How Global Trends and Pandemic Shape Leadership and HR

For the fifth time, DEVELOR International held a successful international event for HR leaders of 20 countries. This time the topic of the meeting was leadership: “How Global Trends and Pandemic Shape Leadership”

About 100 participants from 11 countries followed the insightful discussion of 3 panelists. Business leaders, HR and myriads of insights – the perfect combination for a great event. In this article, we will share the main learnings from our guests, a CEO, a COO and an HR Director. Make sure to visit our next webinar to get your dose of inspiration and ideas on your own.

Move from Operational to Strategic Leadership

We’ve spent the last 12 months adjusting to the new quarantine world. But now, we are settled. The remote work routines have been set up (if not, make sure you do this shortly), masks have been purchased and used, and all the necessary operational processes have been established.

The firefighting period is far behind us. Now the time comes to move on to strategic issues:

●     How to rebuild the business, especially making it more adaptable, nimble and ready for any change that might be in front of us.

●     How to build capabilities within the team that enable such organizational shifts; and how to constantly improve them.

●     How to continue breaking down the internal barriers of collaboration so that the organization as a whole can move in one direction.

Those are the questions that need to be considered by every leader and as stated in the third point, the pandemic has strengthened the role of HR professionals as strategic partners for the CEO and the C-suite in these topics.

 The Age of New Leadership on Its Way

The pandemic made us look at the world with different eyes and demanded new competencies from both HR and leaders. Leadership to be adapted to a new reality in an era of constant and intense changes, and it requires a growth mindset and flexibility.

Mr. Edo Ujčič, Chief Operating Officer at BRINOX, shared his vision of the main roles of the leader in the new age.

Leader should be a gardener to establish conditions for the growth; a priest to establish trust and communicate the common purpose and an army general to describe a big picture and give empowerment.

Expanding Role of HR – a New Opportunity to Position HR and L&D to the Right Place

Esther Vispoel, HR Manager New Equipment Business at KONE also joined the discusssion.

COVID-19 challenge was a great time to show what HR can actually do.

Last year taught us that HR needs to serve not only as a supporting function but should drive a lot of important initiatives and influence business development to the highest extent. HR should switch to proactive mode and lead the fight. There was never a better opportunity to grab the strategic partner role and position the HR function higher.

Botond Szirmák, Chief Executive Officer at Provident shared his clear view – and expectations – on key HR roles and responsibilities in the current circumstances. Botond’s vision is straightforward and shared by many business executives, who expect HR to step up to this expectation with a broader scope and courage.

HR should be a business partner, should have the courage to coach CEO, should be able to give a benchmark on what is happening in other companies and be data-driven to provide valuable analysis.

How did the participant perceive the HR role?

70% of the event participants reported improved acceptance of HR in the past 12 months. And almost half of the participants claimed that recently HR is highly valued by the management.

Leadership Development Needs New Approaches to Make the Change Happen

Not only the challenges of leaders are new, but also leadership development should be reconsidered. Blended Learning that includes various online and offline courses (as known as synchronous learning) and several asynchronous tools (like video content, microlearning, questionnaires, online simulations, and many more) is the most important trend in people development.

“Learning is not an event, it is a journey”

Mr Zsolt Pozvai, Global CEO of DEVELOR International shared the DEVELOR Learning Journey approach and case study of a real project conducted by Develor.

He stated that the trend of Blended Learning is another lense through which to look at the already known fact, which DEVELOR has been advocating for a long time – the learning and development is not an event that happens in the traditional or nowadays in virtual training rooms, rather it is a process with various tools and activities to be inserted between the learning events. The learning journey planning is a conscious and complex task to be managed by a skilled Learning Architect.

Contact DEVELOR office in your country to learn more about the Learning Journey Case Study as well as to find out more about your Blended Learning opportunities.

What is RE/Think HR?

RE/Think HR is a series of international webinars dedicated to HR and L&D managers. The pandemic-induced changes in the way of working and leading caused complications that required novel solutions. Thus, DEVELOR decided to establish this virtual event series to allow HR managers from different countries to ventilate existing challenges, share experiences and get inspirations and ideas from others. You can join the next event here.