HR and Navigating Current Events
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The brand of HR is changing. Long gone are the days of paper pushing and HR as the office cop.
In July 2021, I released an article focusing on the need for HR to evolve into more business-centered professionals and departments. Here we are, two and a half years later and it couldn’t be truer. The world has never been more intertwined, and it feels like every few weeks there is a major world event that either impacts: i. a company’s business, ii. it’s people, or iii. it’s customers (or all of the above). As HR professionals, our understanding of the world’s events is more critical than ever.
Now- you may be sitting there saying- “I’ve done HR for *insert number of years here* and never had to worry about this. Why should I have to now?” To which I would say, “you know what- you’re right.:
If you never pick up a newspaper or read a current events article or look at the stock market, you would absolutely be able to continue to execute the basic responsibilities of an HR function. But my guess is that you’re reading an article like this on HR Exchange Network or LinkedIn because you want to be the best in your field; you want to be the best you can be.
What I can promise you is that the top HR leaders are monitoring these trends. Even the HR leaders who are above average are monitoring them. As an HR partner, we have a duty to help craft the best work experience for our people and at the end of the day it comes down to this… we owe it to our people to design the best work experience that reflects the current world we live in.
It’s 2024 and we have never been more connected. We have never been more at the mercy of one another’s culture or events than any point in history.
Let’s take four examples of current (or recently passed) events:
According to The Council on Foreign Relations and #TheFactSite, some of the world’s biggest events in 2023 include:
1. Rise of global temperatures
2. Commercialization of artificial intelligence (AI)
3. The Writer’s Guild of America goes on strike
4. Company boycotts
All of these events: i. have global implications, ii. impact the working class, and iii. most importantly, the negative effects can be mitigated by good people strategy.
Let’s break them down.
Rise of Global Temperatures
To start, 2023 has officially gone down as the hottest year on record. “The record-breaking year helped fuel climate-driven disasters around the globe” according to NPR. I want to draw your attention to a key word in that quote- “disaster.” These disasters happen all across the globe to everyday people. During Christmas dinner, a family member shared stories with me about driving down a Florida highway and seeing hundreds of blue tarps on roofs as residents are still rebuilding from this year’s hurricanes.
These disasters cause negative impact to people’s lives and the impact comes in all shapes and sizes; time away from work, house damage, loss of property, lost loved ones, financial loss or medical issues.
As talent and people strategists, HR professionals need to help craft policies, processes, and programs that help employees through these tough times. This may include a more flexible time off policy, a more generous Leave of Absence (LOA) program, assistance during a difficult time, or hybrid work arrangements. Whatever path a company chooses to help their employees during climate disasters, it’s our job in HR to help craft the best solution for our people and our company.
Commercialization of Artificial Intelligence
Despite ChatGPT being released in 2022, it became a household name in 2023 and took the world by storm. From students utilizing AI to write papers for them to tech companies building out AI functionality for the corporate world- AI is here and it came in with a bang.
I predict it will be the one of the top 5 workplace impacts of my working career and it’s not necessarily all bad. It’s already changing how employees learn, how we interact with data and information, and it continues to highlight new opportunities in all industries.
How will our organization use AI? What’s our philosophy on AI? What skills will our talent need to stay relevant? What capabilities can it bring to the company? And which capabilities can’t it bring? How will our customers utilize AI and how do our employees deliver it?
All of these questions are the ones HR needs to be asking and leading.
READ: HR News Roundup
Writer's Guild of America Goes on Strike
If you aren’t aware of the cause of the writer’s strike, I encourage you to watch this video. It breaks down the changing landscape in the film and television industry that was a catalyst for the writer’s strike.
The writer’s strike was symbolic of two things: i. work is changing and our old constructs of work won’t take us into the future and ii. employees are going to be vocal about it (and they should be).
In HR, it is our responsibility to understand how, when, where, and why our people want to work.
Company Boycotts
The company boycott was a hallmark of 2023. Starbucks, Target, and McDonald’s are just some of the companies that faced major boycotts this year because of consumer frustration with the brand’s stances on certain social and political issues.
Customer backlash caused significant financial impact to these companies. Target’s sales were reduced by 5% at a time when they faced significant criticism for certain decisions.
Organizations are going to face ongoing challenges when it comes to social and political issues. Where companies lean in, where they don’t, and how these macroeconomic issues are decided on within companies are all matters that HR professionals need to concern themselves with. As consumers look to identify with the brands they shop with, they also look to what stances the brand takes on these issues and aren’t afraid to be vocal when the two don’t align.
This puts companies in a precarious position as any decision will undoubtedly alienate a subset of their clientele. While these issues don’t fall squarely on the HR department, people teams will (and should) have a part in the strategy development of said issues.
Stay in the Know
I’m not recommending HR professionals be futurists or political scientists but more so recommend that they keep a pulse on the happenings of the world. We are being propelled into the most connected, global community the world has ever seen and this will bring unprecedented challenges to employees and companies. The HR professional who will be the most impactful is the one who helps the organization navigate and thrive in these new times.
With the mounting pressures executives are faced with, HR’s role as a confidant, coach, and advisor is more important than ever.
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood for Pexels
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