HR’s Challenges and Priorities in 2022

From The Great Resignation to The Great Retention, there is nothing left to experience for today’s HR leaders. They helped navigate the company through budget declines, efficiency shortfall, resource gap, inflation, disruption, and whatnot. It’s good that you made it till here, but now is not the time to celebrate your achievements. Rather, you must change gears now and work towards evading the challenges that 2022 might have in store for you. 

According to a report – 2022 Key Issues – by The Hackett Group, that surveyed 250 executives in HR, Finance, and related departments at midsize and large enterprises, there is a slate of HR priorities and several key issues that HR leaders must refocus on.

In 2022, the human resources department must stay laser focused and take critical actions in order to succeed. 

This blog outlays the challenges that HR is currently facing or might face in the future, followed by the priorities they must set to help their organizations succeed through continued disruption.

ALSO READ: Why HR Leaders’s Focus Must Pivot Back from Tech to Human

Talent retention and recruitment pressures

The challenge here: HR leaders have been struggling to retain talents as a result of the ongoing wave of The Great Resignation. Employees are switching career paths and are ready to take life-changing decisions as a product of workplace burnout or forced reopening.

Your priority should be: Determine hybrid work strategies. Present a business case of moving your physical workplace culture to a hybrid workplace culture to your leadership if they persist on the idea of having a physical workplace only. Hybrid and remote work has become the norm. Give your employee the liberty to choose between a few working options rather than forcing them to commit to a single method.

Handling employee burnouts

The challenge here: Employees have been vocal about the stress they are facing for being a part of the organization. They say they are overlooked by their superiors and their efforts are often deprioritized. Mental health of employees is hitting an all-time low. 

Your priority should be: Prioritizing mental health should be at the forefront of every other initiative HR is undertaking right now. Take strides towards improving the overall mental health of the entire workforce by asking leaders to show empathy and appreciation at every stage of work. 

HR-related tech skills 

The challenge here: Digital transformation is done, but some HRs are still waiting to get there. Lacking essential technological skills, they are still unable to derive meaningful insights and use innovative technologies that can help them make the right decisions.

Your priority should be: In the wake of upskilling the entire workforce, HR leaders must train themselves to acquire key business and technological skills essential to digital transformation. Skills like data visualization, robotic process automation, master data management, and more can allow HR to change gears and pivot quickly.