HR and Leadership skills for now and next

The role performed by leaders and HR in 2020&2021 significantly differed from the pre-pandemic world.

The side of HR that had to fundamentally change and act in unexpected ways; not only needs to be appreciated but also reflected upon. From Crisis Management to dealing with changing “people experience”, HR witnessed it all.

Individuals and teams looked up to HR to help them comprehend the commotion, create a sense of security and togetherness and hold the ground with whatever strength they could gather. And once again the question arises: “What now?”

Whereas it is understandable that there is an interest in mapping out the future of Leadership, HR and work, the problem is that there is too much of everything going on at the moment. Be it academics or practitioners, everyone is pondering upon the role of Leadership and the HR profession post pandemic.

Common challenges

To identify what skills are needed by the HR and leadership for now and next, it is important to identify the challenges. The list may be long but they can be categorized in themes such as:

• Using digital technologies to maximum advantage
• Addressing flexible/Hybrid/Remote work approaches
• Defining and Refining employee experience

Then there are certain assertions such as unorthodox practices, comfort with complexity, shift in behavior and experimental tactics. What we need to witness are fair choice, flexibility and inclusion in workplace. It won’t be wrong to believe that all these aforementioned assertions may be addressed under the following:

• Setting new baselines
• Leadership and Teams
• Practices and Systems
• Transformation of HR
• Skills needed by Leadership and HR for now and next

Expectations from leaders

Thanks to the chaos caused by the pandemic; individuals, organizations and their leadership lost their sense of purpose and direction. What leaders need to do now is to reignite that sense of purpose, bring clarity of direction with their strategic choices and develop and understanding of the organization’s and individuals’ health based on the data.

This would help the HR to set their stage for building people practices that are inspiring and enabling. After all, the HR and Leadership has to work together.

Skills needed for now and next

The list of skills shared below isn’t exhaustive but to some extent represents the most indispensable skills needed by the HR and Leadership:

• Value Creation
• Behavioral and Psychological Science
• Designing experiences
• Data and predictive/performance analytics
• Organizational design
• Critical Thinking
• Agility

However, learning a set of skills will not be enough. The need of the hour is to combine the right attitude with the skills. HR has to take on the role of designing, evolving and deploying the next stage. Whatever the HR and Leadership choose to do, the ultimate goal is to set up a system that can accomplish a state of prosperity for organization and for the people in it.