IBM: HR 3.0 - how COVID-19 has accelerated digitalisation
Business Chief takes a look at how COVID-19 and the rapid adoption of digital technologies has accelerated the drive towards HR 3.0
Business Chief takes a look at how COVID-19 and the rapid adoption of digital technologies has accelerated the drive towards HR 3.0
With COVID-19 putting pressure on organisations to rethink how they operate, as well as how they address people and talent issues, IBM’s Amy Wright, Managing Partner for IBM Talent and Transformation in IBM Services explains that “the role of talent executives has never been more critical.”
Prior to COVID-19, research by IBM indicated that in the next three years, 120mn workers in the 12 largest economies may need to be retrained or reskilled due to artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent automation. Wright highlights that talent issues such as these have only been heightened due to COVID-19.
With C-suite leaders looking to rapidly transform and overhaul business models to meet new customer needs, the biggest hurdle has been identified as inadequate skills. “These include both technical skills to work with technology as well as behavioral skills like agility and the ability to collaborate effectively,” commented Wright, who added that “at the same time, our consumer research shows there has been a permanent shift in the expectations employees have of their employers, including better support for their physical and emotional health or skills training.”
With these trends in mind, IBM sees HR as being ‘ripe for disruption’. “CHROs can seize this moment to evolve, just as CFOs did in 2008 with the economic crash, to bring forward a new era of HR—what we at IBM refer to as HR 3.0,” commented Wright. “It’s an exciting vision, in which HR shifts away from a process-oriented function to an agile consulting arm and in doing so, drives engagement and productivity, fosters trust in uncertain times and cultivates resilient workforces.”
Key patterns in relation to action taken to progress on the journey to HR 3.0
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