HR Trends: what revolutions will take place in human resource management?

As always, researchers and experts are wondering about the trends which will dominate the area of human resources in the forthcoming year.

Thanks to developed cloud applications and services, the leading professionals in human resources use technology to attract, understand and manage workers. In order to get a competitive advantage, more and more businesses are doing the same.

As a matter of fact, many companies have now realised that they need to adopt cloud technology if they want to modernise their HR functions. According to research conducted by ISG:

• 46% of companies are planning to allocate more than a half of their HR software budget to cloud-based systems
• Over 75% of companies expect to transfer at least one of their HR systems to the cloud by 2020

By using the cloud, HR departments can integrate employee data with other business criteria, which is important for Human Resource managers who aim at developing an end-to-end digital work environment.

These new opportunities allow companies of all sizes to pursue one or more emerging trends in human resources, helping them understand their employees and, ultimately, to improve their working conditions.

In fact, more and more employees want to work for companies that provide more than just a salary and the usual benefits.

They want to be members of a different society, one that can offer them ways to increase their commitment, to promote their well-being and improve their work experience. The increase in innovative workplace technology reflects this shift towards a more holistic working experience.

Technological trends within HR include solutions that will promote employee engagement, diversify companies, raise a different kind of awareness about sexual harassment, expand corporate well-being and employ artificial intelligence to improve its operations.

Here are the HR trends which will define 2019.

By “employee involvement”, we mean the emotional connection and commitment that employees have towards their organisation. When employees feel valued, they are more dedicated, and enthusiastic about their job, as well as about their colleagues and company. As a result, this will increase employee loyalty, performance and productivity.

Conversely, when employee involvement is poor, companies suffer.

Recently, G2Crew interviewed HR employees and other staff from different departments to get feedback and impressions about employee involvement.

The study showed that:

• 80% of the employees interviewed in HR believe that the use of HR technologies has improved the attitude of employees towards their company.
• 57% of HR employees strongly agree that employee engagement initiatives will help their company retain productive staff.

Most HR respondents believe that employee engagement is important for creating a thriving corporate culture. When employees are involved in the activities, everyone wins.

Human Resource departments, teams and staff oversee and offer comprehensive employee engagement programmes, starting in the recruitment phase.

Human Resource personnel will increasingly use employee engagement solutions to improve commitment and increase loyalty.

The challenge will be deciding which solutions will be the most useful for employees, companies and the corporate culture. Currently, the options for improving employee engagement are countless.

Human Resource personnel can use employee engagement software to solicit and track feedback from employees, measure their results and promote positive activities. Thanks to employee feedback, these tools make it possible to obtain useful suggestions on how to improve the involvement of staff within companies.

In addition to employee engagement software, there are a variety of solutions to foster employee involvement. These solutions provide continuous education and training, career development, employee recognition, as well as programmes on different subjects, such as physical, mental and financial well-being.

Corporate HR managers have a wide range of options for improving employee engagement and we can expect companies to make increasing use of them in 2019.

Gamification is a valuable tool for increasing employee engagement. Gamification platforms are able to create a captivating and involving gaming context, as well as to trigger the curiosity of employees.

Using these concepts within the company can have a positive impact on both the involvement and the performance of employees by increasing their spirit of play and fun.

An example of gamification within the corporate environment could be the application of game elements (such as cross-departmental rankings or project teams) to encourage teamwork and collaboration, which are key elements for achieving greater company competitiveness.

For organisations, this is a good opportunity for increasing profitability, productivity and product quality. At the same time, staff turnover, absenteeism and security related incidents will decrease.

In 2019, recruitment processes will be affected by the greatest change.

In fact, thanks to technology, HR staff can count on a variety of new tools and techniques to select, train and educate newly hired employees.

Social media, chatbots and artificial intelligence are among the most important innovations. In fact, these tools will be widely used in the human resource sector and will help HR managers in the recruitment phase.

Companies want their employees to maintain a high and consistent level of performance at work. Finding the workers who can easily adapt to an innovative context, whether or not it is already present in the company, is a top priority.

