Enterprise 2.0 and Human Network Management

This might be one of the most futuristic post by me !!!

I see a huge change in the roles and responsibilities of a CHRO as we move forward into the Entetprise 2.0. What would HR Organizations look like around ten years from now.

Before knowing that, Lets see whats driving this change.....
As more and more organizations start responding to Enterprise 2.0 changes, there is something very interesting that beckons them. A very high level of technology usage, coupled with a change in the very basics of management. Are organizations ready to change ? Thats where they need a strong agent to manage this change. However with the changing times, the change agent has to be someone who can don multiple colours and yet appear a single face for the organization.
Can it be the CIO / CBO/ Marketing officer/ CFO ? Perhaps NO, because this change is all about people and how they would determine the changed look of organizations of future.
That obviously makes CHRO as the best person to not only manage this change but also help organization transition through this.
With time, we have all seen the trasition of this role from administrative to strategic, and bigger changes beckon the role as we move forward.

1. HR Marketing - HR function is going to assume a strong brand ambassodor role going forward. The two prime reasons for this are, HR would need to communicate the new face of organization in enterprise 2.0 times and HR would continue to become a strong lever for the " Employee brand" it associates with. This would call for a strong brand identity management and outward facing HR organization.
Change from yesterday
Shed the inhibitions, walk to the world and say what you are.

2. HR Technology - The HR Organization of future is driven by technology and more and more of it. Voice enabled employee response systems, networks and communities of people, both internal and external. HR systems that can change with each organization change dynamically. HR is surely using more of technology.
Change from yesterday
We are not shy of technology, we are the best adopters.

3. HR Finance - HR Managers of tomorrow would be loaded with data, loads and loads of it. Dynamic in nature and predictive in formats. These data's would be able to drive projections, growth trends. Thats where HR would be able to take a better control of the costs related to HR Proceses and interventions. And No, I am not proposing CFO to be in HR department, HR would be able to drive a significant amount of cost management going into future.
Change from yesterday
Now we understand the language you finance guys speak and yes we deliver on it too !!

So now the question that comes to every mind - Is HR going to become the owner of all functions - Marketing, technology and finance ??
Not at all, however with focus on networks, people and usage of technology to connect all of this gaining prominence, HR would in all probability become a more powerful function.
Organizations would be investing significant $$$ in their Enterprise 2.0 strategies and that would call for reinventing everything around them, their processes, the owners, the roles and the deliverables.
While the entire picture of the plethora of possibilities that this new order would give is still hazy, one thing is clear, HR organizations would need to take more responsibilities to make it happen and thats precisely what makes me think that this would also be an opportunity for HR to reinvent itself.
Whether it happens or not, remains to be seen.......