As the clock ticks closer to 2024, the world of HR is evolving at warp speed. Just when we thought we had it all figured out, new trends and challenges emerge to keep us HR professionals on our toes. But rather than stress over the constant changes, at flair we see them as opportunities..

The new year is bringing fresh ways to transform how we approach everything from remote work to data-driven decisions. But the core of it all stays the same for HR teams – understanding our people and creating the best environment for them to thrive.

So in 2024, let's focus on fostering an inclusive culture that supports wellbeing just as much as performance. Empower our teams with development, meaningful feedback, performance management, and flexibility.

Rather than fear what's next, we’re excited to roll up our sleeves and tackle new trends, embracing new strategies, tools, and tricks to stay ahead of the curve. These HR New Year’s resolutions will ensure you are ready to dive in and future-proof your HR game.

HR Trends for 2024

Are you ready to level up your HR game in the new year? 2024 is bringing some major shifts but these human resources trends are really opportunities in disguise.

Employee Wellbeing Takes Center Stage

As we move into a post-pandemic world, supporting employee wellbeing will be critical in 2024. The stresses of the past few years have taken both a physical and mental toll on many workers.

Employers must prioritize mental, physical, and financial wellness with comprehensive programs. Offering customized solutions that address each individual's unique needs and challenges can boost engagement and productivity. Research by Gallup shows that organizations with high employee well-being scores experience 87% less absenteeism and presenteeism.

Encouraging a positive work-life balance through flexible arrangements like remote and hybrid work options also significantly improves well-being and job satisfaction. As happy employees have been shown to be 20% more productive, investing in your wellness initiatives will pay dividends.

Next year is also the time to double down on growth. Your people want to learn, progress, and take their careers to new heights. According to a report by the Center for Creative Leadership, employees who receive ongoing learning and development opportunities are 3.5 times more likely to stay with their employer for more than 5 years. Make learning and growth opportunities a priority by providing formal mentorship programs, facilitating peer learning, and offering access to online courses and virtual training. But don't stop there. Promote informal learning on the job through challenging assignments and role rotations. Champion a culture where employees feel empowered to take ownership of their careers with support from their managers and the organization. Research from Bersin by Deloitte found that companies with a strong learning culture experienced an 87% increase in employee productivity and a 25% reduction in turnover, so be sure to unlock your people's full potential in 2024 through a culture that celebrates learning at every step of the career journey.

Embrace Remote and Hybrid Models

The future is now. With remote and office options, find what resonates for different people and different roles. Hybrid working is set to become even more popular as it combines the collaborative and cultural benefits of face-to-face co-working with the flexibility of remote working. In fact, a report by AT&T Business and Dubber Inc. predicted that the hybrid work model is expected to grow from 42% in 2021 to 81% in 2024.

HR departments should support wherever work happens best – just be sure virtual teams still feel connected wherever they are with clever use of communication.

By continually sharpening our human skills alongside technology, HR professionals are well-positioned to act as strategic advisors in an increasingly automated world. Together, humans and machines can achieve far more than either could alone.

Harness Technology and Data

As you soar into 2024, it’s time to unleash the full potential of your HR tech arsenal. Keeping up with innovative tech tools and trends will help you stay 10 steps ahead of the competition.

Invest in the Right Software Suite

Research shows that optimizing your HR systems can significantly improve efficiency and outcomes. According to studies by Sage, organizations that adopt an integrated HR software suite experience a 25-50% boost in productivity by automating manual tasks.

Rather than using disjointed point solutions, a comprehensive platform like flair allows you to streamline your entire HR process on a single system. Customizable features ensure it supports your unique business goals.

For example, flair's configurable workflows automate routine activities like onboarding, performance reviews, and more. This frees up time that you can refocus on strategic priorities.

Advanced capabilities like talent analytics also provide actionable intelligence. With flairAI Recruiting you can identify top performers, critical skills gaps, and traits of high-potential candidates and make insights-driven decisions that elevate your talent strategy.

flair’s intuitive interface enhances the employee experience with self-service options while managers gain real-time oversight into their team's productivity and professional growth.

A tailored HR tech stack with flair at its core maximizes efficiency. Automate administrative tasks so your expertise can incubate a high-performing culture where people thrive.

