Keeping 'human' element intact

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Peter Baker, Group Chief HR Officer, First Abu Dhabi Bank in the UAE
Peter Baker, Group Chief HR Officer, First Abu Dhabi Bank in the UAE

From no work from home to 90 per cent work happening productively from home, Peter Baker, Group Chief HR Officer, First Abu Dhabi Bank in the UAE, explains how companies need to approach this change

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Published: Tue 2 Jun 2020, 2:01 PM

Nature of HR in the next five years
The pace of change continues to accelerate, and HR needs to change accordingly. Peter Baker puts forward few key themes that he expects to drive the change.
"Firstly, agile ways of working, and agile workforce planning. HR needs to become expert at ensuring that organisation capabilities are sufficient to support the business strategy, and if there is a gap, HR needs to help quickly address this gap. New employment models such as gig and flex work will help in this regard."

He adds that HR should look at lifetime employability rather than lifetime employment. "People will change employers many times over career. HR needs to be able to create a great employment experience for their best talent, and ensuring that their people are learning and growing, even if there is an acknowledgment that the next step in someone's career may be to a different employer."

He also pointed towards the massive increase in robotics and AI across enterprises, including in HR. "Much of the manual work will evolve with the infusion of technology and this is great news for our function. We will finally be able to focus primarily on the 'Human', part of HR, rather than processing transactions," Baker says.

Leaders' role to create a good remote culture
According to Baker, leaders who rely upon their ability to inspect the day-to-day activities of their employees will struggle in a remote work culture. To be able to manage effectively, Baker maintains that it's all about setting clear expectations, primarily about WHAT needs to be delivered, even if this means letting go of the HOW it will be done. "Hold people accountable for results rather than the hours that they are at their desk."
"Secondly, finding ways to connect and check in with employees is key."
Lastly, leaders need to enable their employees to be successful, and this will translate into an engaging culture, Baker states.
First Abu Dhabi Bank's successful implementation of building or scaling remote teams
FAB went from no work from home at all, to 90 per cent working productively from home in less than two weeks. "We challenged ourselves to think and work differently, while keeping appropriate controls for risk and governance."
Face-to-face interaction is important
As much as people still desire connection, Baker says that the Zoom can be almost as effective as a physical interaction. "However, I do believe that genuine in-person collaboration is an enabler of trust and effective decision making. Therefore I believe there will always be a place for physical connection.


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