How do the youth experience our current HR Practices?

As a young individual who aspires to see my peers to prosper in their prospective career fields, it would be the best thing to happen right now. We are currently faced with a virus that has transformed the way we think and left us in uncomfortable situations, and it has affected the economical state of the country and the normal daily lives of people. South Africa has taken a stand to prioritise the health of their citizens despite the challenges. When the president of South Africa made an announcement that we will be following a phased system, that had brought hope amongst the unemployed, businesses and other industries that the income streams will keep running. However, speculations are that the process is moving very slow.

With job losses and the unemployment rate growing, this has brought people to drastically seek for job opportunities through various platforms. Through the whole process of seeking employment, people have mastered the traditional way of doing things when it came to HR practices; let it be recruitment, organisational development, learning and development. It is time we shift our mindset to doing things differently in the most effective and efficient way.  Many businesses have joined social media platforms to attract the younger generations and they have ensured that they are informative and stimulating for future preparation in the HR space. The young generations are much more comfortable in using technology, using social media and e-learning platforms.  The change has been a little bit uncomfortable as most people were not prepared for this sudden change however, we needed to familiarize ourselves with different forms of communication. We have learned to use a synchronous form of communication using Zoom, Ms Teams, Facebook, WhatsApp to do briefings regarding the progress on the objectives needed to be reached by employees.

Learning and development in this digital world has transformed as we will not need to be physically in contact with each other instead we use e-learning platforms. We can use blended learning whereby the traditional instructor is being supplemented with electronic formats. E-mentoring and E-coaching can be used for support through online tools and facilitation techniques. Young people have found this the most convenient way to learn and should they need any clarity they can always refer to the video recording of the virtual training that was pre-recorded. The Covid-19 crisis has forced organisations to transform and start thinking differently and be the engine of the ‘new coming’ of organisations. According to Sonya Renee Taylor, “we will not go back to normal, normal never was. Our pre-Covid-19 existence was not normal other than that we normalised greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction. We should not long to return, we are given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.” The younger generation is ready to tap into the new world of digitisation and fourth industrial revolution. This is a good time to stitch a new garment and incorporate what we have in a different way. As we shift from the old to the new within the HR space, we need to value and respect our people and show integrity and professionalism in what we do. PEOPLE are at the center of everything, and we need to take them with us through the change.

Change management and the use of new digital systems is at the forefront of ensuring that HR practices stay abreast with the external world. A collaboration between the new and the old will ease this transition. Organisations need to gear up and be ready for what is coming!!!