It's been a chaotic 12 months for HR practitioners, and next year may not be any smoother
As we head into the New Year, employers and HR teams are trying to predict what the future holds. It’s been a chaotic 12 months, with employment law changes, working arrangements and talent droughts high on HR’s anxiety list.
And the disruption isn’t over yet.
Research from Gartner found that 60% of HR leaders cite manager effectiveness as their number one priority for 2023, followed by organizational design and change management (53%), employee experience (47%), and recruitment (46%).
While it’s a clear signal that L&D will be taking the spotlight next year, there’s a myriad of other concerns HR leaders need to get their heads around in January.
HRD spoke with industry leaders to debate and decipher what issues employers need to start thinking about now to make their 2023 a tad more manageable.
Electronic monitoring
One of the main areas of contention for Canadian leaders this year was the passing for the controversial Bill 88, or the Working for Workers Act. As part of the new law, Canadian employers with 25 workers or more must lay out an electronic monitoring policy – with January 2023 the deadline date for any further updates.
One of the main components of this policy is that employers have to let their teams know if they’re watching their online activity – something that’s proved to be a bone of contention for staff.
“Employee monitoring may be a common practice in some workplaces, but employees may not be completely comfortable with it,” says Tessa Anaya, analyst at Capterra. “According to our research, not many employees using monitoring software were trained on or asked to consent to its use.
“Workplace monitoring tools could boost efficiency, but they need to be implemented in a transparent way to avoid damaging employee trust.”
Flexible working demands
How, where, and why we work has changed since the pandemic – with remote working arrangements a priority for candidates looking to jump ship in the New Year. To stay competitive in 2023’s market, employers need to update their flexible working models – or risk losing out on new talent.
“Throughout 2023, there’ll be increased examination of, and demand for, flexible working conditions,” says Dr Melanie Peacock, associate professor of HR at Mount Royal. “This will require employers to rethink what they can and cannot offer employees, such as hybrid or fully remote work, flexible hours throughout each workday and 4-day work weeks.
“Flexible work is not a one-size fits all approach and HR professionals will be called upon to make sense of this for their organizations. Employers will also have to be more transparent about why these working conditions are, or are not, available.”
HR burnout
The past 12 months have been one of the most difficult times in HR practitioners’ careers. Dealing with the aftereffects of COVID, of the ongoing employee mental health crisis, has led to mass burnout in HR teams.
As such, going into 2023, HR leaders need to make the time and effort to practice some self-care.
“We’re going to see even more burnout amongst HR practitioners, when the adrenaline runs down and as the world settles into some sort of new normal,” says Ashira Gobrin, chief people and culture officer at Wave HQ. “For people in our sector, who’ve been on the front lines managing the pandemic, there’s this sense of absolute exhaustion.
“I think it's really important for people who's been working in HR to take a break. There’s been crisis after crisis, we’ve been handling all of them, and now it’s time for some self-care.
Realigning employee experience
There’s no denying that employee experience took quite the hammering over the past year. Trying to onboard people in remote work with the same pizzazz as in-person is almost impossible. Now, HR leaders need to focus on redefining and strategies.
“HR is going to have re-examine the strategic lens from which it operates to establish priorities,” says Dr Raeleen Manjak, CHRO at the City of Vernon. “Two of the top items for consideration are managing increasing stress and burnout levels amongst the workforce, while focusing on talent attraction and employee experience.
“At the City of Vernon, we have expanded our employee experience going forward, including how we onboard and orient our employees, recognizing that this creates their overall impression during their entire lifecycle.”