Dovetail Monthly News Roundup for HR Professionals #6 - Happy New Year!

2021: A New Beginning

In this month’s Dovetail Monthly News Roundup, we would like to start by wishing you a very Happy New Year, and look forward to a new beginning in 2021!

This issue takes a look at:

• the do's and don’ts of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) strategic planning
• the Sapient Insights 2020 - 2021 HR Systems Survey whitepaper
• the emergence of “Superteams”, a trend identified by Deloitte in their 2021 Human Capital Trends Report, and the use of AI Chabots as HR virtual assistants for employees
• Brian Kropp’s (Gartner) predictions for HR in 2021

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI): Strategic Planning

In How to Recognize a “Good” DEI Strategic Plan, Pam Jefford, Senior Partner at Sapient Insights Group, talks about “promising practices” that have the ability to completely transform our approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). She provides a comprehensive list of components of an evidence-based DEI plan, and related expected outcomes, along with a few potential pitfalls. She writes:

• A good plan will articulate the business impact on your company, uncover the stories in your workforce data, leverage innovative employee listening and communication tools, utilize technology to identify bias and encourage inclusive behaviors, and include a solid communication and change management plan.
• While some key pitfalls to avoid include hiring and promotion derailers, using common practices disguised as best practices, setting vague, unmeasurable, objectives, and implementing one-time training programs. To explore these ideas in more depth, click here to read the full article.

HR Systems Survey by Sapient Insights Group

Sapient Insights Group also publishes the influential annual HR Systems Survey, now in its 23rd year of publication. This year’s Sapient Insights 2020–2021 HR Systems Survey White Paper is the latest installment in their ongoing effort to provide data and information directly from the practitioner’s, or Voice of the Customer, perspective . It covers adoption and trends, deployment methods, Voice of the Customer feedback, expenditures, and value achieved for the following categories of applications:

• Core HR
• Service Delivery
• Time Management
• Talent Management
• Analytics and Planning
• Emerging Technology

Throughout the report, Sapient suggests implications and recommendations for both practitioners and providers. Additionally, they cover adoption and change management practices throughout these system topic areas:

• HR Systems Strategies
• Service Delivery Models
• Selections
• Implementations
• Maintenance
• Optimizations
• Vendor relationships

The Survey was conducted from May 11th to July 10th, 2020 and 1,900 unique organizations, 27 million employees and 64 countries were represented.

To download the full report click here.

Deloitte 2021 Global Human Capital Trends: Superteams

In 2021 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte reports on the trend for ​“Superteams”; groups of people and intelligent machines working together to solve problems, gain insights, and create value, which it believes are the next step in AI’s continuing integration into the world of work. 

“As the world emerges from the pandemic, organizations have an opportunity to use what they have learned to multiply the value of teams even further. The next frontier in teaming is superteams: combinations of people and technology leveraging their complementary capabilities to pursue outcomes at a speed and scale not otherwise possible.”

Deloitte 2021 Global Human Capital Trends

Click here to download the full report.

Chatbots for HR Services

One area where advances in technology and AI is having an impact in HR Service Delivery is with the introduction of rules-based and conversational AI chatbots. Both these types of Chatbots serve as an HR virtual assistant that helps employees get answers to their questions quickly and efficiently. They provide the solution to the problem of employees spending many hours each month searching for basic company-related information. HR chatbots can help employees become more productive and, as a result, more satisfied. Contact us at Dovetail Software if you would like to learn more about how the latest advances in chatbot technology can help transform your HR Services team into a “Superteam”.

2021 Predictions for HR

The challenges and changes brought about by COVID-19 in 2020 are setting next year up to be another of transformation. That's according to Brian Kropp, chief of HR research at Gartner (as reported in the HR Executive). Kropp’s top predictions for the world of HR in 2021 include:

1. There will be a shift from managing the employee experience to managing the life experience of your employees
2. More companies will adopt stances on the societal and political debates of the day (read last month's News Roundup for more on this)
3. The gender-wage gap will increase in 2021 as employees return to work at the workplace
4. The significant increase in employee-monitoring technology will be met with new regulations limiting what employers can track about their employees
5. Flexibility moves from location to time, as the next wave of flexibility will be around giving employees flexibility over “when” they work
6. As the labor market improves and recruiting ramps back up, the two-class system within companies, between knowledge workers and everyone else, will only intensify
7. Leading companies will make bulk purchases of the COVID vaccine to distribute to their employees
8. Employers will be sued over COVID vaccine requirements
9. Mental health support becomes the norm
10. The buy-versus-build talent calculus will shift to more buy and rent and less build
11. States will start to compete to attract individual talent to their borders rather than competing for companies to relocate to their states

Click here to find out more about these 2021 trends.

That's all folks for this issue. Stay safe and have a great start to 2021!