Traditionally, the HR function has not been known for it. In fact, it’s typical for HR to be several years behind other industries – or areas of the same organization – when it comes to implementing new and more efficient ways of conducting business.
However, today’s HR leaders are working to change that. Thanks to an infusion of younger and in many cases more agile workers into the profession, HR departments are leading the way in cutting-edge implementations that facilitate stronger employee experiences, better productivity, and longer retention.
Seek Relevance
If this sounds palatable to you, and you want to be the person who makes a difference in your organization, there are a few ways to go about it. The first is to understand that even the most forward-thinking initiative shouldn’t be developed in isolation. This means that you should first speak with your boss about the larger business and departmental goals you need to achieve, and where you should be focusing your attention to that effect. As you brainstorm, zero in on concepts that fall within this scope.
It’s also worthwhile to pay attention to the world around you. HR conferences like the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), HR Technology, Disrupt HR, and Work Human offer sessions to learn industry best practices as well as innovative new techniques for solving HR-related business problems. Every time I attend an event like this, I return energized and full of promising ideas.
Similarly, if you are part of a local HR community, reach out and learn what other organizations are doing. Visit other companies with similar challenges, attend networking events, and bring in expert speakers to get your team thinking about issues in a new way.
You can foster the birth of forward-thinking HR initiatives from within your own ranks too. Instead of relying on the same people all the time, seek out new blood. Invite skilled individuals from other departments to spend time in HR, and crowdsource ideas from your larger employee population through hackathons and MVP (minimum viable product) competitions to design HR-related products and services.
Leverage Technology
Many forward-thinking HR initiatives naturally involve technology, and the effective integration and use of people, processes, data, and devices in order to work strategically and effectively is an up-and-coming HR competency. At DeVryWORKS, we say that employees who can do this have applied technology skills, and recent research I conducted with DeVry University’s Career Advisory Board found that nearly half of HR and hiring managers believe there is an applied technology skills deficit in their current employee base.
One critical applied technology skill with particular relevance to HR is citizen development. According to Gartner’s IT Glossary, a citizen developer is a worker who creates new business applications using development environments sanctioned by IT. Over the last few years, most organizations have moved their HR systems into cloud platforms. These platforms are the perfect hosts for mobile apps and other tools that make it easier for employees to do their jobs and have a continuous, positive experience. And now, you or members of your team can build applications without the programming expertise or coding experience that was mandatory previously.
That’s not to say that you’ll be instant experts. The key to developing a forward-thinking HR application that actually works is to engage with IT to understand the basic principles behind app design, and to use technology that has already been vetted and well-integrated with your company’s existing IT infrastructure.
For any technology-based initiative, you should establish a strong, ongoing partnership with IT. Meeting with that group regularly will allow your team to receive essential governance, guidelines, and best practices. Your initial effort will likely be most successful if the implementation is a pilot, meaning its scope is limited and it is launched with one business process or one team. Pilots are useful because they facilitate experimentation and continuous improvement with minimal disruption to the business.
Regardless of whether your planned project is a new application or a new employer brand, effective communication will make or break it. Make sure that at every step of the way, your employees are informed about proposed changes, that they understand how the initiative impacts their roles and responsibilities, and that they are encouraged to test and provide feedback. A team approach to innovation is the best approach to innovation!
