Firstly, this year, let HR take a boundary-less view of data. Go beyond structured data to unstructured data sources. Throw in data from all sources till you cannot use Excel to do analysis any more. You have to invest in Artificial Intelligence.
HR needs to go beyond its role as a "touchy-feely" only function. The HR team must be able to design an amazing employment experience based on research, evidence and science. The real role of HR lies in shaping the culture of the organization, finding ways to attract and develop top talent and to be a futurist for the organization. Being able to design the right experience is the real value of the function. That needs expertise.
Here are three parameters to gauge whether a job can be done by robots:The job is driven by a clear set of rules and scenarios. That’s how robots are programmed.Efficiency and productivity are the main measures of the job.The role of soft skills — collaboration, influencing, negotiation etc — is limited.Do the same rules apply to an industry? How does your industry measure up?
Alphabet is home to a dozen innovative companies. Look at the company that is simply called X, which runs “moonshot” projects. Google X chooses to focus on the future as it chooses what problems to solve. In keeping their innovation projects in-house, they use their massive cash reserves to focus on problems that would not get venture capital funds or those that have very long time horizons.
Firms that are targets of acqui-hiring are often a great talent pool of people who have niche technical skills. It is the fastest way of hiring several people with cutting-edge skills. It gives you access to the pool of customers of the acquired company. In some cases, acqui-hiring is a great way to remove competition for the firm that is buying out the smaller firm. Cash-strapped founders who do not have deep pockets often have no choice but to sell their firm to the bidders and make an exit. But is it right for you?
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”The answer: Practice, practice, practice.If you have not heard that one then you have certainly been told as a child, “Practice makes a man (or woman) perfect.”What if I told you that both the sayings are wrong? Maybe I should say that they misguide you to believe that if you practice, there is no reason for you not to be at the top of your vocation. The reality is that practice does not help you achieve perfection — “deliberate practice” does.
Before the founding team makes their first hire, they must ask what behaviors the candidate must display and assess against them. Assessing for values impacts the culture of the organization. Strategy is on paper, whereas culture determines how things get done.
Can industry bodies like CII and NASSCOM play a different role in building a common talent pool? What if every fresh entrant into the workforce is employed not by an organization but by an industry body (eg Nasscom employs all software engineers who have base level and undifferentiated skills). The member companies can farm out the work to be done by this pool. Think of it like work being allocated to a secretarial pool. What if...?
