Human Resources Predictions for 2023

Last week we shared with you some cybersecurity predictions from Exabeam experts for 2023. I’d like to take a moment to talk about some trends in HR that I believe are coming next year in terms of people and culture. Here are three of my predictions around:

• Gen Z and DEIB
• Pay transparency
• The role of HR in 2023

Gen Z and DEIB

By 2025, Gen Z workers will make up nearly 30% of the entire workforce. To continue to attract and retain top talent in 2023 and beyond, company leaders must listen closely to Gen Z voices. This generation typically aligns with organizations that can not just talk the talk when it comes to diverse hiring, work-life balance, the future of the workplace and more — but also walk the walk. They want to feel heard and seen at work — as we all should. 

More than any other previous generation, Gen Z values diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) — but through a different lens than just religion, gender, race, or physical ability. These candidates and employees want to see a diversity of thought, where all people feel welcome and healthy disagreement is not only allowed, but encouraged. To help cater to Gen Z candidates, organizations need to prioritize creating a culture of psychological safety. In this environment, with clear decision makers leading the way, organizations can benefit from employee engagement and retention and experience better business outcomes.”  

Pay transparency 

In 2023, we’re going to see more legislation around pay transparency. A handful of states such as California, Colorado, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Washington are already required to include pay ranges in job descriptions. I suspect more states will follow suit in short order. In our distributed working world, these laws will have an influence on pretty much every organization operating in the U.S. across all industries. 

While there will be naysayers, I support it. The goal behind these laws is to achieve more pay parity across gender, races, etc., and ultimately create fairer opportunities for everyone. It’s a noble cause and very positive. However, company leaders need to realize that with transparency comes education and actual implementation. The execution of pay transparency is very hard when factors such as geo-differentials come into play. Add in the influences of inflation and the current macroeconomic climate, and it becomes even more challenging. 

Despite its difficulties, I think pay transparency will lead to better pay equity for everyone if company leaders in all departments agree to work together to pave the path forward. After all, sunlight is the greatest disinfectant. Laws like this will really allow organizations to shine a light on pay practices and create a plan to fix inequalities.

Interestingly, pay transparency can also lead to job dissatisfaction if pay disparities are revealed, which can result in attrition. This becomes an opportunity for insider threat teams to partner with HR on process and procedures in advance of new legislation. 

The role of HR in 2023 

Thanks to the evolution of HR technology and people analytics over the last several years, C-level executives will continue to see HR leaders as people strategists in 2023 and beyond. HR practitioners now have the tools they need to look at components like employee engagement, performance ratings, and retention, and how these factors overlap and can act as predictive insider threat risk indicators. This type of data and analysis will give organizations a clear picture of trouble spots, as well as insight into policies or practices that are working successfully. We can expect organizations to get more intelligent and insightful about HR analytics, which translates into lower attrition rates overall – and happier teams.

In 2023 and beyond, organizations will need to balance employee happiness and productivity while simultaneously protecting margins and the security ecosystem. Even if every employee is a happy one, external challenges will remain that can become insider threats through credential theft or compromise.

Finding ways to track insider threats and compromised credentials can be key to anticipating incidents and events in your organization — or detecting malicious activity already going on unseen. Exabeam can help you Detect the Undetectable™.

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Insider threats can come from a wide variety of users within the network — including current and former employees, third parties, students, and interns — who might have inappropriate access rights. Often they accumulate rights, but rarely lose them, resulting in long-term users who can access systems they don’t need for their current jobs, or ex-employees who still have access to sensitive applications or servers remotely.

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