An emerging trend in human resources is not to wait for these types of employees to apply, but to recruit them directly.

Diversity has become a very important topic. Nowadays, it is believed to be an essential feature for improving a companies’ performance and corporate culture.

A survey in human resources, conducted by Harvey Nash, found that organisations are increasingly focusing on diversity by adopting inclusive policies aimed at gender, ethnicity, culture and age.

Yet, the implicit or unconscious prejudices still prevail during the initial screening process. In a recent application audit, researchers identified pervasive racial discrimination throughout the initial selection phases.

They found that applicants with “white-sounding” names have a 75% greater possibility of getting an interview, compared to identical applicants with an Asian name. Furthermore, they have a 50% greater possibility of getting an interview compared to identical profiles with a name which “sounds black”.

Moreover, applicants with traditional masculine names have a 40% greater chance of obtaining an interview than identical applicants with “feminine sounding” names.

There has been much criticism about this study, since it suggests that race and gender are concepts which can be identified solely according to a person’s name. However, it is a good starting point because it illustrates how unconscious prejudice may affect the recruitment process. Think of the most insidious ways in which it can influence recruitment, hiring, interviews, wage equity, career development and so on.

A recent report by McKinsey & Company found that gender and ethnic diversity in the workplace are positively related to profit. The biggest obstacle to creating a diverse workforce is in identifying one’s prejudice, recognising it as existing, and taking appropriate measures to reduce or, even better, removing it from the recruitment process.

More and more often, companies are setting targets for diversity that HR staff and recruitment managers have to meet. In order to do this, they will have to start by designing clear roadmaps to achieve gender, ethnic, cultural and generational diversity. Fortunately, there are an increasing number of technological solutions to help HR personnel.

If they want to reduce the level of sex, race, age and social class discrimination in the recruitment process, HR personnel can implement a variety of tools to select, recruit, interview and assess candidates. Nowadays, companies have an increasing number and variety of these tools at their disposal.

The recruitment process has always been a reaction to an existing condition: a new employee is sought when there is a vacancy inside the company.

Now there is an emerging trend, which is certain to become very popular in 2019: companies will promote themselves as “places for talents” by using marketing techniques aimed at making the organisation more attractive.

The goal is to create the impression that the company is the perfect workplace, by involving users on social media, paying attention to their online reputation and encouraging people to visit the corporate website. Users will learn about the company’s history and culture, encouraging them to apply to become part of the company.

As a matter of fact, more and more companies are focusing their recruiting strategies on the Web.

According to research carried out by the Society for Human Research Management, as early as 2015, 85% of HR professionals understood the crucial role of social media plays in recruitment, usually through LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and dedicated websites.

Social media can “bring” valid candidates, but there are some limitations. When it comes to identifying profiles that match the corporate culture (beyond the personal and professional qualifications), better results can be achieved by exploiting the data that you already have inside your company.

A predictive analysis can reduce the areas of uncertainty concerning a candidate’s background, as well as helping to identify the personal and professional qualities that will contribute to the company’s mission and profitability.

In a nutshell, predictive analysis uses historical data to predict future results, a bit like Google does when we search something: it shows increasingly accurate results by taking into account the history of your previous queries.

Chatbots, a form of artificial intelligence, represent another important trend in the field of Human Resources. Many vendors are already incorporating chats into their HR management systems to provide answers to employee requests.

Chatbots can answer questions related to payments, holidays, social benefits and legal rights, therefore obviating the need for HR departments to repeat things.

Chatbots can be seen as self-service platforms, which allow HR staff to deal with more complex problems and urgent questions requiring immediate attention.

Every year, robotics continue to evolve in terms of diversity of tasks and capabilities.

The most discussed example is the self-driving car, but it is possible that, in the future, robots will become means for storing and sharing internal information. As a matter of fact, they speed up communication and increase productivity by providing instant access to the right data at the right time.

