- Insights on The Great Resignation, Gen Z, Social Issues & Corporate Culture, and the Desperate Need to Train Managers, and More
Ten Spot, the workforce engagement platform that keeps your employees connected, released its 2022 trends and predictions for the workforce. The trends and predictions have been primarily driven by the impact that the Covid-19 global pandemic has had on the workforce, setting it on a new trajectory.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, when workers found themselves in forced remote work situations, we knew that maintaining meaningful connections with their co-workers was critical in such an uncertain time,” said Sammy Courtright, Co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Ten Spot.
“However,” Courtright continues, “as remote work has continued today’s workers are eager to mold work in such a way that it fits around their lives, rather than fitting their lives around work. What’s to come will have corporate leadership and employees – particularly with Gen Z entering the workforce – alike working together in a much closer way than they ever have before to set the agenda for how work will change over the next several decades.”
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Companies Will Initiate a Reset on Core Values & Bigger Issues
The new era of working from home combined with the wave of resignations the workforce is experiencing has companies questioning if their core values represent their existing employees, and will ramp up for a big reset. A Ten Spot survey indicated that many companies supported or took action in sociopolitical issues this year, with Black Lives Matter (40%), Women’s Rights (40%), and Mental Health Awareness/Programs/Initiatives (40%) leading, followed by local food banks (31%), Voting Rights (30%) and LGBTQ Rights. It turns out that how a company responds to social, political, and humanitarian issues has a significant impact on company culture, and working for a purpose-driven company plays a central role in determining an employee’s engagement and productivity levels. Overall, 56% of respondents say they would be more engaged and productive at work if their company was actively involved in addressing today’s critical social issues.
The Gen Z Voice Will Get Louder and Shape the Future of Work
Looking across the workforce today there is a stark generational difference between the generation that will soon leave the workforce (Boomers) and the new generation on its way in (Gen Z). Gen Z is not only laser-focused on using technology to solve problems – 63% think that using an employee engagement and productivity platform could help their company improve the company’s culture, employee communications, inclusivity, and training and development efforts – but 86% have already experienced discriminatory issues or abusive behavior in the workplace. As a result, Gen Z will likely have a significant impact on today’s workplace as we know it–from how we use technology, think about company culture, the ways issues regarding workplace discrimination and diversity, equity and inclusion are addressed, and how companies deal with the most pressing social and political issues.
Meetings Will Start to Change (Again) in Almost Every Way
If there’s one thing that working from home has taught us is that we don’t need to have as many meetings, they don’t need to be as long as we think they do, and they don’t all need to happen over Zoom. We believe that 2022 will see the rise of the 15-minute meeting, especially for those companies already using tools like Slack, or those who have fallen into the practice of using Google Docs to share updates and address questions in a single document.
Relationships at Work Will Get More Personal
No, we’re not talking about romance, we’re talking about making meaningful connections with your co-workers and building bonds that make teamwork more successful and work in general more bearable. The dehumanization of the workforce has crept into many organizations in recent years, increasing the need for a basic level of empathy and compassion amongst co-workers. Taking the time to connect with employees about their lives outside of work is really important – grabbing the occasional coffee or having a team lunch may be a thing of the past, schedule video 1-on-1’s, or set up a fun virtual event for your team. Making these a regular habit will help your team form better relationships with you and each other, and will also benefit everyone’s mental well-being.
Companies Will Double Down on Training – Especially for Managers
Even before the pandemic, a report from 2018 indicated that 59% of managers hadn’t ever had any training on how to manage people. Because of the work transition everyone has been through, this number might actually be even higher now. Managers desperately need training on how to be managers, and they need training on how to be managers remotely. Training managers to effectively manage remote teams is a huge issue because managers are struggling right now, and when managers struggle, their teams and direct reports struggle as well.
Workers will Make the Rules About Returning to the Office – If They Even Want to
Several companies have just charged forward with requiring workers to come back into the office, and that approach is just not working for many employees. Company leadership needs to give employees an active voice in conversations about returning to work, and they need to listen or face the consequences. Employees will let leadership know if returning to the office interests them, and will let them know in what way, and how frequently they want to do it if it is. Otherwise, employees who prefer working at home can now easily find another job where they can work remotely full-time.
However, employees shouldn’t have full reign on when to come in or not, there should be structure as this will greatly impact women. Women will tend to work from home more frequently due to the roles we play outside of work. We all know fact-to-face time with leadership and management is important for advancement but companies need to consider who this will impact.
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The War for Talent Goes Next-Level
One of the biggest challenges companies face is either having trouble finding employees, having trouble getting employees to stick around, or both. Due to the Great Resignation, Great Reshuffle, or whatever the term of the day is, there’s no getting around that in September alone, 4.4M workers left their jobs. Companies need to prepare for things to get worse and for the war for talent to reach a fever pitch in 2022. Companies that want to have a fighting chance, need to offer better salaries, benefits, and working conditions (even if that’s helping with an office set up at home). If companies are already trying these things and they aren’t working, it’s well past time to get on the same page as employees by simply asking them what they want.
The Physical Workspace Will Continue to Evolve
Companies are asking, ‘how can we make the most of the days that we are together?’ leading to a reimagination of what physical offices will look like and their purpose. We’ve already established that workers can do desk work at home. With offices no longer necessary for everyone to come in, sit in, and work all day long, offices will become spaces for collaboration, brainstorming, and strategy sessions. Depending on the company, the vibe may be more geared toward comfort (bean bag chairs, chairs with ottomans so people could put their feet up), creativity (wall-sized whiteboards, and booths to record videos in, that are open to all for in the moment ideas or concepts to share), and collaboration (a range of board games, indoor balls/sports equipment, and art supplies) that can be used for their primary purposes in team-building exercises, problem-solving, and more.
Workers Will Be Bringing Their Whole Selves to Work
Gone are the days of compartmentalization, where workers are one person on the job and another after hours. The blurred line of work and life has encouraged employees to expect that companies consider and acknowledge their whole selves and their roles outside of work. Whether that’s parenthood, caring for an aging parent, or pursuing a passion such as playing in a band, taking yoga teacher training classes, getting an advanced degree, etc. Additionally, this includes taking a 360-degree wellness approach: mental, physical, and social along with embracing flexibility with work hours.
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[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]