With a new year now underway, do the predicted workplace trends for 2022 present a challenge or an opportunity for SMEs?
The pandemic of the last two years has given rise to many challenges in the workplace. From managing the dynamics of hybrid working, to holding back what is being called the “Great Resignation”, to managing productivity due to staff absences caused by emotional and physical health issues.
Is there an opportunity to mitigate some of the trends through a rewards programme supported by an integrated benefits and recognition portal? With vacancies at an all-time high, and the potential for your star players to walk off to the competition, there has never been a more important time to let employees know exactly how appreciated they are, how you can support them and let them see the true value of being an employee of your company.
Let’s look at the three main workplace trends…
Hybrid Working
As a result of the pandemic many employees have got used to working from home and businesses have adapted well. Clearly not everyone will be able to, so some will be in the workplace whether that’s an office, a warehouse or on site. As restrictions loosen up there are many requests from employees to continue to work in a hybrid way. They want a better work/life balance and companies have seen the benefit in staff morale in adopting this as a new business practice. If you do adopt this flexible strategy, one challenge is how to communicate with everyone on a regular basis and keep the team/company culture alive.
One of the obvious ways is to make the most of, or introduce, a single technology platform that combines your intranet, benefits package and recognition scheme, and is available 24/7 on a desktop computer, tablet or phone. It means that you can communicate with your staff wherever they are, on the road, in the home or in the office. Integrated benefit platforms used to be in the domain of larger companies only but are now significantly more affordable, costing no more than the price of a couple of coffees each month for each member of staff.
The “Great Resignation”
The pandemic has forced many employees to think very carefully about what they want out of their careers. This has led to not just the “Great Resignation” but the “Great Rethink”. The challenge is, how do you hold onto your star players in between the thought and the resignation? Having a clearly communicated company culture/ethos plays a big part. Ensure everyone knows what the organisation stands for and the part they play in that. By adopting an online reward and recognition programme wrapped around your company values that gives everyone the chance to be rewarded, and to give their colleagues a public pat on the back, is one way.
Some employers have started operating a “please stay” interview in place of an exit interview. This gives you the opportunity to discuss why the employee wants to leave, show how much the employee means to your organisation, talk about how you could match their aspirations if they stayed and also use it as an opportunity to reaffirm all the benefits they get to take advantage of by staying.
Wellbeing Support
Many of us will have seen our wellbeing take a dive in the last couple of years. Perhaps we’ve not been motivated to exercise, or our mental health has suffered. This can be a challenge for employers with productivity affected due to time off sick. Quite often employers have benefits sitting on their shelf that could be really supportive to those that need it, and get them back to work quicker than perhaps they would have done without any help. However, because they’re not communicated on a regular basis employees often don’t know about them!
Now is a really good time to get them down, dust them off and make sure employees are aware of all the support that is available. For example, an Employee Assistance Programme where they are given the opportunity to speak to a counsellor on a regular basis. We wrote a blog during the pandemic about benefits to support employees during Covid-19 and much of what we said still holds true. You can read the blog here.
Whichever way you choose to meet the challenges in workplace trends for 2022, we’re here to support you along the way, and maybe turn them into opportunities to engage with your workforce on a deeper level and keep your star players from leaving. We really look forward to working with you.