Oracle has created Chatbot virtual assistants which are capable of performing various tasks; including the ability to easily process an order for business cards.

The Bot is able to automatically create a virtual preview of the business card, including the name, business function and contact details, and then elaborate it. The most interesting part is that all is done within a few seconds, thanks to a communication system which is similar to an SMS.

It is not difficult to imagine how to use an AI application to help employees monitor and correct their data in an HR system or to look at their previous performance reviews.

Of course, Chatbots have some limits, which is why the most complex cases are passed on to a “real” person in the HR team.

AI and chatbots will never replace HR completely.

As we have said before, they simply represent powerful technologies that are able to reduce the administrative burden of the HR team, allowing the team to focus on strategic initiatives, and to develop and use their primary skills.

Certainly, social media improve the corporate appeal, but there also exists a tool that can support the process of attracting and selecting new personnel, which is going to have an increasingly significant impact in the near future: gamification.

In fact, many companies are looking for employees who are capable of bringing innovation to their company; yet few of them have implemented selection and recruitment procedures to find these people.

Gamification, through its use of challenges and adventures, can be an ideal way of identifying and acquiring the talent you are looking for.

Marriot, the well-known hotel company, has been a pioneer in testing gamification in the recruitment process.

The company created “My Marriot”, an online game – similar to Farmville and The Sims – in which players face the typical responsibilities and duties of a hall director, such as deciding on the amount of meat or fish to order and managing difficult clients.

Recruitment personnel at Marriot are, therefore, able to analyse potential candidates while they play, checking if they have the right skills and abilities to become a hall director.

Only the players who are able to cope with stress and offer timely service to their clients are invited for an interview with the company’s HR department.

The new industrial revolution is based on artificial intelligence.

Companies are increasingly taking advantage of AI technology to manage the amount of data available, improve internal workflows and increase productivity, yet there is more to it than this.

By integrating HR technologies with AI, companies can also improve the experience of their employees.

Artificial intelligence is able to improve the entire life cycle of the employee, starting with their recruitment in the application phase.

AI technology can help companies treat their candidates and employees as if they were loyal customers. It improves the employee experience, increases involvement and enhances corporate culture.

Machine learning, which is a way to apply AI, uses data to learn, identify patterns and make decisions. These tools reduce the amount of human energy needed to perform a job quickly and effectively; meanwhile, both response time and access to information improve.

Employees have increasing expectations of their employers; fortunately, the combination of machine learning and HR technologies has arrived at the perfect time.

A common thread that ties all these trends in HR together is artificial intelligence.

It helps to engage employees, fight unconscious prejudices and expand the concept of HR well-being. By using machine learning as a service, all these HR processes are simplified. It is easier to carry out “blind” hiring processes and identify recurrent applicants.

In the case of “blind” recruitment, for example, AI can help remove unconscious prejudice during the process, from the selection stage to the interview.

Artificial intelligence can be used to avoid unconscious prejudices by ignoring information such as names, universities, places and dates of previous jobs. However, these systems are still based on a human decision-making process, and therefore requires constant innovation.

When artificial intelligence systems learn from old systems or people (who are subject to unconscious prejudice), they risk inheriting and applying these prejudices in the recruitment process, thus end up being ineffective.

AI can learn the most frequently asked questions and respond with automated answers, thereby reducing the time that HR staff must devote to reviewing and responding to employee requests.

Furthermore, artificial intelligence is implemented through applicants tracking systems (ATS), which are commonly used to simplify the process of application analysis. These systems reduce the time that HR and recruitment staff must devote to this small, yet fundamental part of the recruitment and hiring process. ATS can be programmed to evaluate the application that best fits the criteria for the position. They can also be used to reduce prejudice.

AI-oriented technologies will continue to improve and flourish in the HR sector. Due to the growing demand for these technologies, there will be more innovations in the coming year.

Many companies use artificial intelligence-based HR software to create algorithms to identify ideal candidates, according to the characteristics they need.

