HotTopicsinHR:

1) Bridgingthegenerationgap
Recentresearchhasshownthatit'sdefinitelynotacaseofpeaceandgoodwillwhenitcomestoGenerationXandtheirGenYcolleaguesworkingtogetherin
harmony.Oneofthekeychallengeswillbetofindwaystobridgethegenerationgapandmanagetheconflictingneedsofthedifferentagegroupsnowpopulating
theworkplace.Strikingtherightbalancewillbekey.Businessesneedtofindwaystoappealtotheyoungtalentthatwillensuretheirfuturewhileatthesametime
maximizingtheskillsofmorematureemployeeswhoarelikelytoworklongerthantheirpredecessorsandwhoseexperienceandcontributionisinvaluable.

2) Healthcareintheworkforce
Whenthelastmincepieandglassofmulledwinehavebeenpolishedoff,businesseswillneedtoturntheirattentiontowaysofmaintainingthehealthandwellbeingof
employees.Thedifficulteconomictimesofthepastfewyearshaveledtoleanerworkforcesandpeoplebeingundermorepressurethaneverbefore.Forthesecond
yearinsuccession,stresshastoppedthelistofreasonsforworkplaceabsence.HRneedstohelpthebusinessexamineworkingpracticestomakesuretheyareas
flexibleandefficientaspossible.Butcompaniesalsoneedtodrawonsomeofthelastthinkingaboutresilienceandfindnewwaystosupportemployeeswhoare
feelingthestrain.Aboveall,atatimewhenmanypeoplearestillfearingfortheirjobs,managersneedtomakesurethebusinesshasaculturewhereitisacceptable
foremployeestosayiftheyarestrugglingtocopeandsimplycan'tdowhatisbeingaskedofthem.

3) EnhancingTechnologyinHR(SoftwareManagement)
Thesedays,evenSantahasSatNavyetnumeroussurveyshaveshownmanybusinessesarestillnotusingthesophisticatedtechnologythatcouldmaketheirjobs
somucheasier.HRsoftwarenowmakesitpossibletoautomatemanyofthemundanetasksthattakeupsomuchtime.HRsystemsthatcanhelpthebusiness
manageabsence,keeptrackofholidaysandmonitorperformancemanagementwithoutneedingspecialistexpertise,arenowwidelyavailable.Thanks
totheadventof'thecloud',thepriceoftechnologyhascomedownenormouslyinrecentyearsandiswithinreachofeventhesmallestbusinesswhowantsto
streamlinetheiradmin.ForbusinessesthathavebeenslowtoadoptHRsystems,it'stimetogetovertechnophobetendenciesandmaybeevenputanewHRsoftware
systematthetopoftheChristmaswishlist?

4) Exploitingsocialmedia
HRhaslonghadanuneasyrelationshipwithsocialmediabuttheseasonofgoodwillprovidesanopportunitytoputasidedifferencesandembracethepotential
existingandemergingtoolshavetooffer.TherehasbeenmuchtalkthisyearabouthowHRneedstomoveoutofits'guardian'roleandbecomean'enabler'inthe
business.SomeofthenewinternalsocialtoolsprovideaprimevehicleforHRpeoplewhowanttomakethisshift.CezanneOnDemand'snewsocialHRportal,for
example,makesiteasierforemployeestocollaborateandshareideasandinsightsinavirtualspace.It'sallpartofanongoingtrendtowardswhatManagementToday,in
arecentarticle,dubbed'cloudstorming'.Itmeanspeoplecanaddnewideasasandwhentheyoccurratherthanhavingtobe'creative'ondemandandavoidsthe
problemsofindividualsdominatingtheconversationorshoutingdownnewandpotentiallyexcitingideas.2014isthetimeforHRtostepoutofitscomfortzoneand
leadthewaybyusingtheseinnovativesocialtoolsinitsownpractice,whileencouragingtherestofthebusinesstofollowsuit.

5) Paralegalhumanresources
TheyearaheadwillseeanumberofsignificantchangestoemploymentlawanditwillbevitalforHRpeopleandbusinessownerstomakesuretheyareintheknow
andontopofthelegislation.Marchwillseeanincreaseinparentalleave,withthepermittedperiodofparentalleavefollowingbirthoradoptionofachildincreasing
fromthreetofourmonths.Companieswillalsoneedtokeepacloseeyeonthecalendarforpensionsautoenrolment.Implementationisinstages,dependingon
thenumberofPAYEemployeesacompanyhasonitsbooks.DeadlinesforsmallmediumsizedbusinessesarealittlewayoffyetbutHRwillneedtostartplanning
aheadandmakesurethechangeoverandallitentailsisnotleftuntilthelastminute.Otherchangesinthepipelineincludethepossibilityofanewtypeof
employeeowneremploymentcontractwhichwouldgivestaffbetween25Kofsharesinthebusiness,inexchangeforforgoingcertainemploymentrights.They
wouldnotbeeligibleforstatutoryredundancypay,forexample,orhavetheusualunfairdismissalprotectionaftertwoyearscontinuousservice.Asifthatwasn't
enoughforHRtograpplewith,therearealsoplansafoottooverhaultribunalrules,introduceequalpayauditsincertaincircumstancesandtoextendrightstorequest
flexibleworking.

