ClearCompany

HR Leadership
in 2021

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2021 will bring changes to
all professions, but perhaps
no discipline will be quite so
impacted as Human Resources.

Whether you are in Talent Acquisition,

Core HR, Talent Management, Benefits,
and Compensation, or any of the
myriad of roles that exist in the broader
HR space, your job will look different
than it did at the start of 2020.

Navigating this time will be difficult and

unprecedented. In order to prepare HR Professionals
for the road ahead, we’ve created this HR Leadership
Guide for 2021 and Beyond. We’ll define what an HR
Leader is, the history of HR Leadership, the strengths,
and weaknesses of HR Leaders, and tackle the issues
in technology, process, and the workforce you’re likely
to encounter in the new year.

ClearCompany has been a part of the HR Community

for over 16 years, and our platform has powered the
people operations of companies across the United
States. Our goal is to provide guidance and resources
to help you stay a great HR leader. Whether you’re
just starting your HR career or a seasoned CHRO, this
guide will offer insights to help in 2021.

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 Table of
Contents

Chapter 1: The Definition of a Great HR Leader 4

Chapter 2: What are the Qualities of a Good HR Leader? 7

Chapter 3: Great HR Leader Personality Traits 11

Chapter 4: Top HR Trends for 2021 16

Chapter 5: HR Tech Stack for 2021 18

Chapter 6: HR Leadership Jobs of 2021 24

Chapter 7: Looking To 2021: HR Leadership Preparation 26

Chapter 8: HR Leadership Should Watch for These Things in 2021 33

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 CHAPTER 1

The Definition
of a Great
HR Leader

The definition of a great HR leader

varies depending on who you’re asking.

If you ask finance professionals, they’ll

suggest great HR leadership possess an
understanding of business’ costs as it relates
to their people. If you ask the CEO, they
might say to ensure the right people exist
in the right roles to move the company
forward. If you speak to a frontline employee,
they could point out a great HR leader is an
advocate for their needs at work.
The bottom line is, there is no one definition of what a
great HR leader should be. However, there is one that
stands out as we head into 2021.
Communicating the correct
procedures in a time of crisis is
crucial and a direct responsibility
of an HR leader.
It’s hard to imagine a more critical skill than that
of communication when employees are scattered
throughout makeshift home offices, executives
are scrambling to pivot within the constraints of a
pandemic, and workers themselves are balancing
more than ever before.

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Communication is crucial to:

• Creating a safe back to work plan for all

employees and understanding how and
when to implement it.

• Altering performance management to

accommodate the changes in workforce
management we’ve seen.

• Facilitating better productivity and empathy

between employees, management,
and executives.

• Supporting employees’ work-from-home

needs and responsibility shifts.

• Offering ideas to keep culture and

engagement high in a brand
new “workplace.”

While it’s just one quality that defines excellent HR leadership, it would seem the quality most likely to separate the
well-equipped from the unprepared during the next few months. Before we dive into the other qualities, let’s look at
how HR leadership has been perceived over the years.

History of HR Leadership

The history of HR Leadership is a climb. Starting as personnel and moving along through most of the 20th century,
union membership, the increase of compliance and regulations as part of the role, and eventually, the proliferation of
technology, workforce management, and the information age all contributed to the transformation of the HR profession.

“By the 1930s, human resources started to become and be seen as advocates for employees, and the
reason for that, frankly, was because companies were trying to keep unions out. The idea of being able to
tell people at the top of the company: ‘Hey, the workers are unhappy about this’ really mattered because they
cared whether workers were unhappy because they thought they might unionize otherwise. In that period, HR
developed this kind of reputation as being the workers’ advocate, and that’s probably true up to 1970…(then)
HR’s mandate kind of shifted to protecting the company. In those periods, we started to see HR becoming much
more of the compliance cop and trying to make people behave on issues of sexual harassment, discrimination,
those sort of things.”

Peter Cappelli
Professor of Management,
The Wharton School

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A little closer to the current day, we’ve seen a real fight for HR professionals to be included in the executive or “C-Suite.”
HR has also been tasked with more and more of the talent acquisition and management duties. Fast forward to today
where the widespread adoption of cloud technology and other innovations in software helped solve the problem
of tracking ‘people data.’ It offers the opportunity to make strategic, informed decisions on recruiting, hiring, and
development.

HR leaders are emerging as the profession that can shepherd companies and workers through the new normal.
Managing everything from the redistribution of the workload to planning communication workshops for harried
executives, HR leaders have a lot on their hands.

Why is HR Leadership so Important

in 2021? “COVID-19 put the spotlight on the
CHRO and the HR organization, just
as the 2008–2009 recession did for
Many of the outcomes of 2020 have forced the
the CFO and finance function. In the
hands of companies in situations long overdue past few months, we have seen a greater
for solutions or assessment: appreciation for the breadth of what HR
does and can do: It has been essential in
everything from monitoring workforce
• Work-from-anywhere or remote work policies sentiment, to establishing connections
between organizational leaders, workers,
• A focus on mental well-being and balance and teams, to integrating well-being into
work and reimagining how, where, and
• A forward-thinking approach to performance management what work gets done.”

• Purpose-driven work at center-stage

Erica Volini
Global Human Capital Leader,
• Technology use and implementation Deloitte Consulting

It’s clear the world needs great HR leaders in 2021, just as they relied on them in 2020. The qualities that make great HR
leaders are helpful to assess in order to determine if organizations have the support they need to move forward.

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 CHAPTER 2

What are the

Qualities of
a Good HR
Leader?

In a Zenger and Volkman article from

2015, the HR-focused duo breaks down The main categorizations that
the 16 qualities that separate a good HR separate a good HR leader from
leader from a great HR leader. The main a great HR leader are:
categorizations these fall into are character, • Character
personal capabilities, getting results, and
leading change. • Personal capabilities

• Getting results
Let’s see how these qualities hold up in
2021 and beyond and what each looks like • Leading change

in reality.

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The 16 Qualities of a Great HR Leader

Displays honesty and integrity. As companies make changes that impact workers quickly, having honesty
1 and transparency at the core of your leadership team is crucial. How can employees know if they can trust the
next major decision or change that comes their way unless their leadership is honest and open with them?

How to do it: Establish regular communications with your team and or workforce. Changes continue to
rumble through workplaces, and if your employees know they can count on updates consistently, it can
ease some of the uncertainty.

Exhibits technical/professional expertise. Technology has enabled a great deal over the last few months,
2 and it’s going to get even more integrated into our everyday work lives. A great HR leader must lead the
charge when it comes to grasping and using this technology.

