Summer 2016
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CTDO Magazine

Design Takes Top Spot of Talent Trends

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Annual report reveals the top 10 priorities of business and HR leaders.

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Fast-moving global markets, digital disruption, and a multigenerational workforce are just a few factors forcing companies to innovate. To help executives understand the challenges facing their organizations, Deloitte surveyed about 7,000 people in more than 130 countries for its annual Human Capital Trends Report. Not surprisingly, core talent functions such as culture, leadership, engagement, and learning round out the top 10 trends. However, some may be shocked to see that a perennial favorite—performance management—was knocked off in 2016.

Interestingly, a few new contenders made the list. Rocketing to the top spot of the 2016 rankings is organizational design, and design thinking comes in at number 6. "After three years of struggling to drive employee engagement and retention, improve leadership, and build a meaningful culture, executives see a need to redesign the organization," says Deloitte.

Let's take a closer look at the top 10 trends.

#1. Organizational design: Rise of teams

As companies strive to become more agile and customer-focused, it's clear that the traditional hierarchy isn't cutting it. Instead, organizations are shifting their structures toward interconnected, flexible teams, notes the report. More than nine out of 10 executives surveyed (92 percent) rate organizational design as a top priority, and nearly half report their companies are either in the middle of a restructuring (39 percent) or planning one (6 percent). Deloitte explains that more companies are modeling a "network of teams," in which companies build and empower teams to work on specific business projects and challenges.

#2. Leadership awakened: Generations, teams, science

Once again, the need to strengthen organizational leadership takes the number 2 spot, with 89 percent of executives ranking it an important priority. For the 2016 data, more than half of those surveyed (56 percent) say that their companies are not ready to meet leadership needs. Meanwhile, only 7 percent state that their companies have accelerated leadership programs for Millennials.

Deloitte opines that "Organizations need to raise the bar in terms of rigor, evidence, and more structured and scientific approaches to identifying, assessing, and developing leaders, and that this process needs to start earlier in leaders' careers."

#3. Shape culture: Drive strategy

Last year, "culture and engagement" was ranked the most important issue overall. For 2016, Deloitte asked executives about culture and engagement separately. The result? Both were ranked near the top of the importance list. For this survey, Deloitte defined culture as "the way things work around here," and 86 percent of respondents cited culture as an important or very important issue. However, fewer than one in three executives (28 percent) report that they understand their organization's culture.

#4. Engagement: Always on

Engagement, which Deloitte describes as "how people feel about the way things work around here," remains an important talent development trend, with 85 percent of the executives polled ranking it a top priority. The report states, though, that the world of employee engagement surveys is being replaced by "employee listening" tools such as pulse surveys, anonymous social tools, and regular feedback check-ins by managers. Deloitte notes that these new approaches and tools have even given rise to a new role: the employee listening officer.

#5. Learning: Employees take charge

Learning moved up the list in 2016. Deloitte believes the reason 84 percent of execs rank learning important is because it helps drive employee engagement and strong workplace culture. Learning opportunities are "part of the entire employee value proposition, not merely a way to build skills," Deloitte asserts.

What's more, companies seem to be progressing with the adoption of new technologies and new learning models. For example, the percentage of companies that feel comfortable incorporating massive open online courses (MOOCs) into their learning platforms rose to 43 percent from 30 percent last year.

#6. Design thinking: Crafting the employee experience

Design thinking is another new entry to the list this year, but it is a response to the "overwhelmed employee," which was a key challenge identified two years ago, as well the need to "simplify the work environment" that was highlighted in the 2015 data.

Developed by IDEO founder David Kelley, design thinking is defined as "a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success." Deloitte explains that instead of building programs and processes, innovative talent leaders are developing apps and tools to help make employees less stressed and more productive.

#7. HR skills: Growing momentum toward a new mandate

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More than two-thirds of respondents (68 percent) report that their companies have solid development programs for HR professionals. In addition, four out of 10 executives say their companies are ready to address the skills gaps in HR—an increase of 30 percent over 2015. This is real progress. According to Deloitte, "HR teams are learning to experiment with new ideas; they are making significant steps to upgrade skills; and a new generation of younger, more business-savvy and technology-empowered people is entering the profession."

#8. People analytics: Gaining speed

Emerging technology is enabling more data-driven HR decisions, and a majority of companies are taking note. More than three-quarters of executives now rate people analytics as a key priority, saying that their companies are building people analytics teams and replacing legacy systems.

Even better, 44 percent of those surveyed are now using workforce data to predict business performance, up from 29 percent last year. Deloitte believes that companies are entering a "golden age" of people analytics, with many leveraging internal and external data to predict workforce trends and target top talent.

#9. Digital HR: Revolution, not evolution

Is HR primed to revolutionize its processes, systems, and organizations to adopt new digital platforms, apps, and ways of delivering HR services? For the most part, the answer is yes.

Deloitte reports that 42 percent of companies are adapting their existing HR systems for mobile, device-delivered, just-in-time learning; 59 percent are developing mobile apps that integrate back-office systems for ease of use by employees; and 51 percent are leveraging external social networks in their own internal apps for recruitment and employee profile management.

#10. The gig economy: Distraction or disruption?

To meet heightened talent needs, more organizations are leveraging the part-time and contingent workforce. But only 11 percent of survey participants have complete management processes for this growing cohort of workers. Clearly, not all talent leaders are sure of how their companies can best use and schedule external staff to improve the productivity of their own workers and increase profitability, according to Deloitte.

Read more from CTDO magazine: Essential talent development content for C-suite leaders.

About the Author

Ryann K. Ellis is an editor for the Association of Talent Development (ATD). She has been covering workplace learning and performance for ATD (formerly the American Society for Training & Development) since 1995. She currently sources and authors content for TD Magazine and CTDO, as well as manages ATD's Community of Practice blogs. Contact her at [email protected]

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