One example is Hi-Q Labs, an application that connects a person’s LinkedIn profile with their Twitter followers and uses this analysis to see if that person is interested in changing his/her job.

The algorithms used by Hi-Q Lab and other HR software also evaluate the way people communicate: they judge their writing skills to see if they are capable of performing at a high level.

As far as artificial intelligence is concerned, in 2019 there will be more attention paid to its practical uses in the real world.

It is no longer sufficient to state that technology is a necessary condition to implement machine learning: it will also be necessary explain it in details and list the problems it can solve.

This is because of the need to find a balance between men and machines in the work environment. Many robots and other tools are making some processes automatic, but what about humans? Will they be replaced completely?

This is a critical issue for entrepreneurs, who must be careful not to over-automate their flows and processes as it may reduce the experience of candidates, employees and customers.

In trend N° 2, we discussed the employee selection process. If we travel further along the life cycle path of the employee; we will come to the point at which employees feel stable within the company.

In 2019, developments in technology will mean that there will be great changes in this phase of the employee’s life cycle.

The main trends of concern to the employee relate to:

• Continuous performance monitoring
• Employee welfare and education programmes
• Vocational training programmes

We will see a new trend which will lead to the progressive abandonment of long-standing practices, such as annual reviews of employees’ performance.

In fact, data will be used to monitor employee performance on a constant basis.

Companies believe that the constant involvement of employees promotes honest feedback, better performance and a better attitude.

HR software such as BetterWorks, High Ground and Lattice automate the review process and allow managers and employees to proactively share data and set goals, while providing immediate feedback on work performance at the same time.

Therefore, the software encourages dialogue among employees, allows them to have a clear vision of their objectives, while motivating them to achieve them.

For years, companies have tried to increase employee productivity by hiring workers who have the same work experience and educational background as the most successful employees.

Now, the analytical capabilities of HR technology are starting to provide a clear view of some of the aspects that used to be difficult to recognise and track.

These new programmes can identify the project candidates have worked on, who they worked with and, as well as their personal thoughts and “feelings”.

Effective performance measurement is a fundamental issue, both for understanding the employees and for determining their value to the company.

This is why employers use new technologies for continuous performance monitoring. As the name suggests, they measure performance on an ongoing basis and provide feedback in real-time, instead of conducting an annual appraisal at the end of the year.

According to a study on wellbeing in the workplace, over 90% of companies offer at least one welfare initiative, and over 60% have budgets for employee welfare programmes.

Among these, 51% expect welfare budgets to increase over the next two years.

For many companies, fitness trackers are the most popular program.

In order to provide a complete solution for corporate wellbeing, companies will increase their budget for their employees’ welfare by improving their access to digital solutions.

Companies will focus on emotional wellbeing initiatives by providing stress management workshops and meditation rooms, as well as by raising awareness on work-life balance.

Companies will also be able to use wellbeing apps to promote solutions among their employees.

Not only will these solution reduce employee burnout, but they will offer holistic wellbeing solutions to improve their health and overall balance.

Wellbeing is a fundamental element for a positive, engaging and inclusive corporate culture and corporate welfare initiatives will continue to grow in 2019.

Even small businesses must have a clearly defined welfare policy at work, covering both physical and mental health problems. They should also allow employees to find time to get away from work and participate in recreational activities, which are capable of energising both the body and the mind.

There are no complete productivity and cultural ecosystems without an employee welfare policy.

Gartner predicts that by 2025, devices such as FitBit will be pervasive in our society. Moreover, they will significantly change the behaviour and productivity in the workplace by allowing companies to monitor the health and safety of its employees.

Wearable devices embedded in clothes and on head-mounted displays – even sensors on the skin – will provide a new way to monitor employees’ productivity and, ultimately, to improve their work performance.

Automation and artificial intelligence have reduced the need for physical labour and have caused a sense of job insecurity among workers.

We are currently witnessing an increasing collaboration between humans and machines, which will characterise the workplace of the future.

In order to facilitate this interaction, it is essential that HR departments prepare their employees for these changes.

