Workplace imbalance hurting, expect employee engagement in 2023: Experts

With resignations and layoffs dominating trends post-Covid, HR leaders anticipate focus on employee engagement, hybrid work model and greater tech investment to improve efficiency

Workplace imbalance has been the reigning theme since the start of the pandemic. In the early months of the pandemic came the great sacking.

Then, the great resignation and quiet quitting. Moonlighting followed. Just when it seemed it had become an employees’ market, came another great shakeup — it was back to the great sacking, which had employees turning to career cushioning.

Two months into 2023, is it possible to gaze into the future to assess how office life might look like in the months to come? Perhaps, yes.

“I think the great resignation was the most impactful trend that will shape the future of the workplace. It gave us a new viewpoint towards employment and highlighted the role of employee engagement and satisfaction in the success of a business,” says Sumit Sabharwal, CEO of TeamLease HRtech.

He stresses that the focus in 2023 will be on employee engagement. “Leveraging HR technology for increased employee satisfaction and retention will become a norm in every industry.”

2022 was peppered with instances of job hopping, unsustainable salary hikes, and candidates dropping out during the final stages of their joining. “Such problems emerge when the employees have higher bargaining power. Similarly, if employers aren’t concerned about employees and their benefits, it will lead to lower employee engagement,” says Sabharwal.

Any power imbalance isn’t beneficial for employers and employees in the long run and ultimately the productivity of the organisations suffer. According to Anandorup Ghose, partner, Deloitte India, 2023 will see a more calibrated approach towards talent management, while productivity will be the most important parameter for HR teams.

“The shift this year will be from an inordinate focus on measures linked to attraction and retention (and therefore a focus on pay and incentives etc) to possibly a more measured and thoughtful approach towards talent management and development,” Ghose says, adding, “There will pote­ntially be a sharper focus on productivity and efficiency.”

Fundamental questions like focus on identifying top talent, retaining and growing that pool, improving the effectiveness of performance systems, and making workplaces fairer and more equitable do not change with business cycles. “Some of these were the focus last year as well but were lost in the din of a constant battle to stem attrition and manage hiring,” says Ghose.

After the changes brought in by Covid-19, Ghose says, workplace models have now become more stable as most organisations have broadly adjusted to a new routine. “The appreciation of the effectiveness of WFH (work from home) has increased, but most companies have moved away from a permanent/increasing WFH model.”

At TCS, this is the third year of predicting what lies ahead. The pandemic has showcased how unexpected circumsta­nces can alter the paradigm of work, ushering in changes that were otherwise unpredictable.

The one trend that is expected to define 2023 is a hybrid work model, says a company spokesperson.

Other phenomena expected to dynamically impact the workplaces this year are artificial intelligence and automation, says the TCS spokesperson. “Organisations are likely to invest more in this area to focus on improving efficiency, better decision-making and reducing costs.”

These emerging technologies have the “potential of creating digital universes, furthering more interactive and immersive experiences in the Metaverse. The latter holds the key to a new way of working in digital environments with an emphasis on effective training, communication and collaboration”, adds the spokesperson.

According to Deloitte’s Ghose, the growing importance of productivity does not imply workforce reduction/rationalisation. It is “productivity purely from the perspective of identifying how to effectively measure it and how to improve it”.

He adds: “We often mix up discussions on productivity as a means to reduce headcount — but productivity is about ensuring a more sustainable approach towards strategic workforce planning.”

To tackle the dynamic environment, Sabharwal points out that the job of an HR professional will require “more innovative thinking to keep employees engaged. Finding and implementing the latest HR technology products for employee engagement will become one of their responsibilities”.

“Irrespective of the highs and lows of the present scenario, the situation will balance itself because an imbalance harms both employers and employees,” says Sabharwal.