The world of work of 2024 is just around the corner. Are you ready?
gettyWhat are the biggest HR trends for 2024? Of course it depends on who you ask. But throughout the year, as I’ve talked to HR professionals and tech companies, these are the topics on everyone’s minds:
1. Yes
It’s no surprise that GenAI is set to play a big role in countless HR functions. In 2024 we will use it and leverage it with more wisdom and discretion than we did in 2023. It will play a leading role in our ability to treat employees like the consumers they are, but with some caveats.
I saw many organizations engaging with the potential of GenAI, regardless of whether or not we fully understood how it works and what it works on. There are definitely two sides to this, at least, and a lot to think about. For example, the clash of authentic thought leadership and GenAI has been interesting to say the least, and we’ve also seen some ethical and potential privacy issues.
Also interesting is that GenAI’s seizure of power (and ability to short-circuit individual effort) was partly responsible for two labor strikes, among actors and writers working with Hollywood. The agreement to end the strikes could have huge implications for how employers far beyond Hollywood can use artificial intelligence in the future.
GenAI certainly isn’t going anywhere, and there’s a lot to like. It enables us in HR to automate countless talent acquisition and management tasks and improve, improve and streamline many processes. procedures. It provides support and assistance that is truly intelligent, which reduces friction and improves the employee experience when they need answers and information. It helps us make smarter decisions in everything from hiring to engagement to service delivery.
2. Compensation
Compensation is changing. With new expectations and needs around flexibility, equity, transparency and delivery, what was a relatively stable process has become a bit of a wild west show. in 2024 it will be installed in a better model that will fit today’s reality.
One key reason: the world of work has been rocked by the rise of the “quiet stop” over the past two years, and employers have had no choice but to heed workers’ needs. As Gallup noted in this State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report It turns out, pay has a lot to do with it, and not just what people get paid, but when and how. 28 percent of respondents to the report said they would change issues related to pay in their workplace, including getting paid faster and being rewarded for their role in outstanding results, receiving gas vouchers to help with commuting .
This is not going to change. In 2024, it will be even more important: as more employers weigh their return-to-work policy, they will need to provide compensation and benefits that address employee pain points around pay as well as return-to-work costs.
The factor of transparency and equity as well as delivery and compensation require a new approach. Having the capabilities to provide off-cycle and on-demand payment options and variable pay frequency, for example, speaks volumes about an employer’s willingness to treat employees as individuals rather than numbers.
3. Employer/Employee Relations
Given so many changes to where, when and how work is done, it’s not just the friction points around employer/employee relationships that have grown significantly, but how deeply they affect this fundamental connection. In 2024 smart employers will work to reduce friction and its impact on everything from engagement to performance, retention to growth. This will also extend to the assessment of directors’ burden.
What does a bad relationship look like right now? Consider feelings around return to work, performance and confidence, according to a Gartner report. Only 26 percent of organizations report that their employees are fully compliant with onsite requirements — that’s just over a quarter of the organization’s workforce.
Performance expectations are still unknown: Nearly 50 percent of employees believe their current performance is unsustainable. When it comes to trust, only 50 percent of employees truly trust their organization. There is still some pain evident around downsizing and layoffs in the pandemic era, even if temporary. It doesn’t take much to see a connection to the need for further transparency.
4. HR Tech Platforms
With HR technology in general, the level of sophistication, power and intelligence continues to rise. But with the emergence of HCM and other HR platforms that can handle a whole range of capabilities, we’ll see more organizations of all sizes approach their HR technology needs from a platform mindset.
The push for this is much more than “if you build it, they will come.” Organizations need to accelerate and scale growth, manage talent better, provide consistent UX as well as consistent support, and make smarter decisions — and that’s just to stay afloat. Compliance issues and other work-related regulations and legislation continue to evolve, and staying on top of them takes a systemic approach. Remote, hybrid, flexible and multi-centric workplaces add a surprising level of complexity, which artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) can handle, streamline and overcome.
The emergence of AI and ML, however, has its own profound implications. Organizations should take a closer look at how they deploy AI (for example in recruitment and recruitment) and ML (for example in retention prediction). For many, the answer is a heavy-duty platform that can be integrated into existing programs, but puts everyone in the same environment and can provide the aggregate intelligence and data that leaders need to make strategic decisions. I also see that these muscular platforms are not only for large organizations: SMEs can also rely on them.
5. Skills Plus Learning And Development
I see these two trends as one – and by combining them I also appeal to employers to I see that they are two sides of the same coin when it comes to setting your employees and managers up for success. In 2024, I hope, we will focus on developing our existing talent in terms of skills and leaders will come to see the role that L&D plays in their organizational development.
First, the skills part: during the digital transformation, the idea of core competencies emerged. It takes special skills to leverage increasingly sophisticated and powerful technology to do our jobs better — and at levels. The pandemic made us much more dependent on digital work environments, which meant learning these tools. Artificial intelligence has caused another leap in capabilities as we learn to harness it. Relying on skills rather than focusing on college degrees or years of experience means that recruiters and managers can be much more flexible in finding or promoting the right talent.
Now the R&D part: Leaders need to deliver not just R&D programs, but a culture of learning — and they may need to come to terms with the fact that they’re not doing it. Recent edX study found a gap to close: while half of executives believe their organization provides employees with a strong learning culture as well as time to spend learning, most employees do not.
In fact, only one in five workers strongly agree. It’s not that leaders don’t value R&D or understand its function in terms of business goals as well as talent: they see R&D programs as a means to upgrade skills at scale (53 percent), increase employee performance (50 percent) and keeping employees engaged (also 50 percent). I have been involved in discussions about the merits of L&D, particularly in an era rocked by the silent smoking cessation and other hidden impacts in the workplace. The trend is simple: it’s more important than ever.
There are more
What I didn’t put in this list of my Top Five are a few more. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives continue to matter for talent acquisition as well as talent management. Internal mobility strategies will continue to play a key role in engagement and retention — and can be best leveraged with DEIB in mind.
Finally, the rate of change is a continuous trend. How quickly HR technology is evolving can put HR teams in the hot seat when it comes to having the best, the fastest, the smartest, the newest. But HR has also reached a point of maturity in terms of efficiency and scope. Not that we won’t see continued improvements, but we have an incredibly strong base of capabilities to work with.
My advice: don’t feel like you have to spin after every shift or change. Whatever technology you use, be sure to focus on transparency, communication, relationships and data-driven reporting when it comes to your talent strategies. It’s not a trend right now. But it’s always a best practice.
