HR needs to be rethought now
The world of HR is in upheaval. Between the shortage of skilled workers, constantly changing employee expectations, and a business environment where agility and adaptability are critical, HR departments face enormous challenges. To remain relevant, HR must therefore consistently reinvent itself. No longer just a business partner or even an operational service provider, HR must evolve into a true strategic enabler within organizations.
The reasons for this transformation are multifaceted. Katharina Lindenbaum, HCM Expert at sovanta, summarizes the status quo in HR in five key areas and describes the new roles HR departments must adopt in order to master today’s business challenges.
1. The competition for talent has changed the rules of the game
In the past, HR’s main task was to fill open positions with qualified candidates. This was largely a reactive, operational service. Today, in the era of a chronic shortage of skilled workers, talent has become the scarcest and most important resource for business success. A positive employee experience, flexible working models, and meaningful work are decisive for attracting and retaining talent.
As a strategic enabler, HR not only advises business units in the search for talent but also proactively shapes the conditions needed to attract, develop, and retain employees in the long term.
2. Work organization & culture: Shaping the new way of working
The way we work has fundamentally changed, challenging traditional concepts of leadership, collaboration, and corporate culture. In hybrid work environments, the office is increasingly becoming a place of interaction and exchange. At the same time, it remains a central challenge to create a strong, unified cultural identity when the workforce is distributed. Leaders also need to learn how to guide and motivate teams effectively in hybrid settings.
HR’s role here is to become the architect of the agile organization. HR fosters a culture of learning and adaptability and develops flexible organizational and career models.
3. People & organizational development: Securing future viability
Preparing an organization for future challenges requires one thing above all: the right skills, at the right time, in the right place. This is where the shift to a skill-based organization comes in. Job titles and formal qualifications are losing significance — the future belongs to a skill-driven approach. HR’s task as a strategic enabler is to design this skill transformation, identify skill gaps, and rethink talent management.
The high pace of change makes long-term, strategic workforce planning indispensable. HR must answer the questions of how to upskill employees (“reskilling”) and prepare them for new tasks (“redeployment”), in order to respond to job transformation and demographic shifts such as an aging workforce.
4. Digitalization requires more than just new tools
Digitalization automates many of HR’s traditional administrative tasks (e.g., payroll or master data maintenance). This makes the role of the purely operational service provider increasingly obsolete. At the same time, it brings new demands.
As a strategic enabler, HR uses the resources freed up by automation for value-creating activities. Most importantly, HR leverages the data generated by digitalization to make informed, strategic decisions.
5. Employee experience is a business factor
Employee expectations have shifted. A good salary alone is no longer enough. Employees now look for purpose, recognition, development opportunities, and a smooth, positive experience throughout their entire journey — from recruitment to exit. Previously, HR as a service provider ensured that processes (e.g., vacation requests) worked smoothly.
As a strategic enabler, however, it is now crucial for HR to design the employee experience proactively and position it as an integral part of corporate strategy.
What does it take to live up to this new role?
For HR to fully embrace its new role as a strategic enabler, it needs modern, integrated system architectures that digitalize and automate administrative processes as much as possible while providing reliable data for strategic analysis. At the same time, HR must have the courage to actively help shape the business — with a clear strategic orientation, technological expertise, and a true business mindset.
Is your HR department already technologically and structurally prepared for this role? Let’s talk about how our HCM Experts can support you — with services ranging from defining a future-proof HR IT landscape (HCM Roadmap) to implementing or expanding SAP SuccessFactors, or digitalizing processes on the Business Technology Platform (BTP).
