HR Trends for 2024
As we move into the new year, we explore some of the top Human Resources trends for 2024 and the tools your organisation can use to better address the opportunities and challenges to come.
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2023 was a year that saw HR leaders focus on things like data analytics to better understand employee engagement, employee experience and well-being to reduce burnout, and workplace learning to empower staff and close the skills gap, all while navigating the challenges of hybrid work. As we now enter 2024, we break down some of the top trends HR leaders can expect to see over the next year.
Company Culture
In recent years we have seen a rise in ‘quiet quitting’ by employees who are disconnected from their roles, a phenomenon which has been largely attributed to low employee engagement prompted by the rise in remote and hybrid work. A recent report by Gartner found that 41% of HR leaders feel employee connection to organisational culture is compromised by hybrid work. This has prompted HR leaders to recognise the importance of employee experience and company culture, with 83% citing employee experience as a greater focus for HR in 2024, according to Sage. Strong organisational culture is crucial to helping workers feel engaged and connected at work, which positively affects employee loyalty and retention in turn. As hybrid work does not appear to be going away any time soon, HR teams must find ways to better engage workers and strengthen company culture even in remote settings. Digital technology can provide organisations with the tools they need to connect and engage workers, regardless of location. Microsoft Viva, the employee experience platform, offers a way to create employee communities and enhance communications across your business. Another tool to engage your workers is a SharePoint Intranet, which provides a central space for organisational content from company news to documents, and allows workers to collaborate on content in real time, transforming how even remote staff work together.
Change Management
With unpredictable changes happening across the world of work continuously, organisations need to be more strategic about how they manage change. Rapid developments like hybrid work, Generative AI and other technological changes are leaving employees feeling overwhelmed, with many experiencing change fatigue which can have a negative impact on employee well-being, productivity and even staff retention. In fact, employees experiencing change fatigue can give up to 22% less effort in their role, be up to 27% less responsive and 42% less likely to stay in the company, according to Gartner. Organisational change needs to be dealt with in a way that not only ensures project success and maximum user adoption, but in a way that keeps employees motivated and open to further change. Yet Gartner’s HR Top Priorities 2024 report showed that 82% of HR leaders feel their managers aren’t equipped to lead change themselves. That’s why 2024 will see HR leaders focus more on proper change management initiatives. HR leaders will be making a greater effort to help manage change fatigue, boost employee well-being and maximise staff retention across their organisations.
HR-specific Solutions
The HR Top Priorities 2024 report indicates that over half (56%) of HR leaders feel their current technology solutions do not match their current and future business needs. That’s why 2024 will see the rise of HR-specific solutions that will better match the needs and objectives of HR teams. Dynamics 365 for Human Resources centralises HR processes and controls the entire employee lifecycle from recruitment to retirement, helping to manage HR processes quickly and efficiently.
Generative AI
Following on from the Generative AI hype of 2023, we expect to see more GenAI tools and advancements across the workforce in 2024, and HR is no exception. In fact, Gartner’s report found that 76% of HR leaders say they will be lagging in organisational success if they don’t adopt and implement generative AI in the next 12 to 24 months. It’s clear that for many organisations, Generative AI will remain a priority in the year to come. And with Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant, being rolled out across Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365, Generative AI is now more accessible to HR departments than ever.
Learning & Development
With the rapid pace of technological change, it is becoming increasingly important to continuously upskill staff to keep up with industry standards and remain competitive. In fact, The World Economic Forum has stated that more than half of workers around the world need to either reskill or upskill by 2025 to stay competitive. Now more than ever, HR leaders need to advocate for employee learning and upskilling, or risk hindering the career development of staff and inhibiting organisational growth and success as a result. Bringing learning into the flow of work and promoting continuous upskilling, tools like Viva Learning and Viva Topics can help HR leaders proactively integrate learning and development into employee’s workdays and keep staff’s core competencies at a high standard.
If you would like to learn more about how our solutions can help you better prepare for what’s to come in 2024, get in touch today.
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