9 Trends to watch in 2009

1. Focus on smart management of the existing workforce. Layoffs will continue, but they are not the only answer for the creation and maintenance of profitable and thriving companies. Process Improvement and Performance Management will be key strategies in 2009 for optimizing and restructuring the remaining staff in order to perform more efficiently without increasing costs.
2. Outplacement programs will be altered in both duration and focus. Large severance packages and long term outplacement support for high level executives will be reduced. In exchange, retraining programs and short term outplacement support will be provided to qualified workers so that they may better serve the needs of restructured organizations.
3. Smart recruiting continues to be key in cutting costs and improving individual and group performance. Actual recruiting will be strategic in nature with a focus on searching out talent that becomes available on the market due to layoffs in competing businesses or in compatible industries. HR professionals will be increasingly required to provide concrete ROI scenarios when recruiting so that their efforts can be justified in relation to the financial performance of an organization.
4. Compensation programs and employee benefit packages will need to become simultaneously more fiscally conservative but creative enough to entice or retain high performers in the organization. On the one hand, compensation systems will be streamlined, and there will be an increase in salary freezes and salary reductions. On the other hand corporate leaders will more frequently turn to outside compensation specialists when searching for new ways to reward key employees during the economic downturn.
5. Environmental and fiscal sustainability will begin to be more closely linked. Successful corporations will invest in green technology, employee health and safety and energy conservation, focusing first on those investments that can show a clear short term return on investment. (Link to environmental and health and safety programs)
6. Training programs will focus on “cross training”, “learning integration” and “Skill/Talent matching “.  Reductions in work force will require that employees increase the number of hats that they wear on the job. Cross training will need to be accelerated in order expand the skill depth of the reduced work force. Savvy HR professionals will incorporate talent testing to make sure that training is matched to employee capacity, thus reducing the potential for wasted training dollars. Finally, Human Resource leaders will bring in educators who will integrate skills and knowledge throughout the organization. These educators will train staff to analyze and solve problems at the lowest organizational level and show managers and supervisors how to pass this knowledge on. Problems that are solved on a shop floor cost companies a fraction of the money required if the problems floats up to the top levels of the company.
7. Government legislation and oversight. With a change in the federal administration and congress, HR professionals will need to closely monitor both law and regulatory actions. The new administration has sent a clear signal that accountability is a high priority for both the agencies that regulate and the entities being regulated. However, funding for oversight may be in short supply, so it is difficult to determine what practical degree of increased or decreased government intervention can be anticipated. In 2009 HR professionals will do well to maintain close communication with their trade associations, outside consulting professionals and the state and federal agencies themselves.
8. Outsourcing of Human Resource functions will continue. Expect HR staffs to be trimmed at least in proportion to any staff cuts in your organization. Think about process improvement to do more with less. Think also about “in sourcing” to an HR Service Center or Wiki or enterprise automation to shift administrative activities and free up HR resources for strategic initiatives.
9. Globalization of the workforce will continue in spite of pre-election promises and huge governmental loans to failing companies. Research and development jobs, high level management and sales positions will stay in the USA for the time being. Forward looking companies will prepare for even these positions to shift off shore where it makes sense or where mergers and acquisitions require corporate headquarter transfers. Recruiting and performance management will become international activities, with skills in cultural integration and adaptability becoming crucial to corporate success.