Teamphoria, a developer of software that helps businesses create positive and engaging organizational environments, identified five HR trends for 2017:
1. Relationships are key – In order to decrease turnover and increase employee morale, businesses will need to bring employees in on the conversation by connecting them with each other through recognition, personalized announcements/celebration and building a stronger connection with management team members. One key aspect of strengthening these relationships is mentoring programs between management and employees, providing an opportunity to further invest in employee growth and bridge the gap between leadership and their teams.
2. The proof is in the analytics pudding – Employers will continue to place more emphasis on measurable data and analytics to better understand employees. Through the utilization of HR software, employers and HR professionals are given the opportunity to evaluate various aspects of employee satisfaction, engagement, work progress, etc. By identifying key values that are important to an organization and then measuring employee feedback surrounding those, employers can get a baseline understanding of their employee’s experience and create goals to move toward achieving the company culture that they strive for. When feedback is measurable, it also becomes easier to assess and track progress.
3. Feeling valued is…well, valuable – Recognition is a crucial part of bringing employees into the conversation. When employees feel valued and celebrated for their efforts, it encourages them to do extraordinary work that may be outside of what is generally expected.
4. Shaking up where employees work – Trends in working remotely are continually rising. Employees can work thousands of miles away and still keep constant contact with colleagues thanks to the wonders of high-speed Internet. Whether it’s working from the comfort of home to “step away and get focused,” or working on-the-go, many businesses are jumping on the bandwagon of allowing employees to work remotely.
5. More emphasis on office design – Creating a workspace with an open, collaborative atmosphere is becoming top-of-mind, especially for creative workplaces and those hiring mainly millennial talent. More business owners are approaching minimalistic ways in designing their workplace to look decluttered and organized. This approach gives a distraction-free environment and helps employees to work more productively. Multi-purpose workspaces use flexible, movable furniture, which allows a small team to work together on a project and can also be used for larger group meetings.
