The era of the generalist as HR leaders may be waning as automation of many functions takes hold.  Some experts see the rise of self-service as reducing the need for generalists across sthe industry.  This means that in 2012 it is likely that we will see the eradication of the middle man in HR. 

According to Michael Custers, Vice President, global Marketing, Northgate Arinso, pure HR transactions will be increasingly automated, for instance via a Global HR & Payroll system. 

Self service will make it easier to enforce HR policies through technology and as companies are able to do this at the local and global level, fewer business partners (HR generalists) are needed to deal with any exceptions.  However, it is not a totally bleak outlook for the HR industry.  HR specialists who provide expertise within areas such as talent management, leadership development or analystics will grow their roles and provide serious business value.  This trend will also affect smaller, domestic enterprises as well.

This creates a future vision for HR whereby a service center and underlying processing engine will handle a maximum of HR transactions, and an HR expert group that has a number of specialists will assist line managers with programs when they need support, for instance, with regards to union negotiations, recruitment, analytics and leadership training.   

Developing countries such as Brazil, India, Turkey and Indonesia have strong business environments and a highly skilled pool of human capital which means that they are attracting global companies to spur foreign direct investment.  One other fact as reported by the Wall Street Journal is that many Euro countries are losing talent to these developing areas as a result of poor economic conditions within that bloc.

For the HR industry, the effect is these trends is that increasing numbers of multi-national companies are looking to grow offices in emerging economies as well as consolidating their other global business under a streamlined payroll and HR system. Juggling different local regulations, compliance rules, and legislation is incredibly challenging - and time intensive - without a central, global HR & payroll system.

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