The up-skilling process involves employees who can upgrade their position inside the company through training, learning and self-development, and will require the right support and guidance.

Thanks to this process, HR managers will be able to see how the goals and the motivations of their employees change over time. They can then pursue increased mobility, and improve the organisational performance.

When it is carried out properly, business training helps employees develop their skills so that they can meet the future needs of the company and the market.

Technology is helping HR departments reduce the cost of employee training by offering job-specific education programmes at an appropriate time.

Expensive off-site training sessions belong to the past, as they are increasingly being replaced by learning software programmes, together with free videos that can be adapted to certain skill sets.

These digital tools allow employees to learn about their work, both on-site and outside the office.

Learning processes and skill development used to be expensive, sometimes they were not even helpful, but now informal learning programmes are focused on specific goals, which can also be used on a mobile device.

Gamification can also make a significant contribution to training and learning processes.

The use of gaming concepts in the learning process allows us to leave behind the traditional teaching systems, which are based on boring methodologies, and will allow us to improve our abilities and skills more efficiently.

If designed appropriately, gamification allows employees to develop their skills, and allows them to fail or make mistakes within a “safe environment”.

The case of Deloitte is particularly interesting: they used gamification techniques to reinforce their leadership training programme.

Deloitte did have a leadership training programme for senior management, but it was difficult to encourage managers to start and complete it.

With the help of a qualified supplier, the company introduced gaming elements into the programme such as badges, rankings and status symbols which measured the level of participation and completion of courses by managers.

What was the result?

The average time taken to complete the training programme dropped by 50%, and daily users of the website increased by 46.6%.

The Deloitte case shows that Gamification represents an enormous opportunity for company training and, in particular, for e-learning.

Compared to serious or business games, gamification can reduce costs and development times, so that the ROI will also be higher.

Another great opportunity for companies is the possibility to update existing e-learning projects with gamification dynamics.

Companies are becoming more aware of the fact that the HR staff often perform too many activities. When the initiatives planned for the personnel are too numerous, they become unmanageable.

Today, employees and senior managers have a new goal: being more effective, but making less effort.

In 2019, this trend is set to increase within the area of HR: companies will focus on the core tasks of HR, so that they can perform their work in the best way.

How can this be achieved? Let’s look at some ideas.

By having a small human resources department, you can have a team which focuses on the objectives, works well and achieves the goals you set.

If work have a big team, you often need many meetings, and sometimes this ends up being unprofitable or increasing some people’s workload.

The result is a waste of time for everyone.

A small team, on the other hand, allows you to keep the focus on the really urgent problems, to have fewer meetings for updating and coordination, to save time and to be more effective.

Nowadays, there are numerous applications and technologies available in the area of HR which can simplify the life of personnel managers.

Some software allows you to collect relevant information about all your employees worldwide, so that you can draft punctual HR reports.

It also supports predictive analytics and guides human resource workflows, such as performance management and talent identification.

This kind of software is still a dream for some companies, but there are other simple solutions which can help you in your activities: Evernote and Wunderlist are two examples.

As we said, holding many meetings is not very effective. At Amazon, for example, they start each meeting with 30 minutes of silence.

During this silence, participants read a 6 page summary (the “narration of the meeting”) written by the event’s coordinator (it is a summary, not a PowerPoint presentation). This memo contains the objectives of the meeting and the necessary background, so that participants have access to the same informational. The Amazon approach has several advantages:

• The quality of the meetings increases
• The number of meetings decreases.

Why don’t you try the Amazon approach?

A trend likely to increase dramatically in 2019 is for companies to implement blockchain technology in payroll management.

There is much talk about this in the HR sector.

Experts and researchers are divided between those who believe that this technology is emerging, and those who argue that the use of these systems is only a possibility for now.

Whatever the future, it is clear that such a trend deserves our attention.

For those who do not know what we are referring to, the blockchain is a huge public register, i.e. a database, which uses peer-to-peer technology. Anyone can view the transactions or download them. It is a proper network node.

