Employers are adopting new procedures for onboarding remote employees to ensure they understand company culture, HR leaders say. New employees at Jobber listen to recordings of sales professionals interacting with customers, have a coffee with an existing employee and meet virtually with an executive team member after three months.

Focus company culture on employee engagement by showing employees how their performance affects business goals, recognizing them for their work and listening and responding to their concerns, writes Anne Maltese, director of people insights at Quantum Workplace. Employees "want to feel empowered to make decisions on how the work gets done," Maltese writes.

Concepts of love and work often attributed to Sigmund Freud can allow organizations to enhance employee retention by helping people deeply connect with one another and find meaning and purpose in their jobs, writes Michael Nathanson, CEO of The Colony Group. "[W]hen employees feel that their purpose is aligned with the organization's purpose, the benefits expand to include stronger employee engagement, heightened loyalty, and a greater willingness to recommend the company to others," Nathanson writes.

Leaders need to build organizations that focus on learning, skills development and career growth to meet the needs of modern workers, talent manager Josh Bersin writes in his blog. Through a concept called "Growth in the Flow of Work," Bersin says employers can help workers continually improve and escalate their growth potential.

Don't lose sight of the importance of having a multigenerational workforce as hybrid and remote working arrangements take hold, advises Eric Cormier, manager of HR services for Insperity. "When leaders support ongoing cross-generational mentoring, via videoconferencing or in-person, employees will expand their skill sets, team building is nurtured and camaraderie increases," Cormier says.

HR leaders' contributions go well beyond hiring, and those who hone the right expertise in conditioning and reskilling teams and integrating employees into institutional culture will be key to development of future-proof organizations, writes Singhi Advisors founder Mahesh Singhi. Future-ready HR teams should focus on workforce planning to build flexibility, a strong employer brand for recruitment, a mindset of continual learning and a culture that supports talent mobility.

Hybrid work is here to stay, so employers should ensure they offer a "stress-free digital experience" to workers through innovative technology solutions, writes Daniel Fallmann, founder and CEO of Mindbreeze. "Although many have just accomplished or are still tackling the hybrid versus remote roadmap, the digital workplace will see even more significant changes in the next five years," Fallmann writes.

Tech conference Collision 2022 offered a variety of new technology that could be applied to the HR industry, writes David Creelman, CEO of Creelman Research. The tech initiatives included photo-realistic chatbots, social channels for remote workers, video for use in internal networking and tech that can test people in high-pressure situations.

Employers would reduce burnout among HR leaders by giving them the authority to focus more on people strategy and less on administrative tasks, says Gillian French, expert-in-residence in employee experience at Workvivo. "HR leaders need to be on the board and executive team, so they can start asking questions about how companies have gotten such profits," French says.

Help build a workplace culture of belonging by letting employees know their opinions count and making them feel comfortable when they suggest ideas, writes Gallup's Louis Efron. Give people opportunities to socialize at work, and train managers to appreciate employees' differences, Efron adds.