Let’s make HR invisible

2012 was a big year for HR. It was so big, that several serious magazines used the phrase:”HR is hot”. Who would have thought HR could be one of the cool kids?

But now that all the excitement is gone, it is time to focus on what really matters: how to make HR work. Because acquisitions and new technologies are cool, but they don’t bring your workforce one step further.

That task is left to us – making sense out of all recent changes and making sure our company and workforce benefit from it. And that’s not so easy, because let’s face it: what is the business case behind cloud, mobile, analytics and social?

That’s why 2013 will be the year that HR has to build the foundation for the future. It’s actually creating solutions that fits your workforce’ needs, without being dazzled by the great features and wonderful interfaces and HR’s desire to make something big happen in order to get that much coveted seat at the table.

My suggestion? Simple usually works best.

Too often we focus on the coolness of new technology instead of focusing on the outcomes and how that that fits in with the business. Technology should not be cool, it should be a means to an end. It is there, it is expected and accessible and it simply has to work. We must learn how to manage and engage the workforce digitally and adapt our message accordingly. We need to get technology right in order to create a smarter workforce.

There is a book written by Donald Norman in 1999, titled the “Year of the Invisible Computer.” In his book, Norman predicted that technology would become invisible to the consumer, and his vision has become reality. People don’t spend time thinking about how much computing power sits in their pocket; instead, they appreciate the ease of looking up their work schedules when they are at home.

If you want to succeed in HR this year, you must be focused on workforce benefits and not on the technology you will be using. Let’s make HR invisible!