7 HR Trends you need to know in 2021
The rise of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and the onset of the COVID pandemic has led to various changes in the HR industry. Our workplace environment must evolve according to the needs and requirements of the industry. Various companies are experimenting and working in partnership with different agencies to build different company values. It is critical for organizations and human resource professionals to keep up with the latest trends in the industry. This will allow companies to be more agile and will help in building resilience.
In this blog, we will talk about some of the noteworthy HR trends that have brought a drastic change in the industry. Continue reading to stay updated on the latest trends and understand how these are reshaping the work culture.
1. Virtual Work Culture is Here To Stay
Some of the leading companies have already changed their norms and allowed their employees to work from home. Twitter, Facebook, Shopify, and Coinbase are some of the companies that have allowed their employees to work from home forever. Even in the surveys, it has been found that a maximum percentage of employees would prefer working from home. This reveals that virtual work culture is here to stay and companies need to adapt to this norm.
The vaccines have rolled up globally, but the employees would prefer to work from home even after COVID. This is one of the latest trends in the workplace environment that demands the complete attention of HR professionals. Provide your employees the flexibility of working and increase employee retention in your organization.
2. Adopting Various Digital Technologies
The virtual environment has reduced physical contact and made many organizations adopt different digital technologies. The HRs can opt for different digital solutions to make their work-life easier. Even if you are planning to operate physically, you must continue with these digital solutions. One can even opt for a hybrid work environment which can be a mix of work from home and office. The digital HR solutions can make it easier for the human resource department to maintain, and monitor all the records.
3. Take initiatives for your employee’s well-being and mental health
The times have changed and the employees will not prefer working in a toxic work environment that impacts their mental health. Employees often go through various mental health struggles on a daily basis. As an HR professional, you must understand and take initiative for your employee’s health. Maintaining the well-being of employees and looking after their mental health should be your priority.
The virtual work culture has deteriorated the mental health of the employees. Therefore, different programs and initiatives should be introduced to help them deal with the situation. Provide them with the medical benefits, flexible work schedules or you can even consider organizing virtual activities.
4. Upskill your workforce with the right learning and activities
Companies need to pay attention to corporate learning and should introduce various initiatives for that. Employers and HR professionals should take the initiatives to help their employees learn better skills and expand their knowledge. This small initiative will only help you in the long run and improve the work efficiency of your employees. The HRs should take time and identify the skill gaps. Based on the gaps and requirements, suitable training programs should be introduced. The HR professionals should give this a thought and upskill their workforce with suitable training programs.
5. Data-driven strategies and insights
As the workforce has shifted to virtual, HRs can leverage digital solutions to assess the productivity and engagement of their workforce. Internal communications should be monitored effectively and HRs should allow employees to virtually clock in and out. They should even adopt different tools to allow the employees to share their valuable feedback. The HRs should gather data using different forms and tools.
They can further turn the data into actionable insights to understand and evaluate the employees better. The data plays a significant role and will help you determine which strategies should be adopted further. It will help you understand the viewpoints of the employees, which will assist you in making informed decisions.
6. Rethink the employee experience
The work culture has changed completely. Similarly, HR needs to rethink the strategies for employee engagement and the betterment of their employees. Many employees are still struggling to adapt to the new normal, which is affecting the overall company culture. The HRs should adopt different strategies and incorporate different activities to increase employee engagement.
All these activities will help in improving the work environment and will affect the overall company culture. Consider sending a favor to your employees and invite them to a virtual party. You can even consider weekly virtual parties where the employees can take part in different activities and engage with the different employees.
7. Create a diverse and more inclusive workforce
Various leading companies are raising their voices against the concerns of racism. It is high time that you take this seriously and should aim to build a more inclusive workforce. The HR professionals should have strict workforce policies and ensure that every employee is following that. All the legal matters and workplace policies should be taken care of.
If your company is found discriminating between the employees, you should be clear that it can impact your reputation. It can cause huge damage to your reputation, which can make it difficult to sustain in the future.
These are some of the HR trends that every human resource professional and organization must be aware of. There is no doubt that these HR trends are continually changing. HR professionals must evolve and adapt the right practices for the betterment of their company and employees. One should adopt the right strategy according to the needs and requirements of the organization. Tap into the existing habitat in patterns of your workforce and take the rights initiatives for the future improvement of your employees.
