The Top-3 HR challenges in 2021 and beyond (And how improving your English can help you overcome them)

The pandemic was the most significant challenge for HR professionals in 2020. Well, I got news for you. It’s not entirely true!

Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic changed people’s life and health dramatically. The same goes for Human Resources professionals, too. From shifting to remote work overnight and collaborating online to keeping the employees engaged and motivated, HR responsibilities and tasks changed significantly and rapidly in such a short time.

But the health emergency and its implications were not the only major event of 2020. Critical issues about diversity and inclusion emerged from movements like #metoo and Black Lives Matter.

These movements brought social exclusion and discrimination issues to the surface. Moreover, this urged people and employees to demand companies to stop talking about them and act more on them.

What most experts predicted would last only for a while during the pandemic now seems to be cementing. The buzz of the movements may have gone away, but the staggering awareness they caused continues to affect how people think and what they ask from people in power.

Furthermore, the pandemic is still far from over. The health crisis still goes on globally, affecting millions of employees in all aspects of their lives: their health and well-being (including mental health issues), how they work, how their families function in their everyday life under one roof.

During the last year, I have worked with quite a few HR professionals from around the world. We have talked about many issues during our sessions, which affect their HR profession, and they need help with. 

I have identified three emerging challenges, and I am going to share them with you. Along with mindful tips about how improving your English communication skills can help you overcome them.

The Top-3 challenges for HR professionals in 2021 and beyond

Challenge #1 The new employee experience

The image of all company employees working at their offices in the company premises may take longer to return. If it ever is to return. A few years ago, we talked about open space offices and the flow of work structures that facilitate collaboration. In a blink of an eye, the discussion and concern shifted to remote work and the hybrid office.

All this meant two things for employees and managers alike: how they adapt to the new way of work and how they take care of their well-being.

Pretty quickly, the physical health issue due to the coronavirus turned into a mental health issue. Employees find it hard to adapt to the online working environment, especially groups left behind in the digital revolution (sad to say it, but I am talking about women, people of older age, or colour).

They also struggle to separate work from private life. Add to this the other family members working or being educated under the same roof every day, and you can quickly realise how much of a risk this is to people’s mental health.

Under these new circumstances, HR people must find a way to facilitate this transition and be extra supportive. This is what employees in 2021 and beyond are asking for. If they can’t find it in your company, they will go elsewhere.

Moreover, the insecurity of losing their job because of the lousy economy and social isolation impose significant risks to their well-being. Today, more than ever, Human Resources professionals need to double down their time communicating with their employees. They need to know how their employees are doing and their problems, how they feel, and what they need to overcome these practical and emotional challenges.

Finally, transferring the company culture from the office to each employee’s home is another real challenge for every HR professional. This is why it is essential to identify the most wanted company culture elements and find ways to retain them at the home office. 

For example, if your employees used to take a lunch break together, try to set up the same habit online by encouraging teams to eat lunch or take a break all at the same time while Zooming to catch up. Make it on a voluntary basis, though, as this may not suit those who have kids homeschooling.

Needless to say that 2021 needs you to double down your time writing and talking to company employees. High calibre communication skills are essential. The same goes for your English language skills.

Speaking English naturally and confidently will help you demonstrate how human, approachable and caring you are for their needs. This is why you may need some professional help from a native English language coach. It’s a small investment with a very high ROI.

Challenge #2 More diversity & inclusion

The importance people place on diversity and inclusion has increased tremendously during the last two years. And this trend does not seem to slow down. On the contrary, these issues gain popularity among all employee groups, those in white-collar jobs and blue-collar jobs. Society as a whole is much more sensitive to discrimination.

Catering to the needs of every group in the organisation is not just an HR initiative any more. Instead, it has become a company-wide necessity that Human Resources must lead.

Falling short of that may lead to fines, lawsuits, and bad press, which can enormously harm the company’s reputation. It is a significant risk to blame any inaction on these issues on the pandemic and the financial crisis it caused.

As an ethical and socially responsible Human Resources professional, you have to identify the main areas of improvement and meticulously act on them. And these typically fall into these three HR functions: hiring new talent, promotions and equal pay.

Nowadays, companies seek new talent worldwide. They have realised that geographical constraints may significantly lower the possibilities of finding the right people with the right skills and mindset. Headhunting in a global pool of candidates has become a no-brainer in many organisations. This has fundamentally changed your work in HR.

Even if your organisation is a local one, you now need to recruit employees worldwide. This usually entails writing job posts, emailing candidates and interviewing them in a language other than your native one, usually in English. Even if your English level is high, this is still not enough. You need to speak English naturally and confidently so you get your message across effectively and successfully.

The same goes for evaluating employees and deciding whom to promote. You have to be unbiased, but you also need to read the cues when talking to your employees. You need to show respect for their unique skills and different circumstances (like being people of age or colour, with diverse sexual orientation or other personal traits). And this has to translate to equal opportunities for promotion and remuneration, which have to be based solely on skills and merit.

Needless to say, struggling to speak with all of these people in English (since many of them are ex-pats or working from their home somewhere in the world) makes this conscious effort for diversity and inclusion even more challenging.

Finding your unique voice in English with a professional English language coach’s guidance can definitely help you nail it.

Challenge #3 Managing uncertainty

Crises happen all the time. They may be economic, like the 2008 collapse that triggered financial chaos around the world, or related to health, like the coronavirus pandemic. In every case, circumstances are more or less the same. The one prevailing element that is common in all of them is uncertainty.

Rapid changes unfreeze a lot of established practices and realities. What used to work doesn’t work any longer. Parameters change in a blink of an eye, and planning long-term is simply a waste of time. Agility is the keyword.

Human Resources as a company function is usually related to strategic workforce planning. But that doesn’t work during a crisis. The timeframe for planning new hires, promotions or remuneration falls to the range of months, even weeks. Anything longer than a year is not accepted as it usually gets obsolete as soon as it happens.

HR professionals like you need to switch their mindset: from thinking strategically to acting with agility. This requires learning many different disciplines and company functions, like finance, law and tech, all in a very short time. You will need to study many resources, take part in online training and collaborate with colleagues and external contractors from all around the world.

All this collaboration usually takes place in English. Not only do you have to listen and understand what is being presented in English thoroughly, but you also need to have the capacity to ask questions and offer your perspective.

Poor English won’t get you far. If you avoid investing in your English communication skills, this will backfire in your career really soon. You will quickly realise that you lose track of the latest developments and be left out of the loop in important company decisions.

Furthermore, you are now required to have new repositioning plans ready on the spot when needed. Many organisations prefer not to hire new people but use the full potential of their current employees’ skills.

This means that your HR department should know which employee has which skills, other than the ones necessary for their current position. In case of emergency or new circumstances, they may be required to move to another function or department that needs more support or has become more critical.

Getting to know your employees’ complete list of skills, assessing them and planning contingency plans with them requires a lot of collaboration and communication.

This requires impeccable English language skills, but most of all, to have the right mindset when speaking English. A mindful one helps you align your mind and body and be yourself while doing your best with your work.

Here at ProEnglish, this is also my end-goal. To empower non-native highly- skilled HR professionals like you to claim what they deserve in their career by breaking down the language blockage, in a safe, kind and trustful environment.

I am Vera Daskalaki, your Mindful English Coach. You, being here and reading this, really means a lot to me.

Let me know if anything of the above hit a nerve and feel free to send me any questions. But before that, start acting on these challenges today. Keep in mind that the new reality requires you to have your people top of mind, always fuel your decisions with data and invest in supportive and flexible company culture.

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