Realign: 2022 HR Trend #1

2022 is a year for new mindsets and approaches

Over time it’s easy to lose sight of our priorities, which creates misalignment with our practices. This can lead to a lack of bottom-line impact in the long run.

The events of the past two years meant reactivity was key for HR teams. Initially, when the pandemic first broke, there was a need to ensure people were safe. This grew to making sure productivity remained high, collaboration was effective, and communication was clear.

But if this focus on reactivity continues to go unchecked in 2022, misalignment will wreak havoc. Reacting to situations might be an effective way to get through emergencies, but it’s no way to build a long-term vision. 2022 is the year to step back from reactivity and become proactive in responding to what’s going on around you.

How? By realigning your HR strategy, processes, and activities with a longer-term view.

What should that look like in practice?

HR trends realign, rebecca wetteman from valoir
To find out, we interviewed Rebecca Wettemann, Principal at Valoir.

“Realign is a great word,” says Wettemann. “There’s so much realignment going on right now as we think about how work has changed in the past two years. I think the biggest area that we see changing is the area of learning. The LMS is dead—it’s now time to think more broadly about learning experiences, about what that means, and about mentoring and coaching. How even peer-to-peer mentoring can be a really important asset in building both employee engagement, skills and talent.”

Watch or listen below to our full interview with Rebecca Wetteman below where we discuss the HR trend ‘realign’, or continue reading for direct outtakes.

Jump straight to our HR Trends 2022 ebook where we deep dive into the top three HR trends we see for next year: realign, reconnect, and redeploy.

Realigning purpose and meaning at work

“We’ve all heard about the great resignation. A lot of it is not about money—it’s about purpose,” shares Wettemann. “Folks want to feel not just that they’re engaged in their jobs, but that they see a clear path for themselves. And I think that’s where we see more and more focus again: less on succession, more on success, and helping individual employees be able to see what their future looks like at the company, not just the present.”

Realigning the office space
“I think we’re going to see a lot more hoteling in the office world. We’ll see a lot more need for scheduling. So how do I make sure that I’m going to be in the office when team members, or maybe just people that I want to network with, are going to be there?

“I think we will see some return to business travel, but not like we were before. Not certainly in 2022. And I think we’ll see more and more companies look at How do I take a more data-driven approach to think about how the office works? How do I create visibility so everyone knows when they can connect with other folks online? And how do I make sure that I have an equitable office arrangement for those who may be working from home or those in a hybrid environment?”

Presence awareness and employee well-being

“Management by walking around is tougher when only half of the team is there. So I want to be able to make sure that I have the technology and the tools in place to ensure that everybody has an equal playing opportunity.

“Well, certainly by having presence awareness and scheduling tools so that people know when their managers are going to be in the office so that managers can schedule teams transparently.

“If I always want to take Fridays off, my manager may not want me to do that. But if there’s a legitimate reason for it, then we can work that into the schedule. So it starts with a sort of scheduling and presence understanding, and then really goes further to understanding employee wellness.

“Well-being is another big area that we need to talk about. And as we think about alignment, not to be too literal for those employees who continue to work from home, we need to be focusing on the ergonomics of work as well.”

Realigning the demographic shifts in the workforce

“Every generation enters the workforce with different expectations and different demands. For managers, it means a different set of skills, not just because it’s a new generation, but because it’s a new way of working. The hybrid or work-from-home environment is different for everyone, not just for the newbies entering the workforce today.

“So it’s going to take some HR-driven data and HR-supported special training for managers to understand how to best manage those individuals.

“When you’re onboarding new employees, you’re not doing it in a face-to-face situation. You have to think about how can I do this most effectively when maybe I don’t get the context or the nuance through a Zoom call or through an email that I would get being able to walk around the office and interact with them. And that’s true for everyone. Gen-X or otherwise.”

HR Trends 2022: Realign, Reconnect, Redeploy

For more on what it means to ‘realign’ your HR strategy, processes, and activities, discover our ebook “HR Trends 2022: Realign, Reconnect, Redeploy”: