Research Update: The future is now

If the past year has taught us anything, it is that change can happen quickly. For many organisations, a change to a distributed workforce challenges conventional work models and raises employee expectations of autonomy and support. Jim Arrowsmith and Paul Toulson investigate the impact on HR.

The value of HR becomes clear under crises, as shown in the response to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Then, as now, HR had to quickly reimagine work logistics and stay focused on employee welfare.

Working from home and prioritising worker wellbeing are expected to become part of the ‘new normal’ post-COVID-19, but it does not have to take a crisis to generate transformational change. Some of the profound challenges for HR have been emerging for some time, though are now accelerating due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussing these issues in our postgraduate strategic and international HRM courses, where many of students are senior HR professionals, spotlights three inter-related sets of challenges: those internal to the organisation, those in the external environment and those relating to the HR profession itself.

Looking within

The most immediate challenge is managing the distributed workforce, or the shift to a ‘hybrid’ homeoffice mode. This means attending to employee needs as well as management skills. Not all workers want or are able to work from home, especially those at earlier career stages. Equally, not all managers can avoid the traps of micromanaging or forgetting those who they cannot readily see. Establishing equitable frameworks to manage this is not a simple task.

This links to another important issue, the increasingly diverse workforce. Changing demographics and immigration settings mean the workforce is ever more heterogeneous in terms of age, ethnicity, sex and gender, and awareness is growing of issues such as neurodiversity. Again, this places a premium on recruiting, developing and supporting inclusive and peoplecentred managers.

Another challenge accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic is technological change. Skills shortages and higher wages make automation more attractive, and digitisation and artificial intelligence are also affecting work. HR will have to manage the resulting recomposition of labour and skills, and are already dealing with the transformation of their own services by technology.

Changing environment

Many sectors and firms were experiencing acute labour shortages before the borders were closed. Returning Kiwis have mitigated some of the impacts of this, but primary and service sectors are now exposed to the ‘war for talent’ that those looking for scarce highly skilled workers have long faced. This places a premium on the employee experience, which again implies new styles of management and an improved employee proposition around career support and development.

A second issue, driven by consumer pressure as well as employee expectations, is the importance of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. This means maintaining a values-based, purpose-driven and demonstrably ethical approach to business, including in the treatment of staff.

Third is the changing regulatory environment. These challenges include new occupational safety and health obligations, increases to the minimum wage and benefits, such as leave, to the prospective return of sector-level collective bargaining in the form of fair pay agreements. All of these create immediate pressures but can also present strategic opportunities for HR to be heard and to lead change.

Looking after ourselves

With all this going on, HR needs to avoid the fate of the cobbler’s children, who were proverbially the worst shod. The pandemic highlights both the support and strategic-level contributions of HR to organisational performance but also increases HR workloads and stress. Prioritising self-care is a challenge for HR professionals as well as the employees and managers they serve.

Looking ahead, our HR manager students identify two main sets of competencies that HR people need to navigate this challenging terrain. First, perhaps naturally enough, is developing a learning orientation, nurturing a curiosity about the business and the markets that it operates in and pursuing selfdevelopment through education and training. This extends to so-called ‘soft skills’ and critical thinking skills as well as technical proficiency in areas such as finance and IT. In this way, HR can become more business savvy and involved in managing change, marshalling evidence to exert influence and solve problems.

HRNZ is committed to mapping the challenges facing the HR profession to help deliver the main competencies and capabilities that HR people need. The HRNZ Academic Branch is helping identify the key challenges and opportunities for HR in New Zealand and how best HR professionals can respond. As part of this process, look out for a member survey coming your way, and make your voice heard!

Jim Arrowsmith is a Professor in the School of Management, Massey University. His research interests include pay and working time systems, employee engagement and employment regulation, and he has published extensively in these areas. He has acted as a consultant for employers, trade unions and government agencies, including recently for the International Labour Organization advising Pacific Island countries on labour reform. He is co-director with Professor Jane Parker of MPOWER – the Massey People, Organisations, Work and Employment Research group. Jim is a Chartered Fellow of HRNZ and has served in the Auckland and Academic branches, chartering assessment and HRNZ Awards panels.

Paul Toulson is currently employed at Massey University as the Associate Professor of Human Resources Management in the School of Management, Massey Business School. He has a long association with both the university and HRNZ. He has held several appointments in both HRNZ and at Massey University over the past 37 years. Before that, he served in the defence system (RNZAF) as an I/O psychologist. Currently he is conducting research and teaching at the postgraduate level in HRM, and is a mentor supervisor for the University’s PhD programme.