The third edition of the Alight Solutions' State of HR Transformation study in partnership with People Matters finds that highly adaptable HR organisations (Mature Archetypes) are not only looking at addressing risks that are closer to the business, but they are also more ready to address these risks driven by stronger governance, right capabilities and the right platforms. In a recent episode of exclusive video interview series: Adaptable HR: The Future is Now, Wiwik Wahyuni, CHRO, Home Credit Indonesia said, “The pandemic showed how at a chaotic time, when the decision making process needs to be faster, technology can play a big role.”

She further added that besides technology, it is the ability to respond to the rapid change quickly that matters a lot. 

The changing expectations of the customers and other stakeholders of the business requires the businesses to relook at their current models and systems. This presents an opportunity for HR leaders to make even the talent processes more nimble and efficient as per the changing business needs. 

Shaswat Kumar, Vice President & Asia Head - Payroll Advisory and Cloud Solutions, Alight Solutions added, “Even the business leaders have now realized the importance of HR and how a robust HR system helps in accelerating the business changes. It is a good opportunity for HR leaders to demonstrate their value.”

Balancing between Hi-tech & Hi-touch for the new world of work 

While tech and people analytics will play a huge role in enabling HR to make more real-time and relevant decisions, it can’t replace the human touch completely. 

Wiwik mentioned the pandemic has highlighted the importance of empathy and that is here to stay. The HR leaders need to tap into their ability to understand and communicate the challenges of the people and design strategies to solve them. It is time for them to think and speak with their hearts, especially when communicating with the business leaders. Emotions backed with data will help talent leaders take more impactful decisions. 

In fact, Shaswat said, “Digital allows us to become extremely hi-touch.” Advancements in tech are enabling HR leaders to have more personalized conversations and design more personalized interventions as compared to generic programs. 

Accelerating the HR function 

Digitalisation has been a key focus area for Home Credit Indonesia. “The question is: Can we make it even faster?” said Wiwik. For that the second critical area for the company has been building more resilience among the HR teams. Enabling them to deal with black swan events like the pandemic, helping employees understand the business and the challenges, and communicating about the changes, as they happen. Amid the pandemic, they have had to have many difficult conversations as well. But holding to their empathetic side has been key. 

“The third key priority has been how to sthe technology we have at present,” shared Wiwik. That entails evaluating the skill sets of the HR teams and seeing whether they are relevant for the current situation or not. Accordingly, it is about investing in reskilling to master the technology and utilise it to the optimum level to better serve the business. 

HR transformation is not a project. It is an ongoing journey. And it requires the HR professionals to become more bold and brave than ever before. They have to be the one driving and enabling business change and that requires a rigorous investment in its own capability development. As the study also highlights, “HR teams with ambition in aspiration and humility in execution will be successful.”

To download your copy of Asia Pacific’s largest study on the State of HR Transformation 2020, click on this link.