7 Company Culture Trends to Watch in 2022

Company culture changes with the workforce, which means it changes over time. But culture doesn’t cultivate itself! If not already, HR should assume the role of caretaker in your organization—building, managing, and measuring company culture.

So, here are seven culture trends that HR teams should keep an eye on in 2022 and how your team can take advantage of them.

What is Company Culture?

Company culture often refers to the personality of a company. That encompasses the physical and social environment where employees work as well as the organization’s mission, values, ethics, expectations, and goals.

Employees are more likely to enjoy their time in the workplace if they fit in with your company culture. Additionally, employees are more likely to stay and recommend others to work for your organization. When cultivated with care and commitment, a meaningful culture can improve employee performance, satisfaction, and recruitment.

More specifically, here are five factors that can contribute to a healthy company culture:

1. Mutual Trust and Respect Between Employers and Employees
2. Healthy Work-Life Balance
3. Flexible Workplace Policies
4. Collective Team Incentives and Team-Building Exercises
5. Company Outings and Events

Company Culture Trends to Watch in 2022

There are many ways HR can lead efforts to build company culture. But no matter how your team approaches change, cultural shifts should still align with a company’s mission and vision. Consider how these seven emerging trends could improve your workplace culture:

1. Prioritizing Employee Mental and Emotional Health:

In response to the rise in occupational stress over the last couple years, 76% of employers with 500 or more employees said addressing employee mental and emotional health will be a “top priority over the next 3-5 years,” according to Mercer’s 2021 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.

Consider this cultural trend when communicating with your workforce and when designing your benefits package. This could include a more flexible PTO policy, offering an EAP, or even pet-friendly benefits. 

Also, BerniePortal’s Performance feature allows you to conduct surveys and document 1:1 meetings to take the pulse of your organization and to check in on how individual workers are managing occupational and personal stress.

2. Increasingly Remote and Hybrid Workplaces:

As a result of the COVID pandemic, workplaces were forced to reconsider the very concept of a “workplace.” A recent Gallup analysis predicted that—“when the pandemic wanes and something close to ‘normal’ returns”—there will be 37% fewer workers reporting full-time in the physical office. 

Many companies are adjusting to and preparing for this trend by creating new HR roles, such as Head of Remote. For organizations not prepared for a fully remote workforce, HR and employers might consider a hybrid model or more flexible work hours, especially to stay competitive during the retention tension of the so-called “Great Resignation.”

BerniePortal’s Time & Attendance feature can help employers and employees keep track of hours while working remotely or in person.

3. Emphasis on Personalized Performance Management:

As workforces become more decentralized and worker-focused, employee performance conversations can have a huge influence on how satisfied, motivated, and productive employees are.

To address that need, HR should consider implementing weekly 1:1 meetings, in which managers can offer constructive coaching. HR and managers can also rely on regular 1:1 documentation to cover compliance concerns in the event an employee is laid off or terminated. 

Again, BerniePortal can help you document 1:1 meetings for performance management. For a deeper dive into how you can improve, check out this BernieU course: How Employers Can Master Managing Employee Performance.

4. More Workplace Transparency:

According to a 2021 report, 58% of surveyed workers said they would consider moving to another organization for more pay transparency. Why? When HR and employers demonstrate a commitment to workplace transparency—including in compensation practices—it’s actually their employees who feel seen. It fosters the kind of mutual respect necessary for a healthy company culture. 

Workplace transparency involves clear and frequent communication between employees and management. It also means sharing information and expectations—regarding company decisions, compensation, and performance—across teams as well as up and down the organizational chart.

BerniePortal’s Compliance feature allows you to communicate policy updates—including those included in a Culture Guide or employee handbook—and to track employee acknowledgement.

5. Focus on Employee Feedback:

Recent McKinsey research found that 54% of workers who resigned from a job in the last six months cited not feeling valued by their companies as a contributing factor. More and more, HR and employers are recognizing their need to know about these potential retention problems before employees quit. 

Regular surveys are the best way to keep a finger on the pulse of employee satisfaction. Surveys are not only good predictors of employee behavior; they’re also an excellent way to influence it. In other words, surveys can help you better understand employee satisfaction while building your company culture at the same time.

BerniePortal’s Performance feature includes a Survey tool, which makes it easy for HR and employers to send out employee surveys to gauge opinions on topics like company culture, employee satisfaction, and employee performance.

6. Need for Upskilling and Reskilling:

The World Economic Forum anticipates that, by 2025, about half of the global workforce will require upskilling or reskilling—learning new skills to perform better at a current job or a different job, respectively—in order to adapt to technological innovation.

The need for upskilling and reskilling seems obvious, but how can it improve company culture? First, companies with a healthy culture show employees respect by investing in their futures through training and continuing education. Second, in organizations with transparent compensation practices, upskilling and reskilling empower employees to seek raises and promotions by providing a clear path upward.

Check out BernieU’s free online CE courses, which are approved for SHRM and HRCI recertification credit.

Automation and other technological innovations are opportunities, not threats. For example, an all-in-one human resources information system—or HRIS like BerniePortal—can streamline HR processes, saving time and decreasing error. 

By simplifying everything from applicant tracking to benefits administration to compliance, BerniePortal allows HR pros to focus on more strategic roles and empowers employers to spend less time on administration—and more time building the businesses they love. 

Intentional Culture Building

In the past, anything resembling company culture was usually just a byproduct of work tasks, habits, and environment; now, however, influence runs the other direction, with culture informing daily work.

HR and employers should be proactive in building a meaningful culture that enhances the company and the employees’ experience. After all, the job market remains incredibly competitive for employers, and one the best ways to gain an edge in recruitment and retention is by cultivating a stable and healthy company culture.

Additional Resources

You can stay informed, educated, and up-to-date with company culture and other important topics using BerniePortal’s comprehensive resources:

• BerniePortal Blog—a one-stop-shop for HR industry news
• HR Glossary—featuring the most common HR terms, acronyms, and compliance
• HR Guides—essential pillars, covering an extensive list of comprehensive HR topics
• BernieU—free online HR courses, approved for SHRM and HRCI recertification credit
• HR Party of One—our popular YouTube series and podcast, covering emerging HR trends and enduring HR topics