Feeling Stuck in HR? Seeking Advice on Career Growth and Future Prospects

Dear Seniors, I have close to 4 years of experience in an HR Generalist role. I have experience in Recruitment, Onboarding and Induction, Employee Engagement, Employee Relations, Performance Management, and Exit Management.

Career Planning in Human Resources

I have been trying to understand and plan my career to reach the next level. However, I'm not able to grasp the future prospects and growth. One aspect I am sure about is my interest in working in Human Resources.

Seeking Guidance for Career Advancement

Please guide me on how I should plan my upcoming career and what I should concentrate on. What can I implement in my role? How can I achieve success in my career? How should I shape my career, and what should I learn to reach the next level? What will the future hold for a Human Resource Professional?

The Future of HR: HR Analytics and Business Partnering

In my limited knowledge, I can vouch for the fact that the future of HR lies in HR analytics and HR business partner practice norms. Many companies now prefer indulging in predictive analytics. It could be beneficial for you to consider trying out a few short-term courses (online or part-time) on HR analytics.

Examples of HR Analytics

Some examples of HR analytics involve cases where, during recruitment, parameters such as previous work experience, area of exposure, skill level, etc., are noted. Through various statistical methods like regression analysis, frequency distribution, and ranking, the performance of new recruits is predicted in alignment with benchmarked parameters of employees who have been top performers in the company.

Despite the presence of numerous statistical experts in analytics, the main challenge they encounter is domain expertise. They require someone with work experience in the process to guide them on which analytical components are effective in the HR process and which are not. With your work experience, if you possess knowledge in HR/data analytics, your role can evolve into that of an analytics translator who can contribute to Six Sigma and Lean projects.

HR Business Partner Practice

On the other hand, HR business practice entails HR professionals no longer working in silos but closely collaborating with the business. To excel in this, you must understand the non-HR business and processes of your company to ensure alignment between HR practices and business objectives. For instance, if a doctor is hired as a domain expert to advise on cancer-detecting AI software, the HR professional determining the optimal employee utilization percentage based on company and client specifications exemplifies effective HR business partnering.

I hope these details provide you with an idea of what to focus on in the future of HR.

Agree with the views of Nelson Thomas. The first essential requirement for anyone to chart a career path in HR is to have an aptitude for HR functions. It is good that you have it. There is an increasing feeling in the HR fraternity now to rejig HR functions in light of shifting paradigms of business from the conventional models.

Future Workplaces

If you want to keep pace with the changing ecosystem of business, you need to observe and visualize how the future workplaces will look. The future workplaces will largely comprise millennials and be more diversified in terms of genders, nationalities, cultures, and generations (multigenerational). So, HR shall have a fair understanding of these aspects and skills to manage such a workforce.

Technology and the Future Workforce

The future workplaces will be more technology-driven and data-driven. The future workforce will thus have tech-savvy, ambitious, and, at the same time, lifestyle-loving millennials with an eye on healthcare. Acquiring such talent and retaining them will be a challenge.

HR's Role in Business Success

Since markets are seamless and technology helps companies reach wider markets in minimum time, companies are always on their toes to remain on top of business. Therefore, HR should enable them to remain at the top of the business in the sector concerned by aligning its function with the business. Problem-solving is another area that requires out-of-the-box or innovative ideas to be injected into HR practices to attract talent to help the business.

Conclusion

What we provide you here are some helpful inputs that will probably provoke more thoughts in you and encourage you to study HR functions and engage in conversations about the changes among the HR fraternity to make prudent choices about your career ahead.

Regards, B. Saikumar HR & Labour Relations Adviser