HR Challenges in 2015: What Were the Biggest Hurdles and How Did You Tackle Them?

Hi friends,

Could anyone let me know what challenges HR may face by the year 2015? I am eagerly waiting for your earliest reply.

Thank you.

I think the major challenge for HR would be to move at par with the technological changes. Knowledge management will be given higher importance.

Ekta

Namaskar.

CHALLENGES TO HR AT 2015

1. At present about 80 million people are added to global population in a year. Addition of population is the addition to man power in the production side and addition of customers in the buyer side. But there is a decline of birth rate all over the world. Certain countries have gone even below replacement level. As a result, the 80 million figure will certainly come down by 2015 but it is not known to what figure.

2. Industries continue to be added. They require both man power for production and buyers to sell the products. But the situation will force the employers to employ man power in higher rates and sell the products in lower rates. This will result in collapse of more and more industries.

3. In 1847 Marx and Engels wrote “The manifesto of communist party” to bring about dictatorship of proletariats. This is yet to happen. But with this demographic change dictatorship of proletariats will be more and more visible.

4. India will continue to be in advantageous position. Because though the rate of population growth in India will come down, it is not come down below replacement level. As a result, India will be a great man power supplier and job seekers will have wider choices both within and outside the country. Employers likely to go from door to door in search of employees.

5. Population wise Kerala is to reach below replacement level of population first. Other southern states will follow. So there will be more and more home coming, that is, counter migration.

regards

Technology and the new kinds of jobs that are coming up will pose challenges.

Increasingly, people might opt to 'Work from Home'. This itself will lead to its own set of challenges. This also leads to the spinoff that one won't be looking for employees in a particular city, state, or country. You will have the flexibility to employ anyone from anywhere. This leads to taxation issues. Who pays taxes, and where? Different countries have different tax structures.

People will be free to work for several employers from home or move away from permanent jobs and move towards contract jobs due to the flexibility and control.

Retaining employees and, more than that, retaining confidential information within the company will be the biggest challenge. Several more and particularly serious threats as well as challenges exist; I will post later. Right now, let me get back to work. The challenge of dodging a boss who sits next to you always exists ;-))

...shoOOonya...

Hi,

Taking ahead from the previous observations, with the workforce becoming more diverse and an increasing number of expats maintaining a cultural symbiosis, as well as keeping cross-cultural issues to a minimum, will be a nagging concern for HR professionals.

Additionally, considering the clique of "size does matter" and intense competition, with more and more organizations consolidating through mergers and acquisitions, the cultural problem will be all the more pertinent and grave.

Another problem, according to me, is quantifying HR. As mentioned earlier, with cut-throat competition, organizations aim to maximize every rupee spent and want to determine the return on investment. There is increasing pressure on the HR department to reduce its budgets, making it more challenging to obtain funds.

The CEO rightfully will want to understand how the money spent through the HR department contributes to the bottom line.

The stress is increasing on shifting HR from a cost center to a profitable one or a more strategic partner. Though I know the term is becoming overused and clichéd, the reality is we must formulate and align with organizational strategy.

Quantifying HR, in my opinion, will be a significant challenge.

I would like to hear the comments or observations of other members on the same.

Warm regards,

Anjali

Bang on target! I completely agree.

Increasing globalization of business and access to resources across the world will lead to its own set of cultural diversity challenges. Quantification of HR is yet another big challenge we will face. In fact, we are already facing that challenge. HR will need to prove itself as a profit and cost-saving center.

HR is the function responsible for attracting talent - the human resource, the most crucial and critical resource for any company. Either the coming times will lead to the "commoditizing of human resources" through extensive Knowledge & Skill Management (KSM), or the role of HR to attract, retain, and train the best resources will become more and more critical in the age of cut-throat competition.

ShoOOonya...

Hi Shilpa,

What is the replacement level of population? Otherwise, good article but a little brief. Please add more points to it that would be helpful for students like me.

