HR and business leaders should discover more opportunities with the new trends and reflect on how they can help their companies prepare for new changes looming on the horizon.

FREMONT, CA: HR and organisational leaders in many organisations are developing plans and strategies for the coming year to ensure continued competitiveness. Although they are planning within the context of the current business environment, it is challenging to predict the changing nature of these trends. Currently, employers are active on the hiring front, and talent remains tough to find. For most industries, the evolving economic crisis has not derailed hiring plans, and finding new employees and keeping existing ones is a daunting task.

However, change is constant, and it is difficult to predict new transformations in the future. HR leaders should take note of the issues that are becoming more clear, such as slowing down the economy and job growth, recession, and softening the labour market.

The core career and talent management issues HR leaders have focused on is to remain critical to an organisation’s success. This includes ensuring the right talent is in the right roles, creating opportunities for internal talent mobility and employee development, and designing a work environment that fosters retention. Previously, the focus and efforts of many HR teams were on talent acquisition, including finding, hiring, and onboarding new employees. However, savvy HR leaders should shift their focus to other key areas.

Job Vacancies

The vanishing job openings indicated that some companies respond to a slowing economy by cancelling open positions rather than laying off workers, in an acknowledgement that existing employees represent an investment in training and cultural acclimation. This approach helps companies retain and leverage their investments in current employees while not spending on acquisition costs to fill unnecessary vacant positions.

Continue to Leverage Hybrid Work Environments

The growing willingness to allow remote work indicates that companies can compete for talent in expanded markets and assess the need for physical office space and the associated costs.

Knowing the Loyalty Tax

There is a growing gap between employees resigning to take a job with a new company compared to employees remaining with an organisation. Therefore, HR leaders should ensure that compensation programmes are not only competitive with market rates but also have the flexibility to allow pay raises on accelerated cycles to guarantee key talent is retained.

Re-engage and Re-recruit Employees

Employees have experienced the turmoil of the previous years. Spending time to re-engage and re-recruit current employees will acknowledge their value and strengthen their bond with companies. It is an opportunity to deepen relationships with the workforce.

As HR and business leaders move past challenges and crises such as large resignations and quiet resignations, new trends should provide more opportunities. They should pause and reflect on how they can help their company prepare for trends looming on the horizon.