How to do it: Be a great advocate for new ideas and platforms but always vet them first. Much of HR’s
role can be change management, so use those skills to be an ambassador for the initial uncomfortable
changes that come with new technology.

Solves problems and analyzes issues. While many can point out problems in the workplace, it’s the leaders
3 that must find solutions quickly and analyze them to ensure they’ll work for the unique parameters of the
organization, team, or employee. Having this skill ensures you’re contributing rather than causing issues yourself.

How to do it: Begin asking for solutions in all your performance conversations and in communications.
When employees feel empowered to impact their own work environment, they are more likely to begin
thinking in a solution-oriented manner.

Innovates. In a year of great change, innovation is still key in 2021 as the workplace continues to evolve.
4 Make sure you’re keeping an eye to adopting new processes and evaluating the outdated ones.

How to do it: Offer up your own learnings through the course of your workday. Showing you learn new,
even simple things to the workforce will encourage others to begin innovating and add to a forward-
thinking environment.

Practices self-development. Stagnant leaders are hardly leaders at all. For some reason, the stereotypical
5 HR professional is often painted as stagnant, inflexible. Now is your opportunity to change that image.

How to do it: Although time is tight, carve out an hour to attend a webinar, course, or start a book club
at work. Then, share your results with your group, team, or department.

Focuses on results. More essential now than ever. With so many employees juggling more than one critical
6 task from home (managing education, caring for loved ones, etc.), focusing on results is the only way to fairly
assess yourself and others.

How to do it: Insert this verbiage into your performance reviews and discussions. Train your managers on
it and reinforce and communicate it to every employee.

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 Establishes stretch goals. For most employees, just getting the work done this past year is a stretch goal.
7 Help to reframe the discussion with internal stakeholders around this fact.

How to do it: Take a look at your goals for 2020. Like many, they’ve changed quite a bit or even fallen by
the wayside. Instead of being frustrated if they fell short, look at maintenance as a “stretch” and take this
into consideration when planning in 2021.

Takes initiative. Taking the initiative is something that is needed in all areas of leadership, but with the
8 reputation of HR as slower-moving, this is critical for HR leaders.

How to do it: You’ve already started by reading this guide. Focus on what you can anticipate and try
to plan and understand. Those plans may go out of the window. However, if you take the initiative to
prepare now, you’ll be ahead of the game.

Communicates powerfully and broadly. We discussed how incredibly important communication is earlier, so
9 we’ll focus on the powerful and broad portions. Communicating powerfully means understanding and believing
in what you are saying. Broadly is a focus on ensuring everyone who needs to get the message receives it.

How to do it: Before you jump into communicating something, ensure you’ve thought through FAQs
and potential objections. Once you have the answers to those questions, you’ll be able to communicate
changes much more powerfully. Additionally, remember that everyone in the company has slightly
different ways of consuming information. Perhaps some employees will read a five-paragraph update,
while others would rather see a quick video update.

Inspires and motivates others. There is finite enthusiasm and optimism in every company. Make it your
10 mission to inspire those around you.

How to do it: Keep your candle burning by taking time away from the urgent and focus on the important.
Discuss burnout and frustration frankly and openly with those employees who may be at risk. Encourage
others to adopt language and behaviors that support others.

Builds relationships. Being a great HR leader is not a destination at which you arrive. Focus on building on
11 the great ideas you had before and avoiding the pitfalls you’ve had in the past.

How to do it: Building relationships doesn’t happen overnight, and it takes intentionality, especially in
remote work. Make check-in appointments a regular thing to keep the conversation going.

Develops others. While developing oneself is crucial to being a great leader, you can’t leave the rest of your
12 team behind. Developing others is what being a great HR leader is all about.

How to do it: Begin looking for likely mentors or groups of people ripe for leadership or additional
learning opportunities. Part of your role is to nurture those people into their next significant career step.

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 Collaborates and fosters teamwork. Lone rangers can be reliable and effective, but they’re also prone to
13 burnout. Work with your team to spread the message that teamwork makes the dream work.

How to do it: A great way to kickstart collaboration and teamwork is to ensure your team has the
right tools and technologies actually to do so. If your company doesn’t have a widely adopted project
management or goal tracking platform, consider researching if that’s something your teams could leverage.

Develops strategic perspective. Right now, it’s easier than ever to panic and pare down roles to the bare
14 minimum, ignoring essential things like performance reviews or succession planning. The best HR leaders can
pull back from the urgent tasks to see what the world of work can and should look like in 6 months, a year,
three years.

How to do it: Set aside time each month to think through a rolling time period. By taking the time to look
beyond what is happening right now, you’ll be able to give your executives and your coworkers insight
they might not otherwise have.

Champions change. Like innovation, change is necessary for growth and success. When an idea is brought
15 to a good leader, they listen, evaluate the ask, and determine the next steps forward.

How to do it: Always be evaluating which methods are no longer effective or which can be made
stronger. Once you’ve determined the things to be changed, do the hard work and then make sure to
announce it to the necessary teams to promote adoption.

Connects the group to the outside world. Technology makes this much easier, while Zoom fatigue and
16 lack of in-person contact make it much harder. A great HR leader will work with their entire team to find
solutions to connect despite obstacles.

How to do it: Look into inventive learning opportunities. Consider a book club with other companies or
a learning course your team can invest in. While virtual conferences don’t have the same appeal as their
in-person counterparts, the learning is much more concentrated.

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 CHAPTER 3

Great HR
Leader
Personality
Traits

A great HR leader needs to understand trends and have the right skills for
the job but what’s even more telling about a leader is the personality traits
they cultivate to be a good leader.

Great HR Leaders Care

Your team needs to know they can come to you or your team when they are struggling. Just making this known during
such a difficult time can really ward off serious issues later. If your schedule doesn’t allow for impromptu meetings or
check-ins, consider open office hours for employees to bring concerns to you.

Great HR Leaders Think Ahead

Great HR leaders plan for the future in their teams, departments, and workplaces. Instead of becoming mired in
the present, they look toward the future and create flexible plans to make a positive change in their organizations.
They anticipate future challenges and set goals more than a few months or even quarters ahead.

Great HR Leaders Get Emotional

Great HR leaders love their work, and they love the people for whom they do that work. They engage, develop,
innovate, and empower others to move forward simply because they believe in the change-making possibilities of what
they do. Passion is at the heart of the great HR leader.

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Great HR Leaders Try New Things
Great HR leaders focus on new ways of doing the same old things. Their goal is to make their employees and
organizations stand out from the competition, and they realize that lack of innovation means stagnation. They embrace
creative approaches to problem-solving and encourage it in their workforces.

