2022 Employee benefits & workplace predictions: Keeping the talent pipeline full

One of the key themes of the past year has been the “Great Resignation,” or the unprecedented rate at which employees are seeking out new career opportunities. Retail and service industries, in particular, have been hit hard by a dearth of ready and willing workers, but other industries are struggling to retain their top talent, as well.

Heading into 2022, we’ll see employers implementing new strategies to recruit workers, as well as amping up employee benefits, compensation and other perks to existing keep workers happy and engaged. Even after the Great Resignation ebbs, these new tactics will likely become the new standard.

As we continue our series on 2022 workplace and benefits trends, here’s what experts have to say about recruiting and retention.

We’ll expand the talent pool to make room for unlikely candidates

In 2022, the most forward-thinking companies will eliminate education requirements from their job descriptions. Pedigree bias based on where people went to school continues to reinforce the tech industry’s status quo and is hampering DEI efforts, and artificially constraining the talent pipeline. By eliminating these requirements from job applications, and giving more candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, the industry can improve both the efficiency and equity of their hiring processes.

~Jeffrey Spector, president and co-founder, Karat

Experiences will be more important than salary

We must rethink the workplace, and I predict that we will see a massive change in the next two to three years, from leading with salary packages to leading with experience packages to recruit and retain top talent.

One thing the global pandemic taught us is that for most of us in the tech industry, we can do our jobs from anywhere. While there is a lot of comfort in that — physical as well as emotional — to be able to work from home or in your pajamas or what have you, something is also missing in that scenario. In order to create loyalty and connection for the workforce, companies will need to do more than throw money at them. What do employees need? If possible, they need a work environment that they are invited to join, not required, and one that offers more than the convenience of staying at home — a hot lunch provided, specialty coffees, pleasing spaces to sit back and bounce ideas off of colleagues. And by the way, when this happens, creativity and innovative thinking builds off of each other in ways that a Zoom call cannot foster.

If you take this one step further and put yourself in the shoes of an engineer, this person has been in front of screens and keyboards for hours to put out those new features or the next release. Do they need a big cash bonus to reward their work? How about instead an all-expenses-paid extended weekend to a luxury resort, offering time away from work, a rewarding experience that will not only offer a memory but also rejuvenation.

-Raj Verma, CEO, SingleStore

The war for talent goes next-level

One of the biggest challenges companies are facing is they are either having trouble finding employees, having trouble getting employees to stick around, or both. Due to the Great Resignation, Great Reshuffle, or whatever the term of the day is, there’s no getting around that in the month of September alone, 4.4M workers left their jobs. Companies need to prepare for things to get worse, and for the war for talent to reach a fever pitch in 2022. Companies that want to have a fighting chance, need to offer better salaries, benefits, and working conditions (even if that’s helping with an office set up at home). If companies are already trying these things and they aren’t working, it’s well past time to get on the same page as employees by simply asking them what they want.

–Sammy Courtright, co-founder and chief brand officer, Ten Spot

Renewed focus on employee experience

Recruitment will need to focus on both internal talent markets, as well as improvements to make external recruitment and access more efficient. This will mean continuing to emphasize the roles of talent marketplaces and workforce ecosystems and enabling technologies and AI to bring markets and ecosystems to life.

The “Great Resignation” is prompting employees to ask hard questions about who they work for, the jobs and projects they work on, the opportunities they have to learn and grow, where they work, and the purpose and values of their employers.

Our strategies to drive retention need to address these concerns head-on. I don’t think we can simply survey and listen (which we still need to do of course) and we can’t simply recruit more and faster. We need to, and should expect to, undertake new initiatives focusing on the employee experience, which above all means providing employees with choice and agency on the jobs, projects, mentors, learning, and other opportunities they take on — that’s what talent and career marketplaces are all about.

--Jeff Schwartz, vice president of insights & impact, Gloat

Leadership development emerges as a top priority for job seekers

Since the start of the pandemic, the U.S. has experienced soaring unemployment rates like this country hasn’t seen in years. While people remain persistent in seeking their next roles, in some cases, they will need reskilling and development support as they step into them. Helping employees propel their careers forward gets to the heart of what jobseekers are really looking for. In 2022, we’ll see more companies prioritize the career growth of their employees through development channels like career coaching and mentoring. Even in a hybrid work environment, leadership and personal development are becoming top priorities as jobseekers refocus their energy on rebuilding their careers after a challenging two years.

– Cameron Yarbrough, CEO, Torch

The Great Resignation will continue unless a Great Re-Evaluation takes place

Employees are looking for jobs that not only take care of them financially but also match their values and authentic selves. As employees re-evaluate their careers, companies will need to re-evaluate what working looks like to retain and attract talent. Benefits and perks will evolve with the new way of working and new employee priorities. Gone are the days when a simple health insurance and 401k package could be enough to entice prospective employees to jump on your job offer. Similar to how COVID accelerated the need for businesses to pivot to run their operations or serve customers, businesses need to pivot and re-evaluate what value a company can bring to its employees.

