When it comes to the history of HR, 2017 may well be a year that we wish slipped off the book. I am racking my brain for momentous movements or changes and save ‘Google for Jobs’ and the endless harassment lawsuits, nothing comes to mind. Sure, there’s been a lot of talk around gamification, technology, block chain, AI and yada yada but nothing really did change in those areas. The only thing that 2017 will be remembered for in history is harassment and definitely not something we’d want the year to be remembered by. I love the fact that women came forward and this is finally being given due attention, however, HR can hardly take credit. For most part of the year, we continued to repeat what we’d picked up in the last decade and look to other organizations to see what they may have done. Some did experiment and learn. Others watched from a safe distance and hope to follow suit soon.
Know what I reckon? 2018 will be pretty much the same. There’s nothing new in the book. For most part of the year, the world of HR will continue to repeat words it’s learnt in the past and crawl its way forward. Organizations will experiment some more, figure what works, doesn’t, and eventually hope to find equilibrium in the state of constant flux. In short, it will be a big mess – more jokes made on jargons, folks getting on stage to talk about stuff that’s already been talked about, some wise ones talking about failure and success and others watching. Do you want to wager a bet on the ‘Top trends in 2018’? I imagine it will look very much like the list of ‘Top trends for 2018’.
This is isn’t a bad thing though. There is a limit to how much change an individual can digest. The world around is changing at a bizarre pace. Technology alone is hard to keep up with and then we have the corresponding change in expectations at work. Can you imagine what happens to the ‘non-HR’ folks if HR also begins to change at the same pace? It is OK to walk at the pace that suits your organization best vs chasing the latest fad. Just make sure you keep moving and keep experimenting. 2018 isn’t the year of getting to equilibrium, it’s the year of seeking it.
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