Thank you.

Hi Shilpa,

Thank you, Shilpa ji, for your interest in the topic. Actually, the demographic concept is BELOW REPLACEMENT LEVEL OF FERTILITY. This means a negative growth rate of the population. In India, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Southern Karnataka have already reached this level.

There are several factors for this phenomenon. But the recent Domestic Violence Act that is being implemented from 26/10/2006 in India will speed up this phenomenon. Already, there is continuous exponential growth of civil and criminal matrimonial litigations. Family problems are the biggest cause of suicide. This shows that across-gender relationships are becoming more bitter.

Under the new law, even against sex by the husband, the wife can lodge a criminal complaint. As a result, the whole country will go below the replacement level of fertility. Consequently, surplus manpower will disappear from the market by 2015. So HR will have no choice but to choose.

Regards

Hi,

Out of all the factors involved in a business transaction, the only factor that is highly unpredictable is the HUMAN factor. One of the most important challenges of HR is to motivate the employees. Emotion plays a very important role when it comes to motivation. If an employee finds it difficult to relate to the organization, he will not be motivated, resulting in poor performance, eventually leading to the decline of the organization.

2015 will see high advancements on the technological front. We all need to strike a balance between the technology factor and the human factor. I think this will be the biggest challenge in times to come.

Please comment.

Regards,
Ashwini Kumar

"GDP growth to fall short of 8 percent in X Plan: Montek"

"New Delhi: Even as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee projected a double-digit growth 'in the realm of possibility,' the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Tuesday declared that the country would fail to achieve the Tenth Plan target of 8 percent GDP (Gross Domestic Product) owing to a slowdown in the manufacturing sector" (The Hindu, 8/11/2006).

What I have been saying since I joined this forum is going to become true. When a government functionary gives a statement in public, he is thorough on the matter. So the euphoria that India had in the first half of this decade will evaporate soon.

Now, joining issue with Aswini Kumar, let me inform that motivation to work depends upon optimum endorphin generation in the body and not by sermons. I think HR specialty is not equipped with this skill.

Regards

Dear friends,

With the incident of Wipro being hit by the DV Act, now the Pandora's box is opened. As a result, this topic is of immense significance. Please add new perspectives.

Regards

Work from home will become a reality. Advanced technology is a partial reason. Primarily, interpersonal relationships and communications will increasingly become more hostile.

With the advent of gender wars, and laws coming into place like DV Act and Sexual harassment laws, men and women will find it very difficult to work with each other.

Globalization will force companies to build offices in cyberspace. 9 to 5 jobs will become outdated and impractical. 24-hour work will become inevitable. Employees from various locations of the country will work from home at times prescribed by the company with specific assignments and needed technological assistance.

Employees will access their office on the intranet with time allotted to them hour-wise. For example, the 1st employee will work from 9 to 11, then 2 to 4, then 6 to 8. The 2nd employee will work from 7 to 9, then 12 to 2, then 4 to 6, then 8 to 10. There will be thousands of employees working in this fashion from their homes.

There will be an unimaginable increase in specialization. One particular task will be further dissected into ten tasks and assigned to ten different people. One employee can't know everything. It's not possible.

Challenges are opportunities. Opportunities are based on imagination. Imagine the future; opportunities will be seen, and then you face the challenge.

Create your own future.

[quote=shoOOonya]Bang on target!!

I completely agree.

Increasing globalization of business and access to resources across the world will lead to its own set of cultural diversity challenges.

Let me try to give an India-specific answer and then look at the global perspectives:

1. India, as of today, has a very work-friendly and team culture.

2. Cooperation is part of the ethos, which is inherent in the Indian family tradition where each member feels that they are part of a team.

3. Indians, by nature, are not aggressive. For example, even when I am at work and having a bite, if my colleague walks in, I can't eat without offering at least a bite to the colleague.

4. However, things are bound to change completely with even nuclear families being torn apart by myriad laws that are insensitive to Indian ethos.

