A new year with endless opportunities to seize and challenges to overcome. We asked our experts to provide their predictions of the most important trends in the talent market for 2022.
Helidona Dehari, Employer Brand Lead Finland
What are the trends you foresee happening in 2022 within Employer Branding?
‘’More proactive and extensive workforce and talent strategy planning for future needs is a must by all employers to keep up with talent demands on the market and somehow tackle the talent shortage.
More internal investments in talent in diverse ways and employee experience overall are a deal breaker as hybrid way of working has taken away most of the tangible matters of one’s work environment, also increasing the importance of salary/ monetary rewards.
Organizations will have to rethink their employment models and offer more employment opportunities such as gig work to stay up to date as an attractive and interesting employer and meet the talent demands – having 2-3 side jobs is becoming a new normal.’’
What tips would you like to share with talents for 2022?
‘’Be bold and seize the opportunities, the pandemic time has shown and proven that only the sky is the limit, more than ever talent have taken risks by starting their own companies and trying something entirely new.
Networking never gets old – network, network and network! Whether that is online or offline, when possible, you never know who you will meet and where that will lead. Including networking within the organization too, especially in the large ones. By networking, you don’t only expand your relations, group of colleagues or friends, you get to learn, grow, and share your own insights.
The importance of soft skills will only increase as they are required in every interaction one has, in case they do not come naturally enroll into those relevant study courses or possible trainings provided by your employer and get to learn e.g. how you can enhance your communication, listening and learning skills as well as enhance your level of empathy because all of these will lead you to better interactions, better negotiations with different stakeholders and most importantly better understanding of others.’’
Kristian Brauti, Employer Brand Lead Norway
What are the trends you foresee happening in 2022 within Employer Branding?
''The war for talent is here to stay and combined with a small talent pool, that is a hard nut to crack. In 2022, we need to focus on finding solutions for the dilemma.
Offering upskilling and reskilling opportunities will be increasingly important going forward and many organisations need to change their mindset when it comes to the global hiring market and language requirements. Hiring globally, combined with hybrid working may be the key!
Hybrid working will continue to be important and organisations need to provide better and more sustainable solutions to stand out in the crowd.''
What tips would you like to share with talents for 2022?
''Take some programming courses besides your non-IT studies. IT is easily combined with whatever you are studying, as it is always relevant!
When working or studying from home, pay attention to your physical and mental health. Health is the new wealth!
Build your own, personal brand by updating your LinkedIn profile regularly with new skills or information about your latest accomplishments!''
Anna Gulliksen, Head of Talent Acquisition
What are the trends you foresee happening in 2022 within Talent Acquisition?
‘’I believe that data driven Talent Acquisition will increase its importance. In the highly competitive landscape, we need data to see how we can improve i.e. time to hire, pipeline building, candidate experience.
Internal mobility, retention and development will also be focus areas for this year. How can we retrain and reskill our employees to meet market and customer demands and ensure career paths for our talents? How can we create paths for internal mobility and development and learning tracks for employees? These are questions we need to answer.
Employee engagement also continues as a big trend within TA. As long as it is a general shortage of skilled talent, the companies' ability to attract talent and ability to engage employees and potential employees will be crucial. To increase the level of attractivity for our target groups in the market and to have engaged and motivated employees who will stay and develop in the company.
And last but not least: the hybrid way of work – how do we accomplish all the above in the new hybrid way of working. How do we create a sense of belonging when people are working from home? How do we ensure a good working environment? How to handle work life balance for our people and their unique needs, as well as having a shared way of work and collaboration.’’
What tips would you like to share with talents for 2022?
’’I have three tips for talents to focus on this year:
- Consider learning as an on going way of work – we will never be fully learned, learning is somethings that goes side by side your daily work
- Stay curious – Always be open for new insights, new perspectives or new learnings
- Buildingrelationships, collaboration and empathy will be our new gold in the area of technology. The human touch and things that can´t be copied will increase it´s importance in the technical evolution.’’