Written by Daniel Mason, VP EMEA, at Visier
The UK government’s latest announcement advising UK employees to work from home where they can, for many, may feel all too familiar. But whilst workplaces may be divided in terms of how they respond to this guidance, if one thing is for sure, it’s that there’s a renewed focus on how businesses can support employee wellbeing during this increasingly turbulent time. This is not the first time that employers have been under the spotlight in terms of how they adapt to meet the hybrid working needs of their employees though. In fact, the course of the past two years has been a catalyst for the rise of a new employer-employee social contract. One where employers formally acknowledge the challenges facing their employees and the changing dynamics of the workplace.
The ‘new normal’ and reality of our hybrid working lives has forced employers to acknowledge a new type of productivity. Whether that be working more flexible hours to accommodate for childcare, taking a longer lunch to fit in some exercise to better our mental wellbeing, or simply running errands during the work day in between the rise in virtual meetings. This new sense of accomplishment and productivity has rightly led employees to question if they even want to go back to our old perception of normal. In fact, according to recent YouGov data, two thirds (60%) of British workers prefer a hybrid style of working, or to work from home on a full-time basis.
Therefore, as we look to the year ahead, we’re going to see employees favouring organisations that can offer them the flexibility they require for a better work-life balance. Previously, employers negotiated the social contract and employees sat on the receiving end. Now, the dynamics have changed. The social contract is one in which employees have much more of a say.
Adapting to changing workplace dynamics
We recently looked into how employers respond to – and adapt to the changing needs – of the workforce. In our 2022 HR Trends report, we uncovered that it is no longer possible to make decisions without taking the voice of the employee into account.
‘The great rethink’, which we refer to as a process whereby leaders need to listen more to their employees if they are to retain and attract the top talent, will be critical to success in the new year.
Employees are valuable stakeholders within a business and need to be treated as such. For instance, furloughed employees often reported feeling abandoned and in limbo about their financial future. Whilst others made decisions to relocate in the belief that teleworking would become permanent, only to discover their employer’s desire for them to return to the office full-time. By taking into account these common fears, and talking about them openly, business leaders can increase employee retention and loyalty. Employees are less likely to resign if they feel their struggles -and contributions – are of equal value.
One way to ensure that the leadership team is aware of these circumstances is to utilise people analytics, employee experience software and HR technologies to focus on balancing results, with employee needs. Data, in combination with sentiment surveys, can uncover unique differences in employee perspectives and inform the development of a working environment that values people, promotes trust, and delivers a healthy bottom line.
Businesses should also consider the following questions to effectively navigate their people management strategy in 2022: How has employee satisfaction with the overall employee experience shifted during the pandemic? How does employee satisfaction vary between employees working from home and those in the workplace? What are the early indicators that employees may be considering a job change? What impact do remote supervisors/managers have on employee engagement? What shifts in productivity have occurred since the pandemic and how do they vary based on work location?
Key initiatives for people management in 2022
Of course, there are also other management actions that employers can take to effectively tackle people management in 2022.
- Be transparent and proactive in communicating your post-pandemic workplace strategy
Whilst we’ve entered yet another period of uncertainty as to what the new year will hold in terms of government restrictions, it will be important that alongside every government update, employers communicate their response and adapt workplace policy accordingly. In fact, according to a McKinsey study, around 70% of organisations have unclear and vague post-pandemic working policies. A lack of clarity can hamper employer-employee relationships and create undue anxiety that leads to burnout.
- Prioritise employee wellbeing and mental health
Each employee is unique. But it is the businesses’ responsibility to ensure that it is implementing measures designed to cater for every individual’s personal circumstances when it comes to physical and mental health. Given there has been a rise in reported work-related mental health cases, organisations now need to adopt a data-driven approach to monitoring this. Prioritising employee wellbeing means that leaders and HR departments are more likely to detect employee struggles, and provide important comparison points across teams and departments within a business.
- Cater to all employee demographics
We all have different ways of working; from the time of day we’re the most productive, to our living arrangements and preference for working location. Organisations have a responsibility to factor in these distinctions into the way they manage the new employer-employee social contract. Business leaders must therefore be flexible, and lead with a sense of trust that will be passed down to all employees.
The new social contract is neither a fleeting thought, nor a passing fad. It has emerged off the back of a culture of over-working that the pandemic has exposed in the last 18 months. Employees have been struggling to separate the professional from the personal, as these two traditionally separate worlds become increasingly entwined. This has sparked the need for a new social contract, where employers look out for their employees’ interests, thus breaking the traditional employer-employee dynamic. The new social contract, by giving employees a seat at the decision-making table, if managed effectively, has the potential to revolutionise the workplace from 2022 onwards.