Research Digested: Future of Work Trends Post-COVID-19: Long-Term Impact & Actions for HR, Gartner
A snapshot of useful research for L&D and workplace professionals
Why read this report
This is one of many pieces of research into how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed workplaces and working practices. This ebook is short and succinct, focusing on nine trends that Gartner says have either emerged or accelerated as a result of the current situation. Each of the trends features bullet points of HR actions, plus a link through to a further Gartner research and articles, with content specific to that trend.
About the research
The global research and advisory company surveyed 400 plus HR professionals, 300 plus finance leaders and 4,000 plus employees across the globe.
Standout stats
The report looks at what Covid-19 means for the HR function and work in the long-term. It outlines nine trends, broken down into three key areas: accelerated trends, new impacts and pendulum swings.
The four trends that Gartner thinks have accelerated as a result of Covid-19 are:
- More employees working remotely (48% working at remotely as least some of the time post pandemic, compared to 30% pre-pandemic)
- Increased use of employee data (16% of employers already report passive employee data collection)
- Greater role of the employer as a social safety net
- Wider use of contingent workers, with 32% of employers replacing full time employees with contingent workers to save costs and 12% using contingent workers to fill labour shortages due to illness
The three new impacts are:
- Critical skills are no longer synonymous with roles
- Some employees find work more humanising in the crisis, while others find it dehumanising
- Crisis response distinguishes top-tier employer brands
And there are two pendulum swings:
- Organisations prioritise resilience as much as efficiency
- Crisis adds to organisational complexity, straining design, culture and value proposition
Final word
In order to stay relevant and keep abreast of these trends, HR needs to focus on key areas, such as critical skills and competencies, current and future leadership, employee experience, performance management, technology strategy, talent analytics and mobility, diversity and inclusion, organisation design and change management, total rewards, the future of work and recruiting.
In order to for brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors, Gartner also advises that organisations take three steps:
- Stay on top of these trends and how they evolve
- Understand the potential ramifications for your organisation
- Make selected changes in strategy to incorporate the predictions in accordance with your values
Report reading time: 10-15 mins
Media: ebook
Link: https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/trends/future-of-work-trends-post-covid-19
