Our recent HR Blog about the rise of the social enterprise defined this as the overarching theme of Deloitte's 2018 Human Capital Trends Report. The rise of the social enterprise reflects the fact that social capital is achieving a newfound status alongside financial and physical capital as a measure of the value of a business. This change is being driven by many factors, with trust being one of the leading metrics. Ernst & Young's global study on trust in the workplace poses the question 'could trust cost you a generation of talent?' The subtext being that businesses that don't take the trust issue seriously could suffer long-term consequences. Edelman's annual trust barometer for 2019 presents a more positive view for employers. Despite a high lack of faith in 'the system' and institutions overall, there is one relationship that remains strong, and that is the one individuals have with their employer. So how can HR Professionals ensure that these big picture signals aren't ignored in the rush to tick items off ever lengthening to do lists? Let's unpack the headlines so that you have a clear picture of how the world of work is evolving and which HR trends matter to your business in 2019.

There is a radical transformation taking place in the public's relationship to the organisations from whom they purchase products and services. As trust levels between the public and large institutions like Government continue to decrease, private sector businesses are being called on to fill the resulting gaps in social responsibility. In Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends Report, they make it abundantly clear that organisations are no longer assessed solely on traditional metrics such as financial performance, or the quality of their products or services. Rather, organisations today are increasingly judged on the basis of their relationships with their workers, their customers, and their communities, as well as their impact on society at large, transforming them from business enterprises into social enterprises. Forecasts indicate that this trend will continue to grow and that business would do well to take heed, take stock, and ensure that going forward, there are strategies in place to make the transition to being a social enterprise.

The way we work is in constant flux. Old assumptions about the best way to work are being questioned. New ways of doing business are being tested against productivity measures, return on investment and benefit to employees. A hot topic at the moment is the four day work week, but will it work for everyone? The reality is that absenteeism is a major ongoing problem in Australia. The rate of absenteeism across the country continues to rise, with as much as 5% of the Australian workforce calls in sick on any given day. To put it another way, this means that in a company with 20 employees, there will be one absence every single day. An unexpected employee absence can cost a business as much as $340 a day, while the annual cost to the Australian economy of lost productivity through absenteeism is a staggering $33 billion, with a total of 92 million working days being lost through unexpected absences. Whether it is a sign of entitlement or burnout, the impact these levels of absenteeism have on business are significant and some businesses are trying different ways of working in an effort to transform this challenge.

One of our most popular ever blog posts dates way back to 2013, and we've decided it is time to provide an update because the world of work is constantly evolving. In the world of work and HR best practice, a lot has changed in the last five years. The key risk areas for HR change through time, and the risk areas we identified almost 5 years ago are a little different to those HR Professionals face today. Whilst it is true that there are certain risks that remain a constant in HR operations, it is also fair to say that the changing nature of work introduces new risks all the time. The current pace of change makes it hard for HR to keep up. Outlined below are the 5 key risk areas we believe HR needs to pay attention to right now.

Our last post about the Digital Transformation of HR made it clear that no organisation, business, government or NGO, will be able to realise a successful digital HR transformation without putting people first and having those people onboard and committed to the process. Many of you know from experience that when things change too fast, or the change management process doesn't take into account the individuals impacted by change, (as well as their concerns), this can be a recipe for failure. From a broader perspective, a poorly executed change management process can potentially result in organisation-wide resistance, which is a disastrous outcome for the business. As the way we work makes it more possible for the HR department to make the transition from an overhead towards being a revenue generator, and as HR best practice continues to transform, we pose the question: 'Can technology transform HR from cost centre to profit centre'?

Digital transformation isn't just ubiquitous, it is ultimately unavoidable and quickly being absorbed into HR best practice. Twenty years from now, few aspects of the world of work will have escaped the digital revolution. But what exactly does it mean for HR, and how can such transformation be successfully implemented, both within the HR department and organisation wide? What we're really talking about here is a change management process. A process which HR Professionals and business leaders are often being called on to execute in a new and constantly shifting context. Not since the third Industrial Revolution has there been such a significant change in the way we work, meaning that lived experience of this type of quantum leap in workplace practices simply don't exist in boardrooms and leadership teams. That's why resources such as i-Scoop's 'Online Guide To Digital Business Transformation' are so valuable. The guide offers a highly educational deep dive into what digital transformation is, what it requires of businesses, and how to implement such transformation successfully. 

In our first blog for the year we explored the HR trends that matter to your business in 2018, as illustrated by Deloitte's Human Capital Trends report. In this post, we round out the HR landscape for 2018 by exploring the top 10 disruptions HR Professionals need to be aware of, this year and beyond. The new year is always a good time to pause for a moment, reflect on HR best practice and consider the trends and potential disruptions, and then set a course for the next 12 months.

At this time of year, we publish our annual round up of the HR trends for the year ahead. The reality is that it is becoming more and more difficult to accurately predict future HR trends because of the transformation taking place in the HR industry (and indeed, across all industries). However, there are a few annual reports that provide well researched, robust forecasts about the possible future direction of HR. One of those reports is Deloitte's annual Human Capital Trends report. Their 2017 report outlines the opinions and perspectives of over 10,000 HR and business leaders across 140 countries, so it offers an HR best practice perspective. Let's look at the most prevalent trends that emerged from Deloitte's 2017 report.