The Future of HR: Reflections on What’s Next | The HR Congress Magazine with Dave Ulrich and Marc Effron

This article summarizes key points from the recent “Future of HR” event led by Dave Ulrich and Marc Effron. The 200 participant event included several CHRO presenters and facilitators and addressed how HR can respond to the challenges of our day. Starting with the premise that “HR is about creating value for all stakeholders through human capability (talent, leadership, and organization),” insights from the discussion were gathered using a 4-component framework that set out to answer. 1) Environment: What is the context of business, including key external stakeholders (customers, investors, communities, partners)? 2) Strategy: What are the ways a business focuses to succeed? 3) Human capability: What does HR contribute in terms of talent, leadership, and organization through HR innovations? and 4) Analytics: How does HR track and prioritize impact? For example, a few trends on the horizon within the Environment category include increased attention to ESG, social justice, climate changes, and the reality of social isolation and loneliness affecting mental health and well-being. Regarding the Human Capability- Talent Component, one trend includes defining work as tasks and not just jobs, matching skills to tasks. The article provides a menu of ideas and actions that helps HR practitioners distill many of today’s challenges and opportunities into an easy-to-understand framework.