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Much like fashion and music, trends in the business world can be put into two categories; antiquated ways people used to do things, and the way things are headed.

Those who aim to remain competitive in their industry evaluate the way they operate with regularity and assess which trends are going the way of planking (when “simpler times” was a trend) and shift their course accordingly.

As People Operations and HR leaders, keeping your eye on the road ahead can mean the difference between your organization’s success and failure as a viable business. That’s a lot of pressure to be sure, but there’s good reason to be excited about where the future of the industry is headed. Let’s dive in.

1. How Automation and AI Integration Will Play a Role in HR

Unless you’ve been clinging on to the flip phone and dial-up internet trend, it’s been pretty much impossible to avoid headlines about HR automation and AI.

So…is it time to embrace the bots? Yeah, it probably is, and here’s why.

With automation and the promises of AI lending a digital hand in the workplace, HR and People Ops leaders will be able to ditch the dreaded M&M tasks. The Mundane and Manual. 

Automation has been steadily permeating the HR space, gobbling up your least favorite to-dos for years, and now nearly 40% of companies are using some form of AI in HR alone. This trend is pointing toward you parting ways with dreaded paperwork pile-ups and all the nitty-gritty work you’d simply rather not do. So why are People Ops leaders excited about this trend?

With HR Automation and AI integrations you’ll be able to focus on what really matters – creating a happy, thriving workplace. 

2. Real-Time Feedback and Performance Management 

Automation and AI are going to have their fingerprints all over this list, so let’s get concrete on how they’re going to actually help your day-to-day.

One such way is by ditching the archaic performance review model where once a quarter (or year…) everyone tries to remember the highs and lows of an employee’s performance in some sort of “prove you’ve been valuable” dance that causes anxiety for all parties involved.

Embracing real-time feedback not only eases employee anxiety (let’s be real, most managers hate this too), it eliminates the administrative burden that normally rests on the shoulders of HR. 

The future of performance management involves having continuous conversations with employees, cheering them on as they conquer challenges, celebrating their triumphs, and supporting them as they need it, not three months after the fact leading to potential resentment and lower engagement and performance. In fact, employees are 3.6 times more likely to “strongly agree” that they are motivated to do outstanding work when they receive regular feedback compared to annual feedback. 

3. Predictive Analytics Leads to Proactive People Operations

As our good friend Nelly once said, “What does it take to be #1? 2 is not a winner and 3 nobody remembers.” (So true Nels).

The trendsetters in any industry are the ones who get somewhere first. They’re the ones who are proactive, not reactive, to the information and environment around them. No one remembers who thought of a groundbreaking idea second, and the People Ops leaders with the most accurate crystal balls are the ones that are going to be informed by smart analytics. 

The way HR analytics used to be focused more on bookkeeping and could answer reactive questions like, “How many employees did we have last year vs. how many we have now?” or  “How long is an average employee tenure here?” or “What was our employee engagement score last quarter?” While those analytics still provide valuable insights, the analytics of tomorrow will help People Ops leaders to predict what’s ahead so you can ask questions like, “What is the likelihood of turnover for critical role ‘x’?” or “What revenue can we expect based on engagement data?” 

4. The Emergence of Employee Self-Service Portals

If predictive analytics is the People Ops crystal ball, employee self-service portals are the magic lamp.

While you’re busy doing work that pushes your team’s objectives forward, self-service portals are taking care of the tedious M&Ms, granting the varied wishes of your employees at the drop of a hat.

No longer will your team be responsible for managing updates to employee details, time off requests, and yes, they even make it possible for your peeps to find answers to the HR queries that used to fill your inbox. 

Self-service portals free you from the administrative labyrinth while empowering your employee population to manage their work lives on demand. (If you’re thinking of what to wear at the next company Halloween party, you might want to look into genie costumes now.)

5. Why People Ops Leaders Are Embracing Agile HR Practices

What are agile HR practices you ask? Well here at Tilt we call it being “Fearlessly Flexible,” and for our People Ops compatriots, it’s all about adopting a more flexible and adaptive approach to HR operations and processes.

The trend birthed from the popular and effective approach to software development has been proven effective in many other business operations as well, including People Operations.

An agile approach eschews the traditional top-down approach to HR management and instead emphasizes collaboration, communication and adaptability to change. An agile mindset has already been adopted to some degree by 63% of HR leaders and there is no indication that this trend will do anything but climb. 

Following the Trends

Not everyone can be like Nelly and be a trendsetter for their generation, but as a People Operations leader, it’s important to understand where the trends of your industry are headed so that you aren’t left behind with antiquated systems and processes.

With AI’s seemingly inevitable (yet ambiguous today) ubiquity in the workplace, having these conversations with leadership now is vital to staying competitive in your industry. 

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About Tilt

Tilt is leading the charge in all things leave of absence management through easy-to-use tech and human touch. Since 2017, our proprietary platform and Empathy Warriors have been helping customers make leave not suck by eliminating administrative burdens, keeping companies compliant, and providing a truly positive and supportive leave of absence experience for their people.