In recent years, there has been a drastic change in the way the human resources field has evolved. There was a time when the HR professionals’ role was constrained to hiring, firing and payroll. In recent times, HR roles have have diversified to include more of talent management responsibilities, thereby ensuring that they develop and maintain a corporate culture resulting in the success of the organization in the face of ever-intensifying competition. Today, more than ever, modern HR professionals are required to have an in depth knowledge about the organization’s core competencies.

The senior managers in the organization need to determine how to best utilize the services of the HR professionals in the wake of technology advancement. The new roles of the HR professionals should be defined according to what they can deliver for the organization rather than what they have been doing so far. The ultimate objective for HR professionals in the 21st century should be to adapt to new roles and enrich the values of the organization in the minds of employees, customers and investors.

To be more specific HR professionals need to deliver organizational excellence in the following ways:

• By becoming a champion for employees, thereby representing their concerns to the top management, resulting in the increase of their contribution and commitment towards the organization to deliver quality results.
• By becoming an agent of uninterrupted transformation, modeling processes and a culture that enhances an organization’s capacity for change.

Here are some of the new roles that HR Professionals are required to play in the modern times.

1. Manager of Employee Engagement

Organizations are now shifting their perspective from the dry printout review process that computed and assessed employee performance, happiness and engagement in a particular way. Today, organizations have realized the necessity of indulging in a feedback oriented conversation between leadership and teams instead of autonomous dialogue by the management.

With the introduction of employee engagement software, it has become easier for leaders and teams to have an ongoing, dynamic dialogue around workplace performance. Gone are the days when organizations used to rely on 3, 6 or 12 month review sessions to assess the performance and happiness of their workforce. Today HR professionals have to don the role of a dedicated employee engagement manager who will be the direct link between employees and leadership.

This role will require you to conduct frequent surveys and gather feedback to access the health and happiness of the workforce.

As an employee engagement manager, you will have to be proficient in managing the technology needed to communicate across the organization. You will also have to devise an approach for internal engagement through unique ways to communicate workplace initiatives and voice the opinions of the employees through frequent internal meetups.

2. Promoter of continuous learning

Today organizations need to constantly upgrade their workforce when it comes to training and skills development. We all know that change is constant, so, you need to accept the fact that technology is meant to change, processes are also going to change and even customers will change. As an HR professional you will have to don the hat of being a promoter of continuous learning and provide ongoing education in the workplace.

It has been observed that organizational training sessions are known to be uninspiring and unengaging for the entire workforce. Under this new role, you will have to understand the adult learning process and then design the voluntary or mandatory training programs for employees. You will also need to create a balancing act between virtual and in-person training sessions and exercises and produce valuable content that is easy to digest for the participants. In the end, you need to ensure that tangible behavioral changes take place across the organization.

3. Diversity officer

Today, more than ever, organizations want a diverse workforce that can make their employer brand stronger. Organizational success today is contingent on the cultivation of men and women from diverse backgrounds irrespective of their gender, race or skill set. To achieve this objective, an HR professional needs to don the hat of a diversity officer and ensure that the workplace is filled with talented individuals from different walks of life.

Just hiring a diverse workforce will not be enough for you in the role of a diversity officer as most of the work takes place in the organization post-hire. You will also have to work in conjunction as a director of continuous learning and employee engagement manager to devise inclusion training programs that will inculcate the feeling of understanding between different types of people and teams. This role should not be considered negative. Rather it should encourage the economic and psychological benefits of a workforce with an ultimate objective of creating a diverse work group.

4. Mindset Coach

Many organizations today are dealing with the employee burnout issue due to overworked workforce. By devising wellness programs it is your duty as a mindset coach to keep your employees healthy, happy and focused. In this role, you will have to institute important programs that introduce individuals participating in the program to inculcate good habits in their daily work routine.

Teach employees the importance of keeping work-life balance, stress management and therapy programs. Encourage the employees to have an open discussion around mental health and illness to get rid of the stigma that plagues the conversation and ailments. Don different hats apart from being a mindset coach like:

Being an employee engagement manager and devise strategy to encourage ways for employees to participate and create an atmosphere of openness;
Acting as the director of continuous learning for devising educational programs.

5. Talent & Repertoire Manager

Sports and entertainment industry have benefited by hiring internal scouts who keep an eye on emerging talent. In the same way, organizations need to take the benefit of this trend and ask their HR professionals to don the hat of a talent & repertoire manager and concentrate their efforts on creating great relationships with top recruitment firms, incubators and industry communities.

In this role, you will have to keep an eye over the talent marketplace that includes the whereabouts of the prospect, their expectations in terms of package and their hot skill sets. All these these things will play a major role in placing a competitive offer to potential candidates.

Conclusion

Technology is playing a crucial role in influencing organizations to adapt to these interesting changes to traditional workplace management. By adopting a specialized approach to human resources, it is possible to transform the identity of this department and ensure that it becomes a vehicle for progress by facilitating positive organizational culture transformation.

Note:-This article was originally published on Employee Background Verification | cFIRST