Skillsoft's global HR leader is developing a balanced workforce that includes agents and meets business goals. For those facing similar challenges, she and other experts advise agility.

Merging HR and IT, many HR leaders say, can boost engagement, ease tech rollouts and drive productivity. Meanwhile, a majority of IT leaders predict a "complete" integration for most organizations within five years.

Sara Yik of the Singapore Institute of Management believes that although loyalty can't be designed prescriptively, it can be cultivated, driving employee retention.

Global analyst Josh Bersin called the move potentially transformative for Workday, by providing a large step into the frontline worker market.