Top 5 HR Priorities for the “Settle Down” Year 2023
Omicron. This was the word with which 2022 started. However, 2022 was a relief year. Throughout 2022, people were anticipating that once again the pandemic will come with another variant and disrupt their plans. People became “hyper”. People started living today. This behavior got reflected in the boom in the travel and tourism sector. As per the Economic Impact report tourism sector’s contribution to GDP in 2022 will be 1% more than in 2019 levels.
Hold on!
Why are we discussing tourism? Isn’t this an article about HR priorities? Actually, we are creating a little background for HR priorities. The HR priorities for 2023 need to be a reflection of people’s behavior, psychology, expectations, experiences, and aspirations in 2022. Hence understanding the context is important before jumping to the priorities.
Although time runs in a continuum, the change of year sounds good because then you can start afresh, attributing all the atrocities to the past year. This year, there are bright chances that people will come out of the “hyper” mode and settle down. Hence we can call 2023, the “Settle Down” year. Here are the top 5 HR priorities for the settle-down year 2023.
Mental Health
Mental Health was a hot topic during the pandemic. It originated from loneliness. This time it will come through a different channel. In 2022, people focused on living life today because they felt “Kal ho na ho”. Hence people wanted to earn more and spend more to live more. This caused great resignation.
However, this phenomenon of living more made the technology bubble burst even faster. The great layoffs came around. This is the path to depression, not only for the economy but also for people. The mental health issue will come back, this time for finance, uncertainty, security, and ambiguity (FUSA). It will be a good idea to manage that beforehand.
Manager Maturity
This year, we will be dealing with an even more delicate workforce. The workforce will be delicate because they have yet not completely come out of the “hyper” mode. At the same time, economics might create an anxious environment. The sensitivity of people will be higher. Reactions, breakdowns, and burnouts are the symptoms of the delicate workforce.
To deal with the delicate workforce, you will need delicate managers. Attraction and retention of talent will largely depend on the maturity of managers. Managers who can manage their own emotions and the emotions of people around them. Investing in managerial capability will yield better results in 2023 and beyond.
Culture, Processes, Policies
The past three years have shaken the organizations. There have been too many changes. More than changes, there is a lack of clarity. Employees as well as managers struggle with clarity on what is right and what is not when it comes to things as basic as hybrid work. Perfecting hybrid work is one such problem. There are many more.
The first task is to figure out the problems. It is recommended to have focused group discussions with employees to gather insights on things that are bothering them and distracting them from their work. Then building cultural interventions around them will yield better results. At the same time, a review of processes, policies, and cultural elements will help everyone settle down.
Leadership Development
We have seen disruptions in the past few years. We are going to see them in the next few years as well. C-level jobs are becoming more and more complex. More and more leaders are required to manage these complexities. Developing leaders for this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment is a task in itself. People generally misunderstand that leadership development is about training leaders. It is not. Then what is it?
There is a famous quote. I asked for strength, God gave me difficulties. I asked for wisdom, God gave me more problems to solve. I asked for courage, God gave me more dangers to overcome. I asked for love, God gave me troubled people to help. This is the methodology that needs to be used for leadership development.
Job Design
Job design is going to be a crucial element for the longevity of an organization and for building resilience toward the unknown challenges that may be presented in the future. Hence defining jobs in such a manner that agility to change the direction of the organization is embedded in the fabric of the organization itself.
This includes segregating jobs based on their nature and criticality. Introducing multiple types of employment (full-time, part-time, gig, contractual) so that dealing with change becomes simple and less exhausting.
Settle Down year 2023 is the year when you need to take a deep breath that the hard part is over. Let’s go back to our lives. This is also the year when you sharpen your swords so that you are ready when there is another battle to be fought with an unknown enemy.
