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In November 2021, 4.5 million people voluntarily left their jobs, and each month about 3% of the workforce continues to quit their jobs. This was an all-time high across multiple industries and regions according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Furthermore, 23% of the workforce has expressed an interest in switching jobs in 2022. Experts and industrialist call it the ‘Great Resignation.’ It has increased the need for Human Resources (HR) interventions to retain top- performing employees, create strategic business development plans, improve employee experience, and create more diverse and inclusive workplaces.
In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic pushed organisations to adopt remote and hybrid ways of working. It is now time to restore balance with informed strategies while dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic. HR will play a pivotal role in ensuring a smooth transition and creating a culture of resilience within organisations. HR departments are developing various health and wellness initiatives for their employees focusing on physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
The industry is actively embracing the Gig economy culture, and the workforce is increasingly leaning towards 100% remote jobs. The concept of Gig economy dates back to the 1900s when enterprises allowed temporary workers to fill gaps within the workforce. Workers, especially in the knowledge-intensive industry as well as creative occupations, have numerous, accessible, and multi-modal opportunities to learn and develop new skills that make them marketable in the freelance economy. According to a Harvard Business Review report, 150 million people were freelancing in the U.S. and Western Europe in 2018. Based on the latest Pew Research Center, this number is exponentially increasing.
The pandemic has accelerated another trend impacting HR — remote learning and development initiatives for employees. Over the last two years, many employees have worked from home, and this has fundamentally changed the business model. Employees continue to upskill and reskill themselves to be able to work with emerging technologies. On-the-job learning has always been essential, and the ability to conduct this remotely has become the fastest growing trend as evidenced by the growth of not-for-credit courses offered by Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and 2U. Employers need to design novel and accessible ways of setting up digital learning academies or e-learning options for their employees to meet the demands of remote learning in the industry.
As more organisations adapt to work-from-home or hybrid work models, the entire employee experience needs to be strategically overhauled to meet employee expectations while furthering the mission of the company. There is a need to rethink and redesign an employee’s journey with the firm starting with virtual onboarding and induction, relaying expectations regarding virtual team meetings, and improving an employee’s overall experience with the firm. HR needs to develop strategies to keep employees engaged through virtual interactive activities that foster a sense of belonging. This will not only improve collaboration within the team but also boost productivity and collegiality at work and increase employee retention, thus translating into financial savings and increased profitability for the company.
HR departments are increasingly moving towards data-driven decision-making processes rather than relying exclusively on intuition and qualitative feedback. Companies are routinely collecting customer and employee performance-related data and are anchoring their decision-making processes and strategies with this data. The need for HR analytics is increasing as it helps organisations prepare for their future needs based on historical patterns. Smart technologies like automation, chatbots, and AI-enabled tools are helping HR departments lower costs and save time on repetitive activities so they can focus on important policies and processes.
To conclude, in the emerging workplace, HR will not solely provide a support function for each company. It is increasingly transforming into a core unit to help employers evolve with the changing workplace and workforce expectations. In the near future, HR will have to actively embrace a more digital experience for their employees. The future of HR is to ensure that all employees have equitable learning opportunities allowing them to grow in their jobs and within the organisation. HR will play a critical role in creating a more holistic system to build the workforce and organisation of the future, manage employee expectations, improve employee productivity and engagement, and reduce attrition while promoting the mission and values of the company.