With 2021 officially in the rearview mirror, we move into a new year that will likely be marked by the same uncertainty that defined the past two years. However, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there are a plethora of new opportunities on the horizon. Workplaces are increasingly embracing new technologies that allow us to work together more effectively, and it appears that hybrid work environments are here to stay. Employees hold more power going into 2022, and they are increasingly demanding more flexibility and accountability from their employers. With record numbers of employees leaving their jobs in 2021, employers who don’t take steps to attract and retain top talent may be in for a rough year.
Performance management will continue to present new challenges in 2022. The realities of managing remote teams amid changing public health guidelines all but ensure that the new year will be a turbulent one. The good news: for companies that manage to adapt to changing circumstances, the coming year will bring new opportunities for growth. How can managers adapt in the new year, and manage their teams effectively? Here are twelve performance management trends we can expect to see in 2022.
More Project-Based
“With more employees working remotely, performance management will be more project-based. In the past, when in-office work was the norm, managers had a lot more face time with their employees and often took a more hands-on approach when it came to task execution. Now teams have more autonomy, and performance management will focus more on longer-term projects and results.” – Daniel Sathyanesan, CEO and Founder of Winden
Focus on Mental Health
“Considering all the upheaval we’ve dealt with over the past two years, 2022 will certainly bring a renewed focus on mental health. This should be reflected in performance management as well, as managers take into consideration the whole employee when managing their teams. People are dealing with a lot of challenges right now, whether it’s managing childcare issues or the loss of a loved one, and performance management will have to take these external factors into account.” – Phillip Akhzar, CEO of Arka
Shift Away From Annual Reviews
“Companies are increasingly shifting away from giving annual reviews, and giving employees more frequent and topical feedback instead. Rather than waiting for the end of the year for a formal review, managers should hold regular one-on-one meetings with employees, or small groups, to give feedback and help guide projects. Studies have demonstrated that employees appreciate more frequent feedback, even if it’s critical, rather than no feedback at all. More frequent feedback can help teams collaborate more effectively.” – Heather Pulier, CEO of Outset Financial
Guided by Data
“In the coming year, performance managers will increasingly turn to data to guide their teams and provide feedback to employees. As more teams operate remotely or in hybrid environments, managers will have to shift away from intuition-led performance reviews, and focus more on hard data. Regardless of what industry you’re in, data will drive discussions of employee advancement and development. Managers should expect to keep close tabs on KPIs and to use these indicators to guide their management style.” – Juan Pablo Cappello, Co-Founder and CEO of Nue Life
Importance of Soft Skills
“Soft skills like problem solving and teamwork will become even more important in 2022. Although soft skills are harder to measure, we know that the best employees often have the best soft skills, and there is a lot that managers can do to help their teams develop these skills. By investing in skill development and training, managers can help their teams to be more productive and efficient. With more uncertainty on the horizon in the new year, having critical soft skills will make a big difference.” – Cindy Le, Co-Founder and COO of Revela
Flexibility Reigns Supreme
“With shifting guidelines surrounding COVID-19, performance managers will have to remain flexible through 2022. Teamwork looks different in 2022 than it has in the past, with many teams operating in a remote or hybrid environment. Technology is a much bigger part of our work lives now, and that comes with inevitable hiccups, like connectivity issues, that leaders will have to manage. Staying flexible and planning for regular disruptions will be an integral part of team management in the new year.” – Chris Bridges, CEO of VITAL Card
Managing Remote Teams
“More employees are working remotely as we move into the new year, and managers will have to navigate the challenges of managing remote and hybrid teams. For managers, this means that they’ll have to expand their use of digital tools and project management software to make sure their teams can work together effectively. ” – Jaymee Messler, CEO of The Gaming Society
Employees Expect More Transparency
“There has been a substantial push towards more transparency in the workplace, and this trend will likely continue into 2022. Managers should be prepared to back up their decisions with data, and to work towards building a more inclusive workplace. Employees are more cognizant than ever of gender and racial gaps in leadership, and they are increasingly demanding accountability from their employers. When it comes to performance management, diversity and inclusion should remain top of mind going into the new year.” – Tirzah Shirai, CEO of Blink Bar
Focus on Skill Development
“In recent years, there has been more job-hopping in the workplace, and the ‘great resignation’ of 2021 led to shorter tenures for many workers. As employees spend less time at their jobs than they may have in the past, there will be a greater demand for the kind of high-level skills that are only acquired through long-term experience. Performance management will have to focus on skill development, and managers should take extra steps to train existing employees so their teams can function at an optimal level.” – Roman Taranov, CEO of Able
Stress Mitigation
“Over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees and employers alike have dealt with unprecedented changes and high levels of stress. One of the keys to performance management in the new year will be finding creative ways to manage employee stress, and making sure that mental health is an integral part of your workplace culture. Employers that neglect mental health at the workplace will quickly lose their best workers, so a focus on stress mitigation will be crucial in 2022. ” – John Berry, CEO and Managing Partner of Berry Law
Coaching is Collaboration
“With this understanding, CEOs are changing their company’s ideal vision of a manager. Today’s agile manager is no longer a commander and detail-checker but a strong coach. Good coaching is a dialogue in which manager and employee discuss specific parts of a job or project and collaborate on decisions about what needs to get done. When employees participate in a two-way conversation, they gain ownership and accountability. They also become invested in a process that helps them decide their own career paths, even as their life goals change. And over time, every employee learns to give as well as receive feedback.” – Eric Mosley, Co-Founder and CEO of Workhuman
Attract and Retain Top Talent
“Attracting and retaining your talent is anything but a new trend in HR, and it has been an ongoing concern for many organizations. The thing is, this challenge not only prevails but has also become a greater concern due to a record of 4 million people leaving their jobs in April 2021 – and numbers keep growing. Most companies aren’t succeeding at attracting and retaining their digital-savvy employees mainly because they don’t know how to create an attractive environment for them. The first thing you need to find out is how your people feel, need, and think in order to take the right actions.” – Maru Raffaele, Managing Director at Globant
If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past two years, it’s that we can’t be sure what the road ahead looks like. For performance management, flexibility and agility are the key words to live by. The new year will likely bring more upheaval in the workplace, and the companies that remain flexible under pressure will be better off in the long run.
Feature photo by Dinielle De Veyra
