World of Work Trends 2022 | Unleashing the Power of the “Involved” Employee

At Top Employers Institute, we’re proud to launch the  World of Work Trends Report for 2022 has given readers great insights into the business trends that will impact the workforce in the year ahead. The report is available for download now!

This year, we see three major trends. And at the heart of all three, we find employees winning a far stronger voice and influence over the key decisions that affect them.

Our first trend is that businesses will need to unleash the potential of what we are calling, the “Involved employee.”  It’s no longer enough for employees to be “engaged” with their work – they need to feel deeply involved and immersed in the way it is designed.

This trend extends across individual organisations as employees are becoming deeply involved and immersed in designing the way they work to deliver outcomes that the changing workspace will demand. The “Involved employee” has been increasing over the past few years and in 2022 we will see organisations begin to allow their employees to have an active role in influencing decision making that goes beyond the narrow confines of their job description.

In 2022 83% of Certified Top Employers are involving their employees in the design of their organisation, a 6% increase on the year before, which shows their commitment and courage that they need to fully get the most out of their employees.

While our World of Work Trends report goes into more detailed insights and analysis, this article will give a brief look at what you can expect to read in the report.

Employee Involvement in Organisational Change

The effects of the pandemic, and the mass temporary relocation it caused for many employees was best handled by organisations that were willing to engage with employees as they designed what working from home would look and feel like. According to our research we saw that many companies worked in tandem with their employees to manage the impact and emotional reactions to the unprecedented change.

Great communication is central to achieving employee-driven change and as more organisations prioritise the involvement of the employees, they will need to make communication a major pillar of their organisation.  

Employee Involvement in Talent Attraction

The competitive nature of the labour market demands that employees play an increasingly vital role in talent attraction. We have seen that Top Employers have already been consistently taking the following steps to making this happen:

• 87% use their employees in attracting candidates, a 13% increase from the 2020 survey.
• 80% involve their employees in defining their employee value proposition (EVP).
• 80% use employee referral programmes.

But in 2022 organisations will need to find more ways to attract top talent, in the report you will find some of them explored more deeply.

Employee Involvement in Well-Being

The significance of well-being in the workplace has been growing over the last decade and this only increased in importance since the pandemic affected the world in early 2020. While managers have often taken sole responsibility for advocating well-being programmes in our research, we saw the rise of employees being involved and becoming key drivers in well-being initiatives.

In 2022, organisations everywhere will need to reassess their well-being policies and the way that they link to work-life balance, ensuring that employees can disconnect and enjoy time to live their lives inside and outside of work.

Employee Involvement in Ethics, Diversity, and Sustainability

As organisations are defining their ethical standards, their approaches to diversity and inclusion, and their sustainability actions they will need to allow their employees to take active ownership over these important business priorities in their daily actions. This will mean continuously listening to employees and acting on their feedback where necessary.

Employees want their organisations to be committed to these critical aspects of the business and to do this, organisations will need to build a culture that prioritises employees taking a role in the decision-making process. The report goes into more detail about how the involved employee is needed in ethics, diversity, and sustainability.

Conclusion

The involved employee will become a more active part of successful organisations in 2022 and this is reflected in the report where we explore this trend in more detail with data from Top Employers and best practice examples from leading organisations.

The World of Work Trends Report 2022 is available for download now! The report focuses on three major trends that are shaping global people practices:

• Unleash the power of the “Involved” employee
• Deliver people agility through “Digit-ability”
• Taming the “Wild West” of Work