The past year has shown an incredible amount of upheaval and disturbance across all employment industries on a global scale. The primary reason, the Covid-19 pandemic, continues to affect employment needs, business operations, and every other element connected to the working world. Those who cling to old ideals and methodologies failed to attract sufficient talent. Those best equipped for agile thought and practices still manage to thrive. As the new year of 2022 arrives, it will take more than perseverance to find success. Employment trends continue to shift and leadership trends redefine how employers engage with the workforce.
A return to normalcy is out of the question. What employers need now is a new normal that addresses the unique needs of an informed workforce. By exploring emerging trends in leadership for 2022 and addressing new training and development processes, it is quite possible for all organizations to survive and thrive in the new reality.
Trends in Leadership for 2022
What does leadership mean these days? In decades past, leadership development often focused on power and the ability of a boss or manager to control their workers in order to get results that the company desired. This heavy-handed methodology instead creates an atmosphere of dissatisfaction and poor performance. Nose to the grindstone thinking is obsolete.
What then should leaders do to encourage employees who exists in a high-stress world even before they step through the doors of the workplace every morning? Company leadership needs to look at new trends and establishing a new culture that puts people first.
Focus on Tech that Eases the Burden
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of leading employees effectively on a personal level, it is important to note a shift to reliance on technological infrastructure will continue to grow in 2022. Obviously, everyone is working on computers these days, but that has very little to do with day-to-day managerial structures or support for staff.
This is not a matter of tech solutions taking workers jobs in a way that classic science fiction predicted! Instead, it is a way to create flexible platforms and programs that take over busy work and make human-powered processes simpler and less prone to error. Something as simple as integrating with a customer relationship management (CRM) system helps. The overwhelming growth of telecommuting and work at home situations also necessitates new tech to engage employees from a distance.
What does this have to do with leadership? It represents a company’s dedication to advancement and investment in resources in order for employees to do their job better and more easily. Most importantly for this post-pandemic world, finding appropriate tech solutions demonstrates respect for an employee’s safety and comfort when it comes to health.
Community Health and Wellness
Leadership development must include an increased focus on everything from Covid-19 concerns to stress reduction and generally healthier lifestyles. This goes far beyond organizing a walking group at lunch time or giving fun employee incentives for health checks. Instead, new trends approach wellness from a holistic standpoint. Executives must understand that a person’s mental and emotional health are an integral part of their performance at work. Hopefully, they also recognize that having happier workers is simply a worthwhile goal from a human perspective.
In this time of exceptionally high stress, training managers, team leaders, and other people in authority to interact in a healthy manner provides benefits that go beyond productivity. People need to be able to express concerns and approach leaders without fear of damage to their overall well-being, which goes beyond fear for their job.
Pushing for Diversity and Fighting Inequality
The days of hiring based on quotas should be over. Leadership trends must tend toward natural inclusion and purposeful diversity in a way that does not create token employees. These issues exist with startling regularity in workplaces across the country and around the world. Division and inequality along racial, national, gender, sexuality, religious, and other lines must be eradicated consciously.
Representation from a wide variety of demographics absolutely matters, but this trend goes far beyond the simple goal of creating a diverse workforce. Instead, leaders must adopt the specific process of seeking out unique perspectives and new ideas that can only come from people outside a small, homogenous sample.
Identifying Personal Purpose and Encouraging Development
The old-fashioned concept of employees only existing to perform a specific group of tasks that serve the greater interests of the company has limited value in 2022. Of course, every organization wants increased revenue, gross into new sectors, and improved productivity overall. However, leadership can no longer push these concepts as worker goals without taking into consideration the personal developmental trajectory and purpose of each person. A manager’s job is not to squeeze every last drop of effort from they are team. Instead, it is to lead and guide the members to a place where they naturally and willingly give more.[ii]
The new way of engaging with employees takes a more personal approach. This does not mean executives should pry into their private lives. Instead, methods used should better integrate company goals with personal goals. Does the employee want to advance their education? Do they have a particular passion for a charitable cause, real-world subject, or even a hobby? Do their goals and passions align with something in the organization that can increase their sense of value as part of the whole? Providing opportunities to workers to excel in the way they value not only benefits the firm but also creates a much more supportive and loyalty-worthy workplace experience. Consider mentorships, educational benefits, and career path planning services as part of the overall training and development system.
