The current issues facing workforces that you need to know about

The health and wellbeing of employees is on everyone’s minds, with a lot of recent HR-related content addressing these concerns.

HR Leader keeps up with the latest trends in the HR and people leadership arena to provide you with a rundown of the current HR landscape, as follows.

Passive aggressive work behaviour

‘Quiet quitting’ and ‘quiet firing’ are two terms that have been thrown around over the past couple of weeks. TikTok has been projecting these ideas that contrast each other but are cut from the same cloth.

Quiet quitting involves doing the bare minimum at work and ignoring any duties that may come up outside of working hours. There have been arguments as to whether or not this is the way you should treat your career, with many saying overtime is a necessary part of work and others claiming it’s outside your job agreement.

Quiet firing is basically an employer’s answer to quiet quitting. This is where an employer neglects an employee is order coerce them to quit, without having to fire them. This could include greatly increasing their workload, constantly delegating them jobs they hate, or even pettier things like not inviting them to work events and ignoring them.

Both terms are similar as they’re passive aggressive behaviours that stem from dissatisfaction. Communication is key to a healthy workplace, and without clear and consistent effort, these problems can emerge.

Bullying goes remote

Another issue that has been making the rounds is cyberbullying in the workplace. As remote work has become increasingly common, many workplaces are seeing their employees take advantage of working from the comfort of their own homes.

Unfortunately, being at home doesn’t protect you from harassment, with many reporting cases of bullying and harassment via phone, social media or email.

A 2020 report by the CIPD found that one in ten workers had reported being bullied remotely.

Senior policy advisor on employment relations for CIPD, Rachel Suff, said to the BBC; “if bullying isn’t dealt with it’s like a rash that spreads. It never stays confined to the individuals that were the original source.”

“[Working online] gives more avenues for people to be bullied or feel on the receiving end of inappropriate behaviour.”

Bullying in the workplace has been steadily on the rise for years, even through the pandemic.

According to Safe Work Australia, 2019 saw 1,815 workplace bullying and/or harassment claims. This figure jumped to 2,280 in 2021. That’s over a 25 per cent increase in just two years, right through the peak of COVID-19 and remote working.

These statistics show that these negative behaviours are not exclusive to on-site work and problems can easily persist remotely.

HR vs employees

The disconnect between HR departments and their employees has been making headlines lately, too. This news comes after Skills Consulting Group released their Mind the Gap report, outlining the divide.

The report found that 72 per cent of HR managers thought their company genuinely cares for workers’ wellbeing, while only 58 per cent of employees agreed.

Each of the questions asked showed a significant gap between HR and employee attitudes towards their workplace. The largest was an 18 per cent gap when asked if the company had structures in place to ensure their wellbeing is cared for, with only 54 per cent of employees agreeing, compared to 72 per cent of HR managers.

These findings show that HR departments may need to take the time to connect with staff to better understand their feelings.

Respondents were asked what matters most to them in the workplace, with support being the top priority.

The report states: “Managers should engage with their staff and find out what each person needs for their wellbeing. Everyone is different and at different stages.”

“Be supportive and aware of personal circumstances and that they can affect work.”

While the report shows improved results compared to 2021, more can be done to connect and understand what is important to employees to create a thriving workplace.