Empower AI Allies

The future is here and while it won’t be fully automated, artificial intelligence is poised to transform HR functions like never before. In fact, a recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found 75% of HR leaders believe AI will be crucial for the future of the field. Companies like Amazon and IBM are already leveraging predictive analytics and machine learning to help recruiters find quality candidates quickly at their scale.

While AI and automation are poised to take over many repetitive, administrative tasks, this opens up exciting new opportunities for HR professionals to focus on enhancing their uniquely human skills. Deloitte's research shows there will be tremendous future demand for abilities like complex problem-solving, cognitive capabilities, social acumen, and process expertise. Similarly, the World Economic Forum found the top skills for the next decade center around critical thinking, creativity, and managing relationships.

With bots handling routine candidate sourcing, resume screening and basic inquiries, HR teams have more bandwidth. Rather than simply offloading administrative duties, we can invest this extra time in developing our judgment, empathy, strategic vision and other qualities that make us invaluable partners to the business. As AI automates low-level work, it allows HR experts to elevate our proficiency in areas machine intelligence cannot yet match - like cultivating talent, fostering cultural alignment and solving multifaceted organizational challenges.

By continually sharpening our human skills alongside technology, the HR profession is well-positioned to act as a strategic advisor in an increasingly automated world. Together, humans and machines can achieve far more than either could alone.

flairAI is committed to keeping you at the forefront of innovation in 2024. Our product roadmap includes a wide array of new tools designed to supercharge your capabilities. With automation on your side, you'll have more time than ever to empower your people and take the business to new heights.

Leverage Data for Impact

Information is power, and people analytics can wield it for good. By gathering and analyzing meaningful data, organizations gain insights to enhance the employee experience. In fact, A McKinsey study shows that people analytics solutions impact 90% of the employee lifecycle.

With flair's advanced reporting and analytics capabilities, you have the power to identify patterns across your workforce. Discover what really drives engagement, performance, and retention. Gain a holistic view of how policies, processes, and programs impact well-being, development, and job satisfaction over time.

With these kinds of actionable insights, you can initiate positive changes to empower your employees. Test new benefits, tailor learning programs, and get ahead of potential issues. And take care to continuously evaluate the impact of initiatives so you know what's truly working.

When organizations grasp the potential of data not only to comprehend challenges but also to ignite solutions, it nurtures a culture of transparency.

For 2024 and beyond, HR teams will require flexible solutions that maintain exceptional employee experiences. flair, designed for the future of work, empowers HR professionals to consolidate all their processes into a unified platform.

Streamline Your Workforce’s Technology

Juggling numerous applications and copying data across systems creates inefficiencies and is a common complaint for employees. On average, organizations utilize over 1000 different tools, though only 29% are integrated to share information seamlessly. This fragmentation leads to workflow disruptions.

As you plan for 2024, consider empowering your workforce with a consolidated technology platform. flair's all-in-one solution combines core HR functions like time tracking, payroll, and benefits administration into a single, cohesive experience.

Importantly, flair also facilitates interoperability through over 4000 integrations, which allows the smooth transfer of relevant data between flair and the other apps or programs you utilize.

By modernizing your technology infrastructure with flair's integrated platform, you can help optimize processes and better support your employees’ work, boosting productivity across your organization.

Upgrading your technology landscape sets the stage for operational excellence in the new year. So sit back and let tech take care of repetitive tasks, while you can devote more hours to high-impact initiatives. Coach managers, develop future leaders, and build an engaged culture for 2024.

By focusing on these key areas, you’ll bolster your human resources strategies and create a resilient workforce built for anything. But don't stop there. Keep listening to what your people need and tweaking your approach throughout the year. Let’s be proactive HR leaders and find out what our employees want!

Encourage a sense of community through transparent communication and give meaningful feedback to support improvement and strengths. Employees who receive feedback are three times as likely to feel empowered to improve their work.

Prioritize Employee Engagement

As an HR leader, focus on regular check-ins, career development, feedback, and culture. Start with one-on-ones to understand employees, address concerns, and demonstrate investment in their success. In fact, employees who have monthly 1:1 meetings with their managers are 19% more engaged, according to Gallup.

Build an empathetic, collaborative culture of trust where employees feel heard, valued, and respected. Companies with strong cultures have 31% higher productivity, 10% higher customer ratings, and 21% higher profitability, Bain research shows. Fostering community and respect leads to tangible business gains.