Agility and Experimentation Form a Firm Foundation
While this phrase may seem contradictory, it represents an important shift in leadership trends for 2022. The amazing levels of upheaval that have occurred on both the micro and macro level in an increasingly global economy have disrupted everything from an individual’s level of comfort with walking through the office doors every morning to the largest supply chain disruption experienced in decades. Leadership cannot take a static path anymore. However, instead of focusing on these disruptions, the new year heralds in an opportunity for reinvention.
Not only must companies remain agile and experiment with different methods for product and service creation and audience engagement, but they must also do these things when interacting with their teams. Of course, some employees do not automatically have a creative mind overflowing with new ideas. Wayne Chankeski, President of Smart Manufacturing Solutions, explains a method of structured brainstorming he likens to “Speed dating” that he uses to increase employee participation and generate new ideas. Leaders must find a way to encourage these things and to teach others that suggestions are welcome. Risk can pay out in a big way, and change is good.[iii]
This does not mean that things should be left up to chance or that embracing true risk is an effective way to ensure a company remain successful. Instead, the atmosphere of experimentation must rest on a firm foundation of processes that take change one step at a time. This also helps employees feel more comfortable with new practices and the state of their job in general. This leadership trend must not conflict with the goal of focusing on worker comfort and well-being.
Above all else, 2022 leadership trends must focus on people rather than corporate interests or emotionless data sets like sales figures and productivity percentages. Recent drastic changes in how the world does business also affect people on an individual and very personal basis. Companies in all industries and niches are discovering that those people are their greatest asset and leading them effectively requires unique solutions.
Employment Trends for 2022
Before employers get a chance to engage workers with more effective leadership methods, they must attract them to open job positions in the first place. Although employment opportunities abound across all sectors, the changes brought about by the dynamic nature of the pandemic risks and associated economic issues have fundamentally shifted everything from how people look for jobs to their expectations of long-term career paths.
Labor Shortages and Higher Pay Expectations
Before getting into operational changes that will affect all sectors in 2022, it is important to recognize that fewer people are seeking jobs than ever before. Unemployment rates continue to fall, but of November, there were no signs that ongoing labor shortages were easing. The unemployment rate is rapidly declining and may dip below 3.5% by the end of 2022, which would be one of the lowest rates in recorded history. Omicron may drive a second wave of baby boomers to retire early, further reducing the supply of labor. while overall employment may reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, barring a major new variant-driven Covid surge, it will remain deeply uneven sector by sector. Even without increased pandemic risk, industries, such as nonresidential construction, parts of the retail sector, passenger transportation, commercial banking, in-person customer services jobs, business and facilities support, higher education, personal services, like beauty salons or barber shops, and nursing and residential care, are unlikely to reach their pre-pandemic job numbers next year. These industries are impacted by the permanent shift to online activity and remote work
People who are seeking jobs expect appropriate wages. As cost-of-living increases, so too does the need for reasonable incomes that allow people to survive and thrive. The population’s employment needs have not changed intrinsically but the awareness of appropriate compensation has increased. What does this mean for employers? In a nutshell, they must find a way to offer appropriate pay and benefit packages in order to demonstrate every employee’s value.
Digital Nomads, the Gig Economy, and More
The term digital nomad was coined to describe freelancers and independent consultants who travel while working. Technology allows them to engage with many different types of job positions from wherever they want in the world.[iv] Some do not even have permanent homes but prefer a truly nomadic lifestyle. In the past three years alone, these self-proclaimed ranks of digital nomads have risen to over 10 million people. Another term frequently seen in these discussions is the gig economy. This is simply a way of describing contract work sourced from independent professionals who are not employed by any specific company. Instead, they finish “gigs” for their corporate clients.
As these and related independent worker employment trends increase, companies must develop a comprehensive plan to attract top talent and offer inviting contract terms and incentives to keep them. The type of professionalism, personal responsibility, and tech savviness necessary to be a successful digital nomad are the qualities that many employers need and actively seek out. Understand the laws and risks associated with hiring temporary workers when it comes to wages, benefits, and cross-border regulations.
