The Workforce Institute Weigh-In for December 2022: What is your top tip for HR — and organizations overall — as we head into 2023?
“Don’t let your agenda be set by whatever topics happen to be trending. The media, conference, and consulting industries are motivated to hype trends. You should not take these seriously. Focus on what is going on in your organization and address that.” — David Creelman, CEO, Creelman Research
“My tip for HR and organizations overall as we head into 2023 is to expect the unexpected, and be ready to pivot on a dime. We have seen that agile organizations are the ones that get ahead and stay ahead, and leadership that promotes an employee-first experience with people as their main priority will thrive and survive through turbulent times. I believe the focus will shift farther away from talent acquisition and move even more toward employee retention, development, and experience.” — Julie Develin, co-host, The People Purpose Podcast
“It’s time that HR invests in developing quality leaders. Often when we hear the term ‘leadership’ within an organization, it comes with title or management responsibility. Yet, not everyone can hold a management role. HR has to broaden the vision of what the term ‘leader’ means and create new ways to find these individuals. For example, in team meetings, the individual who is willing to speak up as an individual contributor and the peers around them are nodding in agreement. How do we help those individuals thrive to grow the people and the business? Focus your people strategy around those who are also viewed as leaders by their peers — not just by title or responsibility.” —Chas Fields, co-host, The People Purpose Podcast
“2023 is the year HR leaders have an incredible opportunity to differentiate their organizations in the marketplace. The key will be to focus more on the ‘human’ and less on the ‘resources.’ As many technologies have brought working communities closer together and have improved culture, other trends to drive business performance are thwarting diversity of thought and innovation. The move to increase governance and compliance in the name of performance is being translated by the workforce as a lack of trust and dehumanizing. The move to recognize the performance of individuals instead of groups will create competitive advantages for leaders wanting to hire and retain high performers in an environment where that behavior is becoming even more rare.” — John Frehse, senior managing director, Ankura, and co-host, “No Suits, No Slides!” video series
“Bring evidence-based decision making into organizational processes. I’m not saying that companies don’t have to be empathetic. But, a lot has changed over the past few years and ‘gut reactions’ to business challenges might not yield the same result it did back then. Gather quality data (with an emphasis on the word quality) and use a proven process to reach a decision.” — Sharlyn Lauby, author, HR Bartender blog
“Be thoughtful in how you handle reductions in force. Sometimes these can’t be avoided, and the mere fact of their existence is outside our control. However, as HR leaders, how we manage them is usually within our control. I see many organizations being far too short-sighted about this, seemingly giving little thought to severing employee relationships that might be needed in the future or maintaining a positive employer-brand reputation. Do the right thing by showing as much care to the wellbeing of your departing employees as you do to the wellbeing of your current ones. Whether you’re a large organization or a smaller one, be as transparent and sensitive as you can in communicating the news of a layoff, and also be as generous as possible in your severance and outplacement-services benefits for released employees.”— Alexandra Levit, author, “Humanity Works”
“PACE YOURSELF! As we continue to shape our new normal, let us not forget that many projects were placed on hold during the peak activity of the pandemic (to accommodate the impacts of the pandemic), so there is a natural tendency to want to get caught up on those delayed projects. But, it is far better to experience a single project well executed, from start to finish, especially when compared with the experiences of working through multiple projects but experiencing marginal execution.” — Dennis Miller, assistant vice president of HR and benefits administration, The Claremont Colleges
“My top tip for HR leaders would be to prioritize your mental and physical health in 2023. These past couple of years have forced us to be agile, embrace change, and live in new norms — all things that force us to put others first and resort to survival mode. Don’t forget to practice positive health disciplines this coming year, because it will help you hang in there when the going gets tough!” — Joey V. Price, co-host, While We Were Working podcast
HR Tips for 2023: UKG Workforce Institute Weigh-In
