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Top five HR trends and priorities for 2024 - CMD Recruitment

Top five HR trends and priorities for 2024 – CMD Recruitment

If you want to stay ahead of the curve and ensure your HR department is able to do its best work and attract the brightest employees in 2024, you need to pay attention to the following trends and priorities, says Dan Barfoot of CMD Recruitment.

Keeping track of HR trends is a great way to stay ahead of the curve and make sure that your company is leading instead of following. Your people are the core of your business, and how you treat them, train them and take care of them will be reflected in your business success.

With more transparency than ever before, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for employers to treat their employees poorly and get away with it. The flip side of this is that word travels fast about the companies that go the extra mile to take care of their employees.

If you want to stay ahead of the curve and ensure your HR department is able to do its best work and attract the brightest employees in 2024, you need to pay attention to the following trends and priorities.

Why is trend spotting important?

HR trends will arise in response to everything else that is happening in the world, including global and regional pressures. Inflation and the cost of living crisis has been driving dialogue for the past few years. Before that, it was the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spotting the trends and trying to stay ahead of them will make your HR department more effective, as you’ll be addressing the concerns that are most important to your employees.

What trends will be huge in 2024?

Curious to know what HR professionals will be concerned with in 2024 and beyond? Here are our predictions for the trends and priorities that will shape hiring decisions and more.

1. Flexible working

Flexible working is here to stay, so it’s less about if you offer it and more about how you offer it. Flexible working doesn’t have to mean working from home. It could mean flexible working hours, trialling a 4-day working week, or allowing employees to buy back more holiday time to take an extended break.

If other employers are offering these perks, all companies need to keep up with this trend or risk missing out on the best employees. And remember that not everyone loves working from home, some people crave the separation between home and work, so don’t scrap your office just yet.

2. Automation and technology

Artificial intelligence, automation and other technology will be huge for HR departments in 2024. However, it’s important to have systems in place to monitor how this is rolled out. We know that AI can result in biassed decision making, and you don’t want this to be present in your HR systems. While AI is improving every day, it isn’t perfect yet, so it should be approached with caution.

3. Improved employer/employee relationships

Employers and employees should focus on improving relationships in 2024 and beyond. We’re done with quiet quitting in 2024 and are instead looking for ways to salvage the relationship to make it healthier and more effective.

This all starts with improved conversations between employers and employees, allowing for genuine dialogue that moves the company forward and progresses careers at the same time.

4. Pay transparency

For a long time, employees have been asking employers to share the salary range if it really is so competitive. Transparency around pay could be huge in 2024, so be prepared for some difficult conversations if it is revealed that there are pay discrepancies in your company.

A far better solution for managing this issue would be to introduce standardised pay bands within your organisation to make it easier for employees to see where they stand. In 2024, a competitive salary will be one that employees can see before they even interview with your company.

5. Upskilling and reskilling

The shift towards AI and automation in roles should not be seen as a scary thing. Instead of seeing this as potential job losses, see it as a way to reskill and upskill your most talented employees to help boost their careers and help keep them engaged.

While automation might remove the need for some jobs, it could simply free up worker time to focus on activities that will grow the business.

Dan Barfoot is operations manager at CMD Recruitment, which has offices in Devizes, Melksham, Calne, and Bath.

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