HR 2022 Review: The end of the fog… but not of the problems!

After years of uncertainty on all fronts, HR professionals are finally beginning to see the major trends of tomorrow in the workplace stabilize. But they still don’t have all the answers to the new challenges that this implies!

In 2020 and 2021, most HR experts were convinced that the world of work would be profoundly changed by the COVID-19 and would never be the same again. However, they did not know with any great certainty what would remain of the “old world” and what would disappear forever.

This year, the fog on these issues has gradually lifted. By rereading the articles we published on Isarta Infos dedicated to HR and employer branding, we were indeed able to identify some answers on what the post-pandemic work world looks like.

1. Hybrid work is no longer an issue

Having two or even three days of telecommuting: it sounds like a no-brainer in organizations today. But think back to before March 2020 (just under 3 years ago). How incredibly fast this cultural norm in business has evolved! A company like Airbnb has even erected “Live and work from anywhere” as its slogan.

This has many implications. The first, major one, is the growing importance of the notion of flexibility in the eyes of employees, which is spreading to other dimensions, beyond the question of simple presence in the office. The 4-day work week has thus gone from being an incongruity to being a popular HR practice in 2022 for organizations focusing on their employer brand.

But this gradual rise of telecommuting also comes with its own set of challenges: the tendency to turn inward, burnout due to vital hypercommunication and a lack of disconnection… Not to mention the difficulty of getting people back to the office sometimes! Or even to create a strong company culture and socialize with colleagues.

2. The big resignation, a wave without a tomorrow?

Here is one of the key expressions of 2022 in the HR world: the big resignation. While the phenomenon has mainly been seen in the United States (and has given rise to numerous videos on TikTok), it has caused many recruiters to rack their brains to attract and retain employees. Leger has studied the phenomenon by identifying different types of employee profiles, from the most stable to the most volatile.

However, what seems to emerge from this notion of the great resignation is not so much the desire to leave one’s company at all costs… as having less of a taste for work! More precisely, it is a desire to balance one’s life by placing one’s job at a less central level. It is in this sense that we should analyze the case of those employees who, once in their new position, wish to leave again. Sometimes to return to their previous employer! Will the big resignation be just a one-time wave?

3. The inevitability of the labor shortage

If there is one thing that has not disappeared with the pandemic, it is the shortage of manpower. Enough to make HR despair… However, they have the means to take action: review their interview processes and interviews, improve the reception of new employees, work on their internal culture and even take a step back from… their bad practices as recruiters!

Something to think about for 2023!