For most companies, 2023 will be a year of picking up the pieces following a very challenging 2022.
Caitlin Quibell, Lumenii’s senior psychologist, says organisations should be looking out for HR and talent trends that will be dominating this year. These are:
Quiet quitting will become a hot topic
Caitlin says quiet quitting can manifest in a range of behaviours, from simply making the commitment to leave on time everyday to extreme demotivation and disengagement. “It can also arise as a reaction to the stress and burnout from the pandemic, and an attempt to regain work/life balance.”
The phenomenon is a concern for organisations because it results in employees who have not resigned and yet are not fully invested in the business and its goals, instead simply filling the hours of their day instead of actively performing.
A positive candidate experience and clear employer brand will make the difference in recruitment
She says candidates want a job application experience that is simple to use, and the best talent will likely drop out of application processes they find to be slow or complicated.
“A big part of building a stellar candidate experience is examining how your organisation communicates with shortlisted candidates. Do they get proactive feedback? How are interviews organised and conducted? How effective is follow-up? How many hoops do they have to jump through? How long does the process take? All these elements show candidates how professional an organisation is and whether they would want to work there,” says Caitlin.
Talent retention and engagement will remain critical for business stability
Caitlin notes that talent retention is a big focus for the following reasons:
Although there is high unemployment, there is a global skills shortage in key areas
Scarce skills are being poached by competitors
It’s more cost-effective to invest in employee retention than to hire and develop new staff
It doesn’t pay to hire top talent if they don't stick around for long. “One of the key ways top companies are boosting their retention efforts is by actively focusing on internal talent mobility. This includes increased time, effort and budget spent on employee development.”
Potential will trump experience when hiring new people
“Many organisations put a lot of emphasis on past experience when hiring new talent. However, research shows this is one of the poorest predictors of future performance, with a correlation of 0.18 (where 0 is no relationship to performance and 1 is a perfect relationship).”
Employees will increasingly seek out flexibility and remote work
According to Caitlin, remote working is here to stay as candidates are increasingly seeking out remote work opportunities. “For many employees, shifting back to a full-time office schedule is a deal-breaker. Zapier’s 2022 Future of Work report found that 61% of professionals would quit their current job for a fully remote opportunity.”
The virtual brain gain will help to combat the brain drain
“Remote working has opened up the opportunity for companies to find talent anywhere in the world. Because the skills shortage has varied impacts across regions, organisations can possibly solve their talent shortfall by casting their net further afield. A globalised remote workplace can help solve the brain drain by transforming it into a virtual brain gain,” Caitlin says.
