4 HR Trends to Watch for in 2018
January 22, 2018
By: Samantha Neumann
The world of Human Resources and hiring professionals is constantly evolving, and 2018 is bound to hold its share of developments, fads, and emerging patterns. Though some of these ideas may seem familiar, new adaptations are always on the horizon. So, to get a sense of what’s to come this year, take a look below at a few key trends that are bound to emerge as 2018 picks up steam.
1. Spotlighting the Human in Human Resources
These days, it’s become more important than ever to create a desirable office culture—especially for Millennial recruits. Though there’s always a need to please and answer to the boss, representing the day-to-day wishes and big-picture desires of employees will become even more essential to retaining top talent, adding fresh blood to the ranks, and keeping morale at a steady high. This means achieving a more insightful look at what’s really important to team members, what values unite your office, and how best to support the professional and personal journeys of employees.
2. Working With What You Got
Hiring new employees is always going to be a top job for human resources professionals and recruiters, but 2018 will ask professionals to focus closely on developing existing talent, too. One way to increase productivity is to understand people analytics, or ways of identifying the most productive and successful employees. Once you understand who is doing well and why, you can replicate those results in other team members, find ways to better support your top performers, and use those metrics in recruiting future superstars.
3. Understanding the Effectiveness of Skills Learning
There are plenty of e-learning and e-class options out there to help professionals build new skills for the workplace. However, technology has been slow to catch up when it comes to measuring the success of these skill-building classes, seminars, and programs. 2018 will see the continued rise of data analytics to measure areas like professional development and skills learning. This concept is called modern learning analytics technology, and it’s helping talent development professionals, as well as hiring professionals and HR teams, figure out the most effective ways to teach new skills to employees and prospects—while identifying which professional skills are most coveted.
4. A Return to a Personal Touch
When reaching out to talent leads, automation has been on the rise. However, a personal touch still goes a long way, and the most competitive candidates are becoming disinterested in low-touch recruitment. The quality and quantity of personal attention will be extremely important when attempting to land a coveted professional. Hiring professionals should keep in mind that a new year doesn’t mean forgoing old school interpersonal interactions, too.
No one can predict the future, but it’s wise to keep an eye on what’s trending as we delve further into the New Year. 2018 is sure to hold its share of surprises, but stay in the loop with a few of these predictions, and you may just find yourself ahead of the curve.
Samantha Neumann is a Recruiter at Grapevine – Targeted Sales Recruiting. Visit www.grapevinerecruiting.com, call 952-657-5018 or email samantha@grapevinerecruiting.com.