With less than two months remaining until the new year, new trends for the upcoming year in the field of human resources have already started to emerge. A study conducted by Gartner, which interviewed over 800 HR leaders, reveals the priorities that HR managers have in mind for 2023.
These priorities set by HR managers for the coming year are nothing more than a reflection of the unstable and unpredictable period that the majority of companies are currently experiencing. The Gartner study highlights a combination of pressures faced by companies from three directions:
– Rising inflation;
– Expensive and hard-to-find workforce;
– Global constraints in the supply chain.
Given these pressures, companies need to find solutions, and some of these solutions lie with HR managers, who currently play a strategic role within their organizations.
HR Managers’ Priorities for 2023
The study conducted by Gartner, involving a sample of 800 HR managers from 60 countries, has revealed the main priorities HR managers are focusing on for 2023, including:
1. Managerial Effectiveness and Efficiency
The majority of HR managers who participated in the study have ranked managerial effectiveness and efficiency at the top of their priorities for the coming year. About 60% of HR managers stated that their goal for next year is to become more efficient and effective than before.
Effectiveness refers to a manager’s ability to achieve the organization’s goals and balance the expectations of employees with those of the company. An effective manager must ensure that tasks are completed efficiently and on time and that both the employee and the organization are developing.
Currently, 24% of HR managers admit that the current way of leading a team is not the most suitable, as it does not help in preparing and developing future leaders for the job market of tomorrow. They believe that a new approach to leadership is needed.
2. Organizational Design and Change Management
A percentage of 53% of HR leaders who participated in the study indicated that organizational design and change management are on their priority list for 2023.
Organizational design involves aligning the structure of an organization with its objectives to improve efficiency and effectiveness, while change management refers to planning and managing change within an organization.
However, there is a major challenge in implementing these processes within organizations, as 45% of HR leaders believe that employees are already exhausted from all the changes that have occurred in recent years.
3. Employee Experience
Coming in third place among HR managers’ priorities for 2023 is employee experience. A percentage of 47% of respondents plan to place more emphasis on employee satisfaction next year.
When discussing employee experience within an organization, it refers to their interactions with colleagues, managers, and the HR department, as well as the technological tools available to them at work, the workspace or environment, and the opportunity for professional development at their job.
A percentage of 44% of HR leaders believe that the organizations they are part of do not provide employees with the opportunity to develop professionally as they would like.
4. Recruitment
A percentage of 46% of HR leaders who participated in the Gartner study stated that they plan to pay more attention to the recruitment process in 2023.
Additionally, 36% of respondents mentioned that their main challenge regarding the recruitment process is that they do not have sufficient resources to find candidates with the skills needed within the company.
5. The Future of Work
A percentage of 42% of HR leaders indicated that they aim to focus on the concept of the future of work next year. When discussing the future of work, it refers to the changes that will occur in how work will be performed over the next decade, influenced by technology, the entry of the new generation into the workforce, and the economic and social context.
The real challenge in achieving this goal is that 51% of respondents stated that their current plans for the future of work are limited to ensuring the optimal number of employees to cover all vacant positions and successfully perform work tasks.