Great HR Leaders See the Big Picture

Great HR leaders refuse to operate in a silo. They focus on bottom-line business objectives and balance those with
the needs of the company’s employees. They understand the clear line from high performance to high employee
satisfaction and engagement and consistently strengthen that line.

Great HR Leaders Solve Problems

Great HR leaders solve problems and manage crises. Gone are the days when HR was mainly the bearer of bad
news. Today’s modern HR leaders focus on creating solutions for legal, financial, administrative, technological, and
operational challenges.

Great HR Leaders Talk the Talk

We’ve touched on this, but HR leaders should be amazing communicators and wield incredible influence within the
organization. Their listening ear isn’t tuned only to hear the frustrations of management and the C-suite but also their
colleagues, teams, employees, and in many cases, customers.

Great HR Leaders Get the Tech

A great HR leader will have difficulty changing anything within his or her organization if they don’t have the capacity to
understand the programs and processes within their own company. For this reason, HR leaders must understand the
technology and keep their eyes on trends and innovations in the field of HR Tech.

Great HR Leaders Are Ethical

HR is naturally a position that exposes its adherents to a lot of confidential information and personal, sometimes
sensitive, information. Great HR leaders must straddle the line between what companies ask of them and what
employees need them to advocate for.

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 CHAPTER 4

Top HR
Trends for
2021

As we continue to explore the vastly different world of work, the trends

analysts and pundits see mirror those described by practitioners for years.

We’ll dive into each of these trends and 60% of companies have hired at
explore how we can learn more about them, least one new employee since the
face them head-on, and keep our eyes beginning of the pandemic.
peeled for future shifts and cycles.

Simply put, HR manages every part of the employee
lifecycle. With so much of that lifecycle being impacted
by the COVID-19 virus, HR professionals are not “essential
workers” per se, but very close. Even with layoffs and
furloughs continuing to rise, 60% of companies have
hired at least one new employee since the beginning of
the pandemic.
No matter which industry you consider, HR is right
in the middle of the changes impacting workers.
Hospitality and retail are still letting people go and
enacting hiring freezes. Transport and logistics are
seeing hiring surges, much like e-commerce. While
hiring for medical jobs has become both important
and urgent.

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HR Function Becomes Even
More Important

HR leaders face an onslaught of new hurdles for

workers while also furloughing, recruiting, hiring,
onboarding, and training new team members
remotely to follow social distancing guidelines.

Remote hiring and onboarding include

unique issues for HR leaders to address
if they haven’t had to already:

• Interviewing candidates virtually

• Assessing a candidate’s skills virtually

• Screening to hire those who can work remotely

• Onboarding new employees and conveying

cultural information remotely

• Supporting existing managers and employees

through new hiring processes

For most, hiring and onboarding are just the tip of the iceberg. Your current employees are also struggling in this
period, and HR leaders must create a resource-rich environment to support them. Among many other responsibilities,
HR leaders must:

Be a key source of guidance and information during the pandemic.

DID YOU KNOW?
Manage internal communications for transparency and information.
80% of workers who are
Build networks for collaboration and productivity. new to remote work say
that their company’s internal
Implement remote training and performance management processes. communication helps them
feel more confident in making
Offer safety and security information about return to work.
decisions during the crisis.
Help employees balance at-home responsibilities with their workload.

In the midst of a pandemic like this one, HR leaders are stepping up to the plate and applying years of knowledge to
help their workforces transition as seamlessly as possible.

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Employee Mental Health Takes a Prominent Place

In the summer of 2020, the CDC found that 40% of US adults experienced mental health or substance abuse
struggles due to the pandemic. On average, almost half of your workers are impacted by this. And that’s just the
middle of the year.

HR leaders have reported:

• Employee burnout from an increased workload.

• Sandwich generation issues coming to a head.

• Home office shortcomings.

• Lack of security about school and childcare.

• Overall anxiety from dealing with the drastic change in lifestyle.

Since HR is charged with ensuring an organization’s employees are healthy, well-being, both mentally and physically,
will move to the forefront even more in 2021. However, more than initiatives, how can great HR leaders offer a focus on
well-being that permeates the company culture?

Be there. Your team needs to know they can come to you or your team when they are struggling. Just making
this known during such a difficult time can really ward off serious issues later. If your schedule doesn’t allow for
impromptu meetings or check-ins, consider open office hours for employees to bring concerns to you.

Be empathetic. Many of your employees may not know how to work remotely or may be struggling outside
of the traditional office environment. Others might not have a firm grasp on the technology now required
to do their job effectively. Not jumping to conclusions when performance or productivity is suffering and
showing empathy instead will remove pressure and surface issues sooner so you can help your workforce
create solutions.

Be strategic. Just because you came up with solutions at the beginning of the pandemic doesn’t mean
all employees have availed themselves of their challenges or that those solutions are still effective.
Continue to look ahead, collecting resources, offerings, and a network of long-term remote work and
employee safety resources.

Be aware. Your employees may not want to return to work for a variety of reasons. By the same token, some of
your employees may not be cut out for permanent remote work. Attrition and hiring will still happen during the
“come back to work” phase, and it’s best to be prepared for it.

Be prepared. Organizations that reopen their workplaces will have to prioritize the health and safety of their
employees. That could mean a totally new space, advanced systems, new policies, and addressing those
employees who simply do not feel safe coming back to work.

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Data-Driven Insights Counterbalanced with Human Insights

Empathy and strategic thinking are paramount in navigating the pandemic and employees’ responses to it.
However, we’ll have to settle into new performance and productivity expectations and roles at some point. For example,
remote work brings its own challenges when it comes to tracking actual deliverables and activity.

Investing in technology that allows your team to work virtually and track time (or clock in and out, for example) while also
monitoring work communications seems like the answer. However, a better solution may be to encourage collaboration
while also promoting transparency. Instead of sending out long, complex surveys with low return rates, turn instead to
real-time feedback options to ensure your team continues to grow and communicate.

By implementing productivity tracking tools, you gain valuable insights into how your employees are coping with the
pandemic and what changes might need to be made to assist. This helps with new hiring and succession planning
in 2021.

While some companies choose to invest in more non-traditional monitoring tools, like email monitoring and workplace
social media usage, great HR leaders might decide to go a different route. Data-driven insights from employee surveys
and sentiment are beneficial but tracking a worker’s productivity by monitoring may reduce trust in the organization and
lead to more issues down the road.

DID YOU KNOW?

In 2018, Gartner found that more than 50% of large corporations surveyed were using non-
traditional techniques like email scraping and tracking workspace usage to monitor employees.