Corporate culture will be lost if businesses are not intentional with shared experiences IRL. When employees are distributed and the corporate office is no longer at the center, it will become critical to create intentional in-person shared experiences. Corporate culture thrives through shared experiences and technologies aren’t going to replace human connection. No matter how much our industry tries. Companies cannot rely completely on digital communications to replicate human connections. Companies must be deliberate in creating those connections, such as extending in-person onboard sessions to a month or create micro-regional events by where employees live, etc. These shared experiences must anchor and lead corporate planning rather than being an afterthought. Through in-person shared experiences come trust, bonding, and empathy which contribute to corporate culture.

–Christal Bemont, CEO, Talend

Gig employers enter the war for talent

The labor scarcity of 2021 is so widespread, that even gig employers – those that have historically failed to provide safety net systems for contractors – will be changing their tune on benefits. For the first time ever, we’ll see prominent gig employers extending creative forms of perks to their gig workers in an attempt to attract (and keep) talent. This promising trend will contribute to a long-overdue paradigm shift in the relationship between gig employer and gig worker, encouraging policymakers to amend old rules about gig worker support.

Today, people aren’t just quitting their jobs and hopping onto the next thing – they’re taking their time to find a supportive employer. In this critical time of professional dormancy, criteria like culture, benefits and perks, and company values are more important than ever to job seekers. As a result, on the other side of this period of unrest and unemployment we’ll find significant long-term economic stability, driven by intentional employees and employers who (finally) understand that generosity towards people is how you attract and retain people for the long haul.

–Jordan Peace, co-founder & CEO, Fringe

Realignment of hiring policies

Following the 2008/2009 recession, we saw job openings decline and candidates (especially new college grads) struggle to find employment opportunities in a cutthroat employers’ market. Not only was there an influx of candidates and no job openings, but those roles that were open required 3-5 years of experience for entry-level roles and other unrealistic criteria.

Employers can reevaluate and realign hiring policies by making sure their HR technology is up-to-date and the external messages being communicated to candidates is accurate and reflective of the job market. This includes updating job descriptions and experience requirements, recruiters being accessible and flexible through text-based chat or video interviews, and timely follow ups to candidates. Heading into 2021, employers need to adjust their expectations and hiring criteria to course correct to the modern hiring climate – more job openings than candidates in a steadfast employees’ market.

It’s likely that every organization has a talent sourcing strategy to engage, hire and retain talent – but is it enough? In 2022, organizations will need to step up hiring efforts in this competitive, employee-driven talent market by complementing their sourcing strategy with a virtual recruiting component to maximize ROI. No longer can recruiting teams expect to attract job seekers with a ‘spray and pray’ sourcing strategy meant to drive candidates to apply to their open jobs.

The modern job seeker doesn’t want to (or need to) waste time with cumbersome applications or reach out to a recruiter only to be ignored. Instead, the future of competitive recruiting requires high engagement, responsiveness and a frictionless candidate experience; all of which can be achieved with the combination of smart sourcing and virtual hiring events. In 2022, organizations that aren’t leveraging a virtual hiring component in conjunction with their sourcing strategy will miss out on top talent and ROI.

–Ed Barrientos CEO, Brazen

Looking to retain talent? Incentivize and give employees a chance to grow

In the age of the “Great Resignation,” companies will begin to pull out all the stops to retain talent and encourage employees to upskill. This goes beyond financial compensation. The younger workforce isn’t as excited about bonus incentives for completing trainings, for example. Organizations will need to provide varying career growth opportunities, presenting upskilling options for employees to try new roles. Yet businesses will need to make sure that incentives don’t lead to employees learning only for learning’s sake.

Companies need to give employees a way to apply skills and make use of their new knowledge. While companies might see a drop in productivity as employees spend time learning, every employee will provide more value once they’re digitally upskilled.

–Danielle Phaneuf, partner, Cloud & Digital Strategy, PwC

Those with the choice will quit over commute

As companies call workers back to offices, the quit versus commute debate will have a clear winner. Employees who are not given the flexibility to avoid the return to the insane commuting experiences of the past, will leave for companies that offer true flexibility in terms of where AND when employees work to allow them to be productive and lead fuller lives long term.

–Lisa Walker, workforce futurist, Fuze

Internal mobility programs will have a renaissance

With the global economy experiencing massive change — coupled with a tight labor market — upskilling, reskilling, and investing in your current employees has never been more important.

By creating and supporting internal mobility programs, you’re not only showing your teams that you’re invested in their development, you’re also boosting retention and engagement.

Employees at companies with high internal mobility stay almost 2 times longer than those who don’t, and those who have found new roles internally are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged than those who haven’t.

In 2022, companies will begin to put more internal hiring programs and processes in place. That also means HR will move beyond a siloed approach to foster a closer relationship with colleagues in learning and development.

-‌-Mark Lobosco, vice president of talent solutions, LinkedIn