacting their organizations. How can your product or service help? For the next 6 months, what are you offering that helps teams manage a newly remote workforce? Looking into the future, what capabilities do you need to bring into your company to support HR teams looking for help in virtual reality and artificial intelligence? As you reposition your company to support the new needs of HR teams today, don't lose sight of their evolving needs over the decade to come.