Introducing Flexible, Fluid Policies

It all depends on how you look at it, Or we’re moving back in time, with employers
but we’re either being forced into the struggling to invest in employees to keep the
future by the pandemic with: bottom line moving forward through:

• Remote work • Reduced hours

• Reliance on gig workers • Less reliance on benefits dependent FTEs

• Alternative benefits • Furloughs

• Focus on work-flex • Benefit reductions

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This is no shock to workforce management analysts who study the rise of contingent and freelance marketplaces
across the globe. According to JLL Consulting, as much as 80% of the workforce could be freelance by 2030.
This begs the questions:

How does your company attract freelance or contract workers?

DID YOU KNOW?
How will performance metrics and benefits apply to workers that aren’t full time?
32% of organizations
How will you input retention and turnover numbers with an inherently
are replacing full-time
fluid workforce?
employees with contract
How can you create efficient onboarding and training processes for workers to save costs?
contingent workers?

Redefining the Employee Experience

On the plus side, many employees appreciate the new opportunities working from home has offered. McKinsey found
that the flexibility that comes with remote work has increased engagement and well-being levels in the U.S. However, the
same study also found that more than 80% of their respondents said the pandemic is materially affecting their work lives.

In 2021, HR leaders must gain clarity on how employees are affected through engagement tools and employee surveys.
Eventually, the goal is to improve the employee experience and company culture, leveraging the learnings from this
unique period.

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 CHAPTER 5

HR Tech Stack
for 2021

Your mission and vision are the crucial elements of your business.

They are the core of your success and the

reason you invest in a talent management
60% of companies have hired at
strategy. Finding the right tech stack allows
least one new employee since the
you to find, hire, and engage more top talent beginning of the pandemic.
and optimally checks the list on every feature
and administrative need.

HR has been tasked with more and more of the talent
acquisition and management duties. Technology offers
HR the opportunity to prove its business value through
analytics and strategic automation. Since the time spent
on administrative work is ideally reduced, more time can
be spent on the business side of human resources.
Today, HR leaders are emerging as the profession
that can shepherd companies and workers through
the new normal. Managing everything from
the redistribution of the workload to planning
communication workshops for harried executives,
HR leaders have a lot on their hands.

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In today’s employment landscape,
candidates want:

• Work from anywhere or remote work policies

• A focus on mental well-being and balance

• A forward-thinking approach to performance

management

• Purpose-driven work

• Ethics and adoption

• Technology use and implementation

As we continue to explore the vastly different world

of work, the trends analysts and pundits see mirror
those described by practitioners for years. We’ll dive
into each of these trends and explore how we can
learn more about them, face them head-on, and
keep our eyes peeled for future shifts and cycles.

Top industry trends include:

• The focus on worker wellbeing, including mental and physical health

• A diverse, equitable, and inclusive work culture

• Auditing the physical, emotional, and environmental attributes of your workplace and introducing flexible, fluid policies

• Redefining the employee experience across platforms

• Implementing on-demand coaching

• Blending HR technology with human capital as HR becomes increasingly important

The tech you use should be simple so that hiring managers and employees don’t hesitate to log in and robust enough
to meet your power users’ needs in HR. Below we feature key aspects that are important to deciding and buying the HR
Tech that best suits your company in today’s world.

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HR Tech Stack Checklist for 2021

An efficient recruitment system. From sourcing passive candidates to tracking applicants and keeping them
engaged, your ATS or CRM should:

Make it easy to manage job postings

Help to understand job board spend

Allow you to build talent communities

Offer mobile apply and/or text apply

Feature robust reporting and analytics

Have integrated video interviewing and scheduling

Offer simple referral options and background checks

Supply flow into offer management software and onboarding platform

Seamless onboarding. Onboarding becomes even more crucial when it’s done from a distance. Look for an
onboarding solution that:

Supplies a new hire portal you can customize for your new hires

Has an intuitive user interface

Is mobile-friendly

Integrates compliance and I-9 management

Uses UX for intelligent form fills

Includes background checks, E-verify, and WOTC

Easily integrates with payroll, HRIS, and performance management systems

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Customizable performance management. With things changing so quickly, ensuring goal alignment, monitoring
your employees’ performance, and providing continuous feedback are vital. Your selection should:

Have performance reviews in every format

Be intuitive and user-friendly

Fully customizable to meet ever-changing needs

Mobile friendly, to provide flexibility with a more remote workforce

Provide for goal planning and tracking to promote alignment

Support real-time feedback

Offer robust analytics and reporting features with a clear metric for success

Employee engagement software. When employees are remote, it can become even harder to keep them
engaged. You simply don’t have proximity on your side anymore. Employee engagement software is crucial.
Your selection should:

Collect employee feedback

Analyze employee engagement levels

Offer insights into turnover rates

Help assess the effectiveness of training

Gauge motivation levels and spot trends

Be mobile and intuitive

People analytics. As your company grows and scales, you must study the data you collect on your workforce to
help the executive team members make the right strategic decisions moving forward. Select a platform that:

Collects and analyzes your employee data

Provides actionable insights

Offers guides to improvement in your hiring processes, employee capabilities, managers, compensation,
and benefits

Offers a dashboard with multiple views for different roles

Creates data visualizations to spot trends or issues easily

Integrates with your HR tech stack

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion enablement. If this isn’t part of your HR tech stack, 2021 is the year to ensure your
tech enables your DE+I initiatives. Driving change within your company and successfully building or implementing a
DE+I strategy is not just the job of one person. A team needs to exist, and a platform to enable that team needs to
support it. Look for one that:

Offers scorecards to evaluate all candidates against the same objective criteria

Supports structured Performance Reviews to evaluate employees objectively

Offers robust analytics, so progress and trends are tracked

Provides a transparent view of the hiring process

Offers multilingual capabilities

Is mobile-friendly

A helpful HR system. Core HR supports the world around it. Make sure your helpful HR system allows you to:

Collect, store, and manage employee data

Help track attendance and absences

Create detailed reports and charts

Offer visualization tools

Gives employees a place to manage their documents and PTO

Accurate and intuitive payroll. Now is not the time to stress employees out with an antiquated, frequently
“down” system. Your payroll partner should:

Automate parts of your payroll operation

Ensure accuracy and save time

Provide analytics on your payment process

Be cloud-based

Offer digital payslips

Track benefits and automate based on time off

Manage overtime, bonuses, and more

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Accessible employee benefits. Your workforce has changed and will continue to do so. Your benefits and benefits
administration platform should do the same. It ought to:

Create personalized employee incentives based on their preferences

Have an easy-to-use interface

Integrate with other HR tech

Offer on-the-go functionality via a mobile app

A learning platform. Remote learning has also moved to the front of the line in terms of importance. Now is the
time to ensure your learning resources are consolidated in an LMS that:

