D
Catalyst | Dexterity
Forecasting the trends in talent management
H
ow will organisations
evolve to meet ever-
changing candidate,
customer and societal needs?
Jason Fowler, VP, HR director,
Fujitsu, offers his predictions.
1
Digital dexterity
takes prominence
Once an initiative for organisations
looking to gain a competitive edge, digital
transformation has become interwoven into
the core foundations of the business. The future
workplace will require emphasis on the ‘mindset
persona’ – requiring employees to be comfortable
with ambiguity, committed to matching the pace
of change and to learn continuously. Forward-
thinking organisations will shift their talent strategy
from ‘what have you done?’ to ‘what could you do?’.
2
Building, not buying in, talent
Bold decisions to integrate digital
dexterity competencies with skill-
specific learning programmes that are
combined with deliberate, experienced-
based role rotations will enable employers
to address talent pipeline challenges. Such
sustainable solutions to skills shortages also
create engagement across the organisation.
3
5
Digital, integrated HR
An HR function needs not only to be
comfortable, but also intimate, with tech,
understanding what it means for business strategy,
for the employee experience (EX) and for talent
attraction; and how the services delivered by HR
can be improved through its use. More advanced
HR teams will be replicating some of the methods
used by marketing departments to segment their
employee base. Doing so will help them avoid the
pitfalls of casual demographic stereotypes and
also recognise that the relationship between an
individual and their employer can change through
time. As part of this, HR needs to offer improved
personalisation and flexibility in EX. Not being
expert in technology, its broad implications and the
game-changing opportunity that data
presents will risk pushing HR to the periphery
of the organisation.
Wellbeing gets personalised
Organisations will think more creatively
about the structure of work and recognise
that a good day at work can mean different things
to different people. How HR leads on this and
how employers support these initiatives, while
integrating new working methods such as agile,
will be a lead indicator as to which organisations
will thrive and which will be focused only on
surviving. As part of this, psychological safety
will increase in prominence as a vital metric in
assessing the health, wellbeing and performance
potential of teams.
4
manifests in new hires, attrition, role types and
other aspects. Enlightened boards will expect HR
to generate action plans explicitly connected to
data-driven insights – and to track impact. Failing
to take a prominent stance on addressing diversity
and inclusion or having insufficient data to follow
up intent with action will be a major commercial
risk, with customers less willing to buy from or
partner with you. It will, of course, have a huge
impact on talent-acquisition efforts.
Diversity by default
Organisations will look more closely
at data to understand their pay gap(s)
by department, the trend by quarter, how it
Jason Fowler
“A good day at work can mean
different things to different people”
Issue 4 - 2020
43