This, in my humble opinion, is a continuing challenge, and I may tend to say not a new challenge.

Talent is dependent on the state of society. A harmonious society made of peaceful families is the best nursery for talent. Studies have shown that healthy homes have always created the best talent. A war-torn, strife-torn country like Iraq today cannot promote talent - at least for the productive office/factory space. Nor can a country made of broken homes create talent. So the very roots of talent, the very structure that has made India resilient to every attack and pestilence, that very structure has to be intact in the future.

With stupid laws like the latest Domestic Violence Act, talent itself may diminish.

Regards,

Vinayak

Dear friends,

With the incident of Wipro being hit by DV Act, now the Pandora's box is opened. As a result, this topic is of immense significance. Please add new perspectives.

Regards,

Any society will have a certain percentage of people who wish to make a quick buck, or say "cash in on another's misery." Be it the manipulator on the share market, or the outright pickpocket or shoplifter, this variant of greed has been seen all over societies and throughout history.

That is why democracy needs checks and balances, so that one does not loot the other gullible.

However, if every employee's wife is given a chance to hit at industry icons like Aziz Premji... well, one can only imagine the mess we are going to be in. Do we need the Chinese or the Pakistanis to finish us?

Talent is dependent on the state of society. A harmonious society, made of peaceful families, is the best nursery for talent. Studies have shown that healthy homes have always nurtured the best talent.

A war-torn, strife-torn country like Iraq today cannot promote talent - at least not for productive office or factory spaces. Nor can a country made of broken homes nurture talent. So, the very roots of talent, the very structure that has made India resilient to every attack and pestilence, must remain intact in the future. With laws like the latest Domestic Violence Act, talent itself may diminish.

Past, present, and future. A beautiful analysis, Vinayak ji. Please keep on posting more analyses.

Regards

Work from home will become a reality. Advanced technology is a partial reason. Primarily, interpersonal relationships and communications will increasingly become more hostile. With the advent of gender wars, and laws coming into place like DV Act and Sexual harassment laws, men and women will find it very difficult to work with each other. Globalization will force companies to build offices in cyberspace. 9 to 5 jobs will become outdated and impractical. 24-hour work will become inevitable. Employees from various locations of the country will work from home at times prescribed by the company with specific assignments and needed technological assistance.

Employees will go to their office on the intranet with the time allotted to them hour-wise. For example, the 1st employee will work from 9 to 11, then 2 to 4, then 6 to 8. The 2nd employee will work from 7 to 9, then 12 to 2, then 4 to 6, then 8 to 10. There will be thousands of employees working in this fashion from their homes. There will be an unimaginable increase in specialization. One particular task will be further dissected into ten tasks and assigned to ten different individuals. One employee can't know everything; it's not possible.

Challenges are opportunities. Opportunities are based on imagination. Imagine the future; opportunities will be seen, and then you face the challenge. Create your own future.

On one side, we (Indians) are improving our team performances. The BPO industry is built around this concept. So, how does a team foster team spirit by working apart from various locations? At least when working from home, men need not be worried about gender-specific false complaints from women!

Regards

In my humble opinion, a stable family life is considered the best for a professional. In the coming days, the misuse of DV laws and Dowry laws (498A is 98% misused - as acknowledged by Renuka Chaudhary) will rise to the top of the chart for professionals. HR needs to be sensitized on this.

Sexual harassment at the workplace laws are as biased as the DV Act and IPC 498A. It will make life more difficult for men in the organization to work with female employees.

In the new sexual harassment at the workplace bill, the company has no powers to terminate or punish a woman even after it is found that she made a false complaint. In this bill too, the accused is presumed guilty until proven innocent. Provisions are inserted that will restrict men to prove themselves innocent.

This bill will make men more vulnerable to be falsely implicated at the workplace. Their reputation and career are under constant danger.

