First of all, any kind of HR change or transformation, digital or not, has to take place with a clear objective in mind and has to make sense from a business perspective. For example, digitization of HR processes. Companies appear to give in to peer pressure. Their rivals all migrate to digital and as a result, they feel they are losing the competition. But, the challenge in HR transformation to digital is that certain HR processes are not suitable for digitization. It leads to expensive innovation strategies which do not meet the genuine requirements of the business.

HR executives, frameworks, systems, and processes have all gone through their respective evolutions, in the past. Rapid changes are happening in the industry even now and are not going to slow down any time soon. These can be demographic changes, changes in the business models, and employee expectations regarding culture and system. HR systems have to transform in order for them to stay relevant in the changing world and they have to add value to the company. The other option for them is to follow the “old model” and become obsolete. The “old model”, per se, was to identify a fault, carry out change management to rectify the mistake, and carry on as if the problem was fixed for good. Presently, such one-off changes are not sufficient. Genuine transformation demands continuous improvement, like the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen. Transformation must be continuous and ongoing, not something that you do once and then stops.

In the modern business environment where companies are looking to maximize their profits, support departments such as HR indirectly help their companies to increase sales and create sources of revenue. Hence continuous transformation becomes more necessary. Here are three points to consider.

1. Demographic change:

The labor force is getting older and more diverse. It is not just the millennials that you need to be concerned with now. The four-generation workplace is now a reality. Implications of which include considering strategies and frameworks that are flexible, supporting knowledge-sharing, reskilling old staff, etc.

2. Rapidly evolving business models:

You don’t need to have your major operations be based out of Silicon Valley to realize that agility is the buzzword today. Your employees should have the option to collaborate hassle-free. HR executives should be able to build and re-build teams rapidly. Talent locked in functional silos will be squandered and will not be retained by your organization.

3. Easy-to-use technology:

Individuals expect their laptops and/or workstations to work seamlessly today and be fast and engaging. Similarly, the HR software used by most companies is not very user-friendly most of the time. These have to be updated and upgraded to ensure better employee performance.