Wow, what a year’s it’s been! The HR business seems to have been rather overshadowed by the seismic political activity but perhaps the shockwaves will calm in 2017 and we can get back to some serious innovation. These are our areas to watch in the coming year…
Security, security, security
If there was big tech news in 2016 it was security related. Three Mobile, Dyn, Sage, Tesco Bank, Yahoo…. the list goes on. It seems only a matter of time before a serious hack of employee records hits the headlines. All major tech providers are investing considerably in security, especially regarding the cloud but it seems inevitable in the cyber arms race that a major breach is imminent. We’re expecting a new breed of security start-ups developing multiple locks and keys for additional protection. Will we see changes to data protection legislation too?
The UK’s 15 most infamous data breaches
Talent crisis worsening?
Although warnings of a talent crisis on the horizon have been looming for many years there does seem to be a genuine shortage of tech talent. Wages are increasing and so are positions; filling them is the issue. Solution? Any educational policies take a while to make ripples so it’s down to the companies to build that talent internally. Last year we predicted that 2016 would be the year of mLearning (mobile) but this year it’s just about learning whichever way works! SuccessFactors and Workday CHRO, Stefan Ries recently said, “The talent shortage is a myth. If there’s a perception of a talent shortage because ‘I only want to hire managers from the G20 countries’ or ‘I only want to hire white males to be managers’ then yes, there might be a shortage of talent in that group.”
So perhaps 2017 will be the year of ‘diversity or decline’?
Brand experience – HR Tech as a focus of your global image
In a way this is about living up to expectations. 2016 has seen some pretty fraught discussions of fair working practices. Here in the UK major brands were in the dock for the terms offered to employees and the trend towards intolerance of certain corporate culture is unlikely to disappear on New Year’s Day. Jeff Waldman is a big fan of brand experience encompassing HR and he makes some great points about expectations about a company by an applicant and the real experience. Employees need to feel as valued, as well served and as powerful as the customers. If companies invest in multi-million pound customer relations packages they should really invest in their HR tech too!