Over the last few years, the role of HR has evolved dramatically. Today, it goes beyond merely hiring and recruiting responsibilities to aspects like employee documentation, engagement, retention, and ensuring a great experience throughout their lifecycle. But to be able to do so much, HRs have more than just learning to do – they are now actively adopting technologies and trends to keep up with it all.
This article explores the critical areas that HRs should focus on in 2024.
Top 9 priorities of HRs in 2024
The HR department is responsible for effectively managing its personnel and how they perceive working for their organization. To ensure their experience remains seamless throughout, here are the top priorities that HRs should be aware of to manage employee expectations better in 2024:
1. Prepare leaders to be more human
A bad leader can create a toxic work environment in no time, resulting in colossal employee turnover. HR teams must prepare leaders and managers to approach leadership with empathy and understanding for employees. This will increase their effectiveness as leaders and managers.
Most typical HR approaches may successfully create good leaders, but for leaders to be genuinely human, HR managers need to focus on mentoring employees and identifying skill gaps. They need to provide clear objectives and expectations from leaders and elaborate on how their role is instrumental in creating a people-centric organization that intrinsically motivates its employees.
In fact, research shows that motivated employees are 32% more committed, 46% more satisfied with their jobs, and perform 16% better.
2. Enable employees to navigate changes seamlessly
The last couple of years has heralded numerous changes for several organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic, the current economic climate, and various other aspects have led to rapid digital transformation in many companies, and employees are finding it hard to keep up. As a result, employee turnover has increased, and organizations are taking a hit.
One of the top HR priorities in 2024 includes empowering employees to manage organizational changes in the best way possible. It involves educating employees about the why behind the change and, more importantly, what is in for them.
It is equally important to help employees understand how they factor in the organization’s overarching goals to bring a sense of commitment and purpose to employees. This allows them to navigate organizational changes much more effectively.
3. Improve the employee experience
A great employee experience is crucial in increasing employee productivity, improving business growth, reducing employee turnover, and attracting great talent. However, most companies fail to create stellar experiences for their employees.
This is precisely why HR leaders need to invest time and effort in ensuring their employees’ well-being and career growth within the organization. Highly engaged employees are likely to be more committed to their work and are less likely to leave in search of better opportunities.
Creating an empowering work environment includes regular catchups to check in on employees, taking regular employee feedback, ensuring management is supportive, and making opportunities for career growth and experimentation.
4. Hiring top talent
As business needs constantly change, one of the prime focuses for HRs in 2024 is to bring in highly skilled talent to aid the organization’s growth. However, finding the right talent is no easy feat. It takes time, effort, and resources.
Hiring top talent requires a strategic approach. This includes having the following:
- Detailed, descriptive, and straightforward job descriptions in place
- Having reliable sources of talent
- Organizing interviews that help managers and leaders truly understand the depth of an employee’s skills and knowledge
- Ensuring a seamless onboarding for recruits
5. Focusing on the future of work
The modern workplace is changing daily in ways we have never anticipated. This is why HR managers and leaders must understand the pulse of employees and create flexible, productive, and positive workplaces.
As we move to yet another year, we must focus on developing employee-centric strategies that ensure a healthy work environment and better employee-employer relationships – irrespective of the work models they are working in.
6. Adopting newer technology
Investing in the right HR technology is vital to fulfilling the ever-expanding workplace goals. Software such as application tracking systems, HRMS, performance management systems, etc., are valuable for streamlining recruitment efforts and managing HR data efficiently, leaving more time for HR departments to focus on complex tasks.
Besides, the right HR tools give HR managers a clear view of workforce analytics and provide effortless onboarding experiences for new employees.
7. Employee well being
Employee well-being is a mandate to create a healthy and productive workforce. An empathetic and considerate work culture helps employees stay productive and committed to their work and organization.
HR priorities for 2024 should undoubtedly include identifying new opportunities and strategies to promote the overall well-being of employees. It can encompass supporting health and fitness through free gym memberships, fitness stipends, allowances to buy gym equipment, etc. HRs can also focus on supporting employee mental health through paid counseling, encouraging employees to take mental health days, and more.
8. Pay attention to diversity and inclusion
The workplace is a collaboration among people belonging to various groups, communities, and countries. Diversity and inclusion are now more important than ever simply because employees today actively look for organizations that stand up against societal challenges such as racism, sexism, gender bias, etc.
Your workplace culture should feel welcoming and inclusive to people irrespective of their preferences, choices, and cultural backgrounds. It is equally important to educate employees frequently, spread awareness about discrimination, and help them avoid being insensitive to others’ sentiments.
Additionally, HRs should support employees belonging to marginalized groups and ensure a diverse workforce across the organization, from leaders to executives.
9. Create opportunities for employee growth
94% of employees are likely to stay in a company if they feel it shows an active interest in their career growth.
Growth and expansion are critical differentiators for employees when choosing companies. Employees will likely stay in an organization that supports and recognizes employee efforts and offers development opportunities. It is essential to have strategies and systems that actively recognize a job well done and encourage employees to provide their input and ideas on vital projects.
Doing so empowers employees and enables them to understand their importance in achieving the organization’s overarching goals.
Wrapping up
Crafting seamless employee experiences requires diligent efforts from HRs. The HR department should constantly evolve due to the changing work models and expectations. Their transformation journey should include leveraging the right technology to streamline the HR processes and empower the bottom line.
This is where Leena AI comes into play. Leena AI encompasses an HR service delivery suite and engagement solution to revolutionize the employee experience 360 degrees. As soon as the employee gets hired in your company, you can engage them through our AI-driven preboarding solution and continue providing support at different stages of their lifecycle. You can seamlessly integrate the Leena AI platform with any tools of your preference, such as WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, and others, to stay connected with your employees anytime, anywhere.
If these features are what you have been looking for and compel you to discover more of its capabilities, book a demo with our experts today!
