The new HR normal
The concept of the new normal is used to describe deep and lasting changes in the behaviours and expectations of individuals and organisations following major disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In human resources, the new normal covers practices that were unevenly spread across businesses and have now become commonplace. That includes widespread remote work, flexible hours, an emphasis on employee health and wellbeing, and the need for greater diversity and inclusion.
Atypical situations have become the norm, and HR leaders face a landscape where the old practices are no longer enough. They need to adapt quickly and adopt new strategies to attract, retain and develop talent. Beyond the uncertainties, HR is now entering a world where there is no longer a choice to make between the individual or the collective, digital or human, ecology or economy, freedom or discipline, engagement or remote work. HR has to work with both ends of the spectrum, because “AND” has replaced “OR” in the major shifts set out below.
Accepting the new RH normal
Accepting how candidates now look for work
Changing career is now among the main reasons people change jobs. In 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a person changes job an average of 12 times over the course of their career (5). Although, still according to the BLS, the number of jobs held falls with age. Workers hold an average of 4.5 jobs between 25 and 34, and 2.8 jobs between 35 and 44. On top of that, a high percentage of younger workers leave earlier. Among the jobs held by workers aged 25 to 34, median tenure is 2.6 years, according to Gallup and its annual engagement survey. Recruiters are also meeting more and more candidates looking for a role they have never held before. They may have the ability, or the will, but not the qualification or the experience. All they have, hopefully, is potential. In an internal survey run at Reboot Inc. across Europe in 2018 and 2019, we found that 34% of candidates aged 25 to 39 shared the same expectation of finding a stimulating new job beyond their current scope of work.
Accepting the consumerisation of recruitment
Candidates, empowered by digital, expect a recruitment experience that is faster, smoother and more inclusive, matching their experience as consumers. After all, as a consumer you can order a ride with a single tap, track your pizza arriving in real time and change the temperature of a room thousands of kilometres away. All this if your smartphone is the remote control of your life. That power to choose and order things at your fingertips reaches beyond buying behaviour. It is transforming the way candidates apply for a job. According to a study by Resource Solutions (6), 94% of candidates say the recruitment experience influences their decision to accept or turn down an offer, while 58% say a good recruitment experience makes them more likely to accept a role. Another thing worth knowing, from my own practice: 75% of candidates who come to your careers site will abandon their application if the process is too complex. In retail this is called cart abandonment, and it costs 260 billion dollars a year across the United States and Europe (7). It is no surprise, then, that businesses with a customer experience mindset generate revenue 4 to 8% above the rest of their industry, and that 96% of customers say customer service matters in their choice to stay loyal to a brand (8).
Putting the employee experience first
Following on from consumerisation, the employee experience mirrors the customer experience, and HR uses empathy to define that experience by seeing the work on offer through the employee’s eyes and taking account of their early career stages and their life context. The HR process is reinvented for the comfort of employees, rather than the reverse. The proof is that for several years now we have seen Chief Employee Experience Officer roles appearing around the world, from General Electric to McDonald’s, from Airbus to Axa. Whatever you put behind the perfect experience, whether excellent management, a beautiful physical environment or the right technology, what matters most is that the employee is not walled off inside the HR team. This is an organisation-wide effort, involving IT, finance, marketing, sales and workspace design.
Putting an end to treating employees like children
With the freedom offered by digital tools and the freelancing of work, employees need to feel increasingly responsible for their own work experience. They no longer rely on a manager or an HR department to hand them a retention program or a compulsory training course. They have mastered the ability to set their own schedule, sort out their own mistakes and prioritise their obligations without any authority knowing exactly how they organise their working life.
A word of warning to managers. Some CEOs now publish manifestos encouraging accountability and freedom at work, as Ian Sohn has (9). Some HR teams are following suit, taking the view that every employee is responsible for their own experience and that retention and satisfaction surveys are now too top-down.
Turning HR into a business
HR has become a business within a business, responsible for selling jobs internally, buying skills, winning talent market share from competitors and generating all kinds of illuminating metrics that help a business shape its future in real time, such as quality of hire, customer satisfaction or an employee health index. The proof is the growing number of HR directors becoming CEOs, such as Mary T. Barra at General Motors or Philippe Gas at Disneyland International. A further front is opening with the rising popularity of HR hacking (10), particularly in the United Kingdom. That approach argues that everything connected to people, such as neuroscience, neuroeconomics and gamification, all of which have a double edge between manipulation and support, should sit under the supervision of HR.
