#Nextchat: HR, Your Job Is Now Outside the Comfort Zone

Everyone has a personal and professional comfort zone. The key to growth depends on an individual's ability to regularly break out of his or her zone and learn new things.

HR pros are no strangers to the comfort zone. By the nature of their jobs, most HR professionals work in compliance-based, risk-averse environments. This helps to protect organizations. However, in addition to protecting the organization, HR is increasingly becoming responsible for contributing to business strategy and the bottom line. And this will require HR pros to step out of their comfort zones and expand their portfolios of skills and experience.

Today’s organizations want HR professionals with the business acumen to manage talent in a global marketplace. They’re looking for individuals who are financially savvy and informed on public policy. Businesses run on numbers and bottom lines, and HR will need to understand how to use analytics to show the value of their decisions – and the ROI.

Communication and social media skills are a must. Growth will require strategists who can create a magnetic employment brand that attracts new talent. The best will instinctively understand how to develop people and create cultures of engagement that can support strategic initiatives.

CEOs want HR professionals who are alert, proactive, and capable of adapting to constantly changing business environments. And while individuals may have specialties, HR pros can no longer operate in silos. They will need to get out of their cubes and grow, because businesses can no longer function with HR departments that accept complacency.

It’s a tall order and not everyone will be ready to break out of his or her comfort zones to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead for the HR profession.

What new skills, experience and education will HR professionals need to find jobs, be successful and stay employed?

Join @weknownext at 3 p.m. ET on March 12 for #Nextchat with Lance Haun (@thelance). We’ll chat about why it's becoming increasingly important for HR pros to break out of their comfort zones.

Q1. What skills --outside of the HR profession-- will be most important for HR pros to acquire to ensure future success?

Q2. How have changes to the economy in the past five years affected the way HR pros do their jobs?

Q3. Why is it important for HR pros to be financially savvy and understand how the economy affects their industry and organization? 

Q4. Why is it important for HR pros to be informed on public policy and participate in HR advocacy?

Q5. Why is it important for HR to know employment law basics, and will HR pros with law degrees be in high demand in the future?

Q6. How do new technologies make an HR pro’s job easier? How are they more disruptive?

Q7. Does it make sense to outsource most administrative functions so HR teams can focus on business strategy? Why/why not?

Q8. What will HR departments look like in 2024?

What’s a Twitter chat?