The Future of HR – How to Achieve the 2020 Workplace Today

The 2020 workplace starts today by building the teams both inside and outside the organization with leading edge people that love leading edge technology that thrive on leading edge principles and thinking.

Information will move incredibly faster; expect outsourcing of HR duties to rise; expect the administrator of tomorrow to become increasingly complex and specialized.

To do their job administrative professionals will rely on a variety of sophisticated skills and disciplines, to include technology, human resources, and business processes. They will be the “Vital Connection” facilitating the flow of information and ideas among teams of employees or teams of contractors, consultants and business contacts.

They will be the Right Arm of the CEO, working so closely to executives because in order to move faster HR will have to know and even help drive the goals and forward motion of the company.

Looking back helps us forecast the future.
For those who have not caught up, look at the technology we have today:

What was forecast 15 years ago?

It was said:

• That employees would use multi-functional, wireless technology to do their jobs from virtually anywhere.
• Computers would be faster, smaller, lighter, more powerful and functional.
• Business should expect major advances in voice recognition, wireless technology, real time video conferencing.
• Smart Phones will really be handheld computers that store massive amounts of information, music, phone numbers and will access the internet.
• Mobile Workforce will depend on HR assistants to act as ground control ensuring a smooth flow of information.
• HR will take on activities such as internet research, desktop publishing, web page development, help desk and computer training.

I would say those things are a reality today.

Forecasting the future is tracking the patterns that lead to change.
If you walked through the wilderness with an experienced guide, you might marvel at their ability to pick up on unseen risks, such as where snakes live, or the most likely source for water. You would probably marvel at the forecasts of how the guide knows all this stuff.

Subtle signs often overlooked by the untrained eye, reveal entire worlds to someone who knows how to read them in context. Tracking the future, figuring out what’s going to happen; and when it’s going to happen is as much art as science. Futurists are trackers of mass amounts of information just as a tracker would use his information to track something in the wilderness. From the large signs to the smallest almost missed signs.

The future office will be “Core Teams” who will manage employee/contractor teams working around the globe; from home offices; to business café’s.

The 2020 Professional will possess a combination of technical and interpersonal skills, who can also adapt to quick changes, who thinks with an Entrepreneurial mind.

The 2020 Professionals who are able to create new products and services and identify more efficient ways to work will be among the most marketable as innovation drives business.

We can see the 2020 workplace right now!
Emerging Technologies will allow off-site working with greater ease. We are seeing more and more people working from home in the last couple of years.

The virtual office environment is here and soon we will have the “plug and play” offices that go anywhere. Going to the office is redefining itself now because wireless tools that are being utilized by companies today see substantial savings in overhead expenses.

Virtual interaction replaces face-to-face meetings; it is being developed. We do have Internet video technology which is changing how we communicate. Video conferencing, telecommuting is already here large corporations have been using and experimenting with it for a couple of years now.

More than a 100 million people will telecommute to work by 2015. Most will work from home, and tap into the organizations Intranet to gather the information they need to work on their assigned team project.

The number of full-time employees will decline as contract workers increase. We see this rising today in the marketplace. Assembled “work groups” based on talent, experience and expertise will work with many companies.

The technology may not mean we work fewer hours but, we will be expected to stay more connected with the team even on vacation.

Companies supporting flexible work arraignments today have a 3.5% higher market value than companies that do not, according to Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Hewlett Packard went to a compressed flexible 4-day workweek and has had a 50% reduction in overtime and nearly doubled productivity by 200%.

Wireless everywhere is almost here. Interactive Offices like embedded sensors in your chair that can sense stress and give a massage or set the lights the way you like it. Verbally communicate with your computer, it will perform the functions for you; voice technology is becoming more sophisticated.

Collaboration software will speed up and streamline, for all the teams that need access to documents from their different locations means you won’t email it, you prepare the document and the system automatically lets the team know it’s ready to view.