Allows employees to access resources at the speed of work

Create personalized learning pathways

Measures completion of courses

Has a centralized content library

Incorporates curated content

Integrates with your other systems

Offers insights, allowing you to personalize learning and view use and adoption analytics

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 CHAPTER 6
HR Leadership
Jobs of 2021
The “new normal” is resonating
throughout the industry.
HR is coming into its own as the world of
work around changes dramatically.
What does the role of HR leaders look like in the future? With
technology continuing to play a crucial role in the workforce
and employee management, there are, according to Meister
and Brown, at least 21 roles opening up in the Human
Resources arena.
Like VR Immersion Counselor, Chatbot Coach, and Genetic
Diversity Officer, many of them sound like they’re straight out
of a science fiction film. Still, those who sit on the bleeding
edge of technology realize these are not such far-off jobs.
But what core tenets bring them together?
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“… (This)massive change is escalating
the importance of HR’s role within
organizations. Workers are turning to their
managers and their HR leaders, in particular,
for guidance on how to navigate their “new
normal” — research indicates that 73% of
workers depend on their employer for support
in preparing for the future of work. Just as
CFOs have greatly increased their scope since
the 2008 financial crisis, CHRO’s now have that
same opportunity to become central C-suite
players. We believe this is HR’s moment to lead
organizations in navigating the future.”
Jeanne C. Meister & Robert H. Brown,
Harvest Business Review
24
The 5 core tenets:

1 Individual and organizational resilience 4 Data literacy

2 Organizational trust and safety 5 Human-machine partnerships

3 Creativity and innovation

The ability to predict future HR roles like these or that take advantage and leverage the core competencies listed above
positions HR as a vital part of the business and will likely provide a superior candidate and employee experience, thus
making them more competitive.

5 Characteristic Traits and Values The Best Human Resource Leaders Have
Organization

The first and most obvious is the organization. HR professionals need to have strong time management
skills and complete tasks efficiently. They balance multiple tasks every day, from hiring to firing, dealing with
employees’ issues, training their team, and creating recruitment strategies for open positions. The ability to
multitask is key, as well as self-discipline.

Effective Communication

Clear and effective messaging will boost morale, increase loyalty, and increase employee engagement. As a
Human Resources leader, you must develop and demonstrate your communication skills. When HR can clearly
explain their company’s mission, values, policies, and procedures, it helps their workforce understand their
roles in driving organizational results and motivates them to outperform.

Solutions-Oriented

It should go without saying that many issues arise within the workplace, especially with employees. Conflicts
may arise between personnel, and employees’ personal lives are constantly changing. HR managers are often
brought in to help navigate these conflicts and provide solutions for personal issues.

Company Values-Driven

When HR is able to effectively communicate the company values and vision, employees understand their role
in ensuring that they are upheld. The vision statement should be tied to achievable goals for employees. Thus,
the vision statement influences the company culture and expectations, thereby giving direction for employees.

Company Mission-Driven:

HR managers must be able to sell their team on the company mission, and they should ensure each
employee has an in-depth understanding of it. The company mission answers why the employee’s work and
goals contribute to the success of the organization. Many employees may not know their company’s vision.
Understanding this is critical to employees and creates a sense of purpose.

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 CHAPTER 7

Looking To
2021: HR
Leadership
Preparation

Maybe you’re not quite yet at the leadership level you’d like to be.

Or perhaps you’re looking for the right folks

to round out your team. As you prepare for DID YOU KNOW?
HR leadership for yourself or begin to mentor
60% of Gen Z-ers want to touch
an HR professional with leadership potential,
base with their managers daily.
consider how you can prepare for what’s next
in 2021 and beyond:

Gen Z Is Here
While the generalizations surrounding the HR profession
regarding generations are largely based on recruiting
for specific generations, there is value in understanding
the workers entering the workforce today. Many HR
professionals mistakenly conflate Gen Y or Millennials
with Gen Z or Echo Boomers.
They have similarities, like wanting regular check-ins,
for example, but Millennials prefer to communicate
online while Gen Z craves face-to-face interaction.
Understanding why and how these generations accept
jobs and enter the workforce can inform everything
from benefits to hierarchical structure.

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The Workplace is not Enough
Although many in the HR profession might feel that those “I think it’s back to the most fundamental
aspects of our shared humanity, and
currently employed are lucky, it comes when consumerization
that’s caring about people and putting
within the workplace has been at an all-time high. Millennials
them first. I think we will see a heightened
and Gen Z would like more collaborative management; they interest in workplace culture and climate
want more than just employment. Using surveys to get to the surveys, employee listening sessions, and
root of what younger generations and all generations want is a town hall meetings. Further, the diversity,
great way to understand workforce needs. equity, and inclusion work of HR will be
front and center as we strive toward anti-
racist work environments.”
Engagement of Employees Becomes Paramount
We’ve been talking about Employee Engagement for a long time. Courtney Peterson
However, new ways are emerging all the time to engage employees. Chief People & Culture Officer,
Sidwell Friends School
One that is not necessarily new but is seeing a surge in our current
state is that of corporate social responsibility or CSR.
Most of your employees don’t feel fully engaged at work. To engage them, we can strengthen CSR policies and
programs. When and if you decide to implement a corporate social responsibility program, make sure it aligns with your
corporate values and your employees’ values. Today’s employees would like to feel more involved in the decision-making
of their workplace.

Understanding the Gig Economy

According to past predictions, 40% of North Americans should be independent contractors by now. Traditional
long-term employment is what HR professionals in senior management are used to. More and more Americans are
choosing the flexibility of gig work or freelance contracting. It may be for multiple reasons like to learn new skills, enjoy
career advancement faster than they would in a traditional environment, to earn extra money, or to have flexibility
and autonomy over their schedule. Either way, it’s imperative to take full-time employees and gig workers or contract
employees into consideration, not just when it comes to compensation but when it comes to the entire benefits
package, all the way into recruiting and onboarding these workers.

Employee Wellness Makes Waves

As we’ve discussed, wellness will become a priority in
the coming year. What used to be a perk like a fitness
stipend or healthier food options is evolving to become
more holistic and comprehensive. Smart and innovative
companies realize that emotionally and physically
healthy employees make more productive, less stressed
employees, which increases engagement.
“A focus on mental health and well-being
would become a central part of the HR
agenda. Emotional well-being — not just
financial incentives — would be a factor
a prospective candidate would look
for in the employer value proposition.
Emotional well-being, not onsite perks,
would define what a great place to work
would look like.”

