Festival of Work: How tech can help HR thrive through change

Panel discussion:

TERI: Everything about HR has progressively changed over the last three years. This year, in addition to all the challenges that we've had, such as hybrid working models and talent and skills shortages, we've also got employee burnout and health and wellbeing. HR leaders are now facing an unprecedented economic landscape which is impacting the way businesses are operating and how they will prioritise their people.

The volatility of the past few years hasn’t really slowed down, and it's showing no signs of doing so as we enter into the second half of 2023. While the priorities of HR will continuously evolve, one thing is for sure: it’s going to be people focused and business oriented with technology at the heart of this new landscape.

If I had to sum up the last decade in one word, it would be uncertain. Given the work that Fosway is doing and the conversations that you are having with HR leaders, what specific challenges do you see and how should businesses address and tackle them David?

DAVID: Companies are under pressure to adapt to external factors such as economic challenges in the post-pandemic world. We also talk a lot about hybrid working, but I'm not sure many companies truly understand what it is - do they want their employees in the office twice a week, all of the time, or never? They need to deal with all these scenarios.

There are also significant challenges around Skills. With a tight employment market, you can't just hire all the people that you need in order to fill the skills gaps, you also have to reskill the existing organisation. That is an even bigger need following Covid. From an HR leadership point of view, all of these are a pressure on business and the people function. Organisations have to be agile in responding to change and people are fundamental to that.

Finally, it is clear that digitally mature organisations also found it easier to respond to the pandemic and the changes that came after. Digital maturity is a huge factor in how you are able to respond.

TERI: I think you made an important point, digital maturity is the key word.

Meg, tell us about N Brown Group, how the landscape has changed and what's on the horizon?

MEG: N Brown Group is a digital fashion retailer with a number of inclusive size brands, Simply Be and Jacamo being two of them. We’ve been seeing a lot of conversations around hybrid working. We’ve got about 1700 employees - some of them work two days a week in the office, some come on to site once a month, some every day.

At the moment, the cost of living increases are really impacting our people which is something we're keen to address and support them with.

CLEM: And you have the flexible working element of being a digital business so you’re probably quite ahead on your maturity curve but then how do you use technology to facilitate the challenges? I’ve seen a lot of progression in HR tech in the last decade.

During the pandemic, HR professionals found themselves in a situation where they had to quickly communicate with a diverse group of people, providing information and reassurance about ongoing developments. This created a clear need for technology to support their efforts and HR software emerged as a vital tool to streamline these communications. Now we're seeing wellbeing and benefits initiatives, with organisations asking how do I support my people at work but also in their personal lives? There is a more inclusive social responsibility aspect.

TERI: I’m hearing a lot about adaptive technology. HR technology is no longer just about providing the infrastructure to drive automation and simplifying tasks. It’s now in the driving seat, driving business continuity, productivity, and also quickly responding to changing employee needs.

David, what kind of technological changes in HR do you see that employers are either scared of or still thinking about adapting?

DAVID: It’s hard not to have a conversation around technology change today without talking about generative AI and ChatGPT. Every corporate is asking about our generative AI and the impact it will have. At the moment, companies are trying to focus on how they deliver really good experiences for their people.

But employee experience doesn't really come from a system, it comes from the decisions made using that system as well as the behaviours that surround those decisions.

What’s important is how much we can understand and support people and how that is facilitated by the technology.

Going back to hybrid, if people aren't in front of you, you have to find alternative ways of tracking what is going on with your employees. Technology disruption is just magnifying this. 

One of the key shifts in the pandemic was that companies suddenly realised critical talent wasn't the C-suite - it was the person driving the bus or opening the store.

There is a focus on frontline workers and how you truly include them fully. That's also where mobile tech comes in. Mobile has been on the wish list for years, but actually was only on the critical path for a few companies. Now it is critical for all because if you haven't got a desk or a laptop that’s your main access point.

CLEM: Yes, the AI wave is all we talk about at the minute. Vendors are looking into how we use this new technology and that we use it safely. It’s a lot of unknowns around data so we’re taking our time.

Mobile was there a few years ago and we’ve since seen organic adoption by employees. Ten years ago, employers were reluctant to explore mobile technology on personal phones and employees didn’t want them. Whereas now people love the mobile apps because they find it easy to approve on time which makes such a difference to employee life.

TERI: It reminds me of Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, who famously said that during Covid we've seen two years of digital transformation in two months. Organisations have to respond to this, whether it's through mobile or hybrid /flexible working options.

Meg, You've handled many change management and operational HR roles. What do you think is critical when our HR leaders are looking at technology and how do they make sure it is a future proofed? What are some of barriers and opportunities around it?

MEG: Technology is a fantastic enabler but it's important to remember that we're human resources professionals and we have to think about the human sitting behind that technology. How is it going to support them? Before we launched the PeopleXD mobile app, we still had colleagues who wanted to have payslips posted to them. Now they’ll get their phone out to view their online payslip. It's fantastic but it’s taken a long time to get there. We want them to feel like it's not being forced on them. If it's easy to use, accessible, and benefitting them, then people are more likely to adopt the change.

TERI: This is something we hear from other HR leaders as well - think about the person behind the system.

Another important topic that links to this is around skills. Building a skills based organisation isn't a new idea, what has changed is that it's not just about the skill, it's also about the task. Technology has become more critical and the idea of using skills in a more integrated way.

Clem, what’s the difference between operational and strategic skills and how should organisations balance them?

CLEM: When we say skills, people naturally go towards managerial skills, which is a soft skill. However, there is an entire skillset around how to do the job well and ensure the business operates at its best. I would call those operational skills versus strategic skills.

A lot of initiatives pre-pandemic were about developing soft skills but then there was a skills shortage so businesses had to operate with less people. It becomes critical to understand what skills are needed to operate your business well.

The question is, if you don't have the right skills, do you hire or develop them? Hiring takes longer, and we tend to see a focus on more strategic skills. When you develop your in-house staff, you can base it around how you run your business. Both sides have to be fulfilled to evolve and react to change. Technology should be enabling you to identify the skills to hire the right people.

TERI: David, do you see this shift to skills as something that all companies will be able to achieve – and should they? Or is it a trend that will get replaced?

DAVID: Ultimately yes. We have stopped describing an organisation in terms of job roles because it isn't enough - you need to have skilled people in the right positions. All organisations have had to look at what skills are needed, but also how do they reskill and upskill current employees?

The C-suite talks about skills but what they mean is skilled and competent people, not a granular view of skills, e.g. how many people do we have that know java programming? The challenge is around bringing those two perspectives together and building a capability to bridge between them. Ultimately the most important measure is - will this drive better success for the business?

TERI: My final question to all of you is what's next for HR and what does HR need to do to own this space?

David: HR has to be seen as a key function of the business. But in many cases it is not, it is still viewed as the grown up personnel department. We've realised obviously employees don't grow on trees. How do we enable employees to reach their potential? You also have to engage managers which is hard in a hybrid world. Stepping up on both those fronts is critical.

MEG: HR is starting to get a seat at the table more regularly. We’re not just the people that hire and fire. Businesses need to think more creatively about how to navigate upcoming challenges. For example, the cost of living crisis – there’s lots of creative ways technology can support our employees and it’s exciting.

CLEM: There’s been a lot of talk about how we develop employees. I'm seeing HR professionals developing closer partnerships with the C-suite and having a seat at the table, as well as being looked to for guidance on new technology. Therefore, HR professionals have to evolve towards an advisory role answering questions like how do we react to business disruption? How do we keep people engaged? How do we adopt new technologies?