The HR trends you need to focus on in 2022

We all know that the landscape of working life has changed radically in the last two years, and the near-inevitable likelihood is that we will probably never fully return to some of the old ways of doing things that were considered business as usual in pre-pandemic times.

But if what we define as ‘normal’ has either already changed or is going to in the near future, then the challenges we face in how we run our businesses are also going to change – and we need to adapt our working practices to meet them.

Here, then, are what I think are going to be the people trends to look out and plan for in 2022.

#1 – An aggressive talent war

The pandemic has prompted lots of surveys, studies and market research around the impact Covid has had on the British economy and, in particular, around the prognosis for UK businesses.

Broadly speaking they seem to agree that by the time the second anniversary of the original lockdown rolls around in March we will have lost somewhere a little short of 1 million SMEs. Regardless of the precise figure, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on enterprise.

The knock-on effect of that, of course, is that more people are now competing for a significantly smaller number of jobs, effectively turning the business of spotting and hiring talent into a zero sum game.

That will require business leaders who want to grow and attract the best talent to establish clear development and succession plans to demonstrate growth opportunities for would-be joiners, and to ensure their staff-facing policies are competitively attractive.

#2 – Increasing workplace flexibility

If nothing else the pandemic has taught us to disregard everything we thought we knew about flexible approaches to working, and there is nothing to suggest that this will not continue to be a defining feature of professional life in the future.

Businesses have been forced to trust that their staff will continue to put in the time and effort they are paid for whilst working remotely, have had to consider improving flexible working options and have had to ensure their teams have the right equipment to work away from their office base.

Overall, I think businesses have been extraordinarily agile in this regard, but there is still work to do.

A recent study conducted in the United States suggested that three quarters of business leaders believed they offered a flexible approach to working, yet only 57% of their staff agreed with them.

The precise numbers for the UK will be different, but I suspect not by a huge amount.

That means business leaders here will need to continue to find new and innovative ways to ensure their teams are able to work in ways that allow them to achieve better work/life balance.

Crucially, though, they will also have to measure this requirement against the need to keep their businesses running. There is a difference between being open to new ideas and being a hostage to them.

#3 – The HR function is likely to change

There is already clear evidence to show that managers have had to be far more invested in employee welfare and management.

The days when professional, physical and emotional wellbeing was a function that managers devolved to their HR partners are long gone, and managers now find themselves dealing with individual team members on a range of issues that include work/life balance, flexible working, mental health, physical health, engagement, motivation, productivity, and more besides.

So, if HR teams are no longer dealing with as much of that day-to-day business, what will they be doing in the future?

I think HR will increasingly come down to the empowerment, development and skilling of middle managers to ensure they are able to engage purposefully, positively and constructively with individuals and teams.

That probably means working with leadership teams to educate them on the importance of that work, and then evolving delivery strategies to ensure those workstreams are rolled out rapidly and effectively.

#4 – Data will be king

HR is one of the functions of a business that truly straddles intuitive working and data-driven decision-making.

Traditionally, the ‘soft’ skills of people management have been part of an intuitive process, whilst areas like benefits and remuneration have been informed more by data than by what we think might be the industry or sector norms.

That is already changing and will continue to change, with analytics playing a much bigger part in decision-making across businesses.

What that means for HR teams in 2022 is that staff surveys, competitor and industry analysis, and bottom line considerations will inform more of how a business operates on the ground.

#5 – Flexibility will be needed in order to be flexible

The reality is that flexibility will continue to define the workplace in 2022 and beyond, but in order to ensure that your business is in the best place to meet its future challenges, leadership teams will increasingly need to innovate.

Developing strategies to allow different ways of working within teams, considering and implementing new processes, being creative around people development and understanding that the best performing businesses are those that exist in a culture of trust will all be differentiators in the next year and beyond.

It all adds up to a new and unfamiliar system of prioritisation and planning, but done well and with the right support it will lead to some welcome old-fashioned benefits like profit, productivity and performance.

 If you’d like to know how Constantia Consulting can help you to rethink your HR approach in 2022, please get in touch for a confidential no-obligation chat.