We were delighted when Alex Morris Editor in chief at Emex Magazine agreed to answer our Big Question.

Alex is passionate about Employee and Customer Experience. With the background in psychology and HR, his goal now is to spread the word about EX as a movement and improve the overall state of employee experience across the globe.

We asked him: What may the next year bring in HR and Employee Experience?

Do you find a change in the workflow process in the last couple of years? Right from the last few months of 2019, through 2020, and now in 2021, the normal course of working style has changed forever. It is rightly said that change is the only constant, and it is more important to see how one deals with the change. In 2022, HR will have to ride the waves of transformation, which shook the world in the past two years. 

What can be the main trends of 2022 for HR? How can HR prepare for what is yet to come? 

Here are a few things that can happen in 2022 for the HR and employee experience. 

  • First and foremost, the HR budgets will undergo a trim in 2022. The impact will be seen on Recruitment and Learning & Development processes. To tackle this properly, HR will need to align with the business goals and objectives holistically. HR will have to step up and take up a leadership position that can influence business decisions. 
  • Understanding and managing as many as four generations in the company will be a challenge for HR. There could be traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen X, and millennials working together, and Gen Z is also joining in the mix. In 2022, it could be the younger workforce that will be the dominant one. HR will need to understand the priorities and values of the younger generation. Flexible schedules and better work-life balance are a hallmark of younger generations of workers.  
  • Diversity and inclusion are already playing a big role in HR policies, which will continue in 2022. The future workplaces will have diversity & inclusion as a top HR priority. Moreover, as flexible & remote working continues to dominate, D&I will become a necessity too. HR will need to ensure that the company aligns its mindset and gives it full backing on this issue. 
  • An increase in remote and contingent workers will be another big issue in front of HR in 2022. The economic uncertainty of the pandemic has caused massive job losses and has brought non-standard models of working into the limelight. Organizations have recognized the benefits of this in terms of flexibility and global talent acquisition. Remote working is also going to become much bigger than it already is. Employees will learn to collaborate digitally, and this will change the employee experience in a big way. 
  • One major change in 2022 for HR and employees will be to understand the difference between critical skills and critical roles. Before the pandemic, critical roles were roles with critical skills. The organizations needed these capabilities to meet the goals. Now, roles that are critical for the necessary workflows are also essential. HR will need to help the employees develop skills for multiple options in the future, rather than a specific one. 

Conclusion

Once the pandemic subsides, there will be an acceleration in the economic activities around the world. Companies will start to expand and diversify in newer markets. This will challenge both the employees and HR. However, this will also offer an excellent opportunity for new leaders to emerge.