Key HR trends that will dominate in 2020

2020 will be an exciting year for HR managers. Bridging the gap between human development and an increasingly data-driven recruiting strategy demands a lot from HR managers and executives. Generation Z also keeps employers busy. You can find out more about the HR trend topics 2020 in this article.

“Trends” — what is that actually? A short hype or something long-term? HR Trends 2020 are more likely to be the latter, because none of the defining topics of the year is entirely new. We take a look at the upcoming challenges and reveal what we think will dominate the day-to-day work of HR managers this year.

AI (Artificial intelligence) and automation

The reason: Many companies are slowly getting into the new technology and HR does not always benefit directly from the changes. A lot can be automated here too. Applicants can be pre-selected, AI recognizes how well they fit the job, and employee data can be selected more quickly. There is a lot of potential behind the trend that needs to be discovered. HR managers will be more involved in the entire career, not just at the beginning and end. In addition to recruiting, hiring and onboarding, further training, talent development and transfers within the company, as well as offboarding, are becoming more and more important for HR managers. That’s why HR Software is becoming more and more popular.

This requires to HR managers :

• in-depth study of the skills, interests and personality of each employee
• regular coordination with managers on funding needs and training opportunities
• networking of the individual teams and departments for possible transfers in the sense of an agile management culture
• knowledge of the corporate strategy for targeted, needs-oriented personnel development
• eliminate “time robbers” through automation and digital tools

People analytics

Sounds complicated at first, but it’s not. Because the trend of people analytics is primarily devoted to data-driven engagement with employees. Under no circumstances should the interpersonal subtleties be disregarded. However, the well-being of employees is also queried and analyzed here through regular surveys or scoring systems. Pending changes and a downward trend in satisfaction can be identified and absorbed much more easily. No wonder that according to the study “HR-Analytics 2025” by Cornerstone and the F.A.Z.publishers People Analytics, no later than 2025, two thirds of the companies will play a major role.

Individual training

A training catalog from which employees can choose? That should soon be a thing of the past. Because what makes work easier for companies cannot always be tailored to the needs and goals of employees. So the trend is towards self-organized training. The employees usually receive a fixed annual budget in which they can choose their training. You then do the preparatory work and discuss again with the HR manager whether further training makes sense for the company. The added value? If an employee selects his training independently, he inevitably thinks about his own goals and the meaningfulness of the further training for the company.

Employee engagement

Modern companies are increasingly strengthening their employees. In the best case, the team members should want to further develop their position and thus the company on their own initiative. This step is often quick for individuals, but is difficult to achieve in a team. Here too, an absolute trend has emerged in recent years, which will emerge even more strongly in 2020: Employees should identify with the values ​​and mission of the company and see a meaning behind their work. On the one hand, this goes hand in hand with other trends such as people analytics or individual training, but it can also be achieved through regular discussions, a uniform appearance of the business floors and objectives.

New Work / New Leadership

The last one should now have recognized the trend: New Work has caught up with the world of work! And even if the term dates back to the 1970s, it has only been used in this country for some time. New Work also creates an increasingly modern form of leadership. Managers no longer only make announcements or make decisions. A new awareness also strengthens the weaknesses of the managerial staff — they no longer need to know everything, but should be able to capture and use the strengths of all team members. Seminars and workshops such as the start-up scene New Work Seminar show which tools and methods make sense in terms of new work, how mobile working can work and what HR people can learn from case studies. Here, industry experts impart their concentrated knowledge in one day and show the exclusive group of participants what is behind New Work.

CSR and sustainability: How do you win over generation Z?

No sooner have you got used to the questionable but willing to compromise Generation Y when a new challenge comes up. The first representatives of generation Z, from around 1997/98, have already entered professional life and now the first of them are finishing their studies. With them, the change in values ​​that has already started with Gen Y continues. New work issues such as flexibility, personal responsibility and meaningfulness are essential for this generation. All the more important are agile corporate structures and openness to new topics and young thinking.

With Generation Z, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and sustainability in the company are becoming more important. In addition to the fact that it makes general sense, HR managers should consider how they can implement these topics in the company in the sense of a modern employer branding strategy.

Social responsibility can also be lived in the sense of a stronger focus on diversity. In line with a modern CSR strategy, employees with disabilities, homosexuals or members of other religions should be targeted. This also increases the number of potential candidates. International recruiting will also be indispensable for many companies in the future, especially on the competitive developer market. Accepting other cultures, languages ​​and religions is absolutely necessary.

What HR managers can do:

• examples of important values such as responsibility and mindfulness
• show understanding of needs and perspectives of all generations and pass them on to employees in order to alleviate generation conflicts
• promote diversity in recruiting and anchor it in the corporate culture
• check opportunities for more sustainability in the company and take measures

So what do you do with the new trends that will advance in 2020? They can rarely be internalized and implemented in everyday work. Too many conversations, negotiations and requests flutter into the mailbox. HR staff in particular should therefore use events and exclusive events to continue their education and make contacts.