Updated on: 04/22/2022

From the longer term impact of Covid to the Great Resignation, managers could face a tricky 12 months—here are five management trends impacting the business world in 2022

As we enter 2022, managers across all sectors will face significant hurdles.

Navigating trends like the long-term impacts of Covid, implementing much-needed sustainability measures, and addressing workplace inequality will all create a demanding environment for leaders.

In the BusinessBecause Special Report, Executive MBA Insights: 10 Leadership Challenges For 2022, world class business school professors and leading industry experts reveal the 10 challenges senior leaders will need to overcome in the next 12 months.

Here's a snapshot of five of those trends. Download and read our full Special Report for a breakdown of all 10 challenges, and how an Executive MBA could help you overcome them.

1. Incorporating sustainability goals

In the wake of COP26, climate change should be high on any manager’s agenda. Current climate policies won’t be enough to keep global temperatures from rising above the 1.5C target proposed in the Paris Agreement. This creates an opportunity for businesses to take responsibility for decarbonizing their own operations.

“This isn’t a risk we can diversify away from as it’s going to affect all kinds of sectors, so represents an existential threat,” comments Jeremy Ghez, academic director of the HEC Paris Center for Geopolitics and scientific director of the school’s MSc Sustainability and Social Innovation program.

2. Tackling workplace inequality

Gender and racial inequality in the workplace persisted through 2021, and businesses are coming under increased scrutiny to ensure fair representation and advancement.

“It’s not only about gender but racial equality and social opportunities, and the role of companies in our society, which is going to become more and more important,” explains Miguel Simoes de Melo, partner at Bain & Company and head of the firm’s EMEA Strategy practice.

3. The Great Resignation

More than 38 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021. In the wake of the Covid pandemic, employees are reassessing what they want from work, and whether they can get it from their current employer.

“People sense that we’re going through another tectonic shift in the workplace,” says Risa Mish, professor of practice with a focus on human capital at Cornell University’s SC Johnson Graduate School of Management.

This trend, coined the ‘Great Resignation’, is a major trend for managers to handle—leading to a shortage of talent across sectors, especially in healthcare and tech.

4. Addressing mental health

Between the mental health challenges of remote work and handling the ongoing fallout of Covid, employees’ mental health continued to suffer in 2021. That’s why handling mental health issues and burnout will be a critical management trend for 2022.

The problem is particularly acute in healthcare, where intensive workloads have led to widespread staff burnout.

“The challenges facing clinical professionals are intense, especially when hospital admissions increase, the ones that are on the front line and dealing with covid have a different experience to healthcare professionals working in industry," explains Sunita Sah, associate professor of management and organizations and director of academic leadership at Cornell University’s SC Johnson Graduate School of Management.

5. Leveraging tech acceleration

Rapid tech developments in areas like energy, transport, and healthcare can bring about huge innovation and change lives—but they’re not without their challenges.

According to Tim Andrews, VP at Booz Allen Hamilton and co-author of A Brief History of a Perfect Future, data security is one major concern that this kind of innovation brings.

Source: https://www.businessbecause.com/news/insights/8027/management-trends-2022

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