Top 7 Employee Trends for 2021

 As we move into 2021 we are looking today at the top employee trends for this year to help you attract and retain the best talent for your business

‍

Trend 1 - Mental wellbeing

Mental well-being will be, if not already, one of the most needed benefits for the workforce. In fact many large organisations such as Google, LinkedIn,  Starbucks and Monzo all offer their team's access to apps such as Calm and Headspace as part of their package. There are free aspects to Headspace so anybody can access this at no cost to see whether it actually is right for them.  (source www.employee benefits.co.uk)

Headspace is the fourth grossing iOS app in the health and wellness sector - Calm is second. Following such a difficult year in 2020 and with no doubt a continued challenge at least Into Spring technologies introduced for workers mental health needs will be a core part of expectation and delivery.

‍

Trend 2 - Continuous learning and reskilling 

With the increased demand on technology skills and the modernisation of certain sections of the workforce many will require reskilling.

UK companies will need to respond to current trends by transitioning a large part of their workforce into new roles or skill levels over the next decade. Without concerted action by employers, two-thirds of the UK workforce could lack basic digital skills by 2030, while more than ten million people could be under-skilled in leadership, communication, and decision making. (Source McKinsey)

Trend 3 - Remote working and digital workforces will continue

Homeworking is here to stay, many employees expect it to be an element of their role (dependent on sector) and equally they expect to have the digital tools to enable them to do their job well.

Occupations requiring higher qualifications and experience are more likely to provide home working opportunities than elementary and manual occupations. The first four major occupations all saw over half of their workers doing some amount of homeworking. Over two-thirds (69.6%) of the professional occupations did some work at home during the lockdown (Source ONS)

Effective use of technology can be a business differentiator across several fronts, especially for growing SMEs. 33% growth in this area is to improve employee productivity and a further 23% growth to improve employee collaboration (source salesforce.com).

Trend 4 - Hybrid workplaces is the future

Companies committed to hybrid workforces will be an expectation of 2021 from new talent. This requirement will fluctuate to sector and experience requirements for the role.

Working anywhere in the world is going to be a feature and your teams could be more spread out across the country. The requirements of hybrid models will lead to increased commute time for some employees but across fewer days of the week.

The appropriate balance of home and office work depends on the type of work, the team processes in place, the manager’s capability, and the degree of cultural support within the organisation, as well as the individual’s home circumstances and the support the employer can provide for technology and equipment. (Source CIPD).

Trend 5 - Skills rather than job titles

Choosing your skills rather than your job titles will be a thing of the future and you can expect that to be working really well for growing businesses and/or businesses with younger generations who seek to change roles more frequently than older more experienced staff.

Skills are the new currency on the labour market. Skills indicate demand and supply at a more nuanced level than occupations, whose required expertise and skills are changing increasingly quickly, and degrees, which are often already outdated by the time they are obtained. (source World Economic Forum)

‍

Trend 6 - Diversity and Inclusion

Given the unequal wealth distribution and racial injustice and inequity, many BAME and women are in need of extra support as the coronavirus crisis has deepened. Employees are looking for employers who will aggressively target improvements within their diversity and inclusion metrics. External communications should be underpinned by solid outcomes. (Source B Corp)

‍

Trend 7 - Safety at work

Employees in the new Covid world will be looking for their employer to be planning and implementing measures that will protect the health of their workforce.

‍

For more information on how you can provide support to your employees read our blog