HR TRENDS
In the past few years, Human Resource management industry has redefined in more than one way. From a flexible working model to a holistic approach to employee well being. The year 2022 has added a lot to the transformation in the HR industry.
Hence forth here are the few key takeaways:
1. A flexible model can reduce top talent attrition by 20%.
2. Companies are transitioning from focusing on individual employee well being to a more holistic approach for a healthy organization.
3. 52% of the workforce have worked or will be working independently as a contributor to the gig economy by 2023.
4. Businesses are increasingly focusing on developing power skills aka social, emotional and advanced cognitive skills.
5. Employee expectations have evolved beyond pay, benefits and perks which is a sense of shared identity, interactions and a fulfilling employee experience are crucial for a successful post pandemic business.
Here are the following HR trends:
Keeping the human touch alive — The remote working environment cropped up issues regarding employee engagement and organizational identification. A recent survey highlights that 46% of employees felt there was a lack of support from their employers, and 45% felt overworked. This makes the importance of keeping the human touch alive more than ever. It’s very important to know that no technology can automate and replace empathy, engagement and loyalty in an organization, especially in a constantly shifting work environment. There needs to be a strategic HR approach to how to connect with employees in a human context so they don’t feel isolated and alone and this results in less engagement and lower productivity.
Cyber Security to become even more important — Over 74% of organizations attribute recent business-impacting cyber attacks to remote work tech vulnerabilities. More than three-quarters of respondents had no more than 20% of their workforce working from home before pandemic. Afterwards, almost all organizations reported more than 20% of their employees. With a scattered workforce, data breaches and security risks associated with the workplace have also increased. A large remote workforce always brings various security and data breach concerns such as malware, social engineering attacks on unsecured employee-owned devices, and phishing. Organizations keep on improving their cloud service security, transform digital roadmap and security technology, and incorporate efficient training programs to combat security threats for safeguarding company assets and data.
Power skills play a key role — The workplace is evolving and so are its requirement. Around 63% of employers prefer to hire someone with transferable skills like teamwork, time management or leadership and train them for the technicalities of the job. Power skills are behavioral in nature. With technological leaps in the corporate world, power skills help an employee to stand out. It is believed to be the future of effective operation management. Some increasing important pointers of power skills are preservation, performance, communication, workplace environment and customers.
DEI in the spotlight — Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are a part of addressing bias, discrimination, harassment, unfair wages and other issues at the workplace. The importance and need of DEI has reportedly increased with evolving work models from in person to virtual and hybrid environments. According to a survey, 79% of respondent companies plan on increasing DEI budget in 2022. But money wasn’t enough to eradicate the deep rooted problems. Approx 13% of senior executives support DEI initiatives, highlighting the need for developing more DEI leaders to make positive changes in the workplace behavior and culture.
Hybrid work model — Around 66% of industry leaders are thinking of redesigning their workplace for hybrid work. Location shouldn’t be the main focus anymore. Rather than focusing on in-person versus remote, what should be focused on is how to keep employees engaged and productive in different environments.
Combining traditional and remote work models will heavily influence organization’s operations. A holistic approach to employee well-being, skill transformations and a human touch will ensure quality work experiences despite ever-shift paradigms. Companies must look to strategize for these shifts I advance to avoid compromising on their overall productivity and growth.
