As a training consultancy, MDA Training is at the forefront of what is on the minds of HR professionals moving into a new decade. This is because often, HR professionals see training as an important tool in addressing their key concerns.

With this in mind, here are five areas where many HR professionals will find themselves focusing on in 2024 and beyond:

A shift to inclusion

If ever there was a trend that dominated the last few years across all industries, it was diversity. Attracting the right mix of talent and people changes the way organisations think and behave. However, creating an inclusive environment is essential to make sure the right mix of people stay.

By thinking beyond the hiring process, HR professionals will not only increase retention rates, but will make it easier to attract talent moving forward.

A focus on wellbeing

Wellbeing isn’t merely a focus on physical wellbeing. It also includes the elements of career, social, financial and community wellbeing. A 2019 survey by Gallup suggests only 12% of employers in the U.S offer wellbeing programmes. This is despite the evidence being conclusive – companies that address employee wellness in its totality achieve business results that are far better than average.

In 2024 and beyond HR professionals will find themselves spending more time getting leadership support, training managers, and creating a highly communicative environment in order to develop significant wellbeing initiatives.

Moving to personalised learning experiences

Rather than treating employees in organisations as a collective, HR professionals will be looking at individualising learning experiences. An initiative one employee likes or needs is likely to differ from the ones their colleagues want or need.

Organisations may well pick themes to focus on, such as improving communication or developing technical skills, but HR professionals will then look for ways to personalise learning journeys. Often the use of technology will be an integral part of the solutions. Gamification, social learning, adaptive learning and microlessons will give HR professionals in 2024 more opportunity than ever before to achieve effective personalised learning paths.

Creating informal learning opportunities

Taking personalised learning experiences to the next level will see HR professionals exploring how to implement everyday learning experiences at an appropriate point in time. It makes a huge difference moving from an employee actively searching for a learning module they need to have appropriate suggestions appear when they are required.

Josh Bersin calls it ‘Learning in the work of flow’. A manager with a scheduled meeting in Outlook with an underperforming team member is offered a module “how to deal with underperforming employees”. An employee stuck in designing a difficult Excel macro; the Excel chatbot asks you: “Can I help you to design the macro?”

Dealing with data

HR professionals have a deluge of information available at their fingertips, including employee demographics, recruitment data, and performance KPIs.

However, too much data can cause confusion or “paralysis by analysis.” Effective HR professionals leverage data, but they still check in with their intuition. When your instinctual guttural reaction defies the data, I recommend looping in another decision-maker or adding another step in the selection process. Realise that data, at the end of the day, is imperfect – play it safe when it comes to your people.

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Author: Ryan Spendelow