Encourage a sense of community through transparent communication and give meaningful feedback to support improvement and strengths. Employees who receive feedback are three times as likely to feel empowered to improve their work, per Microsoft research. Those who also have goals set are 23% more engaged, highlighting the power of constructive reviews. Recognize achievements to incentivize continued dedication. A tool like flair can help you to make employee recognition part of the culture with our Cheers feature.

Provide a clear career roadmap laying out paths for growth. Transparency about advancement steps motivates employees to work towards goals, boosting engagement. According to Gallup, when employees understand how to advance in their careers, 85% are more satisfied and 76% would recommend their company to a friend.

Implementing regular check-ins, development opportunities, constructive feedback, and a human-centric culture fosters deep engagement where employees contribute fully to success, so be sure to prioritize these strategies in 2024.

Level Up Your DEI

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) create competitive advantages like improved decision-making. Studies show diverse teams outperform homogeneous groups by up to 20%. As an HR pro, champion DEI initiatives to maximize your impact this year.

Establish a confidential reporting system using an anonymous whistleblower law-compliant tool like flair to address issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. A recent study by McKinsey found that 72% of employees said leadership that fostered psychological safety created a positive team climate. Promptly addressing any concerns will also help foster inclusion and trust.

Don’t forget to incorporate DEI into your hiring strategy – job postings with inclusive language receive more diverse applicants.

Providing ongoing bias training helps people recognize unconscious biases influencing decisions, and regular learning sessions sustain your organization’s commitment to a culture of belonging.

Research by Gallup shows that a sense of community and inclusion boosts productivity by 50% so prioritizing DEI initiatives is sure to maximize your competitive edge in 2024.

Retain Your Rockstars in 2024

In today's competitive job market, retaining top talent is crucial for your organization's success. Let’s take a look at some proven employee retention strategies to help maintain a happy and productive workforce in 2024.

Hire Carefully

Start by having a thorough and effective hiring process. Be transparent about job expectations and company culture to ensure new hires are a good cultural fit for the organization. Résumé screening tools like flair’s can help you quickly narrow down a large candidate pool and help you find the best candidates.

Streamline Onboarding

Make the initial experience welcoming and informative for new employees. Provide clear instructions, introduce them to team members, and establish an open communication channel for any questions or concerns. Research from LinkedIn shows that providing new employees with clear expectations and a well-defined role during the onboarding process can significantly improve retention rates. Companies that focus on clarifying roles and responsibilities during onboarding see a 50% increase in employee retention. Ensuring new hires understand their job duties and how they contribute to organizational goals helps boost engagement and commitment, making them less likely to leave within the first year.

flair can easily help you nail down an onboarding strategy to be proud of. The start of a new year is the perfect time to review and update your organization’s employee handbook so you can hit the ground running in the new year.

Competitive Compensation

Ensuring employees are fairly compensated has been shown to significantly reduce turnover. A 2023 U.S. study by Handshake found that ensuring fair pay increases employee satisfaction by 25% and reduces turnover by 50%. The study also found that 74% of Gen Zers say a high starting salary makes them more likely to apply for a job. This suggests that compensation transparency and fair pay are increasingly important factors for job seekers, especially younger workers, and can help businesses improve retention and recruitment.

By refreshing your retention strategies, you can reduce turnover and create a thriving workplace environment where employees feel valued and engaged. Remember that nurturing a culture of employee satisfaction takes time and effort, but the results will ultimately lead to greater success for your organization in 2024 and beyond.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

As an HR professional, prioritizing mental health and wellbeing should be a top focus area in 2024. Research by Gallup shows promoting work-life balance, mental health support, and a culture of wellbeing boosts organizational success and productivity.

Encourage flexible work arrangements which are shown to increase productivity, and avoid work communications after hours to respect personal time. Set a good example with regular breaks and vacation use. flair’s Time Tracking, Shift Planner, and Absences features can support you and your team to manage work-life balance better.

Mental health has a huge impact on wellbeing. Ensure a safe, supportive environment where employees comfortably discuss issues. Listen nonjudgmentally and refer those in need to counseling services or EAP programs. Research from the World Health Organization shows that for every $1 an organization invests in mental health programs, they see a $4 return through gains in productivity and improved health outcomes.

Well-designed employee mental health initiatives have been shown to boost feelings of well-being, reduce absenteeism and "presenteeism" (being physically present but not fully engaged at work), and foster higher morale – translating to real financial benefits for companies. Prioritizing mental wellness in the workplace is an investment that pays dividends.

