2014: What’s the breakthrough idea for HR?

Could 2014 be the year that HR does something so profoundly different that it genuinely impacts the performance of the business?

Here are three potential game changers that are worth a look:

70:20:10 FINALLY DELIVERS. 

This is a no-brainer. The idea that 70% of learning comes from the job, 20% from people, and 10% from courses and reading has been around since the 1960’s.

What a perfect time for HR to deliver on this by using blended learning to combine the best of technology, with savvy coaching and at-work tools!

Businesses want to invest more in people but they don’t want workshops, courses, coaching or tools: they just want changes in behaviour and performance.  Blended learning is the answer because it combines the best of technology with human interaction and puts it in the workplace.

70+20+10 = breakthrough in employee productivity and change readiness.

PERFORMANCE CONVERSATIONS

Not the old version: the infrequent, form-based and dreaded performance review. 

No this is genuine reinvention. It’s HR breaking the paradigm and putting HR in the middle of the three conversations that drive high performance:  Setting high expectations:  Collaborating in real time:  Debriefing and adapting.

In 2014 HR might discover that they can own the performance cycles provided they give up on technical solutions and insert themselves in the middle of robust performance conversations where people and teams live and learn together.

PEOPLE ANALYTICS UNPACK ENGAGEMENT

The measurement of employee engagement is an industry in itself so there’s no game changer left in the mainstream but smart organisations are embedding analytics in other ways and that’s where the possibilities begin.

Expect to see the business equivalent of GPS monitoring in sport.  Tiny snippets of information gathered from software and other sources that give a hint to moods, motivations and potential movers.

Engagement scores are too gross to be really useful as a measure and the cycle time is also too long. That’s fine. The idea is ok, so just expect it to speed up and get unpacked in 2014.

WHY CHOOSE THESE THREE?

My reasons for choosing these three game changers are simple. They all impact performance, they become more important in disruptive times when companies are dollar, time and talent stretched, and they are doable with current technologies.