Knowing these 3 things will help drive your career forward in 2017

Workforce 2.0 needs the democratization of knowledge to foster its smart and digital savvy employees - and that means that companies have to embrace a new way of working. Now is the time for HR leaders to change the way talent is viewed in the boardroom and drive employee-centric initiatives that will benefit both the workforce and the company's bottom line.  

A new report by Oracle: HR in 2017: championing a digital future in the boardroom discusses these changes and highlights the importance of giving a voice to employees' needs and keeping pace with constant change in the era of digital business.

Joachim Skura, strategy director at Oracle HCM and a contributor to the paper explains how the concept of the democratization of knowledge is disrupting the traditional setup, and how there are three important things to know about the future of HR.

1. You really can proactively drive your career

When was the last time HR called you to offer useful advice on applying to courses to improve yourself? No? Apart from administrative tasks, employees rarely interact with the HR team for the things that really matter.  What if new technology could refocus the responsibility from the HR team to the employee itself? HR departments typically cover hundreds of people and as an employee it can sometimes be a generic experience, so what if the employee was in the driver's seat and could proactively drive his or her career?

This now can be achieved with digital tools, which in turn will drive a more personalized experience, driven by analytics and data. This, says Skura, is the democratization of knowledge.

Cloud technology is allowing the individual to pursue their career goals.  "The intranet can now be tailored to your own specific needs," he says. "This is being done in many ways through Oracle HCM solutions. Just imagine relevant video tutorials being sent you, chatbots for your own personal requirements, tailored recommendations for what courses to take - the personalization through data is revolutionizing personal development."

 2. VR is a game changer for staying skilled 

Virtual reality will present infinite possibilities for training the workforce 2.o.

A book of training courses and group sessions are already a thing of the past. VR training sessions will mean an altogether more personalized and relevant experience for the employee. 

Learning is hard and requires effort, but now thanks to digital tools, it can be a playful - with HR no longer acting as a gatekeeper. For example, learning a language will become a more immersive and emotional experience. 

"You can order a Caipirinha in the bar in Brazil and practice your Portuguese. Just think about the possibilities in learning a new language with a VR headset, it will be a game changer", Skura says.

Integrated platforms will mean that organizations will be agile and empower employees, and from an Oracle perspective, displaying and accessing information in an intuitive way,  he adds.

Skura predicts that the next step after individual video and VR - is Artificial Intelligent (AI) - with talking robots and 3D hologram teaching Spanish.

The rise of AI and greater automation in the workplace will also continue to be a topic of heated debate as businesses start to practically explore how these advances can make them work smarter.

 3. Take full advantage of data to make better decisions

Analytics is no longer exclusive to management, you'll be able to see the good ideas and be better prepared with data. A new generation of powerful analytics capabilities allows businesses and HR leaders to feed more informed decision-making about employees, largely because they perceive factors like engagement and wellness to be matters of instinct rather than hard numbers.

"For HR leaders, this is a time to remember that fortune favors the brave," Skura says. "There is a strong business case for greater experimentation in the way we manage talent, and it's up to the HR department to help employers invest in the right tools and strategies to bring about positive change."

HR leaders have the difficult task of making the case for a more employee-centric culture, and today's analytics technologies have put them in a position to make compelling arguments based on hard data.

To learn more about the future of HR, read the full report here. 

This post is sponsored by Oracle HCM.

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