Mumbai, India, 10 November, 2021 : UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), a leading global provider of human capital management (HCM), payroll, HR service delivery, and workforce management solutions, today announced its 2022 HR Megatrends.
Annually, an international team of UKG evangelists, thought leaders, and social scientists partner to reflect on the previous year’s developments, evaluate the implications for organisations and HR teams, and aim to predict how these forces will shape the industry in the year ahead.
UKG has identified three HR Megatrends set to impact organisations on a global scale in 2022 :
- The growing reliance on grey-collar workers,
- The need for ethical leadership,
- The agility of compliance.
The Growing Reliance on Grey-Collar Workers
Traditionally, employees have been divided into two groups: white-collar workers and blue-collar workers.
Often found at the intersection of technology and services, with elements of both white- and blue-collar aspects to the role, the grey-collar worker possesses a combination of technical and physical skills, which makes the work difficult to automate.
The importance, prevalence, and influence of the grey-collar worker is growing as more blue-collar fields move into the grey-collar category.
In 2022, UKG predicts that employers will struggle to hire and retain the grey-collar worker as a result of “The Great Resignation” and global labour participation shortages resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Jarik Conrad, vice president of human insights and HCM advisory at UKG Said :
Ethics of Leadership
As belonging, diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental impacts have become core considerations in the workplace, leaders can no longer hope to scale shareholder value without scaling shared values because mission and margin, profit and principle, and success and significance are now linked.
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified and expedited this need : Organisations can and must invest in fostering a culture of moral and ethical leadership.
Trust, transparency, listening, and commitment to action will be at the top of priority lists for businesses in 2022 with trust and transparency as foundational imperatives that enabled organisations to weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Jarik Conrad Said :
Agility of Compliance
It’s essential that organisations continue to take a proactive approach to compliance before regulations govern them to do so.
For instance, many instituted work-from-home policies early on in the pandemic, ahead of official health and government mandates.
With businesses moving faster than ever before and sophisticating their approaches to organisational planning and processes, high-performing organisations can apply this practice when it comes to compliance.
Dr. Jarik Conrad Said :
HR and leadership heroes of 2022 will prioritise investing in what’s right for their employees and customers, such as implementing meaningful environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives and using modern technology to assist in their business goals and help them not only remain compliant but also provide useful data to further act on their efforts.
They will be transparent in their commitments to show they are not just following the minimum policy, but creating actionable outcomes inviting their peers to join the revolution for the good of the industry.
Dr. Jarik Conrad Said :