Bold Predictions for 2012

HR is in a boring field. We are in business of mitigating risk and keeping our executives out of trouble. There are very few bold predictions for 2012.

Here is my attempt to gaze into a crystal ball and tell you about the upcoming year.

• This is the year where your CEO says, “This is the year of mobile.” Feel free to roll your eyes. You know that the sale of mobile devices is on the rise. And you know that your employees use their personal mobile devices at work, too. Suddenly your CEO will see this, too. He might even learn how to text. Watch out.
• People will continue to incorrectly blame unemployment on a skills mismatch in the marketplace. That’s not necessarily true.  And it will he HR’s job to challenge assumptions and ask for facts and data when it comes to hiring trends.
• Wellness initiatives will continue to focus on fat people and smokers. We all love Dan Pink and know shame isn’t a great motivator; however, we still believe that penalizing fat people is a more effective way to reduce costs than single-payer healthcare. I don’t get it.
• We will stop obsessing about the Gen Y workforce. Finally. Let’s face it. They are aging and getting more expensive to employ. They have crazy demands like training and development. They suddenly care about retirement. Time to focus on Generation Z.
• Now that the war in Iraq has ended, veterans are coming back to the workforce in greater numbers. Sadly, most of our companies aren’t ready. HR needs to get ready. This is an amazing talent pool and we are about to blow it unless we focus on thoughtful employment branding campaigns, more effective hiring processes, and improving the candidate experience.

The nice thing about being a blogger is that no one holds me accountable for my predictions. I have a whole year to change my mind and write a compelling blog post about why I feel differently. I’m going to challenge myself to come back here in twelve months and see if I am right about anything.

If I’m wrong, I’ll let you know.

Happy New Year!