5 HR issues to watch in 2022

The New Year is an opportunity to turn over a fresh calendar and forge ahead with new innovations, approaches, partnerships and more. This year we have the added hope that we can transition away from Covid-19 and get back to some semblance of a routine life.

While the pandemic has been disruptive, it has revealed the best of what trucking and logistics has to offer. We’re unquestionably essential to a functioning supply chain and economy. More importantly, we’ve proven our resilience, leadership and ability to endure and pull through ongoing challenges. This year will be no different.

The industry should be an attractive place to work, given the respect we’ve generated among the public. Yet finding and keeping talent remains a top challenge for employers.

Trucking HR Canada is here to support you with practical, evidence-based solutions, including several new programs and points of emphasis in 2022. Let’s look at five areas of consideration in the year ahead:

Fresh approaches for recruiting and retention

According to Trucking HR Canada’s Labour Market Information, there were 18,310 truck driver vacancies at the end of Q2 2021, an increase of 4,330 open jobs compared to the last quarter of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic. The demand for drivers is expected to increase each year through 2025, when the number of vacancies will reach 24,700.

Employers need fresh ideas to build the workforce. In 2022, our new Transformative Change Group will lead the discussion into issues such as work-life balance, more transparent compensation structures, better communications and other elements of an HR program that will help you compete for talent.

Holistic wellness

In trucking and logistics, the requirements for organizations to manage an employee’s physical health and safety are significant. The pandemic highlighted the connection between physical and mental health in the workplace and beyond. Investing in a holistic approach is good for the individual employee and makes sense for the business, resulting in higher productivity and engagement.

Trucking and logistics companies are learning how to make holistic wellness a larger part of the workplace culture. Stay tuned as Trucking HR Canada adds resources and seminars that can offer practical support to you and your HR team.

Hybrid work models

At the beginning of the pandemic, offices transitioned to work-from-home models practically overnight. Today it seems like hybrid work models are here to stay, and employers are focusing on ways to keep workers safe and supported while maintaining an effective workplace culture.

Trucking and logistics companies have always had some segment of the workforce working remotely, whether they’re in a truck, shop, warehouse or other front-line environment. What’s different today is how people and businesses are using technology to collaborate, communicate and take advantage of digital business processes.

With the right investments in technology and training, it’s never been easier for executives, managers, administrators, drivers and others to work together as a team in a hybrid model. We have already seen this with some of our Top Fleet Employers reporting happier workers overall.

Workplace diversity and inclusion

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has catapulted to the forefront of business priorities. In trucking and logistics, an industry not known for its diversity, strong DEI strategies can differentiate your organization.

DEI is not a tick-the-box exercise. This year we’re introducing new resources and informational seminars to help you build programs that will increase your candidate pool, enhance innovation and increase genuine engagement.

Flexible workplace learning and development

We begin 2022 on the precipice of the fourth industrial revolution. Specific to trucking and logistics, this includes the impact of digitization on scheduling and dispatching, cybersecurity threats and the push for new technologies including electric trucks, semi-autonomous vehicles and more. This will affect the skills needed to perform existing jobs while also creating new ones.

During the pandemic, supply chain decisions that might be years in the making instead occurred at rapid speed. Today, the evolving training and development needs of our workers require a more measured, thoughtful, practical approach.

You can count on Trucking HR Canada to help you now and every day going forward.

We look forward to working with you in 2022.