The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the way organisations work today. Many organisations have shown resilience and reacted and adapted quickly to new ways of working. Employees grew more creative and adaptable, and in the majority of cases, working from home has seen its fair share of benefits. With the change in the way organisations work, it has also prompted a slew of HR trends in which the HR departments need to react in a coordinated way.
As the pandemic moves to an endemic stage, some of these HR trends are here to stay. Organisations need to move from adaptation to transformation. As organisations relook at their workplace and workforce strategy, this also means that HR leaders have to evolve in the way they identify, attract and retain critical skills in order to enhance the employee value proposition and drive business performance.
Here are some of the top HR trends in 2022 that will create both challenges and opportunities for all HR professionals:
REMOTE WORKING
Buffer, a social media management company, recently published in its 2021 State of Remote Work Survey that close to half (46%) of its respondents are intending to shift to remote working permanently. There is no doubt that COVID-19 impacted the world of remote working. The biggest benefit of remote working is, unquestionably, the flexibility that it offers. Commute times have been reduced, employees have the flexibility to work from any location, and the ability to select any schedule that fits their lifestyle. On the other hand, the biggest struggle to remote working has changed drastically. Loneliness and lack of collaboration are the most common issues associated with remote working. Today, employees struggle to unplug from work, especially when emails and calls start to creep in after work hours.
THE GREAT RESIGNATION
2021 is the year of The Great Resignation. And this trend is expected to continue through to 2022. An article published by Harvard Business Review indicated that approximately 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021. This is based on statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to Qualtrics’ third annual Employee Experience Trends Report for 2022, it found that individual contributors and middle managers are even more likely to look for a new job in the coming year. Some of the key drivers of this Great Resignation are burnout, poor new-hire training, and months of cumulative high workload. While organisations are trying to address these mental issues by introducing mental wellness activities and apps, these superfluous benefits will not work for employees in the long run. Business leaders need to focus on what they preach by working reasonable hours, taking reasonable breaks, and driving a culture of well-being.
STRENGTHENING EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITION
Employee value proposition (EVP) is another upcoming trend that HR leaders need to be focus on in 2022, A Harvard Business Review indicated that employee turnover risk can be reduced by 50% if employees have a high sense of belonging to their organisation. Employees want to feel valued and be understood, especially during uncertain times. The good thing is that there are plenty of digital tools that help to streamline people operations and boost employee engagement. The key challenge would be to build strong employer-employee relationships and a holistic EVP that centres employees as people.
UPSKILLING EMPLOYEES
The World Economic Forum projects that by 2022, at least 54% of all employees will need reskilling and upskilling to respond to changing work requirements. While education is no doubt critical in building the foundations of the workforce, lifelong learning and reskilling initiatives are imperative for employees to adapt and secure work opportunities with the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As machines gradually take over administrative and data-processing tasks, soft skills such as critical thinking and problem solving become ever more important in the new technological age.
ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT
A positive change management is another top priority for HR leaders in 2022 as indicated by 48% of HR leaders based on Gartner’s Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2022 report. Over the course of the last two years when the pandemic was at its peak, change was a constant. And employees are fatigued by all this change. In fact, poor team management has a detrimental impact on an employee’s intent to stay, inclusion, and team collaboration efforts. While change is unavoidable in this day and age, HR leaders need to focus on building a positive change experience. And this starts by building trust with employees. Organisations need to identify day-to-day changes, monitor the impact on employees, and empower employees to build their own positive change experience.
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