Vineet Gambhir
Senior Consultant,
Contemporary Leadership Advisors

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Modern Benefits Increase
Benefits have been changing since benefits were a thing.
However, the changes that we see now began to take root
even before the pandemic hit. We see them continue to
increase as companies get creative about what they would
like to offer their employees to retain them during the chaotic
period. Benefits like parental leave, tuition reimbursement,
financial wellness programs, unlimited PTO, and more continue
to augment current offerings. HR professionals who want to
attract younger workers, retain middle-aged workers, and
protect and engage older workers will do well to consider all
benefits in the future.
“COVID-19 will force much-needed change
in employer-sponsored health plans — a
fundamental change in how employers and
employees share in both cost and benefits’
value. The incentive for change is strong,
and the data and technology we need to
do it exist. As a result, more employers will
embrace better plan design based on the
tenets of personalization, choice, flexibility,
and cost certainty.”
Jenna Obrycki Upgren
Total Rewards Manager,
Bind Benefits, Inc.

Data Drives HR
Things like turnover rate, offer acceptance, absenteeism,
“We expect to see improvements in
attendance, revenue per employee, productivity, engagement,
workplace technology systems. With
pay increases, promotions, personas, and so much more
the drastic changes that organizations
have been tracked separately. Today, HR analytics allow HR had to implement recently, having better
professionals to see more through the data they naturally collaboration tools, remote connectivity
collect. HR analytics and their insights enable HR professionals platforms (i.e., VPNs), and stronger IT
to reduce administrative burden and increase strategic infrastructures will be key.”
thinking, all backed by data.

Jennifer Beezer
Director of Human Resources,
HR meets AI and VR SPHR, SHRM-CP, FOREO Inc.

Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are two massive concepts disrupting the HR profession today. AI can help to
identify employees who might leave. Machine learning can help automate low-level tasks, like scheduling and screening.
VR can help with recruiting and training, particularly for high-stress roles. Applicant tracking systems can be assisted
by robotic process automation. The use cases go on and on. HR leaders should keep a close eye on these technologies
related to recruiting, onboarding, training, engagement, and productivity.

Blockchain Improves Security

Blockchain technology provides many opportunities for the HR profession. Because HR deals naturally with lots of
sensitive employee information and highly detailed employee records, blockchain technology can secure, verify,
automate, and streamline while providing extra security and accuracy. This allows HR professionals to keep data secure
and decentralized and, thus, less vulnerable.

Broader Role in Corporate Strategy

While HR professionals have long requested a seat at the proverbial table, it’s doubtful anyone thought it would take
a pandemic to make the rest of the business world understand just how vital HR professionals are. Now in the bullseye
of a post-pandemic world, HR professionals have become more involved in corporate strategy. Certification, business
growth, and employee experience will become even more robust areas of the HR profession in 2021.

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A Focus on Reskilling and Upskilling
Many workers, including HR professionals, have noticed the rising importance of re-skilling. Both re-skilling and
upskilling the workforce will become even more prevalent and fall under the HR leader’s purview. Things like learning
management software can help support learning within the flow of work and allow HR professionals to ensure their
entire workforce is more agile and trained for any future pivots.

Diverse Workforce Accelerate “Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) will

COVID-19 wasn’t the only massive development in 2020.
HR professionals also grappled with anemic DE&I initiatives
that did not satisfy the growing need for social change.
In 2021, employees and candidates alike, bolstered by
leadership, will expect more from HR professionals.
Expect heavier scrutiny on unconscious bias and a higher
expectation of training for the entire workforce.
become a more significant trend in the
coming months. The world is changing right
before our eyes, and HR practitioners will
need to support the positive and not-so-
positive changes that are occurring. DEI is not
new, but the lens by which HR practitioners
will have to manage this topic will require fresh
ideas and strategies that speak to the now.

Tina R. Walker
Director of Human Resources,
California Community Foundation
Text Message Recruiting Builds Momentum
Text or SMS messaging allows HR professionals to speak to candidates and applicants directly. SMS recruiting is being
used for everything from career fairs to notifying a talent community about a new role. Text messages currently have
a 98% open rate but don’t anticipate that’s sticking around. Smart HR leaders will use SMS messaging to continue
candidate engagement and not the only tool in your recruitment arsenal.

Focusing on Internal Talent Mobility

Over 20% of leaders rated internal talent mobility as one of the top three most urgent issues in their organization. While
this was before the global pandemic, it makes sense that the focus on internal talent mobility should remain since many
workers have been furloughed, potentially demoted, or stalled in a promotion track. For many creative HR leaders, now
is the time to double down on internal talent mobility to keep employees engaged and committed to their work.

A Jumpstart on Continuous Performance Management

This particular movement has been a focus of innovative HR leaders for the past decade. While not every leading
organization had shifted from the traditional, annual review to continuous performance management, enough had that
it was labeled an indicator of engagement, profits, customer service, and more.

Employees support the idea of instant evaluation and continuous feedback on their performance. The aforementioned
trends toward collaboration and face time with leadership only serve to underscore this goal.

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[Tip List:] Tactical HR Leadership Skills

Stay Organized

For many HR leaders, each day consists of carrying out simultaneous responsibilities and tasks. From constant
flows of new paperwork coming in and going out to new tasks being thrown left and right, it can be hard to juggle
everything at once. Therefore, everything within your department must be organized efficiently.

Throughout the day, unpredictable situations such as an employee quitting, scheduling errors, and new deadlines
for complying with new regulations can sporadically occur. Yet, maintaining a well-organized workload means that
when those issues or challenges do transpire, you’ll know how to deal with them the right way, without it having
too much impact on your day-to-day work. According to a survey, a 32% contribution to employee burnout is an
unreasonable workload. With the right systems in place, you’ll be able to keep track of the necessary information for
each individual in your company.

Stay On Track

In the fast-paced, evolving world of HR, professionals are tasked with an abundance of responsibilities. From
managing payroll, recruiting, training, conducting employee reviews and keeping up on benefits, policies, and
compliances, it can be hard to manage everything at once.

With the right Talent Management System, you can easily automate and organize HR tasks. By automating
administrative and laborious tasks, you will increase efficiency and gain time previously wasted on mundane tasks
back. Automation ensures you aren’t performing repetitive tasks so you can focus your time and attention on
insightful ways to improve employee development and culture.

Keep Records in Check

Many employers understand the importance of retaining and securing employee records; however, it’s not always
easy to stay on top of it. When your company is adding new employees and keeping track of existing employee
personnel, it can be very difficult to manage every document without a proper automation system.

Automating your records can reduce the timely process

of having to dig through mountains of paperwork to find DID YOU KNOW?
what you’re looking for, enabling you to standardize every
record from employee scheduling to performance reviews. HR teams process 10 to 60 onboarding
Without the need to go through every single document, documents per employee.
you can remove the mistake of human-errors of any kind.

