The last few years have seen a huge upheaval in working arrangements. First we had Covid, and all the resulting impact, and some might argue that 2022 was spent recovering from the impact of the pandemic. You might argue that 2023 is the year where things have started to settle down, and we can get a real view on what the reality of employment is through 2023.
Gartner Research has identified 9 trends and further changes we can expect this year. But do we at Thrive Law agree? And what does this mean?
Part 1 of this blog will unpick 4 of those 9 trends.
From Quiet Firing to Quiet Hiring
Quiet firing made the headlines back in 2022.
However, it is believed that quiet hiring will be a top trend in 2023. Quiet Hiring is the process whereby organisations organise their existing employees to obtain new skills or reallocate responsibilities, rather than hiring new employees. This is an effective way for employers to fill in the gaps by upskilling the existing pool of employees in their organisation without having to go through the whole hiring process, and in turn also means having multi-skilled employees. However, for employees, this may mean taking on more responsibilities than your job role probably advertised when you applied.
We certainly agree that there has been an investment in upskilling existing employees rather than recruitment; and this can be a great thing! Employees feel more secure if investment is made in them. But, you should bear in mind whether these skills are leading to new, unrealistic, expectations.
More Flexibility For More
Back in 2020, over the course of one day, desk-based jobs became flexible and remote working became the norm, but front-line workers did not get that opportunity. Research suggests that a lot more work is being done to improve the employee experience of frontline workers and this includes having more flexibility and being more in control of their working arrangements.
This is arguably because remote working and flexibility is becoming expected, and this is across all sectors. Some sectors can no longer rely on the excuse of the pandemic as a reason not to move forward with reasonable flexibility for their workforce.
Expectations and Support
While flexible working may provide flexibility for some job roles, it appears that managers are most affected by this arrangement. Often, being the ‘middleman’ between the employee and the employer, can leave managers feeling crunched.
Therefore, Gartner research suggests that to overcome this, training is essential. Training for effective management and training for skills to tighten the gap between employees and managers seem to be the way forward to support and manage expectations.
We offer training such as this at Thrive, and we’ve certainly seen a huge uptake in employers who are seeking to train their managers. It truly is key that managers understand their role and their responsibilities; a skill gap here can lead to real shortcomings.
Qualifications vs Experience
This has been an ongoing battle when it comes to recruitment; do employers want an employee with top-grade qualifications but zero experience or an employee with little or no qualifications but with tonnes of experience? The shift from valuing qualifications to valuing experience has been prominent over the last few years, however, it appears, that neither will be of consideration in the coming years. It is suggested that when recruiting, employers should now focus on the employee’s ability to perform the role in question.
We think this speaks to a wider cultural change, as employers stop valuing the “what” but look more at the “who” of the possible employee. So what is their experience, what are their values, how would they perform the role? We love all the interesting new recruitment approaches to try and unpick these kind of matters.
Did you know we provide outsourced HR services to businesses?
Using Thrive’s HR services makes your life easier; we provide you with quick and most importantly, correct HR decisions so your staff management is stress-free and sufficient. We take care of everything. From drafting contracts and handbooks tailored to your business to advising and supporting you through redundancies. There is no limit to our knowledge, if you have an HR question, our qualified solicitors have the answer for you. We are always one phone call away.
Why should you outsource your HR services to solicitors? Getting your HR services from a solicitor means, should a case ever proceed to tribunal everything we have ever discussed is protected by attorney client privilege meaning all conversations are protected. Whereas if you were to use a HR consultant, all conversations and documentations regarding that employee would be disclosable in tribunal.
Get in touch today to invest in your business and make your HR stress free. Contact us.
Disclaimer
Please note this blog is for reference purposes only and is only accurate at which the date it was published. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific Legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking or deciding not to take any actions. Please contact us if you have any questions on enquiries@thrivelaw.co.uk.
