With a new year on the horizon, HR professionals are considering how the nature of work is expected to change in 2024. Certainly, social, economic, and other factors are likely to disrupt the workforce across different industries. Therefore, experts have tried predicting them beforehand as a way to know what HR professionals should prioritize in 2024.
To help your HR team start the year on a productive note, we gathered information on the top priorities, resolutions, and HR analytics predictions for the following year. Having a thorough understanding of these aspects allows you to integrate new trends with existing technology, such as Hirebee, for positive outcomes with regard to productivity. Let’s take a look at what HR teams can expect in the following year, what they should focus on, and potential areas of improvement.
What HR Teams Should Focus on in the Upcoming Year
Over the last couple of years, non-HR issues have started gaining the attention of HR professionals, causing them to go beyond their traditional roles. As a result, they must now take care of different priorities and develop a new scope of responsibilities. For a more productive year, HR teams will need to focus on new aspects. According to research firm Gartner, some of the top priorities for HR professionals in the following year include:
Leader and Manager Development
One of the biggest priorities for HR teams in the upcoming year is to emphasize leader and manager development. Findings by Gartner show that about 76 percent of HR professionals think that their managers are overwhelmed by the increase in job responsibilities. They’re also saying that their managers and leaders aren’t equipped to handle this change.
Today, managers are juggling 51 percent more responsibilities than they can handle, making the job difficult to manage. This has led to an increasing demand for manager support. Therefore, HR teams should reset their expectations and rebuild the manager pipeline so as to increase the number of people who can share the workload. Additionally, you need to focus on removing process hurdles and rewiring manager habits so they’re more efficient.
Organizational Culture
Many HR professionals believe that there’s a lack of employee connection to organizational culture due to hybrid work models. Moreover, they’re unsure of how to reshape the culture in a hybrid workplace. This can be attributed to employees spending less time in offices and having fewer in-person interactions.
To address this, organizations should enable employees to engage with the company culture no matter where they’re working from. This helps establish an emotional connection between the workforce and the organization and allows teams to build effective microcultures. When you optimize micro experiences within smaller groups of people, it helps build better relationships.
HR Technology
A major priority in the upcoming year is the adoption and integration of HR technology. Research by Gartner shows that about 60 percent of HR teams feel uncertain about tech trends like generative AI and how they’ll impact HR and talent. In fact, many HR managers feel like their current tech solutions don’t align with their needs, and they’re not sure about which tech to adopt.
The right way to go about this is for teams to come up with a future-proof HR technology stack. You can understand the impact of HR technology through questions regarding governance, workforce readiness, vendor availability, and risks.
- Who is responsible for maintaining and managing the technology?
- How will the tech impact future ways of working?
- Is it possible to achieve the desired benefits through preexisting tech? Or should you build your own solution?
- Can you tolerate associated risks, including ethical risks?
By understanding your organization’s needs, you can narrow down the right technology, whether they’re recruitment automation solutions like Hirebee or collaboration tools like Slack.
Change Management
In today’s fast-paced world, the rate at which things are changing can be overwhelming for employees. This is especially true considering how changes are continuous and stacked, making it harder for workers to adjust. Change fatigue can have detrimental effects on employees’ well-being, well-being, and overall productivity, but few HR teams are certain of a plan to manage it. When left unaddressed, change fatigue can have negative impacts on organizational outcomes.
The right way to approach the problem is to make change fatigue strategies a part of the change plan. Current data shows that only about half of organizational transformations are successful. Although the existing change management solution involving communication and training is still relevant, it doesn’t account for change fatigue.
It’s crucial that organizations plan ahead for change fatigue risks and come up with plans for successful transformations. This can include educating the workforce on fatigue drivers, normalizing proactive rest, and asking employees about a possible implementation plan.
HR Resolutions For 2024
Just as we make resolutions on how we’ll start the New Year, HR teams across the world are making plans on how they’ll better the organization. Though HR resolutions can depend on an organization can depend on the unique culture, industry requirements, and needs of the employees, there are a few general trends. If your team has yet to come up with HR resolutions, here are a few ideas to help you plan out organizational goals in HR.
Invest In Current Employees’ Skill Sets
Up until now, there has been immense emphasis on HR teams finding professionals with the preferred skills they need. Now, organizations are in the midst of bigger hiring challenges, like the inability to meet candidates’ salary expectations. Or they have trouble finding talent with the right tech skills. The solution to this problem is to upskill and reskill the current workforce.
If you’ll notice, the cost of recruiting and onboarding new people is often equal to or exceeds the investment of providing employees with technical training. Therefore, training current employees can help them feel engaged and valued. This, in turn, increases their loyalty towards an organization that invests in their career.
Encourage Work-Life Fit Instead of Balance
Although HR teams have shown a growing interest in work-life balance over the past year, initiatives such as adherence to strict working hours don’t suit everyone’s needs. Because employees’ preferences vary according to their job roles and other responsibilities, enforcing a rigid structure can be counterintuitive rather than supporting well-being.