6) ContinuingProfessionalDevelopmentinHR
TopofHR'sresolutionlistfortheNewYearshouldbefindingwaystorampuptheirownContinuingProfessionalDevelopment(CPD).Developingbusinessnous,getting
morefinanciallysavvyandimprovingtheirknowledgeofthemarketstheyoperateinhaveallbeenidentifiedasareaswhereHRneedstoraiseitsgame.There's
widespreadconsensusthatHRpeoplehaveavitalroletoplayinsupportingbusinessgrowthbuttheprofessionstillhassomewaytogointermsofgainingtherespect
ofitsmanagementcolleaguesandgettingtheearoftheboard.AstrongfocusonacquiringnewskillsanddevelopingnewinsightswillbekeytohelpingHRimproveits
standingandinfluencein2014.

7) OnJobTrainings
Employerprovidedtrainingisbyfarthemostimportantsourceoffurthereducationandtrainingafteranindividualentersthelabormarket.Asubstantialportionofthesehumancapitalinvestmentsare
financedbyfirmsanditappearsthatthecontributionbyindividualsareinmostcircumstancesrelativelymodest.Atthesametime,substantialgainsforindividualsparticipatingintrainingaredocumentedina
largenumberofstudies.Thebenefitsarenotonlyconfinedtowagereturnsasresearchhasalsoshownthattrainingleadstoincreasedinternalemployabilityandjobsecurity;andexternallabourmarket
effectssuchashigherlabourparticipationrates,lowerunemployment,andshorterunemploymentperiods.
Trainingisnotequallydistributedamongemployees.Older,lowskilledworkers,andtosomeextentfemaleworkerstypicallyreceivelesstrainingthanothergroupsofemployees.However,wedonotfind
anyclearcutevidencethatreturnstotrainingvarieswithgender,educationalorskillslevels,whichsuggeststhatinequalitiesdonotarisebecauseofdifferencesinreturnstotraining,butaremorea
consequenceofinequalitiesofthedistributionoftraininginvestments.
Thefindingsofthisreviewfurthersuggestthatthereturnstotrainingarehigherinthecasethatitisfinancedbytheemployerandthatthereturnstotrainingaresubstantiallyhigherforthoseleavingfora
newemployer.Employerfinancedtrainingappears,however,tolowertheprobabilityofanindividualleavingforanewjobelsewhere.Theanalysisofthedistributionofreturnstotrainingrevealsthatalthough
individualsbenefitfromtheseinvestments,theemployerreapsmostofthereturnstotrainingwhichsuggeststhattheproduc vityeectsaresubstan allylargerthanwageeects.

8) TeamBuildinginHR
Inateamorientedenvironment,youcontributetotheoverallsuccessoftheorganization.Youworkwithfellowmembersoftheorganizationtoproducetheseresults.Eventhough
youhaveaspecificjobfunctionandyoubelongtoaspecificdepartment,youareunifiedwithotherorganizationmemberstoaccomplishtheoverallobjectives.Thebiggerpicture
drivesyouractions;yourfunctionexiststoservethebiggerpicture
Youneedtodifferentiatethisoverallsenseofteamworkfromthetaskofdevelopinganeffectiveintactteamthatisformedtoaccomplishaspecificgoal.Peopleconfusethetwoteambuildingobjectives.
Thisiswhysomanyteambuildingseminars,meetings,retreatsandactivitiesaredeemedfailuresbytheirparticipants.Leadersfailedtodefinetheteamtheywantedtobuild.
Developinganoverallsenseofteamworkisdifferentfrombuildinganeffective,focusedworkteamwhenyouconsiderteambuildingapproaches.

9) TechnologyDestroyingJobs
Thecontentionthatautomationanddigitaltechnologiesarepartlyresponsiblefortodayslackofjobshasobviouslytouchedarawnerveformanyworriedabouttheirownemployment.
ButthisisonlyoneconsequenceofwhatBrynjolfssonandMcAfeeseeasabroadertrend.Therapidaccelerationoftechnologicalprogress,theysay,hasgreatlywidenedthegap
betweeneconomicwinnersandloserstheincomeinequalitiesthatmanyeconomistshaveworriedaboutfordecades.Digitaltechnologiestendtofavorsuperstars,theypointout.
Forexample,someonewhocreatesacomputerprogramtoautomatetaxpreparationmightearnmillionsorbillionsofdollarswhileeliminatingtheneedforcountlessaccountants.

10) TechnologicalJobCreationfortheLessEducated
Conven onalwisdomholdsthatnewtechnologyrequireshighlyeducatedworkers.Thereisli ledoubtthatnewtechnologieshavetakenaheavytollonlesseducatedworkersnotonlyinmanufacturingindustries,
butalsoinroutinewhitecollarjobs.Inmanycases,theseworkershadaccumulatedvaluableexperiencethathasnowbecomeobsolete.
Yetitisamistakeformanagerstoassumethattheyneedtohirehighlyeducatedworkerstohandlenewtechnology;employeesgainmuchcri calknowledgeaboutnewtechnologiesthrough
experienceonthejobandsuchlearningo endoesnotrequireahighdegreeofeduca on.Managersneedtounderstandtheroleoftechnologicalmaturity,thevalueofexperience,
andhowemployeestechnicalskillsdevelopunderdifferentbusinessmodels.Indeed,economicresearch(http://www.nber.org/papers/w1718)showsthatnewtechnologyincreasestheneed
formoreeducatedworkersatfirst,but,astechnologymatures,lesseducatedworkersarehiredingeneral.