It’s not always easy to gaze into the future, but when we look ahead for possible Human Resource Trends it’s sometimes good to also take a quick peak behind first. That’s because, with the exception of a few issues involving technology and global mobility, the HR world is still working on the same basic set of problems that it has always faced. These include talent or people management, and leadership and management training and development. Maybe that shouldn’t be too surprising because our success really does always come down to who we hire and the capacity and strengths of those who lead the organization.

But there are also some emerging issues facing HR experts around the world. Some of these were identified in accounting and professional services giant Deliotte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2015. This report highlighted key areas that HR should expect to have to deal with during the near future, and included some new themes like changing the culture of Human Resources to meet the needs of the future and even the role of machines and technology in the new work environment. Those issues of course come after we deal with the core and perennial challenges of people managers everywhere: leadership and how we hire and develop our key personnel.

1. Leadership
According to the report, companies are struggling with leadership development at all levels and this is a challenge for employers of all sizes and in all sectors of the economy. That’s not surprising to anyone since the core of the modern organization is centred on leadership, and while types of leaders and leadership styles may vary, the one constant of successful corporations is solid and effective leadership.

In the Deliotte study almost 90% of respondents cited creating excellent leaders as either “important” or “very important” to their overall success. That should mean that Human Resource professionals should have it on the top of your to-do list as well. You should probably try doing it differently too this this year, because the survey also said that few organisations have made progress on this issue since last year, and in many global regions it has even gotten worse.

2. Development and learning
While leadership development and training may be a crucial focus, organizations should also be paying attention to creating new and innovative ways to develop and refine their existing workforces. Corporate learning was identified as very important by triple the number of companies from last year’s survey according to Deliotte. This included all aspects of training and development from the shop or office floor to the corporate boardroom.

In addition the need to do this better and in a completely different manner than the past was also evident from the survey. Organizations said that their training and capacity for training was inadequate, and that in fact it has weakened from previous years. Note to HR: Just 40% of respondents said that their organisation was prepared for learning and development in 2015, compared to 75% the year before.

3. Corporate culture
Except for a handful of very successful organizations and businesses, almost every corporate entity in the world is examining or redefining their corporate and operating culture. That’s because they realize that the world has already changed and they are way behind. This need to refocus energies and organizational enthusiasm on the future is forcing organizations to rethink all of their current practices and procedures, particularly how they present themselves and interact with their customers and consumers.

The drive to change corporate culture and to do it quickly is one of the top priorities for companies in the Deliotte study. This is not just about retaining or increasing customers or profit margins, although they are very important. For Human Resources it is a key to recruiting and retaining the key employees the organization will need for today and to survive into the future.

4. Workforce capacity
The shift to contract employees, freelancers and less than permanent employees has been going on for years. But it looks like that phenomenon will grow and rapidly increase in the upcoming years. The need to have the skills and the workers on a just in time basis has been and will continue to be a major challenge for Human Resource professionals. 80% of companies surveyed by Deliotte said that workforce capacity and capability would be an important issue in 2015. That in turn will drive the existing trend towards a greater use of hourly, contingent and contract workers.

For Human Resources that will mean managing at least 2 distinct workforces in the same organization, sometimes even in the same work area. This will bring its own set of challenges and the need to develop new processes, policies and tools for recruitment, compensation, evaluation of their employee groups.

5. Performance management
Everybody is looking for a great way to measure, evaluate and manage the performance of their employees. That is not new. But what is new, at least according to Deliotte, is that organizations are actually trying some different solutions to an age-old problem. They note that companies and businesses of all sizes are innovating their performance management systems and approaches to reflect changes in both their workforces and how work is being performed.

They claim that the age of agile performance management has arrived and that it will become a key focus for Human Resources as they seek to find ways to help management engage, develop and evaluate their existing talent bases. This might be particularly important for dealing with key performers and having an effective system in place to deal with the new generation of workers who are just coming into the workforce.

6. Reinventing human resources
It seems like HR has been going through a makeover for the last 20 years, but despite that fact it looks like another way of Human Resource innovation and change is upon us. The need to reskill HR was once again identified as a priority for organizations and it ranked as the fourth biggest issue in the 2015 survey. Not only that, but the study also said that even with all the efforts made last year, that little identifiable progress has been made.

This clearly shows the need for change within HR and in a worrisome trend, more corporations are now bringing in non-HR professionals to fill the role of Chief Human Resource Officer. That message to HR is clear. Either innovate and improve from the inside or we will bring in outsiders to fix the perceived problems or under-performance in Human Resources.

7. Re-harnessing technology
There were a number of issues raised around technology and how it is being used in and around Human Resources. Perhaps more important is how organizations would like to see that used by HR in the future. The survey said that too few organisations are actively using talent analytics capabilities and they would like HR to make more investments in leveraging data when it comes to making people decisions. Some of this data is already available through social networking sites and there will be a push to gather and use more of this information to better recruit and retain key employees.

Another interesting finding from the survey was the push from organizations to have HR redesign work and work teams based on the new working world where computers and machines can read, analyze, speak, and even make decisions. Almost every job in every organization has the potential to be impacted by cognitive computing and those organizations who quickly figure out how to harness this power and reorganize their work will be far ahead of their competitors in the race for corporate and organizational success.