With the holidays behind us and the new year in full swing, many workplaces may be actively trying to make positive changes for the new year. Setting up new initiatives and keeping up the productive momentum in the office doesn’t leave a lot of time for HR managers to stay up to date on the news. Not to worry— we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the major employment news stories you should know about from the past month:
From the outside looking in, it may look like HR managers rely mostly on soft skills to do their jobs. This assumption is partly true; communication, conflict resolution, and teamwork are all necessary for managing employees and creating a safe and positive workplace.
But as any veteran HR manager can attest, that’s not the whole picture. Payroll, recruiting, benefits management— among other aspects of the employee lifecycle— are also key HR responsibilities, all of them requiring attention to detail and critical, data-driven thinking.
Losing your best employees is a bummer. It takes a lot of time and resources to find a replacement who has the necessary skills, and team productivity can take a massive hit during the time it takes to recruit, interview, onboard, and train a new employee. That’s why veteran HR managers know that keeping turnover low is key, and that employee retention efforts are some of the best investments a company can make.
With the start of the new year, it’s time to start looking ahead to what the next 12 months have in store. This year, HR managers will have to tangle with the same workplace concerns that have dominated the last several years: skills gaps, a competitive hiring market and, as always, too much to do in too little time. In 2020, however, we can expect to see HR departments employ some new strategies and tools to help overcome these challenges and create a happier, more productive workforce. Let’s take a look at some of the HR trends to watch for this year:
