Employee engagement: Top 5 trends of 2022

There is an obvious talent shortage across most sectors. Job vacancies are at record highs, whilst the number of people being employed is not keeping a pace.  

Employees are leaving organisations for many reasons, but the clear two are flexibility and remuneration.  There has been much made of ‘the great resignation’ and all indications are that this is set to continue.  In effect employees are reconsidering priorities, looking at a better work-life balance and deciding what works for them.  Many workplaces are simply behind the curve when it comes to this thinking.  

2022 will see companies making significant changes. These could include:

•    Hybrid working
•    Improving or changing benefits packages
•    More training opportunities
•    More face to face time with managers
•    Salary uplifts
•    Wellbeing and financial support programmes
•    Employee recognition schemes

We’ve pulled together the top five issues we feel will affect organisations in 2022:

 

Benefits that benefit

Benefits packages have long been the mainstay of remuneration packages.  But their effectiveness in engaging, retaining, and recruiting people has often been questioned.  Nobody jumps out of bed because they get free life assurance.

At the same time, the world of work is changing, and benefits packages have remained static.  Whereas duvet days and membership to the gym around the corner from the office may have been popular, these are less important to people when they are working from home more often.

Some companies are looking at other types of benefits, such as childcare contributions or free internet access, which are about supporting those who are now going to be based from home.

At the same time, many organisations are considering how benefits can support them as they try to beat employee burnout.

Two of the most popular solutions being trialled widely at the moment are those of unlimited annual leave and the 4-day working week.  All indications are that 2022 is the year that both of these will be significantly rolled out across multiple industries.

Head of Wellbeing

Employees are being hit from two angles. The first is financially.  There has already been much written about ‘the cost of living crisis’: The impending rise in National Insurance Contributions, inflation running at 5% and energy prices set to double for many.  This is putting untold pressure on some employees (especially those at the lower salary levels).  And whilst some larger companies such as Deliveroo and Greene King are addressing this with financial hardship funds, this is a pattern that is set to continue.

Aligned to this is that of mental health.  These financial pressures alone would affect mental wellness, but lockdowns, working from home and other similar pressures have resulted in a decline in mental health.  In fact Glassdoor have seen a significant doubling in the number of people using the word “burnout” in their reviews.

Many SMEs have already started to address this.  Wellbeing is now on many company agendas and people are being given responsibility or appointed into the role of “head of wellbeing”.  With other initiatives such as ‘mental health first aiders’ being rolled out in organisations, the new ‘wellbeing officers’ are not just people sat in HR.  They extend far beyond that and we are beginning to see the emergence of a new role, which is likely to become the norm over the next few years.

Rise of digitalisation

Prompted by remote working, organisations are looking to digitise many of their processes.  Aligned to this is that reporting tools are also being implemented at a faster rate than ever before.

When it comes to the employee experience, this digitisation has been leading the way.  From basic HR reporting through to more complex employee engagement programmes, the digital landscape is the first port of call for those organisations looking to augment the new hybrid working models.

Add into the mix communication tools, and this technological revolution may be quiet, but it is happening nevertheless.

Training and re-skilling

As organisations struggle to compete in the jobs market, increasingly employers are turning to their existing employees.  This is only set to rise.

Organisations are establishing programmes that allow people to sidestep into new roles and encouraging personal development.  The cost of these programmes is usually significantly less than recruiting replacements to the team, and the associated loss of productivity when someone resigns.   

Recognition

Almost half of all workers do not feel that they are properly recognised.  This is entirely separate to anything financially based.  

This feeling has intensified as people have worked more remotely.  They have felt isolated and have been offered very little feedback.

Any managerial or HR textbook will tell you – employee recognition boosts moral, engagement and ultimately productivity.  Yet many companies are grappling with how to get it right.

Organisations who offered the Friday fruit basket or team lunches etc are having to think about how they replace these, such as moving to gift cards or takeaway deliveries to homes. At the same time, the office ‘shout out’, whereby people would casually or publicly praise a colleague or employee is also being lost.  Companies have recognised this, combatting it with a series of training modules for managers and falling back on technology to address this.

2022 is shaping up to be a year of fundamental and structural change in the way organisations set themselves up for the rest of the decade.  Employee engagement must be the number one consideration. Organisations are investing time and money in getting it right.  Whilst the pace of adoption and change will of course vary, it feels obvious that the above list are very much the direction of travel.
 

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