The positive funding and investment landscape has driven the growth of emerging businesses and in 2022 these companies are rapidly moving towards a path of recovery.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that more than 45% of business leaders and HR professionals who participated in the survey, are positive about their business growth. However, as they accelerate towards their big ambitious goals they face several challenges along the way. 

Skills shortages (36.5%) and Macroeconomic Volatility (33.7%) were identified as major threats to business growth in the research Talent Trends 2022: The rise of startups, unicorns and SMEs by People Matters and Keka.

Key macro disruptions shaping business priorities

The skills crisis has been there for a long time and it prevails as one of the most burning challenges for business and talent leaders. But in the pandemic-struck world of work where employees take on the driving seat and digital innovations challenge the existing work and business models, new roadblocks also emerge.

"Today, our workplace environment has become dynamic, and we are constantly evolving and improving our strategies to cater to our business priorities. Firstly, from a macro perspective, focussing on ensuring that positions are filled up and replacements are recruited on time is vital to serving the overall goal of the company," said Priyanka Khandelwal Gupta, head of people, Fittr. 

In the research, Talent Acquisition and Retention (31.5%), Digital Adoption (15.2%), and Government Regulations (12.4%) emerged as key challenges that fast-growing organisations continue to face. 

"With the war for talent raging on, startups are looking at the best possible way to hire young talent and how to retain them for a longer tenure." said Ujjwal Singh, CEO and president, Infinity Learn.

Singh believes that there are times when you hire talent and other times, you foster and build it.

Are HR leaders of these fast-growing organistions ready to take on the challenges?

Around 15% respondents feel that their HR teams are ready to take on these emerging challenges defining the now and future of work. 

To build a future-ready HR team 32.6% of respondents said they are prioritising Business Acumen & Partnering With The Business as a key skill, while 20.2% are focusing on building Digital Readiness.

Anil Pillai, director, Terragni Consulting said, “Gone are the days of picnics, frenetic parties and a well-stocked pantry passing off as employee engagement. Going ahead, employee engagement will mean what HR can do to ensure the employee is adding value to the organisation and, in turn, how the organisation is catering to the life goals of the employee.”

"Owing to the advent of disruptive technologies, HR teams are expected to be more tech-savvy and follow a result-oriented approach. It is no longer only about the people, it’s more about holistic development including the systems and processes," added Sulbha Rai, Chief People Officer, RenewBuy

The role of HR in small and medium companies go beyond operations and administration. No matter the size of the organisation. If you are a team with 50 employees aiming to double your workforce, then your HR leaders need to assume a bigger role. You have to enable your business to get the best of the people, skill them, drive cultural transformation, take care of employee experience across career lifecycle and also lead digitisation. 

Learn how some young and small businesses are redesigning their talent strategies and empowering their people and business in this research by Keka and People Matters: Talent Trends 2022: The rise of startups, unicorns and SMEs. 

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