HR Priorities in 2023: What are Yours?

According to research (Barentsen and Kok, 2017), we are in one of the fastest-changing times in history. So, how are HR colleagues responding to this change in 2023?

In a few surveys conducted at the end of 2022, hundreds of HR leaders across many countries were asked about their priorities in 2023.

Now hybrid work is in the picture and the debate for remote work is out, HR and companies are facing bigger challenges as the world go through high inflation, rise in energy prices, and scarcity of talent due to changing trends in the employee market.  

Whilst HR leaders are going to continue juggling between balancing talent management and costs, and between business needs and employee needs, they will need to deal with more demands from the employees such as more flexibility, more emphasis on employee well-being and the individual being at the center of the business. This is a job for the leaders in any business across the board and not only for HR. Therefore, the need for more leadership effectiveness is more than ever!

For leading in this rapidly changing environment and responding the needs of the employees the effective leaders have to adapt by

- Creating an open environment that accepts diverse perspectives, values, discovery, and experimentation.

- Translate new information into differentiating capabilities by conducting iterative dialogues that create new ideas (Ramachandran, 2021).

By doing so, the leaders will be able to focus on people as individuals, mentor and coach them, help their learning needs and create a safe environment where people feel respected and can exchange ideas based on trust by embracing equality and diversity. This would create a dynamic relationship between all stakeholders, employees, customers, investors, shareholders and will improve the performance of the business.

Therefore, developing leadership and management effectiveness is the top priority for HR in 2023 in order to respond to both business and employee needs.

However, 1/4th of the HR leaders says their leadership development programs are not supporting the leaders for the future of the company.

In order for the leaders to be more effective and perform better with tangible results, they need to be supported. They need to be mentored or coached to improve their performance which will directly have an impact on the companies’ performance.

What are your HR priorities in 2023?

References:

Barentsen, J., &Kok, J. (2017). Leadership, (super) diversity and identity construction. Increasing diversity: loss of control or adaptive identity construction

Gartner (2023) Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders

Ramachandran, R. (2021). Leading in a VUCA World. Journal of Business Management, January.