Keeping an engaged and productive team is one of the most important goals at the forefront of human resources. However, elements like resource constraints, increased demands for hiring, and the isolation of remote work are constantly pushing back against your team. With the right strategy, your HR team can overcome these challenges and build an authentic and productive culture. Let’s talk about the most critical HR challenges you’re facing in 2024 and how you can overcome them.

The Future of HR

To understand some of the main challenges affecting HR, it’s essential to explore what the future holds and how we’re moving closer toward that future.

The Future of Work

According to Fractional People Leader and People Ops Consultant Vicky Yang, “the evolution of HR is really about the evolution of work, because how work changes is how HR will change.” Changing lifestyles, rising living costs, and increased demands for remote work force HR to adapt. Businesses now are much different than they were before, and it’s up to HR to adapt to keep up with those changes.

The Role of AI in HR’s Future

The most game-changing technology affecting industries everywhere is AI, and HR is no exception. HR departments are implementing AI technologies around the world to streamline their processes and make their companies more efficient.

AI has particularly lent a strong hand in radical transparency, a growing trend where organizations share information with their staff that can go beyond the norm. These businesses focus strongly on their organizational culture. They perform regular employee surveys, encourage open and honest communication, and take professional development seriously.

AI plays a strong role in radical transparency doctrine because it can be a fantastic tool in reducing bias, analyzing survey data, and helping teams communicate. Great HR teams know how to leverage AI in a way that promotes radical transparency, connect staff together, and make the entire organization more productive and socially sustainable.

Resource Constraints in HR

If your HR team is under-resourced, you’re not alone. According to a study by Workvivo, 73% US and UK HR teams don’t have the tools they need to succeed.

Resource constraints have forced HR leaders to adopt bricolage tactics to achieve their goals. One of the primary strategies that they adopt is setting clear leadership expectations. With limited resources, everyone needs to know their responsibilities and communicate about what needs to be done.

Another important strategy that HR leaders use in the face of limited resources is automation. By streamlining processes, organizations can accomplish tasks with less labor. With so much to do, this strategy not only makes businesses more productive and efficient, but also can improve the health and wellbeing of workers.

HR Consultant Miraque Hicks acknowledges that one of the biggest struggles in her role is the need for more resources. “As an HR team of 1, being under-resourced with large goals and needs is often a struggle,” she explains. “The best way to manage this is to set clear expectations with your leaders and leverage automation where possible.”

Solving HR Challenges with the Right Tools

Hiring new team members can have great benefits for your company with the right investment, time, and development. However, it’s not the magic bullet for all of your problems. Hiring is still expensive, and it’s worth looking at whether you can solve your current problems with the right tools first before deciding if it’s worth it to bring on a new team member.

You should be looking for tools that can help you make work processes easier and more efficient for your team. This can help your HR team and your entire organization get things done more easily and quickly, allowing you to focus on other tasks.

Integrating tools that help you create a fluid HR stack can be extremely valuable for your organization. For example, CultureBot is a fantastic internal communication tool that can help your HR team automate team surveys and raise your staff engagement. By engaging teams through where they work online with Slack, CultureBot can augment your HR team’s existing talent to gain valuable insights into how your teams are feeling, give them opportunities to engage and build a retention and wellbeing-focused culture.

Redefining the Role of HR

There are a lot of misconceptions about the goals and responsibilities of human resources. HR’s role is not just about paperwork and compliance, and it doesn’t just act in the company’s best interests. Although HR is a strategic partner of the organization, part of that process involves focusing on employee engagement and culture, as well as developing retention strategies. That means they can’t just have the business’s interests at heart, they need to care about the entire team as a whole.

Vicky Yang explains, “there’s a dichotomy between what companies think of human resources and what HR professionals think of human resources.” She also says that this “is why we’re seeing a lot of HR folks getting burned out, working at places that are not human centered, and it’s just exhausting.”

Meanwhile, Legion Technologies Employee Engagement Senior Director Traci Chernoff notes that “HR teams are often seen as a cost center. Even though that’s not true, when business leaders outside of HR believe that, they question why the business should spend more money on something that doesn’t ‘generate revenue.’ The thing is, HR teams absolutely impact revenue because when people are happy, the business is happy, more productive, and so are their customers.”

Turnover rates will decrease if employee engagement is emphasized. With a focus on professional development, existing team members will increase in skill and bring more value to the company. As a result, the entire organization benefits from a team-focused engagement strategy. Incorporating tools like CultureBot help advance these goals and meet employees where they’re at on platforms they use everyday like Slack.

Advice for New HR Professionals

There are a lot of challenges that you’ll face as a new HR professional stepping into an organization. Let’s talk about some advice we have for new HR professionals to help them navigate the latest challenges facing their teams this year.

Find Your Place in HR

There’s a lot to do in human resources and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Traci Chernoff acknowledges that the first year of being in an HR role can feel overwhelming or even boring depending on how you feel about administrative work. “Stick it out. Figure out what you do like and what you don’t like as fast as possible.” She also explains that you should “understand what trajectory you want to take. Do you really love process and operations? If yes, you may want to go into HR operations. If you get a lot of energy from talking to people, you may want to follow a generalist, manager, or ER specific route.”

Traci also suggests that if people and conversational skills aren’t your strong suits, an alternative path might be to pursue payroll or compensation and benefits roles.

Embrace Continuous Learning

Many organizations are monolithic — they expect employees to fill their specific role and never grow or change unless a major promotion occurs. However, HR professionals should instead look to a culture of continuous learning to engage their staff and give them opportunities to continue to add value to the company. Encouraging professional development and mentorship are great strategies to achieve this.

Build a Network of Mentors and Colleagues

Speaking of continuous learning, partnering your staff with mentors is a terrific way to work toward that objective. Allowing your teams to share expertise with one another will improve your organizational engagement, add new skills to your team’s arsenal, and improve your retention all in one fell swoop.

Understand Your Organization’s Unique HR Landscape

It’s critical to get the lay of the land in your organization when working as an HR professional. Take some time to understand how things are right now and look at your company’s strategic HR goals. Talk to other stakeholders around you to see how they feel about the state of the organization. See what tools your HR team currently uses to assess employee engagement and retention, monitor trends as much as possible.

Align HR Goals with Business Objectives

Consider the goals of the business and use those as a basis to create your goals as an HR professional. If the business’s goal is to increase its market share through expansion into regional markets, HR teams might want to focus on recruiting and retaining professionals with experience in regional market development. If recruiting isn’t in the budget, focusing on retaining experienced staff and professional development are the next best alternatives.

You’re Ready to Overcome 2024’s HR Challenges

Now that you’re armed with the information you need to succeed, you’re ready to take on HR challenges and help your organization succeed. Although the challenges you face might be overwhelming, with the right tools, your team can do anything you set your mind to. Resources like CultureBot can transform your Slack chats into engaging spaces where your team can connect, learn from each other, and be more productive. Learn more about how CultureBot can help your business by scheduling a 15-minute demo today.