Looking forward by looking back. My 2022 prediction is based very much on what we have seen and learned in 2021 and before. It is partially of course influenced by Covid19 and its implications – but I still believe that Covid19 did not actually change anything but just accelerated trends and what’s to happen anyway.
The Situation
When you analyze the employment market from the last two years and predictions for this year, you see a very strong dynamic accelerated by certain trends but moreover realities to face:
- Women left in significant amounts the workforce – this has been shown here as well as here. And the question for 2022 is if they will come back and how they might come back. Signs are positive – and I believe that these signs are a good indication. It is a matter of time though as the new variant is hitting us and many have more to shoulder now than before. So only when the pandemic transitions into the endemic stage, women will have the breathing space to come back – but not all of them and very unlikely to the jobs and environment they have been before.
- “The Great Resignation” which in fact has been more of a reshuffle of lower qualified jobs so far (read here) has hit many companies, will continue and transform from “missing hands” to “brain-drain”. Late 2021 analysis shows that the direction of the great reshuffle is slowly moving up the seniority and qualification ladder. This will continueand lead towards a difficult situation for employers as key managerial or individual contributors leave. – leave to other companies, but also leave into entrepreneurship
- Covid has accelerated trends across multiple areas by at least 10 years and keeping up with these changes and demands is not simple. But moreover, it led to employees rethinking their life plans and what they want to get out of their life, want to achieve, what they want to stand for. The push for purpose and meaning is getting stronger by the day, leading to a shift in priorities and what is important to join or stay with an organization
- Remote work and virtual meetings are the new standard. And they do have their advantages – absolutely, but 2 years into the pandemic we also realize that this cannot be it. We are missing the human connection and the true team-building. Of course, the Metaverse is here to the rescue (really?). But a rising demand for real face-to-face meetings and sessions can be identified and will influence how we work and where we work in 2022.
The consequence
If this is the situation, what does it mean for the workplace? – it is simple. Employers have to transition from “saying” that employees are their most valuable asset to actually treating them like this. We are accelerating into an employee focused economy where it will be difficult to get or keep key employees and where the impact on the top- and bottom-line will be very visible.
Of course, we should not just sit and watch but need to take actions to counter this consequence. And as you should never just bet on one horse/ action, I am seeing two key-trends exploding (in a positive way) in 2022 – Employee Experience and Automation.
Employee Experience
Employee Experience was just a small idea at the beginning of the pandemic, but given where we are today, no company can afford to not focus on the daily experience of employees at and with work and most companies need to invest and center their efforts on the Experience to keep or get critical talent. And of course the focus needs to be on the Experience as a whole, not on single areas or items. The advantages are just too big and so will be the labor-market competition. We are in a clear supply-driven market with open positions on record highs and employees asking for purpose, balance and meaning. But Employee Experience not only helps keep or get the required employees – it will also increase performance and productivity if thought through well. And so my prediction for 2022 is that we will redefine and widen what Employee Experience means and employers will invest in it greatly. 2022 is the year of EX break-through.
Automation
But let’s be clear – regardless how great your EX efforts are, you will still run into employees that value the “Euro more” more than any experience as there are and will continue to be short-term focused employees. No judgement. And not to forget that the acceleration of trends through the pandemic has further increased the demand for very scarce skills – and due to the pandemic the building of these skills has slowed down. The perfect storm…and the opportunity for the next level of automation. More and more tasks, also complex tasks have to be transitioned to machines – may it be simple automation, may it be more complex decision/ interpretation that requires AI models. My second prediction is that this market will continue to thrive and will drive up the value chain/ specialist chain of employees not to free up resources but to “fill open positions”. And with that will be looked at more positive by employees as well as it is transitioning into a state where Automation helps counter the talent and capacity crunch and won’t threaten your job.
These two are to be watched in 2022 – and if you are in the automation or experience market – congratulations, a year full of work and excitement awaits you🙂
Chief HR Officer 