Contemporary Trends and Challenges

What does academic literature suggest HR professionals might have to focus more on in the future?

The role of HR professionals becomes more complex as established, recent, and novel internal-external forces coalesce workplace factors. This obliges the HR skillset to synthesise multiple-level ways of thinking and working into practicable policy, as evidenced by new technology and equity engagement (CIPD, 2020). This makes it worthwhile and useful to consider the potential pivot points of HR’s future, as suggested by contemporary academic literature.

One of these avenues involves increasing the sophistication of employee well-being initiatives (Torrington, et al., 2020). It proposes HR meet emerging issues of employee welfare by developing a stronger, more holistic view of well-being factors (i.e., mental health, ageing workforce, digitisation, remote working) (Torrington, et al., 2020). To design and implement practices that go beyond traditional wellness programmes to encompass the overall well-being of employees (i.e., uplifting emotional and mental health factors alongside physical health) (Bingham, 2020).

Another area of inquiry is the development of future-ready skills, such as agility and autonomy (Meister, et al., 2020). These skills would improve HR professionals’ ability to adapt to changing circumstances and form effective responses to new challenges. This prioritises horizon-scanning agendas, whereby the external environment is assessed to anticipate upcoming workplace changes (CIPD, 2020). This leads to developing a complexity mindset as a new core capability, which could navigate challenging situations and improve decision-making in times of uncertainty (Bingham, 2020).

What are the ethical issues that you might face as an HR professional in dealing with some of the contemporary challenges? How do you think you might deal with these issues?

Ethical issues encountered by HR professionals are contextualised by situational and environmental factors (Armstrong and Taylor, 2023). In the workplace, they emerge and are influenced by an organisation’s ethos, configuration, strategy, policy, and practices (Winstanley and Woodall, 2000). HR is strategically placed within organisations to exercise professional authority on these fronts by evaluating potential outcomes with ethical criteria: justice, parity, well-being, trust, and integrity (Winstanley and Woodall, 2000).

The golden thread through many moral approaches encompasses integrity, credibility, transparency, and trustworthiness (Armstrong and Taylor, 2023). Plausible ethical dilemmas HR could engage with include: the harmonisation of assorted interests and viewpoints, conflict resolution, managing uncertainty, and promoting social responsibility (Winstanley and Woodall, 2000).

To this end, specific HR policies and practices would require the inclusion of all affected parties in the decision-making process. HR could do this by facilitating and listening to each individual, evaluating perspectives, and endeavouring to discover and develop a reasonable solution (Winstanley and Woodall, 2000). Such a process could also work to build social capital, trust, and promote a collaborative workplace culture. Additionally, by clearly communicating an organisation’s distinct values and objectives, HR can promote a shared sense of purpose and mitigate conflict (Armstrong and Taylor, 2023). Should conflict arise in such an environment, HR can mediate open and honest discussions to find a solution that upholds the organisation’s values and ethics (Roper and Higgins, 2020). Lastly, HR could reduce employee anxiety by transparently keeping the workforce informed about changes and developments. This could extend to HR provisioning training and resources to support employees navigate uncertainty and make ethical decisions.