In several parts of the world, work is slowly getting back to normal. (or as normal as it can be). From the way of work standpoint, many companies are saying they are not going back to the old ways.  This essentially means companies will launch several digital initiatives and accelerate several projects to support products to cater to the post covid world. There is only one way we can win in this post-Covid-19 world.  With the right talent that is agile, companies can adapt to digital initiatives quicker in an efficient manner. We have worked on several projects and engaged in beneficial conversations with several SVPs of HR.

One of the useful tools for both L&D and CHRO orgs is to evaluate which roles can transition into high demand and medium demand priorities.  To this effect, we have developed an index called the Reskilling Propensity Index.  This Reskilling Propensity index takes into account several factors, such as the following:

• Evidence from the labor market that such a transition is possible
• Availability of digital courses for transition
• Associated cognitive outputs for proper feedback throughout the journey
• Capture and removal of outliers (for example there may be a scenario that an HRBP transitioned to a data scientist, while we want to consider this, we do not wish to the model be heavily influenced by this as it may not be typical)
• Digital transformation within the role
• Similar parameters are modeled, and a dashboard like below is published.  This dashboard can be updated on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis to real-time model the needs

Enterprise functions such as F&A, HR adopting Agile practices is something several organizations are looking into.  This would mean running the tasks with Agile principles of daily standup meetings and having the roles of Scrum Maters within the teams.  Agile methodology in the non-tech world is not new, but this has come back to the fore due to the current pandemic and the need to imagine everything as a Product.  By breaking the whole function into Product and Sprint Cycles (even though you do not typically develop software products) gives you several advantages.  It also introduces some inefficiency and “getting ready” challenges.  But overall, this may provide you with control on productivity and product-centric approach with a philosophy of “all of us build products.”  This can be useful when implemented right.

Cisco has come up with some new jobs that may be interesting for you. Credit: Cisco

• Business translator: The business translator works to better turn the needs of the business into service-level, security, and compliance requirements that can be applied and monitored across the network. The translator also works to use the network and network data for business value and innovation, and their knowledge of networking and application APIs will help them glue the business to the IT landscape.
• Network detective: A network detective uses and tunes network assurance tools that employ advanced analytics and AI to ensure that the network delivers on business intent. They work with IT service-management processes and SecOps teams to identify network anomalies and close potential security holes.

Companies seem to have multiple analyst roles (Data Analyst, Business Analyst, IT Analyst, Financial Analyst, and so on ). Is it time to normalize this as Business Storyteller? Essentially, an analyst needs to bring all the data and tell a story to inform the business and its products—food for thought. 

The demand for Scrum Master is expected to grow as non-technical functions experiment with Agile as a means to manage the post-covid-19 world. Here is our transition plan (high level). More details can be provided if you are interested

With work from home here to stay, some locations such as Boise-Idaho, Ann Arbor-MI, Manchester, UK, Munich-Germany, Vadodara- India are all under the lens.  We will further evaluate and provide you more intelligence. 

Generating an employee-specific reskilling plan includes the identification of specific products and platforms they need to learn now and in the future.  This is not only an automated process but also a validated plan through research.  Here is a snapshot of the research done by us.

Overall, we are quite excited about the role HR can play under the emerging circumstances.  If we plan the initiatives correctly, we can accelerate transformation and adaptation and make our enterprises that we genuinely care for, a great place to work.