For instance, this year for the first time in history, five generations of employees are working side by side and, as HSCPA reports, more than two-thirds employees reported that they have encountered intergenerational issues in the office. This means next year, HR managers will have to be ready for potential challenges this generational gap may bring to the workplace.
However, the generational gap is just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to the incoming wave of the generation Z, HR will remain a key player in the terms of business departments that keep track of upcoming trends and aim to stay one step ahead of the competition. And while it is impossible to successfully predict every trend for the next 12 months, there are certain things you can definitely expect to see in 2017.
Employee Satisfaction
Instability in the market resulting from various economic factors, such as worries over Brexit, is compounding challenges for companies with many expected to stretch out their capitals and accomplish more with less. And with such high demands, keeping top workers has become the main focus of HR departments across the US, by necessity. A recent CAP study has shown that on average, employee turnover costs an organization around 20% in annual workforce salary costs.
As you can clearly see, keeping hold of workers through an increased emphasis on their wellbeing will be the key in 2017. In this case, the biggest challenge the HR department faces is keeping track of the mood in the office, and quickly recognizing areas where discontent is sneaking in. Thankfully, software solutions such as CIPHR can help companies out there pinpoint potential areas where workers feel underappreciated, encourage feedback and constructive criticism.
Next-Gen Performance Management
In the last couple of years, annual reviews have basically become obsolete because more and more employees are demanding feedback on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, more than 60 percent of employees in the United States would like to receive feedback on a weekly, and even daily basis, according to PwC research. And when it comes to millennials, the number is only bigger – according to research, the number increases to 72 percent for employees under the age of 30.
What is more, almost 80% of today’s employees say that they would stay with their current employers if they knew their career path within the organization. Naturally, the HR department is going to be crucial in implementing this change in performance management. And that is why a next-gen software that offers regular feedback and ongoing growth conversations will be more needed than ever. In the following year, HR technology will surely focus on reinventing the ways in which we manage careers and measure the performance of our top employees.
Absenteeism Costs
While this might sound a little bit surprising, a large majority of employers today is facing what is becoming a serious problem – employee absenteeism. And as the Workforce Institute discovered, staff absence costs small US businesses roughly $3,600 per employee, per year. And while this does not sound like much to some, you have to take into account that around 40 percent of employees often take a sick day, even when they are healthy.
In addition, when an employee is out of the office, their workload obviously falls on the shoulders of their colleagues. And when a number of employees start taking a couple of days off too often, it can seriously cost the organization, due to overtime expenses. For that reason, in 2017, more companies are going to start using employee attendance software in order to put an emphasis on staff scheduling and try to maintain healthy work habits within their organization.
Conclusion
As more young people enter the market, HR will continue to change and evolve to appease them, so predicting how HR will look just a couple of months from now can be rather difficult. And if the results of most recent US election have shown us anything, it is that the predictions don’t always get it right. Nevertheless, it is always useful to take a look at emerging trends within the industry, and take an informed guess at where the next year will lead us.