When you think of the flashiest and sexiest departments in your organization, what do you think of? It’s probably not HR or IT, but as the workplace continues to change, these two areas are right in the middle of the evolution, making them two of the best places to be.
Human resources has long been the place you go for hiring and firing, a legacy job function that seemed rather dull. But today’s HR departments are focused on more than just bringing in talent; they want to make sure employees stay with the company and are engaged. The future of work is largely about people—finding and retaining the best employees and creating an empowering employee experience—and HR is at the center of it all. Companies around the world have embraced the new face of HR with great success. At LinkedIn, HR runs programs to reward employees for their dedication to the company and even hosts massive company-wide parties on a regular basis. Employees are encouraged to think outside the box and collaborate, and innovation is engrained in the corporate culture. It must be working—LinkedIn has a low turnover rate and has been ranked one of the best places to work. At Nissan, HR is helping improve company openness with transparent salary scales and a redefined org chart. HR also works with management to train them towards full autonomy in recruiting and building their own teams, which gives each team ownership over their projects and allows them to customize the experience to best fit their needs. The beauty of the new look of HR is that it can customize its programs and offerings to meet the needs of the employees and provide a supportive and encouraging work environment.
Another exciting job function is IT. This department can do more than just reset a password or fix a computer virus. With technology growing at a rapid pace, IT departments are now becoming more business savvy and playing a larger strategic role in the organization. Without the right new technology in place, the future of work isn’t possible. As IT works to find the right technology to meet a company’s goals, they also empower employees by giving them the tools they need to best complete their jobs. A powerful, evolved IT department can be felt throughout the organization, from employees to customers. Marriott turned to its IT department when it wanted to build a way to offer more personalized search results for online customers. The department created a taxonomy-based application that uses a customer’s rewards program log in to provide the program with personal information and search engine data for a more customized experience. Early tests of the program showed a 250% improvement in bookings per click, and Marriott believes it can lead to sustained strong results. Allstate recruited its IT department to create a mobile app to help employees do their jobs better. Teams of employees created and coded apps of their choosing to enter into a company-wide contest. The best apps were implemented to help insurance agents better reach customers and increase their efficiency. The new technology provides employees the tools they need to be successful at their jobs, which is a huge step in the future of work. The completely reinvented IT department can be seen in many companies and now works to connect and engage the entire organization.
There’s never been a better time to be involved with HR or IT. Long thought of as outdated organizations, these groups are now proving they can build relationships, create strategies, and transform the way we work for the better.
What do you think are the sexiest job roles?
My new book, The Employee Experience Advantage (Wiley, March 2017) analyzes over 250 global organizations to understand how to create a place where people genuinely want to show up to work. Subscribe to the newsletter here.
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