Summary
In this blog, we will discuss six notable employment trends in 2023 that business leaders must keep in mind.
Four months into 2023, a few factors have become clear for business competitiveness and workforce management – The search for coveted talent isn’t getting any easier, large sections of workers are exhausted in more ways than one, and economic uncertainty is fueling difficult corporate decisions in the name of being cost effective. So, what can we expect for the remainder of the year?
Here are the six notable employment trends in 2023 that business leaders must keep in mind:
1. Quiet hiring will gain more mainstream traction
A growing number of organizations are embracing the practice of ‘quiet hiring’, where existing employees are moved to departments or given responsibility for projects in which their skills and expertise are needed the most.
To compensate the employee for any upheaval, organizations offer a one-time bonus, a promotion, additional paid time off, a raise, greater work flexibility, and more.
2. Hybrid work model benefits for frontline workers
According to a 2022 Gartner survey of 405 frontline worker managers, 58% of organizations that have frontline workers on their payroll have invested in improving employee experiences over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, one-third of organizations stated they intend to do so within the next year.
Frontline workers are seeking greater flexibility when it comes to what they work on, who they work with, and the amount they work — in particular, control over and stability in their work schedule, as well as paid leave.
3. Managers will get help in balancing leadership and employee expectations
In 2023, leading organizations will provide extended support and training to mitigate the widening managerial skill gaps, while simultaneously clarifying manager priorities and redesigning their roles where necessary.
This is because, in most work environments, managers constantly battle to balance employee expectations of culture, flexibility, and career opportunities with performance and business target pressures from senior leaders.
4. Pursuing nontraditional candidates will grow talent pipelines
The strategic benefits of expanding and diversifying talent pipelines have been touted for several years now. With more and more professionals charting nonlinear career paths, and companies struggling to meet their talent needs through traditional sourcing methods, now is the perfect time to act.
To fill critical roles in 2023, your organization should embrace the practice of assessing candidates solely on the skills required to perform certain roles, rather than their credentials and prior work experience. This can be done by removing formal education and experience requirements from job postings and instead reaching out directly to internal or external candidates from nontraditional backgrounds who may not have access to certain professional opportunities, or even be aware of them.
Our state-of-the-art talent sourcing platform for enterprises – Arya – can help you filter and find such candidates.
5. The post-pandemic path toward sustainable performance
As the immediate Covid-19 threat recedes, our collective adrenaline is wearing off, leaving employees to contend with long-term physical and emotional impacts. Gallup reports that employee stress and worry in 2022 grew above even 2020 peaks — nearly 60% of employees report they are stressed at their jobs every day. The societal, economic, and political turbulence of the last few years is manifesting as decreased productivity and performance, no-notice quitting, and workplace conflict.
In 2023, organizations will support employee well-being by providing:
- Proactive rest to help employees maintain their emotional resilience and performance, as opposed to offering rest as a recovery solution after both have plummeted. This may include proactive PTO before high-demand working periods, no-meeting Fridays, allotted wellness time, and including team PTO in managers’ goals.
- Discussion opportunities to work through challenges and difficult topics without judgment or consequences.
- Trauma counselors to train and coach managers on workplace conflict as well as how to have difficult conversations with employees.
6. Organizations will be criticized for their DEI agendas
A recent Gartner poll showed that 42% of employees believe their organization’s DEI initiatives are divisive. This pushback to DEI can lead to decreased workforce engagement, inclusion, and trust. Maintaining DEI momentum is viewed as critical to business success in 2023, and HR personnel must equip managers with tools and strategies to engage skeptical employees and address pushback early, before it evolves into more disruptive forms of DEI resistance. This could include:
- Creating group-specific safe spaces based on key employee demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity) to proactively surface problems.
- Tailoring communications and incentives to motivate allyship, for example, by recognizing and giving visibility to allies on internal platforms and company websites.
- Upskilling employees with definitive “how-to” guidance that enables allyship by showing employees how, specifically, they can advance DEI goals via the actions they take in their professional capacities.
Here’s how we leveraged our DEI strategy to be as inclusive and beneficial to our entire workforce as possible.
The dynamics of work in 2023 will be broadly shaped by these trends. Your organization’s ability to remain competitive depends on how it adapts to an evolving business landscape in which desirable employees are hard to find and retain. SPECTRAFORCE® serves a multitude of corporate clients across all major verticals with staffing and workforce management solutions, garnering international acclaim in the process. Consider us the ever-helpful experts on all aspects of human resources.
References:
Improve the Employee Experience | HR Insights | Gartner.com
9 Future of Work Trends For 2023 (gartner.com)
Trends shaping the future of jobs amid layoffs – The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
