“We are going to need vitamins,” says Gabriela García Cortés in relation to the challenges that talent management departments will have next year, a space that is emerging as a decisive environment to demonstrate that the changes accelerated by the pandemic must remain. In January next year, she will also become president of the Mexican Association in Human Resources Management (Amedirh) and will be the first woman to hold the position in almost 75 years of the organization’s existence.
From the executive’s perspective, 2022 will be even more challenging for HR professionals because senior management will have to be convinced with indicators of the importance of maintaining flexible work models and, at the same time, think about how this flexibility accelerated by the health emergency can encompass everyone.
“How can we be more democratic and what flexibility not only for the office in the corporate office, but also for the delivery man who has to go to the stores? I think there is a pending debt there, to be able to be more democratic. We do not have to give the same to everyone, but we do have to give everyone an alternative according to the nature of their work. There is a lot of work to be done there ”, the senior vice president of Human Resources at PepsiCo Alimentos México explains in an interview.
The challenge posed by the executive is important in a country like Mexico, where teleworking is only an option for 10.6% of jobs, according to estimates by economists from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).
In the same discussion around the new work dynamics, Gabriela García believes that another challenge is determining to what extent flexibility can be granted. “You have to ask yourself how far we want to stretch the league without being afraid of losing control.”
The talent management departments have a very great responsibility in the permanence of the new working models and that the transformations achieved in labor matters do not recede.
In this sense, the new president of the Amedirh recognizes that this task is not easy because it is linked to the role that the professionals of Human Resources assumed in organizations and to the extent that it is possible to demonstrate the impact that one strategy or another can have on people.
“Speaking in numbers is important, like a business. We have lost ourselves in thinking that talk about people It’s a theme soft, but it is not like that, it has tangible results and indicators and if you quantify them and manage to speak in business language, I don’t see why you don’t have a place at the table and I think the pandemic opened up this possibility even more ”, he says.
Human Resources and its branches
According to a study by LinkedIn and Glint, workers who feel a lack of interest from their leaders are 42% more likely to resign and those who do not feel supported by their bosses are up to 45% more likely to apply for another job opening. .
In this context, the leadership transformation It is one of the challenges that Human Resources departments have in 2022, turning each boss into a branch of the talent management area. “We are not going to be able to deal with everything at the same time, we need allies and they are the leaders,” says the executive.
In this vein, García Cortés considers that leadership must evolve to assume a manager role and support Human Resources in active listening and closeness with collaborators, since managers must know in greater detail the situation of their team.
“The main point is to train leaders in this new expectation of forward leadership, which is much more vulnerable, much closer, much more humane and genuinely cares about people. That is not easy because most do not give it naturally and they want it to be Human Resources the one who comes to tell them if they give Luis permission to work on the beach or if he should return to the office, ”he says.
The chair cannot be released
Gabriela García is aware that the pandemic brought many challenges for the areas of talent managementBut it is also the opportunity to demonstrate that the work of Human Resources is just as important as that of other departments and take a seat at the table of business leaders.
“All crises create brutal opportunities. It’s great to have a leading place At the table, let’s not let go of them, the chair is ours and there is all the space given ”, he emphasizes.
This new strategic role that must be assumed by the areas of human capital it requires professionals to believe in the importance of the role they play. “Human Resources has been the processor of things that someone else decides. That stopped being effective a long time ago. “
Assuming oneself as a role of executor of processes, of policy administrator or of “police” following all are tasks that the departments of talent management they must leave because they do not add value, he assures.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx