The Challenges of Human Capital Management in the VUCA Era

Abstract

The global crisis caused by the sudden onset of COVID 19 has put emphasis on the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) phenomenon. The COVID 19 pandemic has highlighted the extremely unstable environment in which our world is evolving. Overnight, organizations around the world found themselves switching to teleworking mode, several people suddenly found themselves unemployed and several companies have gone bankrupt. The VUCA phenomenon, linked to rapid and unpredictable changes, makes us wonder how organizations deal with the issue of human capital management. Indeed, questions are emerging regarding a new paradigm for the management of human capital in the era of industrial revolution 4.0 that must take into consideration the question of technological singularity and its consequences on man-machine balance, skills instability, job design, career management, generational and cultural gaps and reconfiguration of work (reengineering, telework, crowdsourcing, etc.). In this article, we aim to highlight the challenges and stakes of human capital management in the era of disruptions and “black swans” caused by the VUCA phenomenon. Our article aims to present the VUCA model, specify its components and expose the state of knowledge concerning its effects on the ethos of human capital management. The results of our research demonstrate that VUCA factors have deleterious effects on human capital unless serious accompanying measures are established.