What are you disrupting in 2024?

The results are in!

Nearly a thousand of you kindly responded to our recent poll where we asked the question ‘What will you be disrupting in HR in 2024?’ This is what you told us:

Leadership Capabilities 37%

HR Skills and Mindsets 24%

Core HR Processes 22%

Digital and AI in HR 12%

Other 5%

Leadership Capabilities

So, regardless of sector or geography, our focus remains on helping to improve our leaders’ people skills. This supports the anecdotal feedback we get from our conversations we have with HR professionals who tell us that the biggest issue they still face is poor line managers. Whilst it’s a bit depressing that, despite our efforts, the experience of many employees isn’t great because of a rubbish boss, there is some good news. Instead of resorting to the ubiquitous leadership development programme, HR is getting savvier when it comes to providing help. You’ve recognised that expensive, one-size-fits-all training programmes for time poor managers is not going to deliver. Instead, we’re seeing more innovative approaches such as peer-to-peer learning, bite-size delivery, nudge-based techniques and user-friendly toolkits that show greater understanding of how people learn and the best way to get leaders to engage.

If you’re planning on disrupting leadership capabilities in 2024 our top tip is to create leadership persona – 3 or 4 types of leaders that work for you – so you can be more targeted in both the types of development you offer them but also the messaging you use to convince them to get involved.

HR Skills and Mindsets

The second biggest focus is on improving ourselves which I think is really positive! We’ve been a bit like cobblers’ children with the worst shoes – always focusing on others and neglecting our own development. As with leadership capabilities, you’re doing things differently. You no longer have to take time out from busy schedules to attend lengthy and frankly, old fashioned training programmes. You’re embracing the range of different learning options and finding cost effective and higher impact ways to develop the team. You’re also changing what you learn as well as how. You’re recognizing that there are a whole new set of skills that the modern HR professional needs, including how to be more agile, how to use data and insights, marketing skills and consultancy.

If you’re planning on disrupting HR skills and mindsets in 2024 our top tip is to focus on two or three key skills that you want to prioritise. We’d suggest focusing on consulting skills, influencing leaders and agile HR.

Core HR Processes

Nearly a quarter of you are planning to disrupt those old-school HR processes that are well past their sell-by date. Performance management remains the most popular for transformation, but talent management, hiring and onboarding are also seeing some radical overhaul. You’re no longer just accepting so-called best practice and you’re recognising that some of these processes just aren’t adequate for a disrupted world. There are some really exciting innovations happening and those tired old processes are finally being replaced with agile, employee-centred options.

If you’re planning on disrupting core HR processes in 2024 then our top tip is to choose one and ask yourself ‘how do we want our people to feel at each stage?’ This will help you be more creative and innovative than simply challenging yourself with changing the process.

Digital and AI in HR

Despite the noise, moving to digital and AI solutions in HR is only the priority for a minority of you. I think that’s understandable. It is a confusing marketplace out there with numerous providers and multiple products. The world of AI is still so new and can seem a bit murky with many of you preferring to keep it in the ‘watching brief’ category for now. I anticipate that this will change over the coming months but for now it’s an also ran.

If you’re planning on disrupting HR with through digital or AI this year, our top tip is to make sure you’re not simply digitising processes that don’t work. Better to transform your approach to, say, performance management first – and then look for a digital product to support rather than assuming a digital solution will do the transformation for you.

So, an exciting and big agenda for you this year. A mix of experimenting with the brand new (AI) and tackling the perennial problems (leadership capabilities). Whatever you’re disrupting this year – it will be worth it! Good luck!