HR Topics in 2024
Eoin Donnellan
Account Executive - Helping HR leaders be proactive instead of reactive
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Keeping up with trends or HR topics in 2024 is important for any company that wants to stay competitive in the job market.
As the end of the year gets closer, many web pages, magazines, and Professionals are trying to figure out which topic will have the most impact on the HR field in the near future.
But the large number of opinions, which can sometimes be very different, can cause more confusion than clarity.
Companies and HR departments will still be trying to figure out how to deal with the huge changes brought on by the rise of hybrid work in 2024. This latest way of working has given employees and companies a lot of benefits, but it has also brought up important problems that need to be solved and strategic changes that need to be made. In 2023, there will be a stronger focus on the employee, which will mean more attention to training and mental health.
Focused on Employee wellness
In 2024, HR topics such as employee wellness will take another positive step forward as leaders in the field assist in the creation and maintenance of employee assistance programmes that encourage workers to participate in fitness, daily exercise, stress reduction, and other factors that contribute to their overall wellness.
Dr. Steven Aldana, asserts that office managers and supervisors must prioritize the wellness of their employees in order to increase productivity and address the factors of the workplace environment that negatively affect employee wellness.
Effective employee wellness programmes may incorporate the following elements:
According to a 2017 research conducted by the University of California, Riverside, corporate wellness initiatives can increase employee satisfaction and productivity by empowering employees to take care of their well-being in a manner that fits into their busy schedules.
As existing and prospective employees anticipate high-quality healthcare, wellness, and retirement programmes for themselves and their families in 2023, it is probable that companies will continue to offer them. This might be expanded to include cheap child care for returning-to-work parents. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), in 2024, search for employers who provide flexible child care benefits, thereby assisting parents and maybe giving themselves a competitive advantage in the hiring process.
Additionally, keep a watch out for innovative paid time off (PTO) regulations in 2023. Some employers are expanding Paid time off to include an extra day off to see the doctor, a paid holiday for an employee’s birthday, and time off to attend children’s events in response to employee demands.
HR joins the metaverse
Gartner says that by 2026, 25percent of individuals will devote at least one hour a day in the metaverse. This means that some of these things, like virtual events, employee onboarding, career fairs, and meetings, won’t start until 2023 for the top companies in this field.
The metaverse could also be used to teach and learn in the workplace. Meta is spending $150 million to make the metaverse a better place to learn by building an immersive learning ecosystem.
The few companies that have started to use the metaverse’s potential will have a more modern employer brand, more interesting communication with remote candidates, and can even make the company more productive.
We think that a small number of companies will stand out in 2023 by making an investment in the metaverse. There will be both big businesses with custom-made metaverse environments and small businesses that are creative and use virtual workspace software.
HR is a key part of helping the company figure out how to use technology in the best way. They will have to come up with new policies for hybrid working to make sure that people are working in a healthy way in the metaverse and to teach leaders how to advance in this new environment. The basic principle should always be: Don’t do anything online that you wouldn’t do in a real workplace.
It also gives HR a unique chance to change the (virtual) workspace beyond the traditional, often boring office setting. How people use a space depends on how it is set up. A round table encourages conversation, while a rectangular table is more hierarchical, with the boss sitting at the head.
The metaverse makes it possible to imagine a productive, collective, and creative place to work that isn’t limited by physical norms. The lack of physical norms also makes it easier for people with disabilities to be included.
Despite the entire buzz, we want to make it clear that the metaverse is just a way to get somewhere. It should improve business performance and the experience of employees, but it shouldn’t take attention away from the core business.
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Redefining remote and hybrid work techniques
Throughout the pandemic, work has evolved. As per McKinsey, the pandemic has accelerated firms’ digital transformation by three to four years. And workers have properly adapted. For example, according to LinkedIn data, remote positions, which account for approximately 20 percent of all opportunities on LinkedIn, got over 50 percent of all applications!
This indicates that businesses will be at a competitive disadvantage if they oppose flexible working in any capacity. Not all organizations have grasped this, and they continue to employ once-rational but now obsolete methods. For example, 95 percent of CEOs believe that staff must be present at the office to preserve business culture. In addition, a study published in Nature Human Behaviour indicated that Microsoft employees’ collaboration decreased by 25 percent and were more compartmentalized in distant settings in comparison to pre-pandemic levels.
Despite this, 64% of workers would contemplate quitting if required to return to the office full-time. Modern work culture has incorporated hybrid working.
Employees desire transparent communication and updated policies. We anticipate that by 2023, HR professionals will have established clear guidelines for how, where, and when work is performed. As firms test various workplace tactics, they will enable internal talks on this topic and push their organization to make decisions, even if they are temporary.
HR experts will also educate themselves and their bosses on how to overcome proximity bias, which is the unconscious propensity to favor coworkers over remote personnel. They will define objective performance measures, criteria for promotion, and criteria for wage increases.
Next, HR will reinvent the office’s function. The planning and utilization of a workplace will be influenced by the existence of clear policies. This will result in better-designed offices, flexible areas to counteract potential home isolation, and workspace allowances for home facility upgrades.
HR itself will become more hybrid and will investigate remote work. In 2023, we anticipate a significant increase in HR’s role in facilitating improved outcomes through remote work.
Culture and engagement improvements
Organizations shifting toward a people-first culture and making it a priority will likely continue in 2023.
Despite technological developments, HR personnel should remain approachable and empathic, encouraging employees to voice concerns. Senior management must understand and care about employees’ needs or risk losing them to other opportunities, leaving hard-to-fill gaps.
2023 will see continued performance and development trends. As the way we operate changes, so must performance evaluation. Half of workers receive feedback semi-annually or annually, but 63% prefer “in-the-moment” feedback.
Feedback and recognition make employees feel heard and appreciated. When employees feel valued, it creates a strong company culture.
Future employee performance evaluations should focus on outcome-focused goals. Remote workers handle workflows differently. In some cases, result is a more realistic measure of employee performance than output.
Companies of any size and type might struggle with collaboration and culture. Culture and collaboration will remain on managers’ and HR’s radar as firms try to bring together remote employees in various time zones or continents. The rise of conferencing and cloud technology tools has allowed employees to work from anywhere, but HR managers should watch for “silos” to form in the workplace, resulting in less connection.
Understanding a New Workforce Generation
Slowly but gradually, organizations and HR experts across all industries will need to begin adjusting to a younger generation entering the workforce. Millennials have been entering the labor force for a number of years and continue to make up a greater proportion of most organizations’ workforce. Members of Generation Z are simultaneously graduating high school or college and joining the workforce.
HR teams will quickly realize that these younger employees have a distinct set of views and priorities for their careers. Younger workers, for instance, anticipate flexible schedules, even if they are not working completely remotely.
Additionally, the majority of employees from the two younger generations in the workforce want regular communication with their supervisors and managers. They desire performance evaluation and the opportunity to contribute to initiatives.
Human resource professionals will have to adjust to these preferences and revise rules in order to provide young employees with the flexibility and collaboration they seek. In the interim, however, there is still a multigenerational workforce consisting of “veterans” and “young bucks.” You must be able to manage both sides of a situation.
As the employee experience becomes the focal point in 2023, managers will focus on strengthening their relationships with employees to foster their growth and development.
The world of employment has evolved drastically over the past few decades and will continue to change. Companies will rely extensively on HR, as well as the ability and experience of their staff, in order to meet upcoming difficulties.