
Professional Services Trends
Phelps 2020 Professional Services Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1 Competitors are becoming increasingly digital and agile.
Human Resource Implication: Professional leaders need to ensure they have a long-term yet flexible vision that allows them to adapt as required to transformational changes being brought by the speed of technology adoption and innovation in the market.
Trend #2 Disruptive change inside this sector will require organizations to retain the best resources available to help them succeed in this ever-changing market.
Human Resources Implication: The need for leaders with unique skill-sets is on the rise, therefore, organizations need to adapt their business models to attract these scarce talent and ensure they have the right leaders in the right positions at the right times. Organizations powered by the best human capital available will be the ones who stand out from the rest.
Trend #3 AI will continue to deliver value to every industry, enabling new business models, streamlining service offerings, but also increasing customer knowledge and unearthing new needs and demands as digital and technological change continue to unfold.
Human Resource Implication: Greater investments will be required to support leaders to formulate best-in-class service offers that are transparent and efficient. Future-facing, multidisciplinary teams will be needed to ensure every touchpoint of the customer journey is meeting and exceeding client’s expectations. Clients will be drawn to organizations that offer transparency and true care for their needs.

Human Resources Trends
Phelps 2020 Chief Human Resources Officer Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1 The majority of organizations require more preparation to respond to the human resource concerns in the age of complexity and disruption.
Human Resource Implication: The need to understand different kinds of change, the implications of that change and how to integrate practice, policy and process are key requirements for human resource leaders.
Trend #2 The ability to compete for top talent continues to dominate the human resource agenda.
Human Resources Implication: The ability to understand the drivers and motivations of multiple demographic groups of employees, develop holistic quantitative and qualitative measures and nurture (and share) the organization’s ethos are essential to preserving competitive advantage.
Trend #3 Holding others accountable for behaving in accordance with organizational values emerged as the leadership attribute that will become most important in the next 5 years..
Human Resource Implication: Developing an accountability and values-based framework that facilitates stronger communications amongst team members will be vital to building happier, healthier and more vibrant workplaces in the future.
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Technology Trends
Phelps 2020 Technology and Digital Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1
Continuous, adaptive risk and trust assessment (CARTA) will emerge as a key focus for business leaders.
Human Resource Implication:
Tech leaders will want to adopt the concept of “people-centric security” empowering team members to take personal responsibility for security. Enabling risk and security management leaders to adopt a CARTA strategic approach, facilitates real-time, risk-and trust -based decision making with adaptive responses.
Trend #2
Interactions with technology will change drastically including everything from conversational platforms, augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality.
Human Resources Implication:
Because leaders will spend less time exploring data and more time acting on the most relevant insights, they will need to become more aware of working without the bias that may be present in manual approaches to analysis. Analytics, process and user experiences have the potential to transform the nature of work and structure of the workplace.
Trend #3
AI will continue to deliver value to every industry, enabling new business models particularly in customer engagement, digital production, smart cities, self-driving cars, risk management, computer vision and speech recognition.
Human Resource Implication:
Greater investments will be required to support leaders to formulate coherent questions and define “problem domains” – avoiding the good plow, wrong field syndrome. New skills on how to “train the system” will be important.

Public Sector Trends
Phelps 2020 Public Sector Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1 Public sector organizations are continually faced with budget constraints, often needing to find new and creative ways to deliver results.
Human Resource Implication: Public sector leaders need to embrace digital transformation, adaptive approaches and remain agile in order to experiment, fail fast and adjust in order to keep moving the organization forward.
Trend #2 Partnerships and collaboration are essential and are an effective way to improve outcomes and service delivery.
Human Resources Implication: In order to make progress, the best public sector leaders are working together and ignoring traditional boundaries. This has changed their approach from ‘direct’ organisational leadership to ‘networked’ leadership.
Trend #3 Amplified complexity needs leadership styles that embrace uncertainty, ask the challenging questions, and don’t look for easy answers.
Human Resource Implication: Organizations require leaders who have risen through a technical or specialist route, who likely have a far broader set of skills and mindsets.

Not For Profit Trends
Phelps 2020 Not for Profit Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1
There is a greater need to pay attention to developing a human resource strategy.
Human Resource Implication:
Organizations are focusing on risk management and are thinking more strategically about succession planning. This includes identifying high performers earlier in their careers and providing them with opportunities to develop experiential learning.
Trend #2
The relationship between technology and membership engagement is expanding.
Human Resources Implication:
Associations need to attract and recruit employees who are tech savvy and ahead of the curve. Members now often look to their association to learn about the latest trends in technology. Hiring people who are extraordinarily service driven is a key capability as associations look to virtual memberships while ensuring an authentic member experience.
Trend #3
There is an increased governance focus on sustainability.
Human Resource Implication:
The Canada Not-for-Profit Act is clear about a Board’s fiduciary and other responsibilities. As a result, associations need leaders who can think well beyond the current and next budget. Leaders who have strong scenario planning and strategic thinking will be rewarded by Boards.

