If we rewind two years back to 2021, HR leaders were having to grapple with how to manage remote work, create a cohesive workplace culture in a remote setting, and how to ensure that team members remain connected despite the physical distance. None the least, it was a challenging time for HR professionals.
Fast forward to today in 2023, how have HR priorities shifted?
To find out, we conducted a survey of 189 HR leaders and professionals asking them that exact question: ‘What are your HR priorities in 2023?’
Surprisingly, remote and hybrid working models were at the bottom of the priority list for HR in 2023. This could be as a result of HR professionals having focused on the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and feeling comfortable with their organisation’s current remote and hybrid work models. Or it could be that now that things are beginning to get back to normal, HR departments are reverting back to pre-pandemic in-office working models.
What was really interesting, though, was the strong precedence in how employee well-being and mental health support, and employee engagement and retention strategies have surged to the top of the HR priorities list for 2023.
This comes to no surprise. Especially how employee mental health has been found to have serious ramifications as a result of the pandemic. In fact, a 2022 McKinsey survey found that the impact of the COVID-19 has exacerbated employee burnout rates at an all time high. And with a 2022 report from Gallup highlighting that employee engagement, though stable, is still below pre-pandemic levels, it’s no wonder why HR professionals are prioritizing well-being and engagement strategies over everything else.
But how can HR professionals go about tackling these priorities?
This article is not going to try and persuade you that HR technology is the ONLY answer, as we all know that there are many factors to play in the equation – but HR tech can undoubtedly help!
So we have put together a few ways you can leverage HR technology to ensure you have employee wellbeing, engagement and retention strategies in place to succeed.
Know Your Data
When it comes to employee well being and engagement, you can implement as many programs as you want, but if you don’t measure how effective they are, how do you know if they’re even working?
The first step, is to start collecting data on employee sentiment and how employees are feeling prior, during and post programmes. This is how you can identify how employees are responding; how effective the programmes have been; and how to better improve for future initiatives.
Traditionally, this will be done through pulse surveys that go out to employees on a regular basis. This method is great -when done correctly, and actually put into action, it can provide employees with a sense of voice and empowerment. But, with the introduction of new HR technologies like elementsuite, data collection can go that one step further!
With an all-in-one system that integrates with other systems and collects all your people data in one single source of truth, you can measure how your employees are feeling over time, how their sentiment changes depending on the different programmes you implement, how teams and departments compare to each other, and how helpful new HR initiatives have been – in real time!
It just gives you that added edge to dig a little deeper, rather than relying soley on pulse surveys, and make your life a heck of a lot easier!
Give Them More Autonomy
Research has shown that when employees are given more autonomy over their work, they are happier and more productive. For instance, a study of nearly 1,400 healthcare professionals found that those who had higher levels of autonomy reported greater job satisfaction. Similarly, a behavioral neuroscience experiment found that employee autonomy increases productivity.
In short, employees who feel like they have more control over their work are more engaged, and more likely to stick around.
So how can HR technology help with this? By giving employees the ability to access their data, and manage different areas of their work life from one centralised system.
This can be anything from having access to:
- Their performance management data, to track the progress of their goals;
- Their learning and development roadmap, so that they can gauge what they have to do next to get to the next level in their career;
- Their HR records, to update their personal details
- Their annual leave allowance – so they can easily plan their holidays!
Another very under utilised, but POWERFUL way to give your employees more autonomy is through giving them access to:
- View their rotas ahead of time, to better plan their personal lives;
- See who they are working with, or where they are working weeks in advance – so they can swap shifts to avoid that colleague that they don’t get along with, or that site that is just too far from home;
- Swap shifts with colleagues and book in annual leave (through a simple click of a button) without having to go run around site to get their five managers and boss to provide authorization.
Its about giving employees the ability to manage different areas of their work life, without having to constantly go through their manager or HR for every single thing.
Build An Online Community
If you are like most large organisations, you are most likely going to have employees working in multiple locations, at all hours of the day. This makes it very difficult to maintain a sense of community and connectedness, as employees don’t get to see each other face-to-face that often.
But with in an internal communication channel, you can bridge the gap between your different offices and teams, by giving them a platform to connect, collaborate and ultimately stay engaged – no matter how far apart they are.
Think of it as Facebook, but at work. You can post important announcements and events; share helpful resources and how-to guides; and recognise each other’s achievements.
It really just depends how you want to use it, but the options are limitless!
And regardless of whether you adopt a company branded communications platform with an all-in-one HR software like elementsuite, make sure you choose one that that can seamlessly integrate with your HR platform, so that you can measure engagement, how employees interact with each other, and how different initiatives influence their engagement – in real time. Plus, your employees will thank you, with not having to remember yet another password.
Achieving Greatness With HR Software
So there you have it! HR technology can be incredibly helpful, especially when it comes to tackling some of the top HR priorities of 2023. From giving employees more autonomy and control over their work life; to building an online community where they can connect, collaborate and stay engaged – it really is a powerful tool that you should seriously consider implementing in your business.
Of course, how you choose to use the technology is up to you. But with an all-in-one HR software like elementsuite, you can have the confidence that your employees will be well supported by a platform that has been specifically designed for them, and their needs.
This is the year to take control of your HR priorities, and equip your business with the technology that will help you achieve greatness in 2023 and beyond!
Book a demo with elementsuite today and discover how the power of HR technology will revolutionise how you look after your employees.
