The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) hosted its Forum on Human Capital Leadership in Beijing on Tuesday, according to an agency press release. Over 150 overseas and Chinese senior human resource (HR) professionals met for a bilateral exchange of ideas with a visiting delegation of senior HR executives from the US.

The group discussed SHRM’s 2007–2008 Workplace Trends Lists, which detail what HR issues will affect the workplace the most. On hand to kick-off the forum was SHRM’s chief operating officer, Ms. China Miner Gorman.

The 2007–2008 Workplace Trends Lists are summaries of SHRM’s Special Expertise Panels’ 2007 Trends Reports. Comprised of SHRM members possessing advanced HR skills and experience in one of 13 HR concentrations, the Special Expertise Panels compose Trend Reports by identifying topics of importance to the HR profession. The lists allowed forum attendees a to learn about the key HR issues collectively.

Brian J. Glade, SPHR, GPHR, vice president of SHRM, announced the updated trends in 13 areas. Among the most notable items on the lists were corporate social responsibility; employee health, safety and security; employee relations; ethics, and HR consulting/outsourcing.

While the lists of trends are used primarily as a springboard for creating more in-depth, forward-looking content for SHRM members, the lists also a valuable resource, revealing what HR issues experts believe will have the biggest effect on the workplace today and in the years ahead. Key themes emerging from the 13 areas included the importance of globalization and integrating markets; demographic changes and their impact on diversity and labor availability; the implications of increased health care costs; immigration and global labor mobility; and skills shortages and a greater emphasis on talent management.