In February 2014, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released Future Insights: The Top Trends for 2014, which identified the top global HR trends for 2014 and beyond. According to the report, leadership, regulatory compliance, training and development, and diversity are among the evolving and most pressing issues facing HR professionals. The top predictions are:
- The traditional notions of leadership in an organization may be redefined by the growing population of young workers. HR will need to play a key role in identifying and developing the next generation of leaders in a global world.
- Businesses will face more challenges as a result of sweeping immigration reforms in a number of countries, including the US.
- Globalization will impact companies of all sizes, and HR professionals will need to become savvier about managing an international workforce and be adept at integrating virtual operations with physical offices around the world.
- Companies will rely less on higher education to produce leaders. Instead, companies will invest in more training and development activities to cultivate technical competencies as well as important soft skills such written communication, public speaking and leadership.
- The Great Recession and continued global economic uncertainty will have a lasting impact on company hiring practices. Many organizations will remain cautious about hiring, and may opt to outsource non-core tasks or move jobs to lower cost destinations.
- Managing diverse talent globally continues to be a challenge for most companies. This trend will remain a constant challenge as diversity becomes more globalized and workforces become more complex to manage.
- Tax, immigration and employment compliance requirements will continue to present challenges to HR professionals.
- Recruitment technology will continue to evolve and new tools will be developed that keep pace with today’s technology, communication style and pace.
- HR professionals will establish or improve new performance management systems that better align compensation and benefits administration with the company’s strategic goals.
- Shared services will be deployed more frequently as a way to improve HR processes and services.
Future Insights: The Top Trends for 2014 was compiled by SHRM’s volunteer Special Expertise Panels, which are composed of senior HR practitioners, consultants, academics and policy experts..