Instead of trying to promote a work-life balance, try to ensure a work-life ‘fit.’ Therefore, you’ll be taking a personalized approach that understands each employee’s needs. By embracing flexible work arrangements, your organization can allow each team member to work when they’re most productive, whether it’s before or after the typical 9 to 5 shift.
Promote Clear Communication
There are various benefits of having clear communication in the workplace, such as reduced conflict, higher productivity, and increased engagement. But for a communicative workplace environment, your employees need to trust you. At the same time, organizations need to show that they value employees’ input, and it starts with HR teams keeping them up to date.
Another way to show that you’re listening is to schedule weekly one-on-one meetings and conduct regular surveys. On your end, make sure to keep expectations consistent, continuously provide feedback with employee management systems, and acknowledge great work.
Predictions for HR Trends
With the rate at which industries are adopting digitalization, HR teams must watch out for trends that involve managing the implications of such a transformation. For many companies, this means addressing the challenges of AI’s disruptive and omnipresent nature. While no one knows for sure how the emergence of AI will affect the nature of work, HR teams will figure it out over the course of 2024. Here are predictions of future HR trends that will impact teams this year:
More Members of Gen Z Will Enter The Workforce
In 2024, more and more Gen Z workers will join different organizations as millennials transition into management and supervisory roles. Keep in mind that members of Gen Z have differing expectations of working life and organizational culture. HR teams will need to manage these expectations, which can include a preference for better work/life balance, consistent upskilling, and professional development. They also seek out workplace cultures that focus on sustainability and diversity initiatives. These expectations can be very different from those of previous generations, so it’s up to HR teams to begin strategic workforce planning and promote participation. Some examples include providing mental health support, DEI initiatives, purpose-led environments, and offering opportunities for growth.
Greater Implementation of AI
Generative AI technology, which includes a plethora of tools like ChatGPT, is set to transform everything about how you manage talent and the nature of work itself. On the one hand, it presents HR teams with opportunities to automate and streamline processes and gather HR leadership insights. It can effectively handle tasks like administrative jobs, workforce planning, and recruitment automation in 2024. Nevertheless, they must also try to manage the implications of the change by ensuring a balance between the efficiency AI provides and the human qualities that are necessary for organizational operations. Â
Employee Retention Strategies
As mentioned above, one of the HR resolutions for 2024 is to reskill and upskill existing employees rather than secure new talent. However, the impact of doing so is that your employees become sought-after by other organizations – even those in entirely different industries. To retain the company’s investment, HR teams must design retention strategies.
These should provide employees with a reason to stay loyal. One way to do this is through workplace culture evolution, where participation and engagement aren’t just recognized but rewarded as well. It’s also recommended to provide opportunities for learning and continuous professional development so employees know that the organization values them.
Improving the Workplace Experience
Another major trend is to implement workplace initiatives that attract employees back to the office. Currently, organizations are trying to attract workers back to the office, which leaves HR teams with the task of ensuring that employees see the benefit of making the daily commute to work. This requires more than just giving them a recreational room with beanbags and a ping-pong table. Rather, HR teams need to offer opportunities for professional development, productive collaboration, and networking that can’t be replicated in a remote setting.
Conclusion
To sum it up, 2024 will be a year of major changes in terms of the challenges that HR teams will face, as well as the solutions they use to address them. The main priorities that HR teams will have to focus on include manager development, transforming the organizational culture, embracing new HR technology, and mitigating change fatigue. Some of the resolutions that HR teams look forward to fulfilling include reskilling and upskilling workers, promoting clear communication, and encouraging a work-life fit rather than balance. Some of the major trends that HR teams will have to deal with include a greater implementation of generative AI, improvements in the office experience, and a higher number of Gen Z professionals entering the workforce.
FAQs
How do Gen Z’s expectations of work differ from previous generations?
Members of Gen Z value flexibility, digital connectivity, and a purpose-driven work environment. It’s what makes them different from previous generations, who may prioritize stability and hierarchical structures.
What are some ways to improve the workplace experience?
To create a better office experience that attracts employees to the office, organizations must offer opportunities for professional development and networking, as well as collaborative productivity that can’t be replaced with online alternatives.
What are ways to invest in employee training and professional development?
Effective investments in training include offering personalized learning paths and utilizing online courses and workshops. Similarly, implementing mentorship programs and providing continuous feedback and coaching are also recommended.
What types of HR tech will teams embrace in 2024?
In 2024, HR teams are likely to embrace AI-driven recruitment tools, advanced analytics for talent management, and collaborative platforms for remote work efficiency.
Why are typical work-life balance initiatives ineffective?
Traditional work-life balance initiatives may fall short because they often neglect individual preferences; effective initiatives involve flexibility, realistic workload expectations, and a culture that values well-being over excessive work hours.
