Payslip attended the HR West conference in California two weeks ago- it was great to get to speak to so many HR professionals, managers, and industry leaders.
We learned a lot and it was great to be able to speak to them about the ways in which payroll and HR can align better. We all agreed that the employee experience is a huge priority, as making the workplace more supportive and engaging can really boost the employee experience.
The pandemic had made it a tough two years for HR people, with lots of change and new challenges, but it was great to be back to face-to-face meetings and being able to share learnings and ideas.
HR West attendees had a lot on their minds in terms of HR priorities for 2022- here are a few things we learned about what human resources are looking at in 2022.
Employee retention
The great resignation is causing concern for companies globally- trying to figure out how to hold on to employees when they are reprioritizing their values in life and looking at opportunities outside of the work environment.
Due to the pandemic and the isolation that a lot of people faced as a result of lockdown restrictions, people now had a lot more time on their hands to reflect on their own life and consider if their work-life balance was really satisfying them and if their priorities in life were beginning to go in the wrong direction. Prioritizing life outside of work became a realisation and goal for a lot of people, leading them to quit their jobs or significantly cut down on their hours.
Trying to combat this new mindset that a lot of people are taking, is a difficult challenge for HR professionals and makes the objective of employee retention even more of a focus in companies. Labour pools have become scarce, making it difficult to find specialist talent and it is already a challenge to hold on to the talent that you do have.
HR professionals are now considering what can be done about this issue and what strategies are there to try and boost retention rates. Such strategies could be to recognize and reward successes- by giving your employees recognition and acknowledging that their work and efforts are not going by unseen or unappreciated and by celebrating their successes, a work environment in which employees feel valued and supported could be created.
Furthermore, having a strategy that prioritizes employee wellness and mental well-being could prove useful for your employee retention statistics. With the pandemic causing burnout for a lot of global employees and the boundaries between home and work life becoming more blurred, there has been an increased need for a stronger focus on mental wellness.
A possible way to prioritize employee well-being could be to offer them discounts, or even free subscriptions to wellness apps. This is a strategy that some companies across the globe have already employed and it could benefit HR professionals’ efforts in employee retention- by making sure that your employees know their health and well-being are important and that the topic of mental well-being is something that is acknowledged and taken seriously within the company.
How to develop employees in a remote/hybrid work environment
Over the past two years, the work environment has changed, and employees are no longer in the office together in large numbers, with remote and hybrid work now being the standard. So how do you develop the talent, productivity, and satisfaction of employees in this new work environment? It is now a challenge to try and determine how you can assess employee needs and develop career paths.
Additionally, remote work means there a now a mix of different cultures, languages and time-zones which brings even more development challenges.
In 2022, human resource professionals should perhaps be looking at their plans for the year and ask themselves if they have adapted their development plans and strategies so that they will be successful for this new format of hybrid and remote work.
When work was done in the office, there was a clearer sense of structure, resources, and accountability, with communication being much easier. This has been somewhat lost in the transition to hybrid and remote work. Technology could be helpful with this issue, implementing tech that supports digital communication and collaboration tools should be leveraged more now that face-to-face contact has declined, and offsite collaboration has become the new normal.
HR professionals are now looking at new ways to make sure that employees can develop in their current working circumstances. Ensuring that employees are able to advocate for themselves is important, making sure that their work environment is supportive, and workers feel comfortable speaking up if they need help and being able to recognise if their needs are not being met and when to do something about it.
Additionally, to ensure that employees develop well, communication with their managers should be prioritized. Having one to one conversations and making sure they are on the same page when it comes to goals could prove beneficial in creating an atmosphere of accountability and ensure that employees are working efficiently.
Having a good level of communication, a sense of accountability, and knowing that working in a hybrid environment means the workload is the same as it would be if in an office, means employees can still develop their careers and progress in a satisfying way.
The employee experience and engagement rates
The employee experience is now in a new phase due to a new work culture, with remote onboarding being the standard in a lot of companies. As HR professionals, it is important to make sure that the onboarding process is set up in a way that the employee feels welcome and that the correct training and support is provided to the employee from the start. First impressions matter and starting a new job can be difficult and overwhelming, having an onboarding experience that is positive and supportive, even when happening remotely is crucial.
Feeling engaged as an employee can be difficult if you have never visited the office and work from a different country- ensuring that employees feel recognised, and part of the team is important in a remote environment. Having more engaged employees could prove to be effective when it comes to motivation and work efficiency.
As HR professionals, ask how you can make employees feel more included and important- what does the employee need to feel engaged? Could technology be the answer? Tech such as ESS portals, mobile apps, ways to give feedback through technology and employee wellness apps could all be invaluable when it comes to facilitating an engaging employee experience with employees who do remote work. Look into how engagement rates can be measured in this new working normal.
When it comes to the HR priorities of 2022, the few that have been discussed in this article were all topics of conversation at the HR West conference. The employee experience has become increasingly important-to avoid retention issues and ensure that employees can develop effectively, then creating an engaging and supportive work environment is essential.
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