One of the best parts of my job running TalentCulture is interviewing fascinating people who are reimagining work on the #WorkTrends podcast. Kevin W. Grossman and I have been running some form of an HR-focused podcast for many years now, and we’re just getting started.
Now that the holiday season is behind us and a new year is in full swing, we’re thinking about the big trends and concerns YOU are facing in 2019. What’s happening in your world, and how can HR leaders deal with these shifts?
We’re also combing through survey data that our amazing TalentCulture community provided before the holidays — both on what they want to learn more about this year and their predictions for the HR world.
Let’s take a look at what’s to come.
Looking Ahead
When it comes to 2019, I’m optimistic — but I’m also realistic.
More than ever before, work is becoming a two-way street. Retaining talent is an imperative, and unfortunately I think the already-difficult task of retention may become even more challenging for many organizations, particularly those relying on permanent employees rather than gig workers.
Personalization and customization will become increasingly important to any organization’s culture, especially when it comes to employee engagement and performance management. Maintaining effective feedback loops will be key.
Meanwhile, mobile tools will continue to capture mind and market share in human capital management, which means we’re heading into 2019 with a much better understanding of the power of performance management. Ultimately, how well you perform this function is either going to support or hamper your relationships with employees. I think there are plenty of people who are afraid now to commit because they’ve suffered so many disappointments from leadership over the years.
Ultimately I think we’re facing some huge and expensive culture challenges — issues we’ll have to solve together as work continues to rapidly evolve.
What Listeners Want in 2019
We asked #WorkTrends listeners what they need help with this year. More than half of the survey respondents said improving managers is a topic they want to hear more about. HR technology, along with the future of work and candidate-experience issues, ranked near the top as well.
Here’s a look at the most common topic requests for 2019:
- Improving managers
- Candidate experience
- Diversity and inclusion
- Employee experience
- HR technology
- The future of work
- Leadership
- Wellbeing at work
- Managing your career
- Learning
- Productivity
Community Predictions for 2019
We also asked our community to predict the topics that will shape the HR world in 2019. The top predictions included greater collaboration between corporations in the gig economy, more artificial intelligence in the world of work overall, and more remote and flexible work. More women in leadership positions, along with an increase in diversity and inclusion initiatives, ranked highly as well.
Here’s a look at the most popular predictions from the #WorkTrends community:
- Skills and talent demands will increase, causing employees to be creative/flexible
- More AI
- More outsourced recruiting
- More remote work
- More flexible cultures and work strategies
- Accelerated millennial mobility
- More sensitivity to harassment prevention
- A new focus on disability issues in the workplace
- The possibility of an economic downturn
- Diverse benefits
- More innovation and entrepreneurship
- Better engagement and culture
- More personalized talent acquisition
- Relationships and connections will become increasingly important
- The gig economy will grow
- More diversity and inclusion initiatives
We’ll continue to provide you all the news you need to stay current this year, and we’ll hear from leading experts, HR tech vendors and HR practitioners about what inspires them. Join us on Twitter every Wednesday, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, using the hashtag #WorkTrends.
Subscribe now to the #WorkTrends podcast so you never miss an episode. Want to catch up on all our 2018 interviews? Listen to the archives.
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