Welcome back to our January Series! Today is the fifth and final blog of “New Year, New Trends, New Decade” and we’re ending the series with a bang! Recently, we contacted a few influencers via Twitter to pick their brains about what they expect out of HR this year. We thought it was important to hear their thoughts about HR and maybe even get some tips and advice ourselves moving forward. When we contacted each influencer we asked them the same question: “What would be your advice for HR professionals OR hiring managers as we continue in 2020?” Here are their responses:

Hung Lee is the Co-Founder and CEO of Workshape.io and runs an industry newsletter called Recruiting Brain Food. We connected with Hung on Twitter to ask him our HR question and here’s what he said:

Build your 'network value'. In the connected future winners are going to be the ones who have the strongest network of relationships in the industry.

We love Hung’s advice about building a valuable network. It’s so true - you never want to build out an entire network and leave it out to dry. You have to engage and nurture those connections and relationships. In a past blog titled 3 Easy Ways to Grow Your Network we talk about maintaining relationships while also fostering new ones. Here’s a quick quote: “Just like any relationship, you have to breathe life into it for it to stay afloat. Making the initial connection is great but if you aren’t engaging and being a valuable connection, the possibility of that relationship going anywhere worth while for you or for the other person for that matter, dwindles every single day.”

Jim Stroud, an AI and Talent Influencer is our next quotable contact who gave us an awesome piece of advice regarding HR. Before reading his quote, be sure to check out his blog here. Jim’s advice:

Technology is helpful but it can sometimes be a crutch causing HR professionals to forget that real people are behind the processes we automate. In 2020, I would advise a renewed effort to become more involved with charities. Feeding the homeless or spending time with the elderly is a great way to gauge and strengthen interpersonal skills at a time where people prefer texting to in-person conversations.

As proof of my claim, search Indeed.com for the term “interpersonal,” or “empathy,” or some other soft skill. No doubt you will notice jobs across the spectrum; entry level to executive, all requiring that skill.

Still not convinced? Think about the last time you called a business and were greeted with an automated attendant. Did you press the appropriate prompt or simply press zero for the operator or say “representative” so you could talk to a human being?

I rest my case. People want to deal with people and especially in HR. Develop the interpersonal skills of your people by leading a volunteer effort. It’s good for business and for the soul.

Something that Jim touches on that many other HR professionals are also mentioning is the importance of soft skills. So often people hire based on technical skills (most of which will be obsolete in 10 years) and they don’t focus on those interpersonal skills that never go out of style. We too have mentioned soft skills in our blogs. Most recently, 2020 Trends We Expect to See This Year: …”it is wise to consider a candidate with long lasting potential so you’re not sending out severance packages every 6-12 months. While hiring for longevity may be an obvious trend, soft-skills may not. What are soft-skills you ask? Basically, they’re personality based skills that every individual has that vary from candidate to candidate. Soft skills range from critical thinking to creativity. These are skills that will outlast more trendy skills such as something web based because soft skills stand the test of time whereas a lot of computer programs and softwares could be dated in ten years time.” Basically, little efforts such as volunteering or getting involved with charities can help develop those important soft skills.

Katrina Kibben is our next contacted influencer and is the CEO and Founder of Three Ears Media, a “Copywriting, Training, and 1-1 Coaching Service for Recruitment Marketing.” Check out Katrina’s response to our HR question:

Teach your team to write about people, not jobs. So often, when writing for recruiting, we think about situations and details to explain the work. That's not how great candidates will fall in love with the work. They want to know your story, and you should know how to write it!

People want to get to know you! Yes, your product and your jobs matter, obviously, but ultimately, you’re the selling point. By telling your story, it allows those you work with to truly relate to you. What’s most important to note here? It's vital for you, your company, and your team to really take the time to learn how to write your company story. Basically, the ultimate goal is for great candidates to fall in love with the work.

Next we contacted James Kalimanzila, currently the Sr. HRO at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in Tanzania. James is also an HR Analyst, leadership expert, and researcher. Here’s his input:

My advice to HR managers/professionals in 2020 is:

- To be creative and innovative because in 2020 [the] industrial 5.0 era is approaching hence organizations need for innovative people.

- To brand and respect HR manpower by providing training and development to them.

- To define organization objectives and focus on helping the organization by (cooperation and proper utilization of employees).

This perspective from James truly goes hand in hand with Katrina's - people matter! They are your biggest proponent and it’s in your best interest, as well as there’s to invest in them. If you don’t encourage learning and development amongst your employees, the odds of you falling behind the competition, increases. So take the time to invest in your people - strive for innovation, provide training and development and utilize your employees to the best of their ability!

Our next influencer to give us a bit of advice is Ward Christman. Ward is a Chief Advisor at HR Tech Advisor and advises HRTech and HRService vendors on how to grow their sales via partnerships and alliances (via Ward’s Twitter Bio). He pulled his quote from this awesome interview.

Before you consider buying any new HR technology, you need to talk to your current vendor suppliers and ask them for referrals to their partners. One major benefit to getting referrals is the huge time sink and gobs of frustration it will save you if you do not have to go out into the open market, finding something you like, and then wondering why they're not able to integrate into your other HR tech solutions.

Referrals from clients and, in this case, vendor suppliers, are everything to your company. Leveraging referrals allows you to leverage your network and those important contacts we mentioned a few paragraphs up - The “customer experience” is powerful so be sure to leverage those contacts first before you enter that “open market”, as Ward puts it.

Our next contact for the purpose of today’s blog was Ally Baron or @allyhires to her Instagram followers. Ally is a hiring expert with a passion for “teaching how to find the best people and craft perfect teams” (allyhires.com). Here’s Ally’s take on HR advice for 2020:

Going into 2020, HR Professionals need to focus on talent attraction and employee experience more than ever. With historically low unemployment rates, companies that don’t prioritize their people will end up losing them to competitors - and struggle to backfill.

Ally’s point is paramount - people are your biggest asset. Focus on the people - the talent attraction and employee experience, because it is crucial to your success as an HR Professional. When we fall into the ebb and flow of unemployment rates and their ever-changing tides, we must prioritize the people we have or else we run the risk of losing them. So, like James said as well, invest in your people!

Finally, we wanted to share a quote given to us by someone we know pretty well, our CEO, Michael Byrd! We value his opinion and wanted his take on this important question. Here’s what he said:

As a hiring manager traditional approaches just don’t work. Understand what your organizations strengths are (why you would appeal to a prospective candidate) and then take creative approaches to get their attention. Once they are engaged be responsive!

We love Mike’s perspective - You must get creative. No one wants to look at the same thing over and over again, they want variety, creativity, and a fresh lens. SO, this year, consider taking a more creative approach - Understand your strengths and then figure out what would work best moving forward. 2020 is the year to break traditions, don’t be afraid to try something new to spark engagement and grab attention.

Overall, there are two consistent trends that we pull from the advice on this page:

1. Leverage your Network

2. Focus on Your People

With January coming to a close we are already starting to see these trends come to fruition.

But now we will turn it over to you...What do you think? As an HR professional (or not) what would your one piece of advice be moving forward in 2020?