Canadian academics explain why HR’s strategic role more crucial than ever
“HR teams are being pulled in every direction." So says Luck Dookchitra, VP People at Leapsome, in looking at the results from its recent survey.
For one, 56% globally are under pressure to force a ‘return-to-office’ (RTO) policy, yet 81% believe that forced RTO isn’t the right call.
In addition, 73% of HR decision-makers are planning workforce restructuring due to AI, but 64% are concerned about a major 'AI skills gap'.
And 92% of HR leaders report internal resistance when championing people-centric initiatives like DEI, flexibility, and well-being, found the survey of 1,000 HR decision-makers across the US, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Fortunately, HR isn't just holding things together, "they’re guiding the business forward,” says Dookchitra, in a release. “They’re using people data to lead high-stakes conversations — and pushing back when leadership forgets what actually drives performance: trust, inclusion, and alignment.”
Communicating strategic intent in RTO plans
When it comes to the RTO mandates, Leapsome found that:
- 60% of HR leaders say employees are pushing back on RTO mandates — and that it’s making it harder to recruit
- 58% of HR leaders agree that RTO is detrimental for employees with disabilities
- 57% agree that RTO undermines the organization’s effort to be inclusive.
Research has shown that hybrid is not only the most popular work style with employees, but it increases productivity, according to Erin Reid, professor of human resources and management at the DeGroote School of Business.
“Three days a week seems like probably the optimal solution,” she says. “It gives people the flexibility that we appreciate and makes our lives better, while at the same time bringing them into a culture, helping to build an office culture and creating the opportunity for in-person meetings, which are generally more effective.”
Forcing employees to come back to the office full time has real consequences that can be easily communicated by HR leaders who are facing top-down pressure, Reid says.
“What happens when organizations push too hard on moving to a five-day-a-week policy is people who have options leave,” she says.
“There's a lot of research on the importance of flexibility … to all kinds of outcomes that we care about, like satisfaction, but also the number of sick days people take, their productivity.”
In the face of leadership pressure to mandate RTO policies, HR leaders should rely on the facts, says Sara Mahabadi, assistant professor of strategy, entrepreneurship and management at the University of Alberta,
“They are pushing for this, but it's not logical. It doesn't have any data or any evidence that supports the need to go back to the office,” she says.
“And yes, COVID made this happen, but maybe it's a good thing that it happened, right? Maybe it forced us to practice a new way of working that has shown to be more, efficient. There's no backup for what they're trying to do.”
Navigating AI anxiety through communication
Leapsome’s data shows that 85% of HR leaders planning workforce restructuring to integrate AI expect it to happen within the next 12 month -- and employee resistance is a big concern.
Mahabadi stresses that communication is the most important tool managers can use to navigate this transformation.
“Communicate clearly to employees inside the organization, what kind of AI, and how this is going to shift or change or evolve what they are doing inside the organization, and to what extent,” she says.
"[Communication] is the number one step, the most important step that we tell managers about when we are talking about managing change.”
Reid also emphasizes the value of listening when it comes to implementing AI, as employee reservations about new technology can be mined for valuable information rather than ignored.
“Whenever there's a new technology or a big change, there is always a lot of employee resistance to it, and that resistance is informative. And so I think organizational leaders, including HR leaders, should lean into it and ask people: ‘Why are you resisting this?’” Reid says.
“It might be that people don't know how to use it, but it might also be because it's a brand new technology that seems to be different every single month. It might be that it is for some people causing more problems than solutions. So pointing to where those problems are can help the organization maybe choose a better tool or a better approach.”
With AI increasingly taking over analytical and routine work, Mahabadi says the skills HR should prioritize are shifting too: “Technology is taking care of that. We need people who can be very sensitive to how to put the data together, how to put the dots together, how to think critically, how to create the vision, how to work with different projects, how to know how to perform in cross-boundary projects and organizations and departments.”
Building HR’s strategic credibility
The Leapsome report also found that 92% of HR leaders say they’re prepared to deliver business impact, while 85% have at least some ownership over business decisions.
Reid underscores the unique strengths HR professionals bring to leadership: “Leading an organization is about your people skills. In HR, professionals would have, for their whole career, just been thinking about people and how to manage people, and how to satisfy them, and how to deal with conflicts.”
However, she admits that that experience might also put HR leaders at a disadvantage when in the same rooms as more technical colleagues.
“I think we have a problem where we tend to devalue soft skills and devalue HR, so I would be concerned about the HR person in a decision-making role maybe having more trouble than other people in commanding respect,” she says, “whereas someone who came up through the technical side of an organization might be viewed as more legit. But that would change organization to organization.”
HR people have always been a strategic partner for organizations, and for the management of organizations, says Mahabadi.
“But now we are seeing that there are a couple of shifts in the trends that are happening in the broader landscape of organizations. Number one is … we have to be mindful about who we hire and for what purposes.”
To ensure they are ready to step fully into the increased strategic roles they are playing in their organizations, she urges HR professionals to invest in their own knowledge through continued – and formal – education.
“Number one, get the skills, get the education. If you already have the education, think about how you need to update your education,” Mahabadi advises.
“Think about taking courses in general management, in strategy, in talent management, in global and cross-cultural management … once they know their strategic role, and once they educate themselves and get the data that they need, they become more knowledgeable, and their recommendations that they put forward are more respected.”
