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06 May 2021
by Debi O'Donovan

Why the need to transform people strategies to reduce business risk is urgent

Over the past year chief human resources officers (CHROs) have been catapulted into a driving seat on company boards as organisations make rapid strategic decisions on challenges that usually take years to agree. While the catalyst for this risk-mitigating shift to raise the importance of the HR team has been the global pandemic, REBA's latest research People risk: why the need for change is urgent, shows that longer term forces are having an even greater influence that will supersede the relatively short-term hit of the dangers of a deadly virus, and debates on whether homeworking is here to stay.

 

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After reacting quickly to board decisions on business premises and safety policies, through to workforce expansion/contraction plans and employee wellbeing, CHROs and their HR teams need to maintain hold of their leadership roles to steer organisations through even bigger waves of change.

Our research, conducted with the support of global consultancy Mercer Marsh Benefits, demonstrates how increasing pressure on CEOs from investors, customers and employees to focus on purpose, resilience and long-term sustainability are moving board decisions into new areas. These multi-directional pressures to decrease the long-term risks of focusing on short-term financial gains are changing business models and bringing the focus on people to the fore.

This change in operating climate means that CHROs need to work closely with their CEOs and CFOs to elicit new ways of thinking that will enable businesses not just to survive the risks they face during today’s ongoing upheavals, but to thrive as market forces change in unrecognisable and often unimagined ways.

Our report aims to bring into succinct focus the key challenges facing businesses today, alongside the vital areas where HR teams will increase or decrease their attention during 2021. We cut through the enormity of the challenge by breaking down, in data, practical lists and advice, the actions against which HR can check thinking and rework or expand current plans.

Our People risk: why the need for change is urgent report is the first of a three-part series that will provide the context and practical steps needed to meet the challenge of transforming organisational culture into one that engages its employees and reduces its people risks.

Download the full report.

The author is Debi O’Donovan, co-founder and director of REBA.

In partnership with Mercer

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