Gartner’s 9 HR trend predictions for this year

Gartner has released Gartner Identifies Top Nine Workplace Predictions for CHROs in 2023. The list forecasts its pick for the trends we can expect to see for the world of HR in the coming year.

Senior director in the Gartner HR practice, Emily Rose McRae commented on the announcement: “This year’s predictions highlight the aspects of work that HR leaders must prioritise over the next 12 months.”

“HR leaders have faced an increasingly unpredictable environment amid many organisations mandating a return to office, permanently higher turnover and burnt out employees,” she said.

Gartner’s trends were listed as follows:

“Quiet hiring”: This is the strategy of filling positions in the company without actually hiring a permanent employee. This can be done through temporary contract work, or by asking more of existing employees. Gartner said the talent market will only get more competitive, resulting in an increase in quiet hiring.

Flexibility for essential workers: Gartner believes that organisations will thrive by allowing for more flexibility for their staff. This could apply to frontline workers to allow for fairness, resulting in workers taking charge of their schedules and being given more paid leave and stability.

Middle managers’ pressure eased: With middle managers experiencing increased stress and workloads, Gartner says organisations will begin to address these issues by providing support, training, and reforming positions.

Practice vice president in the Gartner HR practice, Peter Aykens said: “Many managers are struggling with how to balance the need to implement corporate strategy on behalf of senior leaders and providing the sense of purpose, flexibility, and career opportunities that their employees expect.”

Broadening of talent pools to combat shortages: To combat talent shortages, organisations may have to branch out and look for candidates in different areas. Gartner noted that roles will be more easily filled if candidates are hired based on ability, rather than experience or education.

Gartner said in their statement: “Organisations will take several approaches to do this, such as relaxing formal education and experience requirements in job postings and reaching out directly to internal or external candidates from nontraditional [sic] backgrounds.”

Post pandemic rest will help businesses recover: Gartner stated that 60 per cent of employees are stressed about work every day. “Proactive rest” is a term referenced that can help ease this stress.

Brent Cassell, vice president of advisory in the Gartner HR practice outlined this concept: “Simply put: More hours worked does not equal more results. Instead, organisations must rethink how they approach rest – rest should be embedded into the workflow to prevent burnout rather than being used to recover from it.”

Gartner noted that employees saw a 26 per cent increase to performance when offered proactive rest.

DEI will see resistance: Gartner said diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) progress is being met with resistance: “As organisations’ commitments to DEI have expanded, so has resistance among certain individuals or employee segments. This pushback is with the aim to invalidate, disrupt or disconnect from programs meant to enable marginalised groups,” said Emily Strother, senior principal in the Gartner HR practice.

To combat this, Gartner stated that organisations must provide managers with the skills, tools, and support to confront these issues before they get traction.

Data collection can create privacy problems: Gartner outlined how AI recruitment tools can cause issues with privacy breaches. In the coming year, organisations may have to be more transparent with their collection and use of data with employees and candidates. This could lead to people opting out of the process altogether.

AI worries may lead to changes in regulation: With these privacy concerns, AI recruitment tools may see a revamp. Gartner said in their statement: “A new law in New York City went into effect on 1 January that limits employers’ use of AI recruiting tools and requires organisations to undergo annual bias audits and publicly disclose their hiring metrics.”

Remote and hybrid work impacting Gen Z: With many of the incoming workforce not experiencing traditional workplace norms due to the rise in remote and hybrid work, many are missing out on opportunities such as socialising, building connections, and learning proper workplace practice.

Gartner commented this could lead to a Gen Z skills gap. They asserted the three benefits to on-site work are “employee choice and autonomy, a clear structure and purpose, and a sense of levity and fun”.

To read Gartner’s full Gartner Identifies Top Nine Workplace Predictions for CHROs in 2023, click here.