2/7/2019 The HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold Predictions

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The HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold

Predictions
(https://www.softwareadvice.com/people/brian-westfall/)

by: Brian Westfall (https://www.softwareadvice.com/people/brian-westfall/)

Note: This post was written in 2013. We’ve written more content with new research since then, including “Should You Believe the
Hype? Evaluating 5 HR Tech Trends for Small Businesses (https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/hr-tech-trends-2016/).”

The human resources department is doomed. There is no viable future for the HR function, and
HR professionals will inevitably be replaced by software. At least that’s what some
(http:// stfuloftalent.com/2013/03/why-hr-is-doomed.html) are saying.

They’re wrong.
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Without a doubt, software is changing how HR functions. But rather than spell the end of the
human resources function, the nine experts I interviewed predict these changes will provide
 will change and why,
growth opportunities for HR professionals. This article lays out what  as well
as how HR professionals can prepare. Facebook LinkedIn
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Prediction 1: In-house HR will downsize and
2/7/2019 The HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold Predictions

outsourcing will increase.

This prediction may seem somewhat, well, predictable. But the reasons our experts give for the
change might surprise you.

Industry analyst Brian Sommer, the founder of TechVentive (http://techventive.com/), claims a

shift to smaller HR departments will be caused by new technologies and increased employee
participation in HR processes. As he claims, “Many businesses are going to get a lot of capability
done by better technology, more self-service and the employee doing a lot on their own.” For
instance, employees will increasingly input their own data into self-service systems.

In addition, many transaction-heavy HR jobs (http://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/what-

employers-look-for-hr-jobs/) will be outsourced entirely to HR agencies or specialists. Dr. Janice
Presser, CEO of The Gabriel Institute (https://www.thegabrielinstitute.com/), goes so far as to say,
“Entry-level HR jobs, as they currently exist, will all but disappear as transactional tasks are
consigned to outsourced services.”

Elizabeth Brashears, the director of Human Capital Consulting at TriNet HR

(http://www.trinet.com/), as well as Scot Marcotte, Barry Hall and Steve Coco of Buck Consultants
(http://www.buckconsultants.com/), believe bene ts administration will be particularly impacted
as a result of increasing regulations and a globalized workforce. Brashears says, “As regulations
surrounding employment, and particularly bene ts, become more and more complex, I believe
that companies will turn to eld experts to help navigate through the landscape.”

Elaborating on this point, the experts at Buck Consultants say, “With employees taking on
increasing responsibility for their bene ts, we’ll see not only the administration of bene t
programs but the entire bene ts department become outsourced. Service rms will o er
‘bene t-in-a-box’ models that will o er cost-e ective, bundled health and welfare, wellness and
retirement plans to organizations.”

Nonetheless, the internal HR function will survive. As Chip Luman, the COO of HireVue
(http://hirevue.com/), explains, “Given the ongoing regulatory environment, the need to pay,
provide bene ts, manage employee relations issues, and process information will go on.”

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Prediction 2: Strategic thinking will become in-house
HR’s new core competence.  
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The leaner version of HR that remains will need to reposition itself as a strategic partner within
the business. In fact, the trend toward smaller, more strategy-focused
 HR departments was
predicted 11 years ago in SHRM’s 2002 report, The Future of the HR Profession
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(https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/tools-and-
2/7/2019 The HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold Predictions

samples/toolkits/Documents/future_of_hr.pdf).

More recently, an Economist Intelligence Unit report (http://www.oracle.com/us/c-central/cfo-

solutions/eiu-ibm-oracle-cfo-report-1877303.pdf) stressed the need for C-suite executives to
partner with HR to drive growth. In support of that, over half the experts I interviewed mentioned
that HR needs to increase its strategic value to the business–or else. Dr. Presser says, “This
includes the ability to make accurate projections based on understanding the goals of the
business and using metrics that describe more than lagging indicators, such as how long it takes
to ll a job or the per-employee training spend.”

This strategy role cannot be outsourced. As Dr. Presser says, “Strategic planning requires in-
house expertise.”

In fact, Brashears predicts the trend toward a more strategic HR function may even drive the
creation of new job titles. As she explains, “HR Professionals will likely transition into HR Business
Professionals who not only understand HR implications but also business operations and
strategy.”

Prediction 3: The pendulum will swing back to the

specialist.
Janine Truitt, Chief Innovations O cer of Talent Think Innovations
(http://talentthinkinnovations.com/), observes a cyclical shift in the HR eld. As she explains,
“Every decade or so we uctuate back and forth from the paradigm of the independent
contributor/specialist to the generalist practitioner. We were in a ‘generalist’ mode and now I
think the pendulum may be swinging back toward the specialist.”

