Are HR future fit?

Working with HR Professionals from a number of different industries I find their concerns are all similar.  How can we ensure the organisation and ourselves are future fit and ready for all that Industry 4.0 has to bring?  

The biggest challenge often starts with how involved they are with the strategic development within the organisation with only 57% involved with shaping strategy.  This is where HR professionals need to be contributing as Leaders to ensure they are helping the business to stay agile and innovative.   But often they don't get invited because they are not seen as adding value and with only 43% viewing their own skills and capability as good or excellent it isn't that surprising.  

This lack of confidence in the HR department to keep up with the changing needs of the business is demonstrated with a 50/50 confidence level among the workforce.

The urgency to change is real with 40% of current HR transactional and compliance work capable of being automated now even if companies haven't yet introduced the technology to do it, they will in the next 5-10 years. With AI, augmented reality and automation all on offer to complete routine tasks.

There are HR managers who are currently have involvement with strategy development but often not until the later stages and still find themselves constrained by business and employee expectations of what HR is and should be.  I feel there is a need for a revolution to break free of these outdated views and constraints so HR can realise their full contribution and really shape the future of organisations through Employee experiences and journeys, shaped using Data analysis and insights with policies and procedures that have been developed through the design thinking process.