Yes, There’s a Revolution Happening in HR and Talent Management

At the beginning of this year, Josh Bersin of Bersin by Deloitte published his industry predictions for 2016, focusing on 10 human resources and talent management elements that are disrupting the landscape. As we are now halfway through 2016, I asked myself: Is this long-talked about HR revolution actually happening?

Three of Bersin's predictions struck a particular chord with me, and from my discussions with other talent management professionals, they stood out to them, too. Let's take a moment to reflect on these three trends, and whether or not they hold water.

The industry of corporate learning has been in a constant state of development, incorporating new tools and adjusting to what technology allows learning to do. The continuous change makes me think that we might not be speaking about a reinvention of talent management in the true meaning of the word.

The discussion here is rather about a new workforce, largely dominated by a much more demanding "generation" of employees—without any true allegiance to the corporation, but with a strong demand for development.

The biggest and most obvious change is probably in performance management, where over 60 percent of organizations are completely revamping their approach, saying "Adieu!" to top-down management and "Welcome!" to employee-centric structures.

Very tightly linked to the talent management reinvention is the introduction of tools that help organizations develop and measure their corporate culture. But why would culture be of concern to a CEO?

With the "war" for talent more intense than ever and the majority of employees spending less than three years at the same job, a sense of purpose holds more meaning than financial rewards.

This means that there is now greater value in knowing your organization offers the right culture and meaningful work for your employees. The right tools give your organization a true competitive edge, making it vital for the CEO to be actively involved.

The revolution of corporate learning has taught us that one size does not fit all, and most companies now understand the power of blended learning in meeting the needs of a diverse, mobile and demanding workforce.

What is interesting is that there seems to be a paradox: The more tools we put at the disposal of the learners—giving them more options and choices—the harder we make it for them to integrate learning into their already busy work schedules.

The corporate learning revolution should result in using tools for a better and easier curation of learning content—instead, it's creating overwhelmed employees. In other words, content may be king, but only when it is available and accessible at the point of need and in the format that best suits the learner.

Taking a closer look at these three predictions, the main take-away becomes clear: talent management is experiencing a revolution. More than ever, employees drive the workplace. HR professionals might often feel overwhelmed by the ever-growing demands coming from the workforce and learners, but once we understand that all revolutions are achieved by the people, for the people, we can successfully be a part of the change.

Photo: Twenty20