Hire for Skills and Not Roles
With more flexibility in the design of the workforce and a greater opportunity for part-time or short-term services, employers should shift their focus to the unique skills they need to get any job done right. Instead of hiring someone to fulfill a specific job description, hire people who have the capabilities necessary to complete an essential goal. This employment trend not only creates a more efficient hiring process, but it also empowers workers to follow their own interests and passions more fully. This, in turn, creates a more enthusiastic and loyal workforce who can truly see their career blossoming with one particular company. People are generally less impressed with titles these days and more enthusiastic about the benefits they receive from using their strengths for the greater good.
Hybrid and Remote Work Expands
So are we really more productive working from home? Not only are more professionals choosing remote work as a way to help protect them and their families from possible Covid-19 infection, but they also recognize that it creates a much more comfortable and productive work life.[v] “Working remotely has given me more space for long-term thinking and helped me spend more time with my family, which has made me happier and more productive at work,” Mark Zuckerberg, head of Facebook wrote. He has also said that he expects about half of Facebook’s employees to be fully remote within the next decade. Some businesses shut their doors to the public and changed their entire operational standards due to the pandemic. Others simply gave their workers an option. Working at home or adopting a hybrid model of both distance and in-house work has clearly shown great benefits on all sides. However, it is important to ensure fair and equitable treatment and distribution of both work and benefits to remote workers.
This employment trend is not going away. Even if scientist found a cure for Covid tomorrow, people who have had a taste of remote work will not give up easily. Indeed, there is no reason to do so because the model continues to prove itself highly effective. By allowing employees to control their own schedule and develop a healthier work-life balance, it gets tasks done more efficiently and increases company loyalty to a considerable degree.
Resilience, Redundancy, and Backup Plans
Employers save money by hiring as few people as possible to fill necessary roles. However, in the post-pandemic world with greater levels of employment fluctuation here to stay, one of the top trends of 2022 is the purposeful inclusion of redundancy in the ranks. The risk of losing an essential worker or top talent creates fear only if the company fails to compensate it before it happens. This type of built-in resilience comes by having a backup plan for every contingency.
Although leadership trends and employment methodologies focus a lot on keeping employees happy and well-rewarded, fewer people than ever before stick with the same job throughout their entire career. If a firm runs afoul of this type of career nomad situation, they have limited time to rebound without affecting their bottom line. Create redundancy with overlapping job fulfillment and by keeping independent digital workers and consultants in the pipeline at all times.
Increased Use of Employee Monitoring
While many of the employment trends for 2022 focus on increased flexibility, benefits for the workforce, and less traditional structure when it comes to everything from hiring to company function, one stricter change includes employee monitoring. Companies will keep a closer eye on what their workers do and fail to do.[vi] Instead of direct oversight from managers and project team leaders, which is of course impossible with remote workers, technology steps in to perform these duties.
By using automated systems to track email and other communication, productivity, time at work, and other factors, it helps to level the playing field for remote and in-house workers. With an increase in scheduling flexibility, this is an essential part of ensuring that everyone pulls sufficient weight and maintains appropriate productivity.
Although these types of tech monitoring programs seem exceptionally useful for employers of all types, it is far too easy to use them in a ‘Big Brother’ manner that leads to push back from the workers. As mentioned above, people who feel an overbearing sense of control will not find the workplace conducive to their sense of security and mental well-being. This type of oversight can backfire if not used with 100% transparency and an appropriate level of freedom.
Conclusion
With ongoing changes in employment trends for 2022, companies must redefine how they seek and retain talent, compensate workers for their efforts, and support every individual’s personal and career goals effectively. This person-first approach to professional leadership will not only make it possible to remain active and successful in the market, but it may also be the only way to succeed going forward. From a focus on health and wellness to technological support for distance workers to increasing demands for fair wages and health care benefits, 2022 promises to force some companies to reimagine their entire hiring and leadership process.
[i]https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/394490
[ii]https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2021/11/09/the-top-four-leadership-trends-organizations-need-to-follow-in-2022/?sh=6aaa88d6eb03
[iii]https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/394490
[iv]https://hbr.org/2021/07/your-company-needs-a-digital-nomad-policy
[v]https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-workplace-trends-2022-dan-schawbel
[vi]https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/11/22/future-of-work-the-5-biggest-workplace-trends-in-2022/?sh=29d792d17d0f