But, while it was an incredibly stressful and turbulent year, it was also a year that shifted long-needed changes to the way we work, by forcing businesses around the world to get digital.

Remote working is here to stay

At the beginning of the pandemic, we started working in ways that were completely new to most of us – but now, we’re seasoned pros at it. However, while everyone was enjoying remote working and the flexibility that comes with it, lots of questions were raised.

The Great Resignation

“The Great Resignation” is a recent buzz term that’s got a lot of people feeling excited or concerned, depending on what perspective you’re looking at it from. The phrase comes from the World Economic Forum and their shocking statistic: 41% of employees worldwide plan to leave their jobs this year. This isn’t only totally unprecedented, for many employers and HR managers, it’s beyond comprehension.

The world is your new office

For many of us, remote working has meant that we’ve been able to work from the comfort of our own homes. With travel restrictions lifted and lots of people yearning for that sense of adventure, a new kind of office environment is on the cards for 2022.

Businesses will tap into a global talent pool

The pandemic has taught us that business operations are not confined by borders, and geographic location shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to recruiting. It also made it clear that SME's didn’t have the resources when it came to keeping up with larger businesses – until now.

New online tools

With many teams out of the office and working from just about anywhere, there has never been a more pressing time to ensure your HR function is performing at its best. Using HR software can help you with everything from interviewing, onboarding, employee wellbeing, training, automated pay runs, leave management, employee engagement, payroll, rostering and more.

Distributed working

Distributed working is not a concept that many of us would have heard of before the pandemic. But, with so many of us forced to switch to remote working, businesses had to hustle and adapt just to keep up. Now, many businesses are finding themselves caught between a crossroads of enjoying the flexibility of remote working yet missing the vibe of the workplace. If this sounds like your workplace, a distributed workforce might just be your answer – and moving into 2022, we can expect to see this trend continue to take hold.

Remote culture

As many workforces continue to work remotely at least some of the time, we can expect to see a continuation of remote workplace culture. While it was difficult to transition a workplace online at the start of the pandemic, now many HR departments are hitting the ground running. From virtual yoga to online clubs and cooking classes, 2022 will see more teams building their culture online.

One-to-ones (1:1)

One-to-ones might be the very thing to take your company communication and alignment to the next level of performance. It may seem like just another buzzword, but it’s so much more than that. Implementing 1:1s can be the difference between building a good team and a great team.

Employer branding

Every business wants to attract and hire top talent, and every job seeker wants to work for a reputable company. But how do these companies become reputable? How do they create and build a positive reputation that helps them easily attract and hire top talent? It comes down to building a strong employer brand, which is another HR trend we can expect to see in 2022.

Mental health support

Humans spend about one-third of their lives at work – that’s over 90,000 hours. Any changes in mental health will spill into our working lives. As well as affecting the individual, poor mental wellbeing can result in a knock-on effect, impacting company and employee productivity, morale, and engagement.

Designing a candidate experience

We all know that the employee experience starts before you hire, so it’s essential that the candidate experience is a positive one. Did you know that 78% of candidates believe the candidate process is an indicator of how the company values its employees?