Happy New Year! I hope you are settling into 2022 despite the upheaval and chaos that, by now, is part of our world.  These days, one of the biggest questions that I have been pondering – both at work as well as when I look at the world around me – is how we can create more fairness and opportunity for all.

And lo and behold, Harvard Business Review just published a great article 11-trends-that-will-shape-work-in-2022-and-beyond!

And the first trend they cite that will “be the defining issue for organizations” is a focus on Fairness and Equity.  They say it better, so let me quote directly from them:

“Debates that have fairness at the core, whether it’s around race, climate change, or Covid vaccine distribution, have become flashpoints in society.

According to our analysis of S&P 500 earnings calls, the frequency with which CEOs talk about issues of equity, fairness and inclusion on these calls has increased by 658% since 2018.

And questions of fairness and equity are emerging in new ways:

• Who has access to flexible work? We’ve seen organizations where some managers allow their employees flexibility while other managers don’t.
• What happens when employees move to locations with a lower cost of living? Should employers lower their compensation even though the impact of their work hasn’t changed?
• In today’s labor market, companies are paying 20% compensation premiums to hire new employees. Is it fair to pay new employees so much more than established employees?
• Companies are offering new, targeted investments for specific segments of their workforce (e.g., additional financial resources to support employees with children). While these investments are critical to help those employees do their job, employees without children have asked “Why are employees who are parents getting something and I’m not?”

In 2022, executives will need to address how they are managing fairness and equity across the increasingly varied employee experience. In fact, this will be the number one priority for HR executives next year”

Read the full article here, and I always enjoy hearing from you and your perspectives – I would also be thrilled to hear about what you and/or your organizations are doing to move concretely on some of these issues. 

All the best,