Emerging Stronger with Adaptable HR: Alight Solutions’ State of HR Transformation Study 2021

After releasing three insightful editions, Alight is back with the fourth edition of the Alight Solutions’ State of HR Transformation Study in partnership with People Matters. 

The study, which was launched during the People Matters TechHR SEA, is themed around Emerging Stronger and sheds light on how some organisations are ahead of the curve in emerging stronger. A key finding was the positive sentiment that organisations in Asia have for the coming 12 months. Amongst them, adaptable organisations have reported that they are 1.5 times more likely to see positive growth in revenues and profits. The HR function has certainly proved its mettle in this case and shown how well it can manage disruption and guide organisations to emerge stronger.

Last year, Alight brought forward the construct of Adaptable HR as a guide to navigating the increasingly uncertain business and talent landscape in the midst of the biggest crisis faced. Exploring the anchors of adaptability in HR functions, Alight has consistently observed that HR Operating Model (interchangeably referred to as HR Service Delivery or Business Model) plays an important role in driving confidence on execution and productivity. When complemented with the right HR technology strategy, the results are amplified further.

Unveiling the findings of  The State of HR Transformation Study 2021, Colin Brennan, Chief Product Strategy & Services Officer at Alight Solutions shares that there is increased pressure on HR which includes multiple levers to de-risk performance, workforce productivity, employees' wellbeing, and hybrid workforce.

This year, as we continue to face new challenges and uncertainties posed by the pandemic, Alight found that organisations with Adaptable HR are emerging stronger to:

• Lead in being digital: Adaptable HR report twenty times the NPS on technology satisfaction as compared to market averages. This is due to the digital success enabled by leveraging HR Technology to complement the HR Operating Model. In addition, 50% of Adaptable HR have advanced along their adoption journey of robotics and cognitive technologies to drive efficiencies and improved experience for employees.
• Enable shifts in the way we work: Adaptable HR functions are three times more likely to be proactive in driving institutional change, new ways of working, and adoption of work technologies. In fact, Adaptable HR functions report the use of up to 5 forms of work technologies. Factors that enabled quick adoption include investment priorities and the right efforts in helping adoption through investments in manager/ leader enablement.
• Reimagine HR: Adaptable HR functions are three times more likely to succeed in delivering closer partnership with the business through their operating model and capabilities. The specific capabilities demanded in Adaptable HR functions are what sets them apart and enables the organisation to be agile by design.
• Shape and deliver value: Adaptable HR functions are almost three times more confident in their HR strategy and execution. This foundation and investment priorities enables them to be better equipped to address complexities and more proactive in responding to changes. 

The world of work too has undergone drastic transformation in these times. Adaptable HR functions have proven that HR is truly at the forefront of shaping and delivering value to stakeholders, enabling us to adopt new ways of working, and enable digital success. Throughout this report, observations were shared in terms of how Adaptable HR organisations have paved ways for new co-creations and solutions for people and organisations to emerge stronger.

It is an accumulation of all individual behaviour changes and the larger organisation change which leads to business success. It is no surprise that organisations with Adaptable HR functions are 1.5 times more likely to have favourable growth in revenues and profit before tax in the coming 12 months.

Certainly, the future belongs to organisations that are able to continue their journey of Adaptable HR, lead transformation and emerge stronger!

The State of HR Transformation 2021, is the fourth edition of the Alight Solutions’  flagship study on this subject. The study data was captured between Jan 2021 and Apr 2021 through an online survey. The insights combine data captured via a survey that saw participation from over 1,700 respondents (which were filtered down to 1,022 based on completeness and accuracy of responses), and observations of Alight Solutions in the space of HR Transformation. 

With an unwavering belief that a company’s success starts with its people, Alight Solutions is a leading cloud-based provider of integrated digital human capital and business solutions. Leveraging proprietary AI and data analytics, Alight optimises business process as a service (BPaaS) to deliver superior outcomes for employees and employers across a comprehensive portfolio of services. Alight allows employees to enrich their health, wealth and work while enabling global organisations to achieve a high-performance culture. Alight’s 15,000 dedicated colleagues serve more than 30 million employees and family members.
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Click here to download the exclusive report now. Let’s emerge stronger together!