Five years on, employers and their HR teams should continue exploring new ways of working to address ongoing challenges with flexibility, productivity and employee engagement
“Many individuals are still affected on a day-to-day basis by long Covid and the pandemic’s lasting effects on health and wellbeing. And organisations are still adapting to new expectations and ways of working.”
Five years since the UK’s first COVID-19 lock down, CIPD data shows that the pandemic has had a lasting impact on the world of work – and many employers are still adapting.
Our data shows that:
During the pandemic, the people profession played a fundamental role in supporting organisations to adopt new ways of working and supporting people through job losses, health and wellbeing challenges, and the loss of loved ones.
Since then, significant challenges around economic productivity, employee engagement, wellbeing and the cost-of-living crisis have kept the vital role that HR teams play in businesses firmly in the spotlight.
The CIPD is urging organisations to stay curious to new ways of working – including building the evidence for how they can make best use of flexible arrangements and technology like AI – to solve both persistent and emerging problems.
“Many employers are still adjusting to the ‘new norm’ in flexible and hybrid working. We’re still learning and it’s important to keep building the evidence for working practices that deliver the right outcomes for people and business.”
We’re not yet fully set into a new norm, and since the pandemic, other significant issues have arisen including cost of living and inflationary pressures, concerns about skills shortages, and now the potential impact of AI alongside geopolitical shifts. These are all strategic business issues which employers and the HR profession need to engage closely on to help future growth and employment opportunities.
Organisations and their HR teams need to be led by the evidence when reviewing which working arrangements work best for their business and employees, and any changes to working practices or policies should be based on a clear rationale.
It’s also important for employers to consider flexible options that can support the attraction and retention of all their staff including those in frontline roles, such as flexitime, compressed hours, job-sharing and term-time working.
To address the increasingly transactional view of work some employees have and ensure their people are supported to perform, organisations should invest in ways to boost employee engagement. This could including skills development opportunities, training for line managers to be good people managers, and meaningful jobs supported by positive, collaborative workplace cultures.
With so much change in the world of work, expectations of the people profession are growing all the time. The profession plays a vital role in championing better work and working lives, and it’s not always easy to balance the needs of people with the needs of organisations.
As your professional body, we’re here to help you deliver your greatest impact – no matter what the future holds. Together we can help organisations thrive by enabling people to do their best work - benefitting organisations and individuals alike.
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