Women-protective laws are now going overboard. Renuka Chaudhary says that almost all the laws are misused, and so, that is not a reason why laws should not be made. We should ask her, "which law in the IPC is misused to an extent that 98% of the cases are false. And if she can prove that all the laws are misused up to 98%, then she is right." She is violating all fundamental rights of men in the name of women empowerment. Already, men are committing suicide 4 times more often than women. And knowing that a man's life is ZERO if he doesn't have a career or his career is in danger, he is bound to commit suicide.

Valuable employees and star performers are at great risk in all organizations. HR's initiative into the gender equality policy of the country should probably make life safe for men.

Hi friend,

This is Arun from Chennai. I think that HR professionals in the government organizations will be facing challenges with recruitment policies due to "Reservation policies" being imposed by the central government.

Due to the increase in population and the dramatic changes in technology, leading to cross-cultural shifts within organizations, HR managers will have trouble controlling behaviors within the organization, especially in the IT/ITES sectors.

These are the main reasons why HR managers will be facing significant challenges ahead of them.

Regards,
Arun

Hi friend,

This is Arun from Chennai. I think that HR professionals in government organizations will be facing challenges with recruitment policies due to the "Reservation policies" being imposed by the central government.

With the increase in population and rapid technological advancements leading to cross-cultural changes in organizations, HR managers will have trouble controlling behaviors within the organization, especially in the IT/ITES sectors.

These are the main reasons why HR managers will be facing significant challenges ahead of them.

Regards,
Arun

There are already a number of posts that had escaped my notice. I shall respond to them in detail. However, as Arun mentions, the increase in population will be a challenge, but to me, below the replacement level of fertility will be a challenge. Additionally, the number of senior citizens will rise while the workforce numbers will disproportionately decline. These consequences will present challenges to manpower planners.

Regards

Dear Friend,

The topic "Challenges Faced By HR In The Year 2015" is very vital for HR professionals all over the world because this is the appropriate time to ponder over the scenario likely to emerge in the year 2015. In the present scenario, the face of economies is changing in different parts of the world due to changes in the political situation. A stable political situation means a stable economy, which further means the population of that place is positive in thinking and does not tend towards negative practices for basic things. HR, even in the present scenario, needs to come out of orthodox thinking of Copy, Cut, Paste and needs to involve themselves with the business. They need to understand the business and then implement HR practices, rather than sticking to the standard set of guidelines for everything. The base should always be firm but the top should be flexible enough to accommodate the required justified changes as the situation arises. Present HR should work as Operation HR, should have a learning attitude with a broad vision, and not be afraid of walking an extra mile whenever required because the role of HR is changing from the conventional one. The more HR tries to learn about the various aspects of business, culture, human behavior, political and economic scenario, walks at the unit level, they will be able to do HR governance more efficiently and effectively. The HR in the Year 2015 will be more of a leader than just a manager.

Regards,

Manoj Koli
Cell: 9869614376

With whom to work?

Corporate sector is expanding. Public sector is shrinking. By 2015, the population size of India will be larger than it is now; the rate of growth will be near zero or zero or negative. What will the setup be then? Will the hire and fire principle work?

Regards

Sir,

Your quote is valuable. As you said, there will be hiring and firing activities by the HR department of the concern. By 2010-15, there will be no permanent job even in government organizations because the government is selling its sick units to private entrepreneurs, where the employees get very low compensation for their work.

Moreover, the hierarchical ladder will be in a horizontal structure to get work done by employees in a peaceful way without any politics hindering the objective.

In short, in the coming days, the strategy will be "NO WORK, NO PAY," whether it's in a government organization or a private organization.

Regards, Arun

"Horizontal structure"

Yes, yes, will everyone be a DWCL? Daily wage casual laborer? How will the decline of population growth rate affect the structures and productivity?

Regards

Can anybody explain in terms of cross-cultural issues faced by Indian HR professionals by 2015 when the demand for international business increases? Is there any article or paper on that?

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