What will the HR Professional Role be in 2020?
Several trends you will notice in the coming years will be the HR Professional who takes the Entrepreneurial approach to their jobs and careers. The top professionals will posses the latest business management principles, technical abilities, interpersonal skills, and will intuitively understand the needs of the company. Education and training will have to be lifelong and virtual. Virtual education on the rise today.

HR Professionals will be extremely good at team building skills. Building teams that will become critical to the teams success and ultimately the company’s success. There will be less face-to-face contact, remember your team is remote and virtual. Companies will want and demand this trait and will highly value this skill.

The voice of experience – historic trends will likely predict future trends.
We at BackgroundMall have done our homework. We really dug down deep to find out who the HR Professional is and what are they tasked with doing today.

Here is a small sample of what our research found about the HR Professional:

· That 75 % is female and females make up a total of 46.3% of the total workforce; by 2020 it will be 3 to 1 ratio female to male total workforce;
· Her title is HR Director or HR Manager normally; will probably stay the same
· She normally reports to the President/CEO directly; this will remain the case in 2020;
· She has an influential seat in the inner circle of strategic planning within the organization; will have a stronger role in 2020
· She wears multiple hats which consist of only HR related duties 45% of the time; ethics/compliance issues 34%; and internal communications and other duties after that; by 2012 she will have a project team working on these items.
· She does outsource some functions such as Backgrounds and Reference Checks 34% of the time; Payroll 24%; but she will also keep these things in house; in 2020 it’s automated, information is instantly available, may have a hiring team that works on this.
· She may have a department of 2 to 75 people she is in charge of; she may have that many team projects at the same time, globally
· She may or may not currently have a degree in HR most likely she will not have a degree at all; OJT Degree; this is changing
· She uses web sites 91% of the time to stay current in her job; seminars are second; audio conferences are third; and webcasts seem to be climbing in popularity; in 2020 it will be waiting on her because her “bot” has found the information for her.
· She posts 75% + of her job positions online; in 2020 she will have pools of dedicated teams and networks that she can throw projects too.
· She finds the best information about the applicant from the in person interviews 71% of the time; application 9%; references 7%; resume 5%; Background Checks 5%; Information will flow faster; interviewing will remain the same or higher
· It takes her about one to four weeks to normally fill a position; this should not be an issue in 2020 as she is global.

The 2020 workplace has started, 2008 - 2012 is your window – have you moved to a virtual office?
At BackgroundMall we have studied and observed future predictions, trends and forecasts of where the workplace came from over the last 100 years. We have studied where it’s headed in the next 10 to 20+ years.

The movement and implementation of the 2020 workplace is from 2008 to 2012. It is critical to start implementing and testing your offsite & onsite team projects. If you wait, you may not be able to catch up easily and ultimately fall behind your competitors and may have to settle for a place that is not near the top.

“Workforce Insider”, BackgroundMall’s newsletter is leading the way by educating organizations on how they start preparing and moving to the 2020 workforce.

Our success is measured by helping you hire quality workers, with the latest interviewing and employment screening techniques.

BackgroundMall works with other forward thinking companies, those on the leading edge of their industries. Our clients “Get it” and understand that to stay alive in the 21st Century they have to partner with other leading edge companies who stay up with technology and the future trends and forecasts in the workplace.

BackgroundMall educates companies on hiring skills:

• Tips the recruiters use to find their best leads.
• What do the background companies not want you to know?
• Develop team building skills.
• Improve your overall employment screening and other critical future skills.

BackgroundMall is your eyes and ears of the 2020 workplace. By staying on top of the trends of the workplace future and keeping you informed about the latest trends in the marketplace.

BackgroundMall offers its customers Free and Paid Background services, Interviews and techniques for proper interviewing and much more.

To receive your free eBook on “Hiring for 2020”, which includes a free “Pre-Employment Interview” which you can start using today and start saving thousands of dollars in applicant processing time, and to receive our newsletter “Workforce Insider,” click on the link below.

www.backgroundmall.com/workforceinsider