Managing remote work and diversity as a new norm
Globalisation and remote work are leading to a workforce that is increasingly diverse, on contract or on a project-by-project basis. With 60% of remote workers saying they would like their job less if they had to come into the office, there is a stronger commitment to work models built on reaching objectives rather than on time spent. Diversity is not only about workers from other cultures in your workplace, it also covers people in transit working from their home country, independent workers moving in and out of jobs daily, and some AI bots with a personality of their own.
Understanding that values are a new currency
63% of consumers worldwide only buy products and services that match their beliefs, values or ideals (11), and the same goes for employees when they look for a job or trade their work. In a world where, in 2019, 43% of workers said they would be willing to leave their company for a 10% pay rise (12), organisations cannot afford a weak company culture or values displayed like propaganda.
Value has value (yes, really) and it needs to be explicit, real, shared and used. Everywhere. That means these values have to reach beyond the activity of the business and be present in the unboxing experience as well as during the call with a sales representative or in the questions put to new candidates.
Putting both employees and the organisation forward
Among the shifts in organisational culture that HR is observing, the most striking and the fastest is the change in how employee needs are taken into account. Until around 2010, most company values were oriented towards the organisation, and any HR initiative had to be justified as improving productivity and performance.
Then, from 2010 onwards, with the arrival of a new generation and a skills shortage, many HR strategies turned their attention to how happy their employees were. It did not take long before some began calling out the happiness washing under way in certain businesses that had renamed an HR assistant role as Chief Happiness Officer. Since then the pendulum has settled into a balance between the needs of employees and those of the organisation. This is leading to a search for collective responsibility, or co-responsibility, aimed at fostering inclusion, initiative and the wellbeing of community members. Managers no longer manage, they build a collective.
Accepting that employees leave, and letting them come back
Remember when HR would try to make a counter-offer to hold on to unhappy employees. Time has moved on, and employees now leave happy. HR needs to accept that the best people will only work in their business for a certain time, and the same goes for HR itself. Staying with the same company no longer proves loyalty, it tends to show a fear of the unknown or of a new challenge. As the HR director of Orange retail asks in every recruitment interview: “What do you want to do, after working here?”
Putting the new normal to work
Potential-based recruitment in the new normal
In the new normal, recruiting on potential and on appetences takes on greater importance. Businesses recognise that technical skills can be taught, while resilience, curiosity and agility matter just as much for adapting to a constantly shifting work environment. Psychometric tests, task simulations and interviews focused on behavioural skills are becoming key tools for assessing a candidate’s potential. This approach is particularly useful for young talent who may not have a long professional track record but hold strong potential for growth and adaptability.
A simplified application process in the new normal
The new normal calls for an application experience as simple and effective as the other digital interactions candidates are used to. That means adopting intuitive recruitment platforms, using AI to screen CVs and bringing in chatbots, in measured doses, to answer the questions candidates ask most often. A simplified process reduces the drop-off rate and attracts a larger number of quality candidates, which is essential in a competitive labour market.
Improving the employee experience in the new normal
The employee experience sits at the heart of the new normal. Businesses are investing in wellbeing programs, personalised career development plans and flexible work environments to improve employee satisfaction and engagement. Regular employee engagement surveys and open feedback sessions are used to understand what employees need and expect, so programs can be adjusted accordingly.
Employee autonomy in the new normal
Employee autonomy has become a necessity in the new normal, particularly with the rise of remote work. Businesses are encouraging a culture where employees are responsible for their own productivity and wellbeing. Project management and communication tools are made available to help employees manage their time and their tasks effectively, without needing constant supervision.
A values-driven company culture in the new normal
In the new normal, a strong values-driven company culture matters more than ever for attracting and keeping the best talent. Businesses are placing the emphasis on values such as sustainability, inclusion and innovation, and those values are built into every facet of the business, from recruitment through to training and development. Employees who align with those values find deeper meaning in their work, which lifts engagement and productivity.