5 HR Trends Revealed in July 2022

This month, the talent shortage remains the key driver to hiring challenges. The trending topics this month explore how some organisations are aligning their HR strategy with what employees expect in order to retain top talent. HR news asks ‘what does the future of work look like now we have settled into remote or hybrid roles?’ 

The need to use tech like AI and chatbots to reduce the time to hire is growing. The talent shortage is putting pressure on organisations and there are calls for solutions to support with avoiding downtime with empty roles. If this is your organistion, consider trend #5 with tips to hire more diverse talent. 

Keep reading to understand the top five HR and recruitment trends for July 2022.  

#1 HR Strategy: Alignment with Employee Expectations

It’s no secret that employee expectations have shifted over the last few years with the COVID pandemic playing a large role in that change. But is your HR strategy keeping up?

This article by People Matters, explores some of the expectations of new employees today including:

• Sense of purpose
• Ability to develop and enhance skills
• Looking beyond compensation
• Work/life balance

One key finding from the article highlighted training for people managers to effectively manage remote teams. The article speaks of the need for managers of remote teams to bring collective energy to achieve team and organisational objectives. 

Another element for remote teams was utilising communication platforms to enable employees to stay connected and knowledgeable on organisational happenings. At Xref, we use Workplace by Facebook and Zoom to stay connected and up to date. Our people also have the option to attend our office for in-person connections. 

Overall, the article sums up, that employees want meaningful jobs. Rather than the length of the role, they are looking for depth and quality experiences. They want to feel respected and find a company that acknowledges the holistic nature of their lives. Therefore, investing in the ‘human aspects of work’ is to become a more employee-centric organisation. 

#2 AI: The Future of Interviews

HR Toolbox, now Spiceworks News and Insights, recently shared this article about Google’s recently launched AI interview preparation tool. The tool helps candidates prepare for upcoming interviews by asking basic questions like “Can you please tell me a bit about yourself?” and “Please tell me why you would be a good fit for this role?” It provides feedback and identifies certain job-related terms and phrases that are overused, generating common talking points to improve responses.

The article then goes on to ask, what does this mean for the future of interviews and recruiting? Perhaps robot recruiters will conduct application screenings - making calls to ask some basic questions and provide feedback. It will then make the decision to move a candidate further into the hiring funnel or not. 

A recent study by Tidio, found that around 85% of recruiters think that AI is a useful technology that will replace some parts of the hiring process. Screening candidates in a quick yet effective manner is one key part of reducing time to hire and securing the best candidates quickly. 

#3 HR Chatbots: Can they Improve Employee Experience?

Chatbots for customers are now a normal way of solving questions and doing business. But have you thought about chatbots to help uncover your employee’s needs? This article by HR Tech Cube, uncovers what an HR chatbot is, and what benefits it offers to enhance the employee experience for your organisation. 

From hiring a new employee to managing remote workers, chatbots can cut down on the admin whilst keeping workers engaged. A chatbot can keep a candidate moving through the recruitment funnel, while employees may feel more comfortable giving anonymous feedback on organisational improvements to a chatbot rather than to a manager. 

At Xref, we use a chatbot to survey our employees on who they would like to nominate for the quarterly People’s Choice Award. This simple method is a quick way for our HR team to survey all of our people, whilst keeping them engaged. 

#4 The Future of Work: Security and the Four-Day Work Week 

What does work security look like and what’s next for the future of work? These are two questions that WorkHuman’s Mid-Year Pulse Check asks.

The WorkHuman mid-year survey asks employees, ‘What makes you feel secure in your job?’ 55% said having a good working relationship with their boss while 52% said being recognised for their contributions. With the current talent shortages, retaining employees has never been more important and having employees who feel secure in their role is one solution.  

If you’re looking to show employees that their role is secure, transparency, open communication and frequent check-ins are some methods that help employees feel supported. 

On the future of work, with flexibility and working from home being two trending topics throughout the height of the pandemic, where to next? The WorkHuman Mid-Year Pulse Check eyes off the four-day work week. 

Of those surveyed, 52% said they would appreciate more family time with a four-day work week, while pay adjustments or longer working hours were key concerns. 

Now that many employees enjoy flexibility, the focus has shifted to output, rather than number of hours. At Xref, while we still use a 5-day work week, our remote-first approach to work means we already have an output-based focus. 

#5 Blind Hiring: Methods to Increase Diversity 

We know that diverse workplaces reap daily benefits in the form of strong retention, innovative ideas and increased growth. But in a talent shortage market, how can we remove implicit bias to ensure people of all genders and backgrounds have equal hiring opportunity?

‍This article from new online publication HR Leader gives three tips on ‘How to remove gender from the hiring process’. The strategies can also be used for a more diverse workplace. 

1. Try blind hiring - To encourage a diverse pool of talent, blind hiring works by removing identifying information when shortlisting candidates. One study found that blind hiring can include 60% more candidates that otherwise may have been missed. 
2. Remove gendered language - Gendered language may discourage some from applying for certain roles
3. Offer gender-neutral benefits - For example, instead of ‘maternity leave’, try ‘parental leave’. 

With the skills shortage now predicted to last until 2026, it pays to implement strategies that can help you hire a diverse workforce. At Xref, our staff represent 16 different countries. Almost half of our staff are female - 62% of our leadership team are female and 42% of our executive team are female. 

Conclusion

This month, there is a heavy focus on different tech elements designed to support and enhance the HR function. Similarly, the future of work and HR processes are getting strong re-evaluation. 

Overall, with the talent shortage, it’s clear that the need to hire top talent quickly still remains the leading KPI for HR and recruitment teams around the world.