Future HR – platform HR 

What is the “right” set up of HR way forward given changing demands and needs – and thus a changing role of HR?Deloitte High impact HR differentiates 3 roles for HR:

Business HR is closest to the business, acting as the primary interaction with business leaders and managers …. HR Operational Services is the primary interaction with employees, applicants, and former employees. Communities of Expertise collaborate with Business HR as their primary customer, …, with HR Operational Services in delivery.

In everything, customer experience needs to come first: receiving end of the HR assignment are the HR customers, Deloitte continues in the same article:

HR customers … are placed at the center of the model … Understanding the needs across each segment of HR customers allows for consideration of ways to … deliver at the moments that matter within the HR customer life cycle.

Equally, in a recent article Platforms, and the future of HR: 3 principles to consider it is re-emphasized:

Workers have become “employee consumers” …To effectively attract and retain employees, HR needs to adapt to their consumerist tendencies.

Accenture also states this need for a clearer customer focus due to increasing customer expectations:

… Likewise, based on their experience as consumers, employees expect highly customized, engaging and relevant talent practices. 

Further on, Accenture depicts different possible models to organize HR way forward, depending strongly on the starting point and business environment:

• Just-in-Time HR Model
• Professional Services Model
• Talent Segmented Model
• Crowdsourced Model
• Lean HR Model
• Federated/ Decentralized Model

Each of these models is designed to suit different strategies, cultures and types of workforces, thus delivering a more flexible and strategically relevant HR. 

Yet, the core and decisive difference way forward is for HR to become a platform organisation Platforms, and the future of HR: 3 principles to consider

Toward that end, HR departments should create platforms that resemble those of the most successful technology companies. Indeed, the HR department of the future will likely have more in common with a ridesharing service or social networking company than, say, a drycleaner with a rigid service list.

For HR, this is a discovery journey.