Predicting great things for HR in 2020

We are at the beginning of a new decade and that naturally takes our thoughts towards what the next 10 years might look like. As we cover all aspects of HR and Employment Law Services, the CoLaw list of expected industry trends in the 2020’s could be a particularly long one, so instead we have chosen to concentrate on what we think we’ll see much more of within the realms of HR.

By no means an exhaustive list, the Top 5 areas we expect to be hearing a lot more about in 2020 are: –

FLEXIBILITY
Employee retention is one of the biggest challenges facing companies today and we don’t expect this to change soon. Success lies with the engagement and satisfaction of the workforce in every area of the business, making everyone feel valued, appreciated and highly motivated. Achieving this will increasingly involve being as flexible as possible; not only by allowing employees to work from home or to change the traditional ‘9 to 5’ to something more fluid, but also by being entirely open to the reassessment of how work is done, by whom and where.

SHARED ACCOUNTABILITY
As much as the onus for employee retention will lie mostly with the employer, we expect this year to see a real shift in accountability for engagement and productivity. Employees, we believe, will be encouraged to take a greater degree of responsibility and will be expected to ‘give their all’ on a daily basis, to be engaged, engaging and innovative. A payback perhaps for the increased flexibility in working practices that 2020 is set to see.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Whether it is via social pressure, employee pressure or simply self-generated by a benevolent board, the trend for increased CSR awareness which we have seen over the last few years is set to increase significantly in this new decade. Employee satisfaction, new business acquisition and customer retention are all strongly linked to the social endeavours of a company and there is more of a need than ever to win hearts and minds by doing good. This may just be our favourite trend.

OUTSOURCING
It looks like it’s going to be a busy year for HR departments, but we don’t believe this will mean an increase in recruitment to fill new positions internally. HR departments have, in the main, been decreasing in size and we see this accelerating in 2020. Many elements of HR support we believe will be met via outsourcing, taking advantages of new technology and automation. The HR chatbot is already a familiar sight!

What do we think?
At a time where there seems to many business stories of doom and gloom, at CoLaw we are feeling very positive about what we see out there.  Yes, it’s true that business practices are changing, but overall we see evidence of Owners, Managers & Directors concentrating on the most important issues and enlisting the services of external experts to support with non-core activities.

If you would like to find out more about the practical, tailored HR and Employment Law support that CoLaw provides for its clients then get in touch!

The information provided in all of our blogs reflects only a narrative of some elements to consider on the topic. The blogs do not contain considered legal advice and should not be relied upon as advice. Please see our website terms and conditions for full details of our disclaimer. If you are interested in obtaining advice, please contact one of our lawyers who will be happy and able to advise you on your own particular circumstances.

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