In other words, it is like an accounting book where all the transactions, which have been made using Bitcoin since 2009, are recorded. All transactions are registered by two entities, the miners and the nodes.

This system can be verified by anyone, it doesn’t need intermediations, third party controls or banks’ approval.

There are numerous advantages in accepting cryptocurrency payments for companies, businesses, online activities and professional offices:

• Access to a global payment system without territorial limits;
• Reduction in commission and / or collection costs;
• Immediate and secure transactions, without any possibility of fraud;
• Invoices and receipts can be in euro;
• Increased commercial visibility: both physically and online
• Increased speed compared to traditional methods

Some companies are already implementing this payment system in their company.

The Ultracopier company, which develops file copying software, uses this system as they consider it a valid method to cut salary-related expenses.

Being an internationally based company, it has to bear significant commission costs ($ 30-50 per transaction) when making payments from Europe to the US.

The new system allows them to cut all input and output costs by 64%.

Data analysis used to be an activity for specialists and data analysts. Today, it is not just a limited managerial discipline. Actually, it has become a business in itself.

In 2019, companies will be increasingly oriented to analysing everything about people, by integrating information and data collected from multiple sources and channels.

The people analysis team will be responsible for the development of models and dashboards which can fill communication gaps between heads of departments and managers.

Governance teams will be set up to ensure the security,privacy and coordination of employees’ data. They will not just draft simple reports, they will generate real insights that can be used to support decisions about people.

In 2018, we saw the first steps of this trend, while in 2019, we will see its real power.

The technological evolution and the ever increasing importance of Big Data are forcing researchers and HR experts to deal with new demands.

HR Analytics, also known as Talent Analytics, concerns the application of sophisticated Data mining and Business analytics processes to human resources.

The HR sector will have to deal with statistical analysis. The insights gained will be used to influence strategic decisions in a given professional sector, allowing them to benefit from many competitive advantages.

Data mining and Business Analytics are nothing more than techniques aimed at automating, optimising and forecasting business trends and future results. The available data will be used to improve real-time decisions within applications and business processes.

The objective of HR Analytics is to provide and analyse the statistics needed to efficiently manage human resources within a company.

ERP systems and HR information Systems generally have vast personnel databases which can be used to make strategic decisions.

The main elements to be assessed are:

• Employee involvement
• Performance analysis
• Level of experience
• Wages of workers
• Training
• Organisational efficiency

Through data collection, it will be possible to make forecasts for the company’s turnover and risk management assessments, as well as analysing employees’ contribution schemes.

AT&T and Google have provided us with some good examples. They both have abandoned a widespread tendency, which is to hire employees coming from the best academies and universities. As a result of their quantitative analyses, they have found that initiative and entrepreneurial spirit bring – in percentage terms – better results than educational qualifications.

Many organisations spend most of their time reporting.

Reports are indispensable tools for a posteriori evaluations of company data, but they can only show and analyse previous periods of time.

It is equally important, especially in the field of human resources, to pay attention to assessments pertaining to the near future.

HR Analytics, a new professional tool in the human resources sector, makes it possible to carry out scientific assessments about a person’s talent, define skill requirements and match them to the candidate’s profile. It gives value to human capital, involves and motivates employees, identifies groups of individuals who may be involved in a similar activity, it studies which teams and type of person are most likely to work in groups, it carries out tests on candidates and much more.

This year, People Analytics, together with Big Data related to people (salaries, skills, hours of training, work performance, contribution, mobility, performance ratings, schooling, previous work experience and so on) will allow the development of algorithms and innovative mechanisms for choosing strategies and motivating staff, designing careers, investing in people and controlling costs.

In short, it will align with the company’s strategies.

However, quantitative data are not enough. The human dimension is still a fundamental factor when it comes to people interacting with each other.

Statistics can’t – on their own – determine strategic business choices in a fluid world of social interactions and individuals. Data scientists will not be able to do without evaluating socio-cultural trends, and the psychological and personal characteristics of employees. This virtuous process will combine data analysis and qualitative evaluations relating to human data.

