Global Consumer Behaviour Trends and HR Management

Today, 13 April, LTRK held a Human Resources Management Day, at which one of the first speakers was Turība lecturer Aivars Kalniņš. The theme he raised and the insights he shared seemed engaging enough both in a business context - what is being bought - and in an HR context - how to attract, motivate, and retain employees.

The consumer behaviour reference points presented derive from several studies, including Forbes, Euromonitor International, and Deutsche Bank. The conclusion is one - consumer habits are changing rapidly and often very radically. Furthermore, the external environment is also changing rapidly and radically.

What is being bought in the world today

1. Diversity, or multiplicity

Many things today are done simultaneously, in combination, as a package. Combiners, combined technical solutions, multi-tasking.

2. We buy time!

Time as a luxury good. Outsourcing, automation of operations.

3. The new industrial revolution

Science is no longer a closed, inaccessible world for the ordinary consumer. A great deal is being digitised and is available online.

4. The age challenge

Consumers are ageing - the 50+ demographic as a middle-age challenge. A consumer who already has a stable income knows what they want, but on the other hand their purchases are very predictable. Products for retirees.

5. Escape! Experience childlike freedom! - Escape

Today's person wants to switch off, to get away from the city in their free time. To go on trips right here in Latvia. To share the joy of enjoyment.

6. Change-makers

Every consumer, through their individual habits, is capable of influencing economic development as a whole. Waste-sorting habits, community clean-ups, tidying and developing one's own neighbourhood.

7. Meaningful thinking, or mindfulness

If I pay taxes to the state, then I want to know and see what is being done, fixed, developed, built, or improved with them.

8. Gender blurring

This is most vividly expressed in fashion, clothing, and style. Even men's and women's magazines are no longer strictly positioned for a specific audience.

9. Hyper-efficiency

Ever newer and more efficient means of reducing energy or other resource consumption are being sought. Reducing the number of steps it takes to complete a purchase.

10. Greener food

The trend of buying locally produced farmers' goods, trust in eco labels and products.

11. Super-personalisation

A product or service created specifically for you - for Jānis Bērziņš and not for Jānis Kalniņš or Jānis Ozoliņš. Tailored precisely to your needs, requirements, and tastes. Personalised employee motivation programmes. Tell us what motivates you - that is how we will motivate you!

12. Mental wellbeing

Interest in and attention to not only a person's physical but also their mental and psychological health. Meditation, Eastern medicine, gong therapy, and so on.

13. Buyer agnostics

The buyer has become extraordinarily knowledgeable. Before making a purchase, they research everything in detail online. They compare prices, technical specifications, delivery terms, and so on.

14. Hyper-connected consumers

Consumers are connected on social networks, where they share their purchasing experience, both positive and negative reviews. The upside is that it fosters critical thinking; the downside is that people connected online are more easily influenced and sometimes struggle to make individual decisions.

15. Shopping for control!

Purchases for one's own safety, the safety of the home and the surrounding environment. The human being's natural desire to feel protected and to control the situation.

16. Lone spenders

There are ever more lone buyers in the market. A recent Deutsche Bank study showed that 39% of German households consist of a single person.

What is happening in Latvia

The majority - some 90% - of companies in Latvia are small, with a portion of them being micro-enterprises. More than 70% of the offering consists of service-sector companies. Manufacturing is already a thing of the past. Many companies operate in niche business.

For most goods or services, the end consumer is not in Latvia and operates under a different brand than those found here locally. A change of shareholders affects both business strategy and all internal company processes. The experience, working style, and values of newcomers (non-Latvian entrepreneurs) dominate. While in the first decades of renewed independence it was Swedish and Scandinavian capital that entered Latvia, today it comes from the East.

HR manager challenges

1. Adapting to constant change

From a staffing perspective, it is easier to hire and formalise 100 salaried employees; from a business perspective, in times of a volatile economy that can be tantamount to suicide. Sometimes adaptability is not enough - agility is required. If changes in business or the market occurred last week, then this week you must already be ready to make all those changes in your workforce.

2. Being ready to work with interruptions

Employees hired for a specific project period, for seasonal work, or the engagement of freelance specialists or experts. Important: supporting diversity, including the hiring of Indian, Pakistani, and Vietnamese workers and helping them through the adaptation process.

3. Using a diverse set of tools to solve new problems

From formalising various types of contracts (salaried employment contract, services contract, remote work contract, copyright contract, and so on) to methods of employee recruitment and retention. Redesigning and adapting motivation programmes.

Introducing a culture of continuous learning in the company. Developing leaders at all levels, as well as ensuring information transparency and continuous feedback.

The insight I particularly liked - and one I am unequivocally FOR in any company and industry - is this: everyone must work with the client! It is not only the responsibility of the salesperson or service employee. It is the responsibility of the manager, the HR specialist, the administrator, the accountant, and other company employees. Each at their own level and within the bounds of their own professional competencies.