- Human resources professionals prioritize the building of critical skills and competencies in recent poll on goals for 2022
- Other priorities include organizational design and change management, strengthening their current leadership bench, addressing the future of work, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts
- HR professionals should be aware of how rapid skills evolution is affecting employees
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
With skill needs evolving rapidly and greater competition among companies for available workers, human resources professionals are giving priority to skill building in their 2022 goals.
A poll of 550 human resources professionals by the technology research and consulting company Gartner Inc. found that nearly 60 percent of HR professionals said they would prioritize building critical skills and competencies. Other top priorities included organizational design and change management (48 percent), strengthening their current and future leadership bench (45 percent), the future of work (42 percent) and diversity, equity and inclusion (35 percent).
“The shift to hybrid work, rapidly increasing turnover and heightened war for talent, and rising pressure to make progress on DEI are driving these priorities,” said Mark Whittle, vice president of advisory in the Gartner HR practice.
- Respondents said key skills issues include not knowing the current skills gaps of their employees and not establishing solutions fast enough to meet the changing skills needs in their industry
- Gartner data suggests that nearly one in three skills necessary for a job in 2018 won’t be needed in 2022, and that the average number of skills required per job has been on the rise
- Rapid skills evolution has also contributed to employee stress, which companies can address by improving trust, empathizing with employees, and improving how well teams work together
- Gartner also suggested that HR needs include establishing a clear future of work plan to address hybrid and remote work schedules, and holding business leaders accountable for meeting DEI goals