In this article, we have listed the main technological changes that are most likely to develop during 2019.

However, we would like to highlight one last trend, and reminds us of one of the most important aspects of HR: the importance of people.

In fact, the expectations we place on technologies are often too high. In this regard, we should remember certain facts.

First, people’s behaviour is often unpredictable; even if we have a great deal of information about them.

Even in the football sector, for example, where a lot of data is collected both on and off the field, it is very difficult to predict the success of players.

Again, we should ask ourselves to what extent managers behave rationally when they make decisions. All human beings tend to have cognitive prejudice, which influences the way they interpret the results of an analysis of the workforce. Psychological knowledge is essential.

Finally, despite the developments of AI, which are developing very quickly, there are still many areas and activities where artificial intelligence has great difficulty in monitoring the performance and results of human beings.

The trends we have analysed are all linked by a fundamental thread.

In the area of HR, keeping up with new technological innovations is not enough. As a matter of fact, it is necessary to have a clear vision of how they can affect behaviour, involvement and motivation of a company’s personnel.

Assuming that a new technology works because it is innovative and, perhaps, because it has already been successfully tested by other companies is profoundly wrong. People are always the starting point.

Being constantly updated remains an essential prerogative for every company, but in the area of HR it will also be necessary to pay attention to:

1. Employee involvement

Keeping employee engagement high will be a key element for the near future. Many studies have shown that greater involvement leads to a better work performance, better productivity and a better corporate culture.

These are essential elements where the goal is to build a thriving, solid and highly productive company.

Today, technology allows us to have numerous tools, which provides solutions for training, continuous training, career development, employee recognition, and the creation of programmes on topics such as physical, mental and financial wellbeing.

However, all these tools will only work if the staff is motivated enough to use them.

2. New ways to manage the selection and training processes

In 2019, the sector which will be most affected by innovation will be the selection and training process.

Technology is offering solutions that are able to ensure impartial processes without prejudice; thus resulting in considerable time savings for employees.

The goal for every organisation that aims at excellence is to have the best candidates available: technology helps to cross-reference users’ social profile data to find “the perfect candidate”.

3. Employee training

Today, offering a salary is no longer enough: employees are interested in feeling part of a community, developing a corporate culture and improving their skills.

That’s why training will be another element to invest in: by educating employees, making them aware and able to master their sector, their self-esteem and satisfaction will increase. Moreover, the company will have skilled workers that are in step with the times.

4. Essentiality

On the one hand, 2019 will be pervaded by the multiplication of data and information, but which will also require a return to essentiality and “minimalism”.

It is paramount to re-establish small organised teams that can avoid dispersion of time, energy and productivity.

5. Data and People Analytics

The analysis of people’s data has developed significantly in 2018. In 2019, it will certainly lead to other innovations and best practices.

Applications and software will be able to collect and analyse people’s data in order to manage human resources effectively and efficiently.

It will become increasingly easier for companies to assess employees, motivate human capital, involve employees, as well as to identify groups of people and unequal treatment.

6. People

Technological innovation will be one of the cornerstones of trends in HR during 2019, but will need to be combined with attention to employees’ personal development and growth.

Machines, artificial intelligence and data are all elements that can facilitate activities and analysis; but the HR sector is made up of individuals, so care and attention to people will be essential in maintaining a healthy company.

The situation seems to be clear for anyone working in HR.

Managing and supporting employees in a fast-changing and innovative environment is a challenging process, where it is often difficult to make the right decision.

This is even more evident when the company has a wide range of activities to focus on, from managing relations with unions, and relationships with strategic stakeholders to payroll management.

Very often, there is not enough time to keep up with new developments in the HR field and to keep the board and employees informed.

For this reason, we have prepared for you this useful resource that will help you understand how digitisation and, above all, gamification can help you simplify your work.

How is it possible?

It is essential to know the most common mistakes made in the HR field and, to understand how their resolution can improve the results of your work.