13 Dec 2022
2023 we’re coming for you!
At this time of the year, many clients start to ask questions like – what’s coming up in 2023? Do you see the market changing next year? Will we see more candidates seeking new roles? Well, I do wish I had a crystal ball as it would make our lives easier, wouldn’t it? 2022 has been tough for many businesses and the historic amount of disruption over the last few years has left us feeling a bit shell shocked.
Recently Gartner (gartner.com) surveyed over 800 HR leaders across 60 countries and all major industries to identify their priorities and challenges for 2023. Data is better than a crystal ball! First up 60% of respondents put “leader and manager effectiveness” on their list, followed closely by organisational design and change management (53%), employee experience (47%), recruiting (46%) and the future of work (42%). So, what’s driving these priorities?
Globally organisation’s face uncertain and confusing times – rising inflation, scarce and expensive talent, and global supply constraints.
- Employee expectations have changed considerably – more want flexible work policies and when not available, lack of flexibility affects their decision to stay with their employer.
- Employees want to feel like they have a shared purpose with their employer – they want to feel connected to a business that takes actions on issues they care about.
- Not surprisingly well-being is topping the list for employees and the Gartner report tells us that 70% of companies surveyed have introduced new well-being benefits or increased the amount of existing well-being benefits.
- Lastly, 82% of employees surveyed said it’s important for their employer to see them as a person, and not just an employee.
2023 and how to tackle it….
- Work on how to become a humancentric leader – be authentic, act with purpose, be empathetic – show genuine care and concern for employee wellbeing, be adaptive – enable flexibility and support the unique needs of team members.
- Involve your employees in change decisions – engage your workforce as active participants in making and shaping change. Consider shifting the ownership of change planning to your employees. Start early conversations about change!
- Develop your leadership skills in a volatile labour market – consider building your sourcing capability to find accessible, not just available talent. Identify alternate skills and experiences that can fill your vacancies, target potentially internally first, incentivise mobility and focus on building your onboarding and induction practices. Many employees leave in the first three months because reality versus what they were sold is drastically different!
- Refresh your thinking about matching your business planning to today’s reality. If the last three years has taught us anything is that we need to be more agile, flexible, and responsive to what’s happening right now and how we can keep ahead of the trends.
For me I think 2023 is going to be a bumpy ride with global headwinds at our door. We can’t keep doing the same thing year after year and expect different results. Spend time now planning for 2023 and how you’ll adjust your sails.
By Senga Allen, Managing Director