HR evolution: The top tech and talent trends driving change in 2024 and beyond

The last few years have demonstrated the sheer speed of change and innovation within the workplace. While these advancements are very exciting, keeping pace can seem overwhelming.

HR leaders are expected to manage their day-to-day operations, ensure the wellbeing of their people, and stay abreast of industry trends and predictions – all while ensuring they’re strategically aligning their talent strategy to meet the ever-evolving demands of their organisations. No pressure, right?

Earlier this year, Cornerstone released its 2024 predictions report. The report, which was guided by input from partners, customers and industry leaders, provides actionable insights to help leaders understand emerging trends and strengthen their talent management programs in 2024 and beyond. Below are just some of the key predictions from the report that should be used to guide talent strategy.

AI will power more personalised employee experiences

It’s no surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) has been included in this report. It’s not just revolutionising the way the industry works – it’s revolutionising the way the world works. It’s prevalent through almost every trend we’re seeing and is shaping the future of employee experience.

According to a recent Deloitte study, only 38 per cent of companies use AI to its full potential in their talent programs. For HR and learning professionals, leveraging AI will be a key strategy for enhancing talent capability and fulfilling workforce deliverables. In 2024 and beyond, organisations will be using AI to match existing skills to content and to provide customised learning paths for their people – meeting them where they’re at and helping them get to where they want to go. Embracing AI will make it easier for employees to train efficiently and effectively, resulting in more agile and engaged workforces who are prepared to meet the demands of the organisation.

Enabling talent mobility

Internal recruiting and enabling talent mobility will be (and already is) huge in 2024 and for years to come. A key driver for top talent leaving their organisation is a lack of growth and development opportunities. With 73 per cent of employees wanting to know about career opportunities within their organisation, companies that provide their people with insights into open positions and gig projects, as well as the skills they need to move into these roles, will benefit from increased retention and engagement with their employees. In addition to this, they’ll have a compelling employee value proposition (EVP) for top talent to join the organisation when external recruitment is required.

Skills as a strategy

What skills do we have, and what skills do we need to meet the changing needs of the business? These are the questions being asked by more and more HR leaders as they grapple with the ongoing skills shortage and the ever-evolving skills ecosystem, where staying apace with skilling needs will be a challenge but also an opportunity for organisations to stay ahead of their competition.

To that point, high-performing organisations can identify skills across their workforce and proactively address gaps by transforming the organisation into a skills marketplace for workforce planning. Looking forward, hiring for skills and moving away from hiring for experience alone will be critical for strategic workforce planning.

Using technology to shape culture

Mature organisations are implementing a wide range of cutting-edge HR and talent technologies to drive their businesses forward. In these organisations, people see learning and knowledge sharing as strategic differentiators.

Leaders who leverage technology to provide the right content and opportunities to their people at the right time will help to build a positive workplace culture. When each employee has what they need for their own growth and development, the needs of both the individual and the organisation can be met simultaneously.

Another way in which HR tech will be used to shape culture is by leveraging predictive analytics to inform people and business strategy and anticipate future needs – taking the guesswork out of planning and setting everyone up for success.

What’s old is new again – OKRs are making a comeback in performance management

Having clear goals, metrics, and results has always been critical for effective performance conversations, but how these are being measured is changing. Objectives and key results (OKRs) were originally developed in the 1970s and, after being overshadowed by SMART goals for some time, they’re experiencing a strong resurgence.

Their ability to define an organisation’s objectives and align them with the broader workforce means we’re increasingly seeing these used as a framework to manage performance and goals.

What’s truly new is the shift toward aligning performance conversations to skills. In doing so, managers and employees can have more transparent discussions about what learning resources and content are needed to develop the skills required to meet objectives.

The above are just a few of the trends and predictions in this report and across the industry. With the rapid advancements in technology and a continuous desire to enhance employee experience to drive better performance, it’s an exciting time for HR to equip their organisations with the talent they need to lead them into the future.

Click here to access the full Cornerstone 2024 Predictions eBook.

Paul Broughton is the head of APJ at Cornerstone OnDemand.