Optimizing Talent Acquisition for 2024

As the hiring landscape evolves in 2024, keep your talent acquisition strategies ahead of the curve. Remote work is here to stay, so make the most of that and tap global talent pools through virtual interviews and onboarding.

Cultivate a strong employer brand on social media. A recent study by CareerArc revealed that 63% of active job hunters have applied to jobs they discovered on social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp business, etc.
Almost half were Gen Zers and Millennials, highlighting the immense potential of social media as a recruitment tool.

Leverage data insights to optimize sourcing and stay aware of shifting hiring trends. Every month, LinkedIn surveys over 20,000 members about the most important factors they weigh when considering a new job. The top priority for candidates today is excellent compensation and benefits, by a fairly wide margin, followed by work-life balance and flexible working arrangements. Flexibility and compensation are also the two fastest-growing priorities year over year.

By implementing these adaptive tactics, you'll secure top talent and future-proof your recruitment processes for ongoing success.

Your Five-Minute Guide to Getting flair New Year Ready

As the new year approaches, take some time to review a few key areas within flair. Making sure everything is accurate and up-to-date will save you time down the road and means you can hit the ground running after the holidays!

Import Local Holidays

Importing national and local holidays for 2024 is an easy way to be prepared. Start by navigating to the Locations page in your flair account. Then select the location you need to update. From there, just click "Import Holidays" and pick the upcoming year 2024.

flair will show you a list of holidays to choose from. Take a minute to select the ones that apply to your team so they're automatically marked as days off. That way, no one accidentally schedules time off or work on official holidays.

It's a simple one-click process. Once imported, your employees' calendars will be set with all the dates they need for time-sensitive planning and travel. Plus HR will have accurate records for reporting.

Be sure to double-check that all the right holidays were chosen if you have multiple locations with varying observances. But otherwise, you're pretty much done!

Make Sure Time Off Rules Are On Point

Now is a great time to review your absence categories in flair. Take a peek at the accrual and carryover rules for things like PTO, sick days, and more. Do unused days from 2023 get to roll over into next year? Or do they expire and start fresh in January? Easy to check – just head to Absence Categories > Accrual Policies.

It's important your absence categories accurately reflect your company policies. That way everyone understands their time off totals and what happens at the end of the year. No one wants surprises when their accrual resets. Do a quick scan of the settings to ensure they're set up how you intend before the new accrual period kicks in.

Your team will thank you for the clarity. Making small adjustments now could save hassle down the road.

Wrap Up Last Year's Timesheets

Before starting fresh in 2024, take 10 minutes to tidy up last year's timesheets in flair.

In the flair HR app head to Timesheets and filter for all dates in the past year. Go through and double-check check all hours are approved or rejected as needed. It's an easy way to get last year's records in order and means any reports or payroll reconciliations for 2023 will be based on fully signed-off data.

Once everything checks out, archive those old timesheets so they're not mixed in with the new year ones. Taking a few minutes now means your timesheet data stays shipshape. Your past and future self will thank you come tax season!

Give Your Employee Profiles a Check-Up

Finally, take some time to make sure to do a quick audit and make sure all your employee info is up-to-date heading into the new year.

Head over to Staff & Docs in the flair HR app. Do a quick scan to confirm contact details like phone numbers and emails are up-to-date for everyone. You'll thank yourself later, and it's an easy way to start 2024 feeling organized.

As always, reach out to us if any issues come up. The flair support team is here to help!

Equip for Tomorrow’s HR with Innovative Solutions Today

As you delve into HR trends and insights, incorporating these best practices in the coming year, a crucial factor for success is securing the right technology partner to meet your evolving needs.

For 2024 and beyond, HR teams will require flexible solutions that maintain exceptional employee experiences. flair, designed for the future of work, empowers HR professionals to consolidate all their processes into a unified platform.

With flair, you can easily manage global, remote, and hybrid workforces. Features like advanced reporting and analytics give you real-time insights to inform strategic decisions. As hiring, onboarding, and employee development expectations continues to shift, flair is constantly evolving to meet changing requirements. We’re excited about what we have in store for you in 2024, and our focus on innovation means you too can tackle what's next confidently, setting your organization up for success in the new year and beyond!

Are you ready for the future of HR? Book a demo and find out more about flair today!

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