This document discusses the roles of human resources (HR) in addressing digital disruption. It identifies four key roles: the Rainmaker, who governs digital transformation initiatives; the Breeder, who ensures the organization has the necessary competencies; the Layer, who creates a new digital HR platform; and the Mutant, who digitally empowers HR. It then provides more details on each role, including how the Rainmaker can take different approaches to managing digital initiatives, how the Breeder must transform work in response to changing human needs and the future of work, how the Mutant must develop new digital skills, and how the Layer can position HR as a platform within the organization.

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Human 4.0: Evolution or
Revolution?
Dalle nuove competenze all’interazione fra tecnologie, uomini e
macchine

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Overview
• How to face digital disruption
• The dual tech challenge for HR
• The 4 roles of HR in Digital
Disruption

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Jeanne Ross
Five ways to successfully face digital disruption

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A morphing context
Affect the way
you conduct
your business
Changes in technology
• By affecting people’s Behaviors,
Beliefs, Energy, Desire,
Interaction
• Causing disruptions in the
Human Resources field and
ways of working
Changes in social technology

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The roles of HR in Digital Disruption

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The 4 roles of HR in Digital Disruption
• The Rainmaker: to govern digital transformation initiatives and
change management
• The Breeder: to supply required competencies by revising
sourcing, L&D, and succession planning
• The Layer: to create a novel HR Platform, and revitalize
internal conversations and interactions
• The Mutant: to digitally empower itself, identifying new ways of
contributing and inspiring business decisions through advances
in data collection, data analysis, and data interpretation

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The 4 roles of HR in Digital Disruption
Provide Enact
Self The Layer The Mutant
Other The Breeder The Rainmaker

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The Rainmaker
Making it happen

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Informal
• Program funding drives needs and
digital initiatives are randomly
dispersed across the departments
and functions.
• It is quite informal, un-managed,
inefficient, and works on ad-hoc
basis.
• There is clearly a lack of coherent
strategy.

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Centralized
• The most common model marked
by a coherent strategy, clear
ownership & accountability and
easy reporting lines.
• Better and professionally
consistent tools and messaging.
• These teams don’t support content
leadership or engagement and
make innovation difficult.

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Independent
• Less common model as it is very
random
• Multiple centers of digital
leadership established, with digital
roles sprinkled throughout the
organization.
• Supports Silos and competition
inside the organization instead of
collaboration
• In the end there might be a
duplication of initiatives and
resources resulting in waste of
time and money

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Hybrid
• The most progressive model which
supports continuous innovation at
the pace of digital change.
• Different business units have their
own digital initiatives but all in the
digital team are strongly connected
and supported by a centralized
digital expertise team.
• Teams consist of high value
strategists who drive the whole
organization towards a common
long term goal thus supporting
collaboration at all levels.

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The Breeder
Transforming work

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Work is changing, people are changing
The five human-centric needs
Self-management
Meaning
Stability
Knowledge
Freedom 82% in Europe will choose to work on personal
interests and things that impact society.
88% of the European millennials will choose the
same
82% will primarily rely on self-help to solve
problems.
49% believe departments and hierarchy will no
longer exist.
92% will work wherever their skills are needed.
81% believe that companies will exclusively hire contract
workers on a project-by-project basis.
82% believe a standard retirement age will cease to
exist.
97% will use technology to learn anything,
anytime, anywhere.
81% say social media will become the
collaboration platform for work
.
95% believe they will be able to work from
anywhere in the world.
79% believe they can do all work from a
mobile device.
77% will define their own work schedule.

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The 4 Kinds of Work in the Future
How the democratization and technological empowerment of work will affect organizations
Democratizationofwork
Technological empowerment
Work reimagined Uber empowered
TYPE OF WORK
Work via platforms, projects, gigs,
freelancing, contests, contracts and tours of
duty
TECHNOLOGY
Traditional delivery
TYPE OF WORK
Work via platforms, projects, gigs,
freelancing, contests, contracts and tours of
duty
TECHNOLOGY
Delivered by new technologies such as
cloud, on-demand artificial intelligence,
extreme personalization and personal
devices
TYPE OF WORK
Full-time employment, with variations such
as contract, part time and flexible work
TECHNOLOGY
Traditional delivery
TYPE OF WORK
Full-time employment, with variations such
as contract, part time and flexible work
TECHNOLOGY
Delivered by new technologies such as
cloud, on-demand artificial intelligence,
extreme personalization and personal
devices
Current state Today but turbo charged
low
low
high
high

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The Mutant
Morphing ourselves

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New technologies

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Digital HR Literacy
Computer &
Platform
Literacy
Data Design &
Ethics
Analytics
Social
Intelligence
Innovative
Mindset

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The Layer
Providing a new foundation

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The Platform Revolution
• The shift from technical infrastructure
to ecosystem-enabling platforms is
laying the foundations for entirely new
business models that are forming the
bridge between humans and
technology.
• Within these dynamic ecosystems,
organizations must proactively
understand and redefine their strategy
to create platform-based business
models, and to exploit internal and
external algorithms in order to
generate value.

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HR as a Platform?
• A platform is a group of technologies that are used as a base
upon which other applications, processes or technologies are
developed.

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HR as a Platform?
From
To

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The
Breeder
The
Mutant
The Layer
The
Rainmaker
The
Mutant
The Layer
The
Rainmaker
The
Breeder
The
Rainmaker
The
Breeder
The Layer
The
Mutant
Different HR Journeys
ACHIEVE DIGITAL READINESS
INSPIRE BUSINESS THROUGH SPERIMENTATION
FOLLOW THE BUSINESS
OR YOUR OWN