The 10 HR priorities for 2022 according to Top Employers certified companies

The health crisis has reshuffled the cards of HR priorities by emphasizing the flexibility (time and space) of work and the well-being of employees at work. This is the main lesson of the Top Employers 2022 survey, carried out by the Top Employers Institute, an international certification body that certifies the excellence of companies' HR policies, the results of which were published by Le Parisien.

Here are, in order of priority, the main topics on which HR teams will focus their energy this year.

1. Cultural change and business transformation

Openness to telework, whether partial or total, is no longer an option among the companies surveyed. Beyond hybrid work, more than one in two employers participating in the survey allow their employees to organize their working hours. That is five points more than last year. Another fundamental trend: employees have the possibility of choosing their place of work in complete autonomy, whether it is a main or secondary residence, one of the company's offices in the region or even a premises of one of its subsidiaries.

2. Employee commitment

“Top Employers have realized that there is no point in recruiting without trying to retain talent. And beyond loyalty, it is the notion of commitment that becomes essential, ”explains Vincent Binetruy, France director of the Top Employers Institute, in the columns of the daily newspaper.

To maintain their employees' motivation and desire to get involved, more and more companies are organizing regular feedback, called pulse surveys, to collect the opinions of their employees on specific subjects.

Employees are also more involved in the definition of the company's strategy, the recruitment of new employees, in particular through cooptation, and the onboarding of new recruits.

3. Employee well-being

In addition to this better reconciliation of professional and personal time, the well-being of employees at work also depends on better rewards for their efforts. 88% of employers surveyed now include recognition in their management methods, which is 20 points more than in 2021!

Another essential factor in the quality of life at work is the good mental health of employees. Top Employers certified companies have taken up the subject by setting up support systems to learn how to manage stress, telephone helplines, personal development programs or coaching.

4. Leadership development

Thanks to the development of remote working, both managers and employees are more empowered and empowered: "There is a real cultural shift in the role of the manager, long considered a simple transmission belt between employees and top management", observes Vincent Binetruy.

5. HR strategy

A time put in the background because of the need to manage the emergency, according to the various updates of the health protocols in the company, the definition of the HR strategy of medium, long term, must once again become a subject of major reflection of the businesses: what lessons can be learned from the past two years? What worked? What went wrong? How to gain efficiency?

6. Diversity and Inclusion

Factor scrutinized by candidates before responding to a job offer, the commitment in terms of diversity and inclusion is a major challenge that mobilizes the attention of companies. Giving the same opportunities to everyone, regardless of origin, gender, sexual orientation or disability is a key element of attractiveness for your employer brand.

7. Training and skills development

The managers of the companies surveyed are nearly 8 out of 10 to have taken training on team performance management (+17 points compared to 2021) and on the integration of new employees.

A large majority of companies have expanded their training catalog, in particular thanks to the rise of online courses.

8. Strategic human resource planning

The strategic planning of human resources involves in particular a good identification of the skills of employees internally with a view to internal mobility, vertical or horizontal, to anticipate the future needs of the company.

“One of the missions of the Human Resources Department is not to confine employees to a job, to help them understand their strengths and their skills beyond their function (…), testifies, in Le Parisien, Sandra Hazelart Director of Human Resources, Communication and Social Responsibility of the Monoprix Group, certified Top Employers. For the past two years, we have also been trying to find out what they like, what they like to do outside of work. Thus, thanks to the analyzed data, we can project each of them into new internal functions that are more aligned with what they know and like to do. »

9. The employer brand

The employer brand remains a key concern for attracting new talent. Thus, many companies say they want to use the year 2022 to improve their candidate and employee experience, invest more in CSR themes and accelerate their digital transformation.

10. Recruitment

According to the economic note published in December by INSEE, 80,000 jobs should be created in the first half of 2022, particularly in services, hotels and restaurants, leisure and trade. Faced with a labor shortage, these sectors will have to use different levers to win back candidates: level of remuneration, working conditions, recognition, etc.