his trend started in 2017 itself, it shall advance further next year.
In a survey by Randstad, it was noted that employees born after 1996, or “Generation Z”, is the first group to care about flexible work schedules more than healthcare. Generation Z & Generation Y form the majority part of the workforce today.
Hence, a paradigm shift is visible in the priorities of the employees, making flexible workplaces as important criteria in a job.
Performance capitalisation: This involves performance consulting which includes regular and detailed feedback based on the employee’s performance in real time. More often, the organization focuses on employees with weak performances, aiming to improve it by giving them specific training.
This apart, Ankur Manchanda, founder, GreenThumbs, says “Attempts towards hiring automation have been visible for a while now and will become more pronounced in the coming year.” Let’s look at few trends in that area:
Gamification: Another way companies are trying to leverage latest technologies is through gamification. Gamified assessments involve playing neuroscience or psychology-based games to measure personality traits. It makes the whole assessment process more fun and markedly improves the candidate experience.
For example, Unilever has been in the news for using a combination of artificial intelligence and gamification for graduate hiring. It was found that applications to jobs doubled within the first 90 days of their posting and the acceptance rate of offers went up from 64% to 82%.
The overall process was rated an average of 4.1 out of 5.0, based on the 25,000 applicants who took a survey.
Assessment guided interviews: Even with all the technological advances no current assessment tool is advanced enough to be the sole criterion for selection and this is not likely to change anytime soon.
So face-to-face interviews will continue to be the mainstay of recruitment and selection. However, the typical resume-interview-assessment sequence is likely to get an overhaul, simply because it is not delivering the expected ROI.
The new process is likely to be built around pre-interview assessments which save time and deliver information that can be used to conduct better interviews. In fact, scientifically created assessments like OPQ, Thomas or the Psyft Personality Assessment are supplemented with detailed interview guides which if used correctly, can help interviewers use their time better during an interview by helping them ask the right kind of questions and immensely improve the decision-making process.
Inside-out instead of outside-in: All HR practices are hinged on external market practices. We tend to benchmark every policy or program that we have or want to have. But the time to introspect is coming. So in 2018, organisations are likely to look inside, when it comes to understanding what practices will work in their context. Instead of the outside environment dictating its policies, organisations will focus on internal requirements that need the right kind of support.
HR chatbots: This may be the time for HR Chatbots! It could involve chatbots who guide employees on career moves or even do preliminary interviews. There are already portals which have chatbots that help people in their job search. So this is an HR technology trend that we are likely to see.
“These are just a few trends that we anticipate. Many more HR trends will definitely be seen as we start 2018,” concludes Achal Khanna, CEO, SHRM India.
The writer is manager - Human Resources, SILA