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Be a Good Communicator

As an HR professional, you serve as a liaison between employees and other managers, so clearly relaying
information to others is a key component to every aspect of your day. When you have open communication with
your employees and teams, it builds trust and makes them feel valued within the organization. Simply delegating
tasks left and right and not retaining employees’ input won’t make them perform better.

Effective communication in the workplace can build strong team relationships, empower healthier team
collaborations, and push teams toward their goals. Yet, creating the right conditions for HR leaders can be
challenging. Companies and organizations that communicate effectively are 4.5x more likely to retain the best
employees. With the right communication skills, you’ll be able to smooth over any issues before they escalate,
clearly and concisely.

Ask Specific Questions

The best way to identify solutions to help your teams and improve employee performance throughout the
workplace is by always asking the right questions. In addition to setting up one-on-one meetings, an automated
feedback tool can highlight and identify certain challenges that keep your employees from performing at
their best.

During one-on-one meetings, instead of asking, “How are things going?” try asking questions such as “I’ve
noticed that you’ve been struggling with X. What can I do to help you improve?” Asking specific, pointed
questions shows that you understand each employee’s role and you are willing to do anything you can to get
them back on the right track.

Provide Insightful Feedback

Any type of feedback is great for your business. When performance goals are set in place, it is essential to give
your employees constant feedback on their progress towards their goals in a timely, consistent manner.

Through a performance management platform,

you can promote an environment of continuous DID YOU KNOW?
feedback and coaching of employees. Utilizing the
best communication practices, you can offer real-time Only 58% of managers think they give
feedback for better improvement while forging stronger enough feedback.
relationships with your employees.

The same goes for exit interviews. When you find out an employee is leaving your organization, conducting an
exit interview will be the last meaningful conversation you’ll have with them. Continue to ask questions such as,
“Did you feel you had the tools and resources to perform your job successfully?” and “What can the organization
improve on?” This is your time to gain feedback and key takeaways to improve your organization, retain valuable
employees, and increase company morale.

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Be Flexible

What separates a good HR department from a great one? Adaptability. In the talent management industry, each
day is different from the rest. There will be instances where you and your co-workers may have different ideas on
how to tackle a project. New, unpredictable circumstances may arise, such as an employee quitting or new projects
and deadlines appearing throughout your day. When changes are presented, you must handle them effectively.

Being adaptable in HR is one of the greatest skills you can have in and out of the workplace. When you work
with others, you may discover new solutions to perform administrative responsibilities, uncover developmental
opportunities for employees and leaders, and influence change in the workplace. It’s one thing when you find great
ideas and another to implement them.

See the Bigger Picture

The key to fostering a healthy and positive work

environment is never to get too comfortable. Let
your big picture look beyond the walls of your
organization. These days, many talent management
teams are embracing technology to help them
stay better connected with their employees and
department teams. Implementing a reliable software
solution allows HR teams to automate recruitment,
payroll, employee benefits, and training. These
tools allow you to open your time up for real human
interaction to stay connected with your employees
while being proactive in meeting their needs.

Your employees expect you to be flexible,

transparent, and engaged in helping them assess
growth opportunities that will elevate them
throughout their careers. With the bigger picture
in mind, you can make decisions to benefit your
employees, while still considering what’s best
for your organization. Finding connections while
working out details lead to a win-win situation for
both happy employees and a productive workplace.

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 CHAPTER 8

HR Leadership
Strengths &
Weaknesses

Great HR Leaders value learning, both in themselves and their employees.

They take the time to join professional

associations, attend conferences, take
classes, and read books to further their
knowledge of working with other people.

A Priority on Learning and Development

Concepts like mentoring, coaching, training, and all the
techniques that help workers become successful within the
organization and their careers begin on HR representatives’
desks. Additionally, HR leaders are often the first person to
contact new employees, and they serve an important role in
ensuring those hires are successfully integrating into their role.
Company-wide, HR departments advocate for organizational
mentorship and coaching programs that help employees
excel and increase engagement.
And, HR has the reputation of being a resource
for workers to turn to with feedback and concerns.
Those who work within HR generally discover
the career because of a genuine interest in
helping others succeed, and that translates to the
responsibilities they take on.

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Advocate for Employees
The HR department was built to bridge the gap between
the employer and employee. While it has changed over
the years, great HR Leaders know that it still holds a large
share of their job. Sometimes business leaders see HR as
the employee’s voice, and they are, but employers also
gain protection through its existence. When a worker
has an issue with coworkers, leadership, or employment
terms, they are directed to HR, where they will receive
guidance and advice. The same is true for executives.
When a decision is made, it is HR who will navigate the
communication and anticipate the backlash.
We’ve seen the opposite occur many times in recent
years, often making headlines. However, a great HR leader
understands that advocating for employees, whether
in the form of more autonomy or compensation or for a
safer working environment, is an investment in both the
employees and the company.

Understand Compliance
HR professionals specialize in everything from
compensation and benefits to employment law.
Employers lean on HR to ensure the organization is
meeting regulations and remaining current on local and
national expectations. Employment is filled with rules
and nuances and the HR team is the knowledgeable
resource executives trust to keep company hiring and
management processes compliant and secure.
Legislation regarding work and employees is constantly
changing, not only on the federal level but also on a
state-by-state basis. Great HR Leaders stay on top of
these changes and ensure their workplace and their
people are compliant.

Common HR Leadership Weaknesses

Ignore the “Finance Part”

A survey of over 400 senior-level HR and finance executives found that the collaboration between finance and HR is
nowhere near where it should be to benefit most organizations. The results found that when it came to ACA compliance,
a serious concern for both departments, 33% of financial leaders expect HR to go over budget. The survey results point
to negative views of the HR department’s work regarding budget and finance as a whole, signaling discord that goes
deeper than regulatory concerns.

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This goes back to the old idea of HR or “personnel” as a
cost center rather than a revenue-producing part of the “While finance views HR as an unnecessary
business. While this is technically true, as our economy cost, HR thinks finance is out to squeeze
shifts more and more to digital and intellectual work, talent every penny they can find. The bottom
line is both departments function as gears
is truly the differentiator. Just as the perception of HR as a
powering a larger machine. Individually
money pit needs to die off, average HR Leaders would do
each department provides services to the
well to understand how their work impacts the bottom line. company, many of which overlap. When
HR and finance function cooperatively, the
HR needs to understand how financial data and analytics company moves into a new era of efficiency,
should influence hiring and management decisions. production, customer satisfaction, and most
Yes, you have to spend money to produce productive importantly, profit.”
employees, but the efficiency of funds is key for both the
business’s health and workers’ satisfaction. Christine Sauter
HR Project Officer,
StarkHR
No Strategic Foundation
HR has garnered a reputation for being a bit slow to adopt new processes and, in turn, slow to get tasks completed.
However, HR is absolutely a strategic function. For example, there’s a discussion around how to better hire talent or
manage top performers, but how those strategies relate to overall business strategy sometimes goes unconnected.
So much so that the department is often criticized for a general lack of business acumen. Agree or disagree, any HR
function can benefit from more collaboration with their organization’s operations teams.

