Three work trends you need to know for 2022
1. Prioritising the wellbeing of your most important asset
If there is one thing we’ve all learned from the pandemic, it’s the importance of our health and wellbeing. Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends survey reveals that nearly 80% of the respondents identify employee wellbeing as important or very important to their organisation’s success.
For organisations today, prioritising employee wellbeing is a must. And as a Forbes article shares, there’s no growth without health.
So, how exactly do employers support their employees’ wellbeing? The World Health Organization states, health is not merely the absence of disease but also a state of complete physical, social, mental wellbeing. With many of the restrictions we saw in 2020 and 2021 now lifted, employers are able to organise physical and digital meet-ups and events to address the physical, social, mental wellbeing of employees.
In 2022, we will see organisations everywhere reviewing their health and wellbeing strategies to accommodate the needs of each individual. From counselling, gym memberships and nutrition to bicycle benefits, yoga and smoking cessation programmes, flexible benefit schemes are one such way to enable employees to choose from a range of pre-tax benefits to create their own wellbeing-focused benefits package.
2. Digitalisation, hybrid work and flexibility are here to stay
That’s right, say goodbye to the 9-5.
2020 marked the end of the traditional 9-5 office set-up we once knew. At Benify, we now offer a hybrid work model that allows employees to work from home and from the office. Just how many days per week an employee works from home versus the office is a decision each employee and their manager makes together.
In 2022, we are going to see companies everywhere exploring many variations of hybrid work models and remote work situations. No two situations will be the same. Employers and employees alike will need to find the right balance that works for the company and the individual.
In our study on the Future of Work, we asked employees to rate the benefits they have access to today in order of importance. In the UK, leave and working hours (66%) ranked second only to the pension (68%).
In 2022, organisations hoping to retain employees and attract new talent will need to offer greater flexibility around working hours and work location. In fact, 57% of UK employees state that flexible working hours are extremely important when deciding whether to apply for a new job or stay with their current employer.
Additionally, we will see more digitalisation in HR and recruitment, including a greater use of digital onboarding tools. Covid-19 accelerated digitalisation, forcing organisations to rethink how they work, communicate and recruit. Expect to see more processes and routines digitalised in 2022.
3. Benefits that reflect today
With remote and hybrid work models, the employee benefits that employers offer will need to reflect the way employees live and work today. In the past, subsidised employee lunches at the office and public transport cards may have been popular, but what about today?
“The employee benefits that worked yesterday don’t necessarily work today. The fact that the pandemic has impacted us all, personally and professionally, means that today we have different needs than we previously had,” says Josefine Söderqvist, chief HR officer at Benify.
“Employees need support from their employers and, in turn, employers must ensure that the support they provide is helpful, supportive and reflects the current situation.”
Our Future of Work study reveals that less than 20% of European employees strongly agree that the benefits offered to them by their employer adequately reflect the situation today.
With the workplace now divided between the office and home, the employee benefits deemed most important to employees have changed. In our study, we saw 43% in the UK say employee benefits that are adapted for working at home will be the most important in the future.
With this in mind, we will see more employers offering a benefits budget that can be used to purchase equipment for the home-office, be it a desk, chair, an extra computer monitor, or other ergonomic aids to improve the comfort of working from home. Additionally, we will see a greater variety of benefits designed to help improve employees’ every day, such as home cleaning, grocery delivery, and even pet day-care services.
To prepare for a new tomorrow and see more findings from our largest study to date, download the Future of Work report.
This article is provided by Benify.
Original article: Three work trends you need to know for 2022.
In partnership with Benify
Benify offers the market's leading global benefits and total reward platform.