Health Trends
Phelps 2020 Health Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next health care human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1
The effects of technology and virtual health means health leaders will need to prepare for the invisible.
Human Resource Implication
From securing the internet of things and risk mitigation against threats of cyberattacks to harnessing AI to supplement health workforces and decision-making, health leaders will be engaged in enhancing protocols, policies and procedures around the many connected devices in electronic health records; protection of privacy will be of paramount importance.
Trend #2
Workforce transformation will have broad impact requiring leaders and team members to anticipate the scale and pace of change.
Human Resources Implication:
If not considered strategically, and holistically, employees may feel overwhelmed, demoralized and not as engaged as they might be.
Trend #3
Nine factors are affecting health-related social needs outside of the health care system and that are beyond an individual’s control. These are: housing instability; food insecurity; transportation; education; utility needs; interpersonal violence; family and social supports; employment; and, income.
Human Resource Implication
Know how to lead in a time of vulnerability will be a critical capability. It means health leaders will need to strike a delicate balance between harnessing the shifts now being made from treatment to prevention and wellness and from individual to population health.

Municipal Trends
Phelps 2020 Municipal Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1 Municipalities are under increasing pressure to demonstrate efficient resource allocation while continuing to meet the evolving needs of their communities
Human Resource Implication: Municipal leaders are required to diversify economies, moving away from single sector reliance while maintaining continued accountability to the communities they serve.
Trend #2 Taking the municipal sector by storm, traditional approaches are being displaced by creative and innovative experiments and techniques.
Human Resources Implication: Leaders need to embrace new technologies and iterative, agile approaches to change, not least in digital transformation where success can depend on the courage to experiment, fail fast, and adjust in order to keep a project moving forward.
Trend #3 Leadership can no longer rely on past practices to new problems and the search for solutions.
Human Resource Implication: In the age of disruption, the new economy, changes in fiscal environment and extreme weather incidents, leaders are rethinking their approach to fiscal planning, economic development and taking practice measures to manage the impact of climate change.

Financial Trends
Phelps 2020 Finance Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1
A greater emphasis on strategic leadership will fuel and accelerate decision-making.
Human Resource Implication:
Reshaping the operating model within financial domains will be required to bring this new decision-making to life.
Trend #2
Evidence-based decision making will grow in influence throughout organizations and will facilitate collaboration as finance partners with key divisions to implement strategies.
Human Resources Implication:
Financial leaders will need to proactively develop learning cultures that support evidence-based decision making. This will take time and effort on behalf of all team members.
Trend #3
Finance leaders will emerge more strongly as change agents and coaches, working alongside peers and colleagues to enhance processes, systems and ways of doing business.
Human Resource Implication:
Creating much closer alignment and engagement with the business will be required in order to effectively lead in ambiguity and develop more resiliency in the organization.

Infrastructure Trends
Trend #1
Energy: The pace of change in Canadian and global energy markets, policy, and technology trends suggests that the need for timely analysis is greater than ever.
Human Resource Implication:
In this environment of change, the sector will require leaders who can distill, analyze and interpret meaningful long-term projections in three areas: falling costs of renewables like wind and solar; determining the resilience of oil and gas under challenging market conditions and continuous improvement in energy efficiency that cause energy use and economic growth to decouple.
Source: https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/nrg/ntgrtd/ftr/2018/2018nrgftr-eng.pdf
Trend #2
Infrastructure: Canada’s infrastructure is about 70% through its useful life and is in need of a significant upgrade; it’s estimated an immediate investment of $250B is required.
Human Resources Implication:
The Canadian construction industry employs 1.2 million people, over 7% of all working Canadians. Larger firms have the advantage here as projects are now “bundled”. Small to medium size firms will have to become more competitive or risk being shut out of large construction projects. Contracts are more onerous and complicated requiring sophisticated negotiation and risk assessment skills. Skilled labour shortages will continue to jeopardize our ability to complete work, increase cost and put additional pressure on hiring more skilled workers.
Source: https://www.trisura.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Trisura-Infrastructure-WP-English-Update.pdf
Trend #3
Resources: New technology, social license and regulation of natural resource development and management is becoming more complicated, creating more work for the private sector to both navigate and comply with regulation.
Human Resource Implication:
There is a growing demand for professionals with certifications and designations; more associations and educational institutions are now increasing their education in areas like Agronomy and Forestry.
Source: https://www.eco.ca/wp-content/uploads/ECO-Canada-Careers-in-Natural-Resource-Management.pdf

Education Trends
Phelps 2020 Post-Secondary Trend Check
Here are the top 3 trends that should be influencing your decision on who to work with when choosing your next human capital partner. Whether you are embarking on a search, seeking new ways to harness change management strategies or identifying and working with emerging talent, we have deep expertise to ensure your goals are not just met, but exceeded.
Trend #1
The growth of integrating emotional skill development is a key factor in higher education and later employment success.
Human Resource Implication:
Expect institutions to have dedicated programming and supports in this area
Trend #2
Enrolment demographics are changing. Generation Z is moving in large numbers overtaking Millennials in enrollment
Human Resources Implication:
Educational institutions will need to embrace advanced technology faster to inform pedagogy and develop future leadership.
Trend #3
The student body is aging as more 25+ year old students are returning to school to refresh their career
Human Resource Implication:
Bridging out of this a greater need to provide career prep and guidance to entering and mature students. Educational pathways will be table stakes into future institutional strategy. Administrative and academic leaders will need to exhibit greater flexibility and entrepreneurialism to support people obtaining certificates, badges and other qualifications; in fact, there’s been an 800% increase in the number of certificates awarded!
Source for trends
https://www.insidetrack.com/resources/part-two-top-ten-higher-ed-trends-to-watch-for-in-2019/