“The Great Resignation will make way for the Great Engagement,” Udbhav Ganjoo

A big change in 2022

Two of the major changes that 2022 will see are, adoption of the hybrid model of work, and a movement from the Great Resignation to the Great Engagement. Hybrid work is here to stay. It was in a way easier to manage workforce expectations, when everyone was either at office or working remotely. It will be interesting to engage workers completely in the hybrid model, where some people will be in office and some working remotely. Processes and policies will evolve accordingly.

The war for talent is real. Organisations will strive to engage with employees at a deeper level. One will see engagement and connect and more talk about purpose of a role and job, and how every employee is important for the big picture. There will be customised and flexible policies to meet employee aspirations, while fulfilling business objectives.

Learning driven by social, technology or content

Learning will be driven by all three elements — social changes, technological advancement, and content. One cannot be independent of the other. The social changes driven by the pandemic have affected the way we work and the way we develop our employees. Future proofing of employees and developing them to be multi skilled and capable of multi-tasking is a reality that organisations are dealing with. We need to do more with less, and for that, our learning agenda must build those capabilities in employees.

Technology has enabled us to reach a wider, diverse employee population and helped automate many tasks. This will continue to drive the learning strategy in 2022. While technology is the medium, content is the main factor that will determine the success of the learning plan. There will be focus on both technical competencies, as well as behavioural competencies, that is, agility, emotional intelligence, change management and resilience, in 2022.

“Gig-driven workforce will give organisations an option to scale up rapidly”

Gig driven by choice or business challenges

The gig-driven workforce is driven both by choice and business needs. With the pandemic putting a lot of regular workforce away from work due to medical reasons, organisations across the spectrum have been able to leverage the gig workforce to ensure business continuity. While the gig-driven workforce provides flexibility in the current scenario, going forward, it will give organisations the option to rapidly scale up.

Gig work provides people the flexibility to choose the organisations and the kind of work they wish to do. The Government has been working towards bringing gig workers under a social security network, which will save them from exploitation and will make gig work more mainstream. Going forward, one will see gig workers being counted in as part of overall business strategy execution. It will be a win-win from the perspective of both the employer and gig workers.

Voice for change among employees getting stronger

Technology has made everything more accessible now. Earlier, it was difficult for employees to have themselves heard by the management, but now the management is just a tweet or DM away. Digital technology and social media have been levelers in bridging the gap between the junior employees in an organisation and the CEO.

“Digital technology and social media have been levellers in bridging the gap between the junior employees in an organisation and the CEO”

There are now multiple avenues available to everyone to air their views and ask questions of leaders. This trend of demanding change and transparency will continue.

Employees now are more conscious of their rights and seek more transparency and accountability from the management. Given the increased interaction on social media, which also reflects on the corporate brand, organisations and leaders are also alert in responding to the demands from employees in a timely and transparent manner.

Function that will see highest salary increase in 2022

Organisations are looking to operationalise their businesses to suit the ever-growing technological needs Functions in the digital space, such as cloud computing, robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) will see the highest increase in salary in 2022. This premium is also being driven by the skill gap and by the opening of markets post the pandemic.

In the life sciences sector as well, jobs in the digital space are demanding a premium, as organisations are looking towards platform-based solutions for data insights.

Indian pharmaceutical giants are investing heavily in R&D, new product development, biologics and biotechnology. Allied jobs in the scientific domain, such as clinical research, regulatory affairs and scientific liaison will continue demanding higher salaries.

In manufacturing-related functions in pharmaceutical organisations, tech transfer, quality, validation and formulation production jobs are driving the salary premiums.