Luman puts it more bluntly: “HR generalists as we know them will disappear.”

Brashears agrees, noting that “There will be more specialized roles. I believe this to be the case as
the employment landscape becomes more complex with changing regulations around
employment law and bene t compliance with the A ordable Care Act.”

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Prediction 4: HR will increasingly utilize analytics and

 
big data to augment its value to the
Facebookrm. LinkedIn

In-house HR professionals will need to embrace analytics and “big data”–now often included in

talent management software suites (https://www.softwareadvice.com/hr/talent-management-
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software-comparison/)–to become strategic leaders in their companies. Gyutae Park, head of
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Human
2/7/2019
Resources at Money Crashers (http://www.moneycrashers.com/)
The HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold Predictions
Personal Finance,
predicts that:

“In the coming decade, the career trajectory of HR

professionals will be determined more so than ever by the
analysis of data and metrics. Although HR already uses
some metrics such as turnover ratios and employee
engagement levels, you can expect to see new metrics
tracked and used in HR, such as the average timeframe for
sta to be ready for promotion, or percentage of top
candidates to be hired within the organization.”

New hires might be needed in the HR department to accommodate the increased use of
analytics. As Dr. Presser explains, “The current trends in big data will provide new ways for HR to
prove its value, so we can expect HR departments to want to add people who can analyze and
make projections using these tools, and people who can drive positive change using the
information derived from the analysis.”

Prediction 5: Managing a remote workforce will be

the new norm.
Recent moves by companies like Yahoo and Best Buy to end their remote work programs are the
exception, not the new normal. Without a doubt, HR will increasingly have to tackle the challenge
of managing a remote workforce. Luman points out that companies will need “to leverage
employees where and when they are most productive and impactful”–even if that means they’re
halfway around the world.

But remote management isn’t a skill you can pick up on the y. Dr. Presser cautions that, “The
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trend toward remote workers is a growing challenge to managers who are not e ective in
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managing people at a distance.”

Automation and a di erent set of expectations will be part of the

solution. Wim de Smet,
 CEO of
Exaserv (http://www.exaserv.com/), predicts that “New technologies
Facebookwill be used toLinkedIn
analyze the
work production instead of the working time. Results will become more important and business
will expect HR to be producing more result-driven performance analysis.”
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Prediction 6: HR will need to become more like
2/7/2019 The HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold Predictions

Marketing.
Sommer says that “recruiting is going to become more like marketing.” Speci cally, he advocates
that recruiters “identify speci c micro-segments of either job seekers or job holders that you
want to target to bring into your rm, just like a marketing rm would.”

The experts at Buck Consultants cast an even wider net. They claim the need for HR to think like
marketers will expand beyond recruiting. “HR will evolve the ‘internal marketing’ role to include
social marketing coordination and brand ownership, that is, outside talent ‘buying’ into the
brand–the company–to potentially work in the organization,” they say.

Preparing for 2020

What can current HR professionals begin doing now to prepare for these predicted changes? The
experts all endorse one tactic: keep learning. Risk-taking and networking will help, too.

“Get ahead of the curve,” advises Dr. Presser, “Realize that many of today’s ‘best practices’ evolved
under very di erent business conditions, and may well become obsolete within this decade.
Learn everything you can about your industry, your competitors, and pending legislation that
a ects your business operations. Most of all, de ne yourself as a businessperson and act
accordingly.”

Truitt advises pursuing additional training or formal education. As she observes:

“One di erence that we will see clearly in the next decade is

that people will not be able to merely fall into HR. Long ago,
when HR was ‘Personnel,’ the profession was largely made
up of individuals that happened upon the profession. With
many colleges and universities o ering HR coursework and
degrees at the bachelor’s and master’s level…itthe
Spread seems that
word.
the future HR practitioner will likelyShare
havethis to be with
advice formally
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educated in this discipline to be gainfully employed in HR.”

 
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In particular, HR professionals should dig deep into one HR specialty.

 And, given their increasing
importance, training should include data analysis and business strategy components.
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Additionally,
2/7/2019
Lynda Zugec, Founder andThe
Chairman of The Workforce Consultants
HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold Predictions

(http://theworkforceconsultants.com/), advocates welcoming failure as a learning tool. As she

says, “In the changing HR landscape of today, failure is embraced because it means that you were
brave enough to ‘give it a shot’ and also that you now have more information regarding what
works and what doesn’t work than before. Eventually, if you keep exploring di erent avenues,
you are bound to succeed.”

Finally, Luman encourages HR professionals to develop their own personal brand–to nd their
voice and be active. As he says, “Network inside and outside of your eld. Blog, communicate,
read and help others achieve success. If you are not outside of your comfort zone, you are
stagnating.”

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