The Chair of Human Resource Management & Intercultural Leadership collaborated with HR Forecast to investigate the future orientation of HR departments as well as skill trends and requirements for HR positions. They observed a varied adaptation to the changing business environment across countries, an increasing demand for digital skills and a shift away from administrative tasks.

The ESCP Business School Chair of Human Resource Management & Intercultural Leadership teamed up with with HRForecast, a start-up primarily focusing on big data analytics and AI-based workforce planning, to identify future trends and skill requirements in the field of HR as well as the adaptation of worldwide HR departments to changes like digitalization, skill shortages, need of new forms of work or structural changes in the companies. For this purpose, they conducted numerous expert discussions and analysed more than 120,000 HR-specific job advertisements across nine focus countries and various seniority levels since 2017. The first results suggest that HR's responsibilities will shift away from administrative tasks and will focus more on the strategic and human side of HR. “We have found that HR departments in Germany seem to lag behind in advanced IT-skills, while HR departments in the Netherlands, the UK and the US seem to have the capabilities to help lead the digital transformation,” explains the Chair’s holder, Professor Marion Festing. Additionally, they observed an increasing demand for digital skills including machine learning, process automation, and smart employee platforms.

“Advanced IT skills are indispensable for driving the digital change and encounter it as a valuable chance rather than a threat,” they conclude in the case study published on the dedicated website. “The digitalization of HR bears the potential to incorporate technologies such as analytics, AI, or VR in order to implement new management practices and design a working environment that enable productivity, deliver solutions and establish an organizational culture based on innovation, collaboration, and sharing. The digital shift is occurring rapidly and HR should see it as an opportunity to climb up the organizational ladder and help lead the digital transformation.”

Learn more about the steps needed to be taken by countries, companies and individuals to close the skill gap and meet the requirements of the future.


Marion Festing and the Chair’s Research Assistant, Maximilian Tallgauer, are still looking for companies interested in participating in their joint research project with HRForecast. “We are particularly interested in progressive HR departments that are increasingly focusing on digitalisation strategies,” she adds. Priorities of the projects are to investigate the future skills and roles of HR experts, the role and function of HR departments in international comparison, the digitalisation of HR and the associated transformation processes.

 

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