Holiday Gifts from Us to You: Lessons Learned in 2022

2022 has been a dynamic year for HR. With the transition into a post-pandemic workplace, there have been a plethora of trends companies have had to adapt to along the way.

Here are a few of the biggest name-makers in the benefits, tech and HR spaces, along with lessons learned from each. Take it as our gift to you to help you operate even better in 2023! Happy Holidays!

Hybrid work models became a norm

Looking back, the HR space head line during the pandemic was the transition to the ‘remote work era’. However, as the emergency subsided, many companies found themselves transitioning to a post-remote world throughout 2022. Whereas full-time remote positions spiked to 70% of remote-capable roles at the beginning of the pandemic, this number settled at 29% in June of 2022. Some of this decline may be attributed to those returning to the office full-time, but many have also embraced hybrid work. While hybrid roles accounted for 32% of hybrid-capable roles in 2019, pre-pandemic, they jumped to 49% in 2022.¹

LESSONS LEARNED: While the push for hybridization has been a boon for workers, offering greater flexibility and inclusivity (especially for the 13% of disabled Americans)², it has created significant challenges for HR. While this was also true during the pandemic, with hybrid work models so widespread now, adopting tech that helps you stay in communication with your employees remains as key as ever. Explore new employee-focused technology and platforms by talking to your current tech vendors to see how you can offer the most flexibility to your workforce.

Chatbots have already transformed the HR space

Once relegated to the likes of internet toys, chatbot technology has matured greatly over the past few years. Along with this maturation has come regular adoption, and in no other space has chatbot adoption been greater than within HR.

Since the pandemic, HR chatbot usage has increased by over 250%.³ While some may see chatbots as just a way to offload answering simple HR questions, the truth is these AIs have become ‘smart’ enough to handle many other jobs. Today, HR is using them to filter employment candidates, administer onboarding activities, and even aid in self-guided training.⁴

LESSONS LEARNED: The verdict is out on the benefits of chatbots: they have already saved countless man hours handling rudimentary tasks, leaving human hands open to handle complex or specialty cases. Whether it’s in the employee benefits space, talent acquisition, onboarding or more, identify how you can use chatbots to take the load off your HR team.

Employee resource groups exploded in popularity

Covid highlighted a growing mental health crisis within the American workforce. The isolation of the pandemic contributed to the growing trend of employees feeling alone or abandoned. In response to this, the popularity of employee resource groups, or ERGs, has increased dramatically since the pandemic. Now, 40% of U.S. companies have some form of ERGs.⁵ ERGs are beneficial in a number of ways, as not only do they connect employees to one another, increasing their cohesion and helping to fight loneliness, but they also boost diversity and inclusivity by creating spaces for like-minded employees to share experiences.

LESSONS LEARNED: The popularity of ERGs highlighted the need to spread awareness of mental health benefits to employees. Make sure your employees know that you offer support. Utilize your benefits platform to maximum effect to keep them in the loop. Do this through regular benefits communications around your mental health offerings and other benefits.

What’s in store for next year?

We’ve got our eye on 2023! Enjoy the holiday season and stay tuned for our HR, benefits and tech predictions for the exciting year to come.

¹ Rethinking Your Pay Model in a New Era of Remote and Hybrid Work (shrm.org)
² Remote work pushes employment figures for disabled workers to record levels | Employee Benefit News
³ What are conversational AIs and what place do they have in the workplace? | Employee Benefit News
⁴ How HR Is Using Virtual Chat and Chatbots (shrm.org)
⁵ Employee Resource Groups Have Exploded Since Covid Hit. Here’s How To Make Them Successful – StrategicCHRO360