Incorporation of HR data and analytics is also an important step in connecting HR to the company’s strategic
direction. Data informs better strategy within HR but also speaks a more common language throughout departments,
especially operations.

As HR and people management becomes even more

central to a company’s success, they need to look at their
various responsibilities through a strategic lens. While the
Talent Acquisition portion of the HR function has started
to do this, to be great, HR Leaders should step in and see
where they can apply years of expertise, learning, and
planning to the business.

This is especially important as HR Leaders are very often

those in charge of change management, whether it’s
educating employees on new company goals, rolling out a
new health plan, or adding a rule or policy to the employee
handbook. By applying a strategic mindset to their role, HR
Leaders can explain the why of a new policy or procedure,
or plan.

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Less Customer-Focused
The plain fact is, HR professionals have two main audiences to please, the employer and the employees. At times,
trying to please them both is very difficult. Sometimes, HR gets the reputation of not caring as much about customers
(for those counting, that’s a third audience to please). It’s no wonder that HR sometimes comes across as being very
internally focused, rather than extrapolating their responsibilities out to the business’s core offering. But to be a great
HR Leader this must be part of the equation.

Another disconnect occurs between internal practices and external results. For example, HR KPIs often revolve around
hiring and managing metrics like time to hire, retention, and productivity. The techniques deployed to focus on how
those metrics can be positively influenced by technology and better internal practices. Sometimes they even result
in employee standards that look great on reports but leave a little to be desired among external audiences—think:
customers. Though HR leaders are seeing employees with productivity, they aren’t necessarily considering the needs of
the customer or client who is directly affected by the internal adjustments.

A better understanding of the external environment is critical in seeing business success. Those who don’t work in HR
should take the time to realize that this team is almost entirely internally focused and is less exposed to the external
reputation than other departments. This is improving as more HR departments learn about employer brand and how
customers are candidates, and vice versa.

Great HR leaders are not born; they are made from years of practice, training, and dedication. Without the HR
department’s strengths, organizations would suffer, meanwhile the weaknesses present issues to all. Whether you are an
HR professional or an organizational executive, grasping HR’s strengths and weaknesses can help you understand some
of the challenges your company will need to overcome together.

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 CHAPTER 8

HR Leadership
Should Watch
for These
Things in 2021

This past year, we’ve learned that it takes a global pandemic to understand
just how many of today’s job roles can be handled remotely.

Yet while Covid-19 changed the work

Experts project nearly 42% of job losses
landscape, there are five underlying trends
related to the pandemic will never
that were already affecting the HR function.
come back.

Older Worker Discrimination

It’s commonly known that age discrimination goes up
during recessions. Unfortunately, as budgets go down,
older workers, who tend to be paid more due to their
experience, are often discriminated against.
It’s less expensive to get young, inexperienced workers
to do the same tasks for an ostensibly lower cost.
Age discrimination goes hand-in-hand with an
unemployment rate, as observed by Brett Arends, an
award-winning financial writer citing research from the
National Bureau of Economic Research. Further, age
discrimination does tend to continue after the recession
is over as many of these workers are the last to be hired
back, although they are typically the first to be let go.

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Wage Disparity Based on Location
With the pandemic appearing worse in many densely
populated cities, employees and workers throughout the
nation are choosing to move to less densely packed areas.
However, this is coming with an unintended consequence
as many employers have requested employees take a pay
cut if they live in a city with a lower cost-of-living. By and
large, employees are not happy with this arrangement,
particularly because their current domiciles don’t have the
space for home offices in many cases. In some cases, both
parents are working from one home, and children are also
being educated remotely in that home. This makes it a
natural decision to move somewhere with more space and
seemingly less risk. However, this may be derailed by many
companies’ intentions of lowering salary commensurate to
the cost of living.

Disengagement and Burnout

With many of their fellow employees being furloughed or let
go completely, the remaining employees are prone to suffering
from burnout and disengagement. While there is some hope
for economic recovery, and many industries are already seeing
a bit of a bounce-back, the workforce seems likely to remain
significantly reduced. Hiring often lags behind an economic
recovery, which in and of itself is not guaranteed.

The Death Of Traditional OD

Once considered the academic pinnacle of the HR profession, organizational design is now almost certain to become
one of the most innovative parts of it. Virtual work, remote collaboration, unprecedented flexibility, the agility of
planning, technology-enabled teamwork - all of these are possible now. People anticipate that these will reshape the
landscape of work as we move forward in 2021. Intelligent HR leaders will focus on collecting and analyzing strategic
insights right now to make a business case for why we should keep or leverage the following innovations after the
pandemic is over.

Leadership Shift Happens

Transparency and flexibility have never been more critical than they are today. Overworked employees will no longer
tolerate outdated attitudes, and HR professionals will often be caught right in the middle. Trust in leadership and
transparency from executives create high trust organizations. These have a huge advantage in employee retention
and engagement. These high trust organizations also can go faster and farther with the support of their employees.
According to Gallup, employees who trust their leadership are twice as likely to commit to staying with the organization
a year from now and are more willing to give leaders the benefit of the doubt even when mistakes are made higher up.

The well-prepared HR leader will keep all of these potential hurdles on their radar. Avoiding them, all while also taking in
hand the trends likely to shape our workforce in 2021, will offer an advantage in a time when all are looking to HR to lead.

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 The Need for
Strong HR
Leadership

Organizations continue to rely on their HR Department to keep employees

engaged, motivated, and committed to the overall goals.

As companies work to recover from a

particularly challenging year, HR leaders can
ClearCompany is here to help
expect that their colleagues will come to rely
your staff in their engagement,
on them for more support and direction.
performance management, and
Strong HR leadership will remain one of the talent management goals.
most influential factors of success in 2021.
To learn more about how our fully integrated
The best HR leaders seek to continuously develop platforms can support your business functions,
themselves and those around them. Managers need to reach out to one of our experts or sign up for
practice powerful and transparent communication, lead with your free demo today.
empathy and compassion, and remain strategic and forward-
thinking in order to prepare for further changes that may
Get Your Demo
occur. Armed with the right knowledge and tools to support
a remote work format, organizations can continue to bounce
back and instill resilience in their employees.

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