HR Trends 2021

HR Trends 2021

With every new year, trends emerge in various fields, including HR and recruiting. These trends are based on recent happenings in the world that affect what current employees and job seekers want from employers, and often ebb and flow depending on what the competition is offering as well. Some HR trends 2021 include a move toward more work-life balance, flexibility and remote work, and better benefits across the board. 

Many companies around the world study market trends and how variables affect hiring in order to call attention to changing expectations. The Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2020 report called out many of the best practices companies have adopted today, such as a move toward more technology, building jobs that give employees more flexibility, and putting more thought into employer ethics and how to properly operate under an employee-first model. 

The HR best practices 2021 saw are efforts that will not soon go out of style. It’s clear that the past two years have changed the hiring economy on a profound level, and we’re likely to see new trends emerge that build on what’s already been put into motion this year. 

At Hireology, we surveyed nearly 5000 applicants about their job search experience and expectations. Our State of Hiring report broke down their responses and detailed how your organization can make adjustments to make sure you’re attracting the best of the best. 

As we get closer to reaching the end of the pandemic, we have to think ahead about how the workplace and hiring landscape will shift. While there is still uncertainty about the timing, it’s better to be prepared if you want to remain competitive. 

In this article, we’ll outline some of the findings from the report, as well as predictions for what’s ahead in 2022 based on our research and other prestigious organizations. 

HR trends 2022

Hiring will take on new challenges next year as we near the end of the pandemic. Folks will be asked to come back into an office that potentially don’t want to return, families may have to adjust caretaking schedules to accommodate a workplace shift, and individuals may want higher pay and better benefits to encourage them to come into the office. These aren’t surprising responses to the times, as we’ve seen dozens of reports, including HR trends 2022 McKinsey put out about putting people back at the center of your operations. 

Other more surprising HR trends 2022 might see are shifts in the types of companies applicants apply to. Socially conscious consumers are on the rise, as are those that want to see action from the companies they aim to work for. Without established goals and progress toward them, your company may miss out on great candidates. 

As far as leadership trends 2022 go, there will be a similar sentiment around finding leaders that inspire, move companies forward, and are able to adjust with the times. Of course, you want leaders who are capable of managing teams well and prioritizing tasks, but they also have to instill confidence in their team members that they are helping to move objectives in a positive direction. 

There are other recruiting trends 2022 will bring about, but before we kick off a new year, you can think about how your organization is dealing with trends happening all around you, such as “the Great Resignation”. Are you attempting to keep your staff around by offering good benefits and compensation, career growth opportunities, and a healthy work-life balance? Are you flexible when your employees need time off or an unexpected sick day? If not, you’re likely going to lose talent and that’s a trend that will persist.

Human resources 2021

The human resources 2021 trends have been all over the map — with good reason. We’ve all seen a lot of change occur over the past two years, from how organizations conduct business to how individuals want to work. It’s required a lot of adjustments from employers and employees alike, but it’s led to some positive changes. 

The Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2021, for instance, touched on some specific HR trends they expect for the future of the modern workforce, including potential futures for the worker-employer relationship, how to unleash worker potential, and the importance of designing work for wellbeing. This Deloitte Report 2021 gave predictions on how the pandemic would have a lasting impact on the workforce, and they weren’t the only organization to say that employee-employer relationships are shifting. McKinsey released a 2021 HR trends guide as well, and they had similar callouts for HR trends, like how to make your organization more linear so that your organization can move with more agility and HR’s role in making flexible work more accessible. 

The HR trends 2021 Deloitte wrote about aren’t too different from the HR trends 2021 McKinsey predicted or the HR trends 2021 Forbes covered or 2021 HR trends SHRM listed because HR will always be an important part of your organization and will have a major pull on how your company operates and adjusts to changing times.

You can also aim to predict your own HR trends by paying attention to the changes happening outside of your company, asking employees for anonymous feedback, creating employee resource groups, and using employee engagement surveys to tell you what matters to your team. You can use tools, like an HR trends 2021 pdf, and tactics to predict what your current and future employees will expect from your organization.

Future of work trends 2021

The future of work requires even more adjustments than yearly trends. When companies look to predict future trends, they are considering three to five years down the line so there’s a lot more that can affect the accuracy. 

Predictions for future of work trends 2021 were shaped greatly by the pandemic. Trends around remote work, e-commerce, and automation were sped up due to necessity, and we realized we were able to be productive away from the office. Employees also realized that they wanted more of a work-life balance, better pay, and more comprehensive benefits, and these aren’t trends that are going away. Additionally, the need for socially conscious companies and diverse recruitment became even more essential — another necessity that isn’t going anywhere.

To be competitive in the market for talent, you can’t continue to do what you’ve done any longer. 

You must adapt to the needs and wants of candidates and employees. 

Our 2021 State of Hiring report tells the importance of meeting candidates where they are. 24% of respondents said that they began their job search because they wanted better pay. And, with 95% of respondents applying for more than one job, you’re definitely being pitted against your competitors. It’s important that you reassess what you’re offering candidates, how you’re adjusting for the future of work, and remain in tune with your employees and candidates’ needs.

Things that respondents ranked as important to know about a company include pay scale (94%), benefits breakdown (84%), career advancement opportunities (79%), clear and accurate job descriptions (97%), and employee reviews (71%). 

Include these in your job descriptions, prioritize them internally, and make it clear to your team and the future candidates that you’re putting them first. 

HR trends post COVID

When it comes to looking ahead to post-pandemic trends, you have to truly think about what the biggest hurdles were for your company and your staff to overcome and how to avoid that in the future. Investing in technology is one of the most important HR trends post covid because it will set you up for success no matter what’s ahead. That means vetting your tech properly and investing in resources that make you and your employees’ jobs easier and realigning your goals around technology advancement. 

Another COVID future trends is all about understanding your applicant deterrents. No one wants to drive applicants away, and sometimes, little things that organizations do — like using exclusive language in job descriptions or creating unrealistic job requirements — shrink your applicant pool without you even realizing it. So understanding what makes an applicant head for the hills is a good way to check your own process for candidate deterrents. 

Today’s top applicants don’t want to be ghosted — once they apply and even begin the interview process, applicants across the board expect to hear back on whether or not they are selected to move forward and appreciate updates, even if the news isn’t good.  

In fact, 69.3% of our respondents said that if they applied to a company and didn’t hear back, they would feel very negative about that candidate experience, and 70.7% said that if they didn’t hear back after an interview, that would adversely affect their feelings of that company.

Other factors that cause applicants to have a negative perception of your company are lengthy applications (41.1%), delays in interview scheduling (53.1%), and applications that aren’t mobile-friendly (33.7%).

Create HR strategies for a post-covid-19 workplace reflections so that you’re able to see where you need to improve processes to overcome HR challenges post COVID-19. 

Hireology can help you do this. Reach out to us to see how we can help you attract talent and keep employees around, even during an incredibly competitive hiring market.