A lot of organizations are debating the present relevance of HR. A lot of tasks are getting automated due to the use of technology, rendering HR professionals as redundant. However, it is more pertinent to modify its locus rather than replacing it altogether. Over the next decade or so, several tasks of the HR department must be offloaded. One of them is administration. For example, payroll, benefits and record keeping must be handed over to finance. Internal corporate communication duties must be assigned to marketing department. Instead, the one task that HR must put its utmost attention to is employee recruitment. Also once employees are selected, their subsequent onboarding should be a key responsibility of the HR. No other department can take on the role of talent management. This includes leadership development and mentoring programmes. The last task will be of employee engagement. Benchmark surveys must be conducted to gauge the motivation levels so corrective action may be taken.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2017/01/17/dont-replace-your-hr-department-refocus-it/#114a70c4ba34

At this point of time, granular data is available which allows business analytics tools to process the minutest of trends. Aspects such as eye movements or facial expressions give away the reasons for customers’ purchase choices. It has thus been understood that stress and its induced hormones impact decision making substantially. The hormone cortisol for example is often associated with stress, though it is released prior to expectations of such stress, as a coping mechanism. People’s speed and accuracy are affected by stress as reflected by the Cognitive Reflection Test. Testosterone on the other hand is related to instinctive behaviors.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-stress-influences-decision-making/

Several big name organizations in different fields such as NASA and British Petroleum have gone through cycles of disasters followed by a focus on safety before relapsing back into nonchalance. In NASA’s case the explosion of the Challenger was followed by stringent safety methods being adopted. Also safety personnel were given greater importance before launch. Yet with the lapsing of time, this got forgotten in the urge towards meeting newer targets, so the next accident happened with Columbia. Even in pharmaceutical companies such cycles have been noticed. That is because organizations give greater emphasis to   and marketability than safety. This apathy needs to change as organizations need to embrace the fact that safety concerns are not the prerogative of one department alone but something of deep concern to all stakeholders.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/02/why-organizations-forget-what-they-learn-from-failures?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date

Just as physical agility, the emotional one is also attracting greater attention than ever before. This is something whose presence may lead to benefits at both the workplace and personal space. People will be able to remain firm on their thoughts rather than getting constantly guided by others. It is estimated that by 2030, depression will be the top disabler, greater than heart disease or even cancer. It is a bigger problem for millennials than it was for the Baby Boomers as the former are constantly looking for mobile apps to improve their lives. Having agility also enables business innovations to be adopted more readily as such people or teams led by them are less rigid.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-achieving-emotional-agility-can-help-you-at-work-and-in-life/