Workplaces are always changing, as anyone who’s seen an episode of Mad Men can attest. What’s in the future of the 2017 workspace? Well, for one thing, your workplace might not even be a single physical location anymore, thanks to the ever-more connected and global workforce. But here’s a quick look at the top four biggest market forces that are causing employers everywhere to pick one of two simple options: Adapt or die.
The insight comes from Carl Fritjofsson of Creandum, who compiles a wide variety of changes into four main categories, which I’ll try to sum up in my own words here.
Talent Leaves Quicker
People today are leaving jobs and moving on to the next at a faster rate: The new freelancer economy makes it easier to hop from one opportunity to another. Employers that don’t accept this will be stuck trying to retain people who simply don’t want to stay. All the workplace perks out there won’t keep someone in their job if it’s just not what they wake up in the morning excited to start. Here’s what companies can focus on instead, according to Fritjofsson:
- Redefined compensation services
- Marketplaces and digital channels to find contingency talent, across blue and white collar jobs
- Tools for more efficient talent on- and offboarding
- Products to facilitate dynamic collaboration within fluid team structures
But Core Talent Sticks Around
Okay, I know what I just said in the first point, but not everyone wants to leave. There actually is a core group of employees who will stick around, and they need an appropriate amount of attention. Again, perks aren’t the end-all here: Your core employees deserve coaching and career management.
Re-Examine Organization Structure
Structures keeps an organization running, but can also add to a bloated corporate atmosphere. Given the shifts I’ve already mentioned — from a decentralized workforce to a rapidly changing one — 2017 is a great time to reexamine why your business is structured the way it is. Namely, you should look into the tools, automated processes, and digital services that can simplify the way you run things.
Change Up HR
It’s time to automate HR processes, according to Fritjofsson’s post:
“HR will become more data-driven in its process and decision making. Advanced analytics will help predict future talent demands as well as measure and anticipate retention, burn-out, performance issues, etc. Automation of this will be essential and the field of HR analytics will go mainstream. Talent management made purely on subjective instinct will be long forgotten and no more human bias in the decision making.”
As you can see from the list, many of these changes rely on machine learning and automation. But the way that the workforce and the people within it are changing due to these processes is just as important. Make sure you’re in the right side of history now or you’ll be left behind.
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