Chief Engagement Officer, overseeing the full Human Resources Department and contributing to a high-performance culture at Businessolver.
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Last December, my company hosted an HR technology risk management webinar. While that particular webinar discussed HR compliance and security strategies, it got me thinking about what HR teams can do to navigate this year (and beyond) as more employers adopt tech-first solutions and permanent hybrid and remote work models.
2023 will be the year of the shift: shifting generations in the workplace, shifting priorities, shifting expectations. As employers adapt to these shifts, HR can bolster their cross-functional relationships across the organization to drive consistency alongside their risk management.
Here are my top three predictions for HR and benefits in 2023.
1. HR and cybersecurity will be the new workplace BFFs.
HR, compliance and cybersecurity teams need to have a close working relationship in order to build out a successful holistic benefits strategy. As more workplaces adopt remote-first workplace models and shift to tech-enabled solutions, cybersecurity must sit at the top of HR’s priority list.
The partnership between HR and cybersecurity isn’t new, but it is evolving. Where once cybersecurity teams seemed siloed off from HR and benefits functions, today they play as critical of a role in decision-making and execution as HR and finance.
Building a strong cross-functional relationship with internal experts to ensure your benefits technology and programming is fireproof could be critical as your organization scales its benefits into the technological age. As more employers adopt tech- and data-driven benefits experiences, HR teams can bring their cybersecurity partners in early to ensure that the organization is delivering not only a modernized employee benefits experience but one that also keeps their data safe and secure across all channels.
2. Shifting generations in today’s workforce could demand the use of more data.
The shift to remote-first workplace models isn’t the only transition impacting benefits. Generation-Z has firmly entered the workforce and with this new generation of working adults comes new expectations around what makes up “good” benefits and total rewards packages.
According to a MetLife study, 57% of Gen-Zers said they would be more successful in work and life with more progressive benefits. Retirement benefits, student loan repayment options, mental health support and flexibility are among today’s “benefit table stakes” defined by Gen-Z.
Personalization is top of mind for many employees, especially younger generations, and data has shown that personalized benefit experiences pay dividends for both the employee and the employer. According to a Salesforce report, 73% of today’s connected consumers expect companies to understand and address their unique needs and expectations. But personalization comes at a price, and that’s (you guessed it) more data.
To meet these growing expectations, HR teams can bring more data into their strategy and systems to understand how to meet the shifting needs of employees alongside federal, state and local legislation and regulations. They can also share more data (a daunting idea for some) in order to scale their programs out with added point solutions and tech-enabled support to meet the growing needs and expectations of today’s workforce.
3. The compliance landscape will likely only get more complex.
The compliance landscape has always been complex, and the pandemic amplified that. HR teams need to steel themselves for that complexity to only get more, well, complex, especially across their distributed workforce.
The shift to remote-first workplace models only adds to this complexity. As employers recruit and retain talent across all fifty states, they should ensure that their compliance checklists scale in kind, especially regarding IRS and healthcare regulations at the state and local levels regarding requirements.
Complexity in the benefits landscape isn’t a new trend in HR but the shifting issues might be. Taking a risk management-first approach to managing your benefits program can help you not only scale your benefits offerings but also do it safely and securely so that you can meet the shifting expectations of your workforce with confidence.
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