2022 was a volatile year for HR & workforce
This is an interesting question which can throw up immense mega insights. Not only 2022 but 2020 and 21 were equally volatile given the onset and impact of an unprecedented event i.e. Covid -19. It was arguably the greatest black swan event the world would have seen. Incidentally, evolutionary biologists have termed this phase the era of ‘punctuated equilibrium’ which means that this was a period of immense change/activity following a steady path over the last several years. As Lenin said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” I assume this is the interesting period we are in. This volatility and uncertainty led to the Great Resignation followed by massive layoffs. The world to me honestly looks fairly incomprehensible at this juncture
and that perhaps is the beauty of it all. How can we continually adapt ourselves by being resilient, adaptable, agile and collaborative is the bigger question to ask nonetheless!
2023: Will it be a turmoil again or peace?
The new normal is turmoil. I guess peaceful, as we construed it, is something which is history. The new world order as they say is BANI- brittle, anxious, non linear and incomprehensible and given these characteristics, for HR to be peaceful is something which is incomprehensible to me. I believe ‘Turmoil’ is the ‘New Peaceful’ for us given that the macro environment is creating immense challenges and unprecedented disruption. Given all this
2023 is likely to be a period of ‘focusing on fundamentals’ or, as a recent report put it, companies will be smarter about maximizing their budgets and place greater focus on results and performance.
A few focus areas for HR would be:
• Focus on employee well-being and create a mentally and physically healthy workforce
• Develop people managers’ capabilities to manage the workforce of the future
• Build organisation effectiveness and manage change
• Recruit and manage the competitive landscape
• Push DEIB agenda forward amid growing pushback
• Build digital capabilities of the organisation in line with the future of work
As organisations and societies evolve so do the expectations for what leaders are responsible for, making their roles increasingly complex
Technology or new world of work reshaping people managers?
The role of the people manager has throughout been to develop and maintain the team’s productivity. The job role has been undergoing changes in recent times. As organisations and societies evolve, so do the expectations for what leaders are responsible for, making their roles increasingly complex. Certain paradigm shifts witnessed globally are virtual work environments given unprecedented digital advancements, the rising importance of employee overall well-being, diversity and equity advocacy, and extreme uncertainties, amidst others. All this requires managers to reshape themselves and acquire/upgrade their skills such as having the ability to effectively manage virtual teams, develop empathy (so that they can provide an environment of psychological safety), have the ability to manage a diverse workforce by developing his/her own emotional and social intelligence. Managers will thus essentially move away from managing people to orchestrating performance. Today’s work environment requires leaders to be authentic, empathetic and adaptive become a human leader, very human I must add.
33 leaders predict the upcoming trends for 2023. To find out more click here.
