The HR revolution: shaping a hyper-connected future
Living systems where everything’s linked
“Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.”
Leonardo da Vinci
The words of a truly great, artist and polymath who pushed countless boundaries in his time. Having drawn inspiration from the time of the Renaissance, let’s move our focus to a revolution: the significance of hyper-connectivity, here and now, in our fast-changing world. What does ‘hyper-connected’ mean? A dictionary might say something about the ‘widespread or habitual use of devices that have internet connectivity’.
We’re going to look at it from an HR perspective, however, and for me the starting point is to view organisations as living, biological systems with many intricate nuances. It’s about treating your company as a complex, conscious system and making use of data and technology to ensure a personalised experience for every individual within it. Why is this concept important? Companies that want to thrive no matter what happens need to bounce back quickly as the economy recovers, which means welcoming back employees and considering all their experiences - for the good of everyone.
Hyper-connectivity: humanity, behaviours and outcomes
Let’s break the hyper-connected reality down quickly into three areas: humanity, behaviors and outcomes. Starting with hyper-connected humanity, as human beings we all share the same kinds of joys, sorrows and hopes, and these shared experiences have reminded us all of how interdependent we are. So solutions depend on intentional cooperation and ultimately, if humanity is to thrive, we must remember that we’re one.
Moving to behaviours, we need to build a sense of togetherness so that we unlock the power of the group to move forward together. Supporting colleagues through loss, collaborating together over projects and celebrating success no matter how big or small it is.
Regarding outcomes, in this case, productivity, greater connectivity leads to greater productivity. Work is changing, with organisations now made up of quite different workforces featuring a mix of permanent, part-gig, part-crowd, remote or office-based people. They expect to work the way they live, with consumer-grade technology making life easier for them. At the same time organisations are structuring differently, around networks of cross-functional teams and people, so how can we connect them better for more productivity?
HR can’t afford to have a mindset more akin to those in the Industrial Revolution, focusing on process efficiencies or the internal machinery of companies. It needs to act in a way that befits a living system, making sure the organisation fits around individuals, rather than vice versa. Let’s look at some examples of how HR can hyper-connect.
Benefits from re-boarding
Firstly, there’s re-boarding. We’re not going back to business as usual, but that shouldn’t be a bad thing. Let’s connect with Employee’s voice, continuing to check in with employees via formal surveys, quick pulses and one-to-one conversations. How are staff finding the transition back to work and what else might they need for support? We should be ready to give regular feedback, act with empathy and increase our listening, allowing everyone to access useful information and contribute comfortably.
We should connect learning too. We can look at our training components and offer small, bite-sized microlearning to refresh key skills and systems. Information is better retained when presented concisely and given our current context is one of heightened anxiety and mental fatigue, drip-feeding the right information will help to avoid overwhelming people. We can also gamify learning and increase the fun by connecting employees to play off against each other (a good example is our Gamebrain app).
People should be able to connect anywhere, as well. We know that around 60% of companies intend to pursue hybrid models in which at least 10% of workers will work at least two days a week from somewhere other than the office. So we should provide the right tools and technology to allow people to work in ways that work for them, underpinning this with inclusive cultures that enable them to stay productive and connected, without compromising security or compliance.
A new view of careers
A job for life is a thing of the past. On average now, people will have around nine jobs during their career. Different life events can change people’s motivations, interests and ambitions and the current evolutionary trend with careers is about making positive changes to your whole life, not just your job, and taking control of your future. People might want to learn new skills, take a sabbatical to travel the world or get a job they find more satisfying. The good news is your business is more likely to retain its best people if you invest in and encourage them to grow and try new things, thereby giving them a greater sense of self-worth.
We only tend to look at CVs when we’re recruiting people, but a hyper-connected view of careers would be to view a CV as a live reference for someone’s past and future. We can collate information about them, use it to better understand them and bring together all their interactions in one place. By pivoting around the person rather than the task, we can reveal their complete living CV, their ambitions, how their peers perceive them, while, for example, uncovering their hidden strengths and acting as valued advisors.
There’s also the option of an alumni approach. Universities have long been using this to keep connections and relationships alive over time. Engaged people who keep their connections are much more likely to have a stronger ongoing relationship with their companies, and whatever paths they take, in our hyper-connected world these people can become suppliers, partners and customers. In addition, they can increase the brand recognition of companies and even the scope and reach of their recruitment programmes.
Strong engagement is essential
Genuine, authentic engagement can’t be driven top-down, for it requires everyone to perceive some value exchange. The benefits of a highly engaged team are huge but in order to reap them, we can’t mark our own homework. Engagement is the alignment of the objectives of the company and the individual in an environment where both can thrive, so groupthink mustn’t happen and feedback needs to be recognised and be open, honest and frank without fear of reprisals. It also needs to be acted upon transparently.
Everything you do around re-boarding and career management will help drive engagement, it’s the most hyper-connected part of a business. So of course, make sure payroll is run on time and that training is relevant, but the thing engagement connects to most is culture. It’s a somewhat intangible aspect of our data-driven world, but technology can help here by providing places to bring the outside in and to show our true selves to colleagues.
We may have lost the water cooler moments, the random interactions where people connect without agendas and sometimes spark ideas, but tech can help by providing, for example, an updated social intranet or digital HQ that includes company updates, with room for individuals’ comments, thoughts and even a bit of banter. Yet it’s not about more AI or reports, or new software. It must start with outcomes in mind and be tailored to the unique needs of your company and individuals. Tech is just an enabler to hyper-connect.
In short, it’s vital to think about our people and their place in our organisations if we want to attract, retain and nurture them. It’s also how we’ll learn to revolutionise HR – when we realise that everything and everyone connects to everything and everyone else.
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