Today, the CHRO's role is to bring a wide range of people and services together so that they work as effectively as possible in this new environment, a mission that calls for extreme flexibility. As McKinsey recently wrote, corporate hierarchies that cultivate "uniformity, bureaucracy and control" are no longer fit for purpose. Instead, CHROs often must reimagine their workplaces and workforces in order to maximize efficiency, productivity and morale.

Fluid workspaces

"Work" takes on many forms in today's world: the gig economy, contracts, projects, full-time employment, in-office, remote, hybrid, etc. We also know that early professionals are more likely to jump between these categories multiple times for a host of reasons during their careers. Every CHRO will need a willingness to revise their convictions to assess what arrangements would best suit their people and the risk tolerance necessary to implement them. They need to also be ready to fail under dynamic conditions and learn from those failures, too.

A hybrid work model, for example, takes on very different meanings when an organization is sprawling, with colleagues in different countries, versus more geographically concentrated, where people come into the office for a few days a week or special meetings. Virtual offices aren't going away. They will continue to improve engagement and retention. But remote work is not ideal in all situations. In general, new hires, for example, may want — or need — to come into the office to build connections in the organization, especially with other new hires who are entering the company at the same time.

A lightweight HQ can serve as a central point for an organization that frees up resources for other ways of building teams. Leadership can convene, new hires can bond, and existing employees can cycle through a permanent, but small, HQ without great expense. Another model is "presence pods," or groups of professionals in a specific geographic area. Rather than an office, the company might devote resources to meetings, events, temporary spaces or other teambuilding in that region so that people can regularly interact in person and build connections.

It's important to remember these are just ideas. Every company, and every CHRO, is still in the testing phase. We're all trying to determine what kind of space or physical meetings work best and, from there, see how we can tweak them to work even better.

Fluid workforces

Beyond the pandemic's clear impact on what is — and what may not be — needed from a workspace, it also dramatically affected what people want and expect from their jobs – and CHROs are playing a pivotal role in tracking and responding to those expectations. Today's booming talent marketplace shows what happens when professionals refuse or leave jobs that don't match their standards. Employers need to adapt in order to attract new talent — and that adaption shouldn't begin and end in the recruitment process. In addition to redesigning workplaces, CHROs should reconceptualize workforces, too.

Today's CHROs should be focused on upskilling and reskilling teams to be comfortable with new processes, technologies and other developing aspects of their organizations. Fluidity should again be embraced, and CHROs should encourage managers, executives and new hires alike to be curious about all aspects of the organization. The process of upskilling and reskilling, rooted in this flexible mindset, could uncover new skillsets among existing talent and could also encourage career moves within, rather than outside of, the organization. All in all, we could see a new generation of talent emerging, one that refers not to anyone's age but instead to their capacity to acclimate to new work arrangements, projects and tools. The knock-on effects of upskilling and reskilling are also opportunities to grow workforces and businesses.

Not surprisingly, technology plays a key role in this transition. We've seen dramatic advances in business-specific technology since the start of the pandemic, and CHROs would be remiss to ignore their further applications. Look at AI, for example. By automating tasks and processes, the application of AI could, ideally, free people up to spend more time working with other people on problems that humans can best solve together, whether they are in the same office or not. Further, if AI could be applied to take on more rote tasks, professionals can focus on more relational engagements like collaboration, brainstorming and exceptional customer service.

Looking ahead

This shift entails its own challenges and solutions and is certainly one that will require exploration and testing. Again, the willingness to be fluid will be important as these advances happen. Digital natives, for example, are adept at leveraging new technologies, but they might not be as confident interacting with others and building personal relationships in person. CHROs will need to learn how and when to pivot away from technology to focus on so-called softer skills. They will need to know and understand the fluid, human rhythms in their organizations – something that can only come with time and testing.

A robust talent ecosystem, ambitious professionals and innovative technologies shouldn't overwhelm CHROs today. If we embrace these developments with a willingness to try things out and revise as needed, we'll be well on our way towards supporting the future of work.

Jennifer Trzepacz is chief people officer at SymphonyAI.

Read more: 

• An adaptive workforce needs change-ready leaders
• 4 ways agile working can help your organization to adapt
• Forget hybrid, the future of work is asynchronous