Rewriting the Rules for the Digital Age: 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends

We title this year’s report Rewriting the rules for the digital age because a principal characteristic of the new era is not merely changing, but change at an accelerating rate, which creates new rules for business and for HR.

Organizations face a radically shifting context for the workforce, the workplace, and the world of work.

These shifts have changed the rules for nearly every organizational people practice, from learning to management to the definition of work itself.

All business leaders have experienced these shifts, for good or for ill, in both their business and personal lives.

Rapid change is not limited to technology, but encompasses society and demographics as well.

Business and HR leaders can no longer continue to operate according to old paradigms.

They must now embrace new ways of thinking about their companies, their talent, and their role in global social issues.

We have developed a “new set of rules” to make sense of this changing landscape. These rules reflect the shifts in mindset and behavior that we believe are required to lead, organize, motivate, manage, and engage the 21st-century workforce.

While it is hard to predict which emerging business practices will endure, it is impossible to ignore the need for change.

This report is a call to action for HR and business leaders, who must understand the impact of change and develop new rules for people, work, and organizations.

This report marks the fifth anniversary of our annual deep dive into human capital trends.

This year, our survey included more than 10,000 respondents from 140 countries, fueling our analysis of the social, economic, political, technological, and cultural issues facing business and HR leaders and employees worldwide.

This workforce is changing. It’s more digital, more global, diverse, automation-savvy, and social media proficient.

At the same time, business expectations, needs, and demands are evolving faster than ever before.

While some view this as a challenge, we see it as an opportunity:

• An opportunity to reimagine HR, talent, and organizational practices.
• An opportunity to create platforms, processes, and tools that will continue to evolve and sustain their value over time.
• An opportunity to take the lead in what will likely be among the most significant changes to the workforce that we have seen.