The Rise Up blog

HR has seen some profound shifts in recent years. Human resources professionals have been on the front line since the first months of the health crisis, and their central role within organizations is sure to continue. HR departments face the consequences of lockdowns and restrictions: the implementation of a new approach to work in an organization (remote working, hybrid work).

The value of an employee lies in their professional skills. By skills, we of course mean technical and business skills (hard skills), but not only that - an employee's skills and abilities cover a much wider field.

Developing our interpersonal skills is essential in the current (and future) work environment. Creativity, leadership, adaptability and autonomy are qualities increasingly sought-after by employers. Interpersonal skills determine well-being at work, career development and the success of the company as a whole. Rise Up zooms in on interpersonal skills and gives you solutions on how to improve them.

Learning new skills is essential for all employees, whatever their career objectives: changing company, strengthening their expertise, moving to a managerial position, retraining... Professions and jobs are evolving, so this means employees must continuously develop new skills and knowledge and enter uncharted territories. The digitalisation of work is a major underlying trend, with the omnipresence of digital technology and the advance of artificial intelligence.

Keeping abreast of the latest innovations in the world of EdTech, a practice increasingly used for workplace learning came up: User-Generated Content. UGC for short, is a principle that encourages employees to create their own educational content so that it can be reused as part of the company’s Learning & Development plan.

The integration of hybrid work in companies is no longer an isolated phenomenon, reserved for certain "pioneering" organisations. Now, hybrid work is becoming the norm. However, according to a survey by Sapio Research and workplace platform provider Envoy, most UK workers prefer to spend some time in the office with 57% opting for a hybrid work model. Meanwhile, 38% indicated they preferred to work at the office full-time, and only 5% would like to work remotely all the time.

Every employee has surely experienced the frustration of time-consuming meetings that don't achieve anything constructive. Increasingly viewed as a bad example of collaborative work, employees find their interest wanes, and they become more passive.

Work emails can be a real bugbear for employees. All employees know what it's like to face a daily barrage of emails, or even worse, returning from a holiday to a deluge of emails. An average of 88 emails are received every day in work according to a survey carried out by research firm Radicati Group . Executives appear to be particularly sought-after: according to an Adobe study, they spend more than half their day checking their email (5 hours on average)!

Are managers becoming obsolete? While this might sound like an absurd question, it’s one that many experts are asking. According to the management consulting firm Gartner, 30% of employees will be without a boss by 2024 due to the self-directed and hybrid nature of work.