Businesses In 2022 Will Benefit From Technology That Helps HR Professionals

Flexibility calls for a more service-oriented and collaborative approach to HR in 2022

Businesses are learning remote work is not for everybody. The last two years have accelerated the pace of technological innovation and adoption, but have also revealed the limits of distance and communication.  
 
The CEO of Apple Tim Crook, in an open email implored his staff to return to the office saying remote working simply cannot replicate office life, and noted the company was mostly missing ‘each other’ that critical element of in-person collaboration.   
 

Now, Omicron uncertainty has resulted in millions of US workers not knowing when they will return to office, a limbo that has existed since the first Covid outbreak. According to the Deccan Herald,  Lyft Inc. employees now won’t be required to show up to the office until 2023, and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. have told staff to go back to remote work after offices had reached 60% attendance. 
 
And in the UK, two in five employers will embrace hybrid working by the end of next year and HR professionals now face the challenge of harnessing technology to help sooth employee concerns and deliver a better working experience for all. 
 
Flexibility calls for a more service-oriented and collaborative approach to HR in 2022 than was previously asked of businesses. Into the new year, HR teams will have to wrestle with gaps in information as staff go to and from the new shared office space. 
 
The immediate consequences of poor communication are most apparent where businesses failed to adopt a resilient strategy for closing the gap last year. Nearly half of employees feel their career stalled through the pandemic as opportunities to build relationships were closed off, and HR pros acknowledged in 2021 that remote staff were far more likely to burn out. 
 
Hybrid work is a step in the right direction, but only where it uses technology to bridge the distance. Already, one-third say a partial return to the office would help with their mental health, and 41% say it would improve their work-life balance. We need flexible technological solutions and a single digital touchpoint. 
 
The unquestioned advantage of permanent office residency was a clear and consistent insight into the lives of staff, allowing HR professionals to gauge sentiment and satisfaction quickly and respond to the evolving needs of the workforce.  
 
A more diluted team, egged on by sporadic building usage, will see teams make more use of organizational tools to help resynchronize the company’s activities. Gone are the days of paper bureaucracy and spontaneous managerial conversations, and in their place will come better data collection on the employee experience crucially as they move between home and the office. 
 
Wider adoption of elective feedback forms will be part of this, and employers will quickly learn to make the process as simple and as clean as possible to encourage participation. In 2022, we can expect better investment in Employee Self Service software and an overall simplification of the apps needed to move around the hybrid office space. On average, employees today use 16 apps to navigate the workspace, which drives inefficiency and frustration. 
 
From this data, expect HR leaders to adopt AI solutions where possible to interpret and make sense of complex data. Predicting how staff will respond as building use and policy changes will be central to helping teams improve the employee experience. 
 
Space management will also become a priority as workers return to work. For the advantages of hybrid work to be realized for all, HR teams must renew attention given to sanitation and hygiene concerns raised by staff. In the UK, 59% are worried about maintaining social distancing and 44% doubt the cleaning standards in the office.  
 
Sensor-based contact tracing solutions are today finding application in helping uphold these standards, alerting managers to potential safety breaches, collecting data on building use and notifying cleaners of when to replenish supplies. 
 
Between these trends is a common concern: demand for employees today is much higher than it was twelve months ago and businesses that fail to quickly adopt strategies of retaining staff will experience high turnover rates. 
 
Moving into the new year, HR professionals will be pressed to retain their grip on staff satisfaction, collecting data to inform meaningful policies that reassure employees that they are safe, cared for and have everything they need to thrive.  

Eliane Lugassy is the CEO & Co-Founder at Witco. After studying business law and obtaining a degree from ESSEC, Eliane began her career at Rothschild & Co in Paris on Mergers and Acquisitions. She accompanied several real estate projects, including the sale of the “Cœur Défense” building. In 2016, she left finance to create Witco an application that improves tenant experience in all buildings while facilitating their management. Offices, residences, co-working and co-living. Witco adapts to all types of properties thanks to flexible technology and personalised support, and will be critical to businesses as WiFI is. Connect Eliane Lugassy