About this time last year we put our HR trends list for 2023 together. You can view that here.
So before we get you reading the predictions for the upcoming year, let’s see how we did for 2023.
Our 2023 trends – did we get it right
On balance I think we did get a lot of this right, or at least understood the general direction of the market.
Here are our trends from last year.
- Trend 1: Employer Value Proposition (EVP) as a key decision factor
- Trend 2: Meaningful wellbeing support
- Trend 3: Leadership and management development
- Trend 4: Specialist succession plans
- Trend 5: A wide range of career progression options
- Trend 6: Blended learning opportunities
We were certainly right about blended learning opportunities becoming much more important to most organisations. And increasingly this year we saw a lot of work in career progression from mapping career possibilities, to seeing clients being more proactive in the development options to support employees progress in their career.
The one area that we got wrong was trend 4 – we didn’t see such a big move into succession plans for specialists. Perhaps this is to do with people focussed on retention as a broader piece.
So we weren’t a million miles away from reality at the end of last year. Which is always a relief when thinking forward to planning for the year ahead.
So without further ado, here are our 2024 HR trends that we think you’ll be talking to us about next year!
Let’s Talk Talent’s 2024 HR Trends
AI/Data driven HR Teams
Obviously AI is a biggie. With the rise of ChatGPT and AI in business, HR have and are slowly embracing and looking for ways of automating current operational practices such as job descriptions, job adverts etc. However we must not forget that there is an H in HR for a reason that people are at the heart and build experiences which talk to the head as well as the heart.
What Data will do is enable HR teams to be more proactive spot trends and support the business culturally forward so embracing these skills and the ways in which technology can support the employee experience is definitely something that any HR leader should be aware of in 2024 and beyond
Hybrid working/ Return to office debate
The debate will rage on, but the overwhelming feeling is there will be more and more of a pull to bring people together face to face more often where it is possible.
How you plan for that (amidst reluctance from staff who are happy and productive working from home) and how you retain people whilst pulling them back into the office is going to be a challenge for HRs and people managers in 2024.
Promoting and providing psychological safety
We know trust is a vital skill for high performing teams. Giving people that physiological safety to be able to bring their whole selves to work, to be able to make mistakes, to be trusted and cared for is going to be a bigger pressure for people managers.
Inclusive/compassionate Leadership
Aligning to the last point – there is going to be increased pressure on people managers to really be caring, compassionate and leading inclusively.
In a sense it’s nothing new – but it’s a skillset that is incredibly hard to teach – especially for managers under pressure to deliver high performance.
Retention – careers & competencies
Showing people the art of the possible in their careers is something which is incredibly valuable. Especially when it’s joined up to your other developmental initiatives.
How to retain your key staff and motivate them for years to come is vital – especially in sectors where technical expertise is highly valued. One of our bioscience clients has seen incredible results in retaining their scientific staff from implementing career pathways that are strongly linked to competencies.
If you want to see our competency based career mapping process download our free career pathways process guide.
Talent Attraction
Advanced Technology and Recruitment practices to deal with talent shortages finding the “hidden workforce” – companies becoming much more focused on looking outside of their traditional routes to bring talent into the organisation
L&D Rebranding
It seems to us this is already starting. We think we will see a more aggressive move for a lot of businesses to redefine the role of L&D, moving away from the narrative of it being a “function” delivering programmes towards a strategic partner enabling business growth.
Creating a strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
Once again there is a huge focus on attracting great talent in this market. With an effective EVP you can showcase all the reasons why brilliant people work at your business.
If you’re not sure where to start you can check out our EVP Playbook.
Employee Experience
Creating an employee experience which talks to people’s heads as well as their hearts will be critical in 2024. Joining up on how people can develop will enable you to get, keep and grow brilliant people.
Heading into 2024 with a bang
All in all we truly believe the best is yet to come.
There are a lot of challenges, but HR has never been equipped with more power, and understanding of the board.
Providing psychological safety to our people as well as equipping our managers with the ability to provide that safety and trust is imperative.
The technological revolution / evolution and the rise of AI is something you’ll have to keep on top of, if only for speeding up your workflows, rather than relying on it to write important documents.
