There is no business as usual anymore. Now, it’s time to take all that we’ve learned through the challenges of the last four years and write the new rules. This year’s HR Trends report is a guidebook for understanding these new rules and how to apply them.
From the employees determining how to balance their passion with their purpose, to the line managers making small, everyday decisions about their people, to the executives shaping the future of the organization, to the markets that impel economies, it’s data-backed insights that will provide the buzzing undercurrent of power that not only keeps the lights on but ensures the brightest outcomes.
The following ten trends—or New Rules for HR—will guide you forward into 2024, a year that promises to be an exciting time for HR and for people analytics.
TREND #1
CHRO LEADS FROM THE OUTSIDE-IN
With data and analytics, CHROs will effectively lead a lasting HR transformation—but first they must fall in love with the business problems to solve and work their way back.
“In this new era of HR, CHROs must understand human performance, engagement, and productivity in combination with business data to meet today’s complex challenges. Winning organizations know that talent outcomes are determined by the collective sum of everyday decisions made by front-line managers. These distributed decisions about people will add up to meaningful, high-impact change—but only if the dots are connected.”
Paul Rubenstein, CCO, Visier
TREND #2
ANCHOR DEI TO BUSINESS OUTCOMES FOR MAX SUCCESS
Diversity efforts are needed more than ever, but they are becoming endangered due to political division in the U.S., a surge in racist ideology permeating the culture, and financial concerns. For proof of an unraveling in diversity efforts look no further than the gender wage gap. After decreasing for five straight years, the male-to-female gender pay gap increased in 2022. And, for women of color, that chasm yawned wider.
When DEI is at the core of business practices and interwoven with how success gets measured, it’s more likely to be taken seriously across the organization. Data is the key for companies who wish to progress towards a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive company. When organizations use fact-based insights to help organizational leaders and line managers understand how diversity and inclusion can drive strategic results, meaningful change happens.
TREND #3
TAKE A PEOPLE-FIRST APPROACH TO AI @ WORK
Yet, fear persists that AI “will take human jobs” when, in fact, the reality is much more complex—and even promising—as long as employers keep a human-first perspective.
Many experts agree that AI will replace skills, and not jobs—in fact, people who are most likely to see their tasks altered by generative AI are also hopeful about using the technology. Many workers in highly affected roles are more likely to say that AI “will help more than hurt them personally.” Individuals who choose to ignore generative AI completely will lose their competitive edge—a real threat to employers, the job market, and the workforce.
Who’s responsible for reskilling the workforce in AI?
86% of employees said their employer should take at least some role in reskilling to ensure they aren’t easily replaced by AI tools, with 63% saying it’s entirely the employer’s responsibility to do so.
TREND #4
DISCOVER UNTAPPED VALUE VIA MANAGER EFFECTIVENESS
Imagine if every level of management had access to these types of insights to inform their everyday decisions—not only would overall effectiveness skyrocket, but the potential for revenue expansion and cost savings would, too.
That’s exactly what we discovered: The next level of value from people analytics adoption is coming from organizations providing data and insights directly to people managers. In dollar amounts, this adds up to almost $600,000,000! No wonder Manager Effectiveness is routinely cited by business leaders as one of the top organizational priorities.
“Insights have significantly more value when they are applied at the point of impact, and front-line people managers can certainly benefit from data and analytics that help them understand and increase employee engagement. Organizations with a data-driven culture will likely benefit the most as their managers will have the decision intelligence skills to understand what data is relevant and actionable.”
Eric Bokelberg | Deloitte
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUR TRUSTED PARTNERS
Janice Burns
Chief Transformation Officer
Degreed
Ryan Bergstrom
CPO
Paycor
Melissa Arronte
Practice Lead, Employee Experience
Medallia
Eric Bokelberg
Senior Manager and Visier Alliance Leader
Deloitte
Dr. Kelli Klindworth
AVP Workforce, AI & People Analytics
North Highland
TREND #5
HR AND BUSINESS BECOME SYMBIOTIC
Experts and analysts like Josh Bersin are calling for a more effective model for operating HR. This new operating model, “Systemic HR,” is driven by modern-day realities and recognizes the interconnections between business and HR functions to drive true innovation, leverage technology, and evolve how people insights impact the business.
TREND #6
NEW TECH REQUIRES A SKILLS-BASED PERSPECTIVE
Job skills are continually evolving, with new, required skills continually emerging and reshaping roles. And, in the era of AI, reskilling and upskilling initiatives are critical in order for organizations to keep up with the ebbs and flows of technological advancements and a dynamic labor market. What role will employers play in next-gen skill development?
TREND #7
CUSTOMIZE ANALYTICS TO SPECIFIC NEEDS
The demand for flexibility to build, buy, or blend analytics solutions and platforms is set to explode in 2024. Fortunately, there are many ways to customize analytics to fit every company and every need through embedding, partnering, and more.
“For me, [people analytics] is a connected ecosystem of technology that is purposefully architected to be able to deliver on insights of the workforce, intelligence for the business, and ultimately close that people impact gap so that we can ensure that what HR is delivering on is also showing the business the ROIs on the other side.”
Lydia Wu | Panasonic Energy North America
TREND #8
ESTABLISH NEW WORK NORMS TO REDUCE CHAOS, INCREASE CERTAINTY
2024 is emerging as a pivotal—and critical—moment for reshaping the landscape of work and shifting from uncertainty and chaos to thoughtful, well-defined work norms. We’re not going back to the way things “used to be,” so how do we move forward in the best possible way for both employers and the workforce that drives the business forward?
TREND #9
CORPORATE REPORTING GETS HYPER-DETAILED
Investors and regulators know that social and environmental factors impact business performance. Now, they want to see explicit explanations about how these activities and assets affect business performance. How should organizations prepare to meet the growing corporate reporting demands?
TREND #10
SMALL BUSINESS IS PRIMED FOR BIG-TIME ANALYTICS
It’s a common perception that the capacity to gather data from all of these systems to answer pressing HR questions is a luxury that only large enterprises can afford. But, in truth, small businesses are in a good position to adopt the same technology that is allowing the big players to answer important questions like: How do we attract top talent in a competitive market? Which candidates drive the highest sales? How many staff members are needed to meet our objectives?
About Visier
Visier’s purpose is to reveal the human truth about your workforce and contribute to a better future. Visier was founded to focus on what matters to business people: answering the right questions, even the ones a person might not know to ask. Questions that shape business strategy, provide the impetus for taking action, and drive better business results. Visier delivers fast, clear people insight by using all the available people data—regardless of source. With best practice expertise built in, decision-makers can confidently take action. Thanks to our amazing customers, Visier is the market leader in Workforce Analytics with more than 25,000 customers in 75 countries around the world.
For more information, visit visier.com