Industry 4.0 is another term for being smart – being informed, enabled, connected, quick to identify/analyse and fast to respond. At its core, Industry 4.0 has three important aspects – data, technology and human capital. Together, these three aspects have created countless new opportunities, as well as challenges, for businesses and for their Human Resource (HR) functions.
Here are some insights into how the HR function has moved from traditional operating models. Today’s HR professionals are riding the crest and empowering industry to harmonise its business strategies with talent management.
An important HR trend is the focus on reskilling and upskilling of the workforce. As automation and digitisation have begun to augment many routine and manual tasks, HR has been enabling the workforce to acquire new skills and competencies that are relevant for new roles and tasks, created by Industry 4.0. HR teams are going all out to invest in continuous learning and development programs that help workers update their knowledge and skills and prepare them for the future of work.
Another emerging HR trend is its response to the shift from hierarchical to networked organisations. As Industry 4.0 entails more collaboration across different functions, locations and stakeholders, organisations are finding that they need to be more flexible and agile. This is where the HR function is proving invaluable, by fostering a culture of trust and empowerment, where employees can work autonomously or in teams, share ideas and feedback, and leverage their diverse perspectives and HR functions are redesigning the performance management and reward systems, to align with the networked organization model and incentivise collaboration and invention.
HR functions are redesigning the performance management and reward systems, to align with the networked organisation model and incentivise collaboration and invention.
A third HR trend that is making a definite imprint is the integration of human and machine intelligence. As modern technologies augment human capabilities and enable new forms of data analysis and decision making, organisations must leverage the strengths of both, humans and machines, to optimise their outcomes.