Five 2021 lessons from HR leaders

Embracing new ways of working and raising expectations of business purpose has become paramount. With a sound strategy, organizations have the opportunity to be more connected, drive innovation and collaboration, and bring a new humanity to leadership.

Lesson 1: Live your values - Corporate purpose is becoming a differentiator. Those organizations that can live their values, connect with their employees, and stand up for their beliefs are most likely to win the trust of customers, partners, and investors.

Lesson 2: Evolve and adapt your employee experience - As we move into the fourth industrial revolution and establish new ways of working, HR leaders must continue to shape employees’ experience to adapt to a dynamic world encompassing flexible, hybrid work models, and increasing automation.

Lesson 3: Lead with humanity - What used to be deemed a “soft skill” is rapidly becoming a requirement for leaders at all levels of the organization.

Lesson 4: Flexibility builds long-term resilience - The lesson for 2021 and beyond is the need to be highly adaptable to change, so that organizations can swiftly develop new capabilities and alter ways of working.

Lesson 5: New era, new role for HR - HR has a vital role to play in shaping an agile, future workforce. According to the KPMG 2020 CEO Outlook, “talent risk” is now considered the number one threat to long-term growth, while our global HR survey ranks “reskilling” as the most important workforce challenge.