The last several years have seen tremendous shifts in how the workplace works. Contributing factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and technological innovation led to an increase in remote work. Historically low unemployment rates gave workers the power to resign from positions that weren’t a good fit. And more cultural support around mental health encouraged them to reduce overworking in a phenomenon known as quiet quitting. As a result, the workplace of 2023 looks quite a bit different from that of 2019.
These shifts have been big, but there are always more to come. Company leaders are wise to look ahead and see what might be coming next to ready their workplaces and their employees.
In the next few years, some changes will be extensions of what’s happening now, such as the hybrid work movement and use of collaboration tools. Others will represent emerging technologies, such as the metaverse. Still, others will reflect workers’ changing expectations, such as four-hour work weeks and a greater emphasis on diversity. In the following sections, we explore all these changes and more.
Remote & Hybrid Working
The number of people working remotely grew substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It happened out of necessity, but as that necessity lessened, both employers and workers saw how the arrangement could be beneficial on an ongoing basis. Remote work enables companies to cut costs, improve productivity, and gain access to a larger pool of talent from a wider variety of locations. It gives workers greater freedom, comfort, and flexibility while enabling them to continue providing high-quality products and services.
Hybrid working is when teams spend some of their time working remotely and some of it on-site at a central company location. This approach also includes many benefits. Essentially it supports the “best of both worlds,” giving workers the ability to perform individual work where quiet and concentration are needed at home and team activities such as meetings and brainstorming at the office.
Because of the many benefits of both these strategies, remote and hybrid working will continue to be part of the workplace well into the future. They will be supported by another item on this list, collaborative online tools, which enable teams to remain highly effective and keep in close contact even if they are geographically hundreds or even thousands of miles apart.
Remote Training
Effective training is important for companies because it ensures the work gets done properly. It’s also important for team members because they get the tools they need to support their work, contributing to their success and job satisfaction. Ultimately, these conditions increase employee retention.
Remote training can be delivered for a wide variety of skills, including day-to-day tasks, administrative functions, company culture, how to use HR tools, improving cybersecurity, improving soft skills such as communication, and much more.
As with remote work, it’s not possible to replicate the live training experience online. Instead, leaders must come up with ways to teach skills that were designed to be executed remotely. For example, one great benefit of remote training is that it can be done asynchronously. That is, team members can watch videos or other materials on their own time rather than having to all be in the same place at the same time.
Companies that implement remote training should be prepared for challenges it can present, such as some team members learning better in in-person settings, scheduling issues, and technical issues. However, these issues can be overcome, and team leaders should recognize that the potential benefits outweigh the downsides. For that reason, remote training will become more prevalent in the coming years.
Collaborative Online Tools
To work and train collaboratively from multiple locations, workers need effective tools. Based on the continued popularity of remote work, these tools will become increasingly useful. Companies that are not yet remote-ready should look into solutions that will help them enable distributed work.
Common online collaboration tools include communication platforms, project management solutions, and document storage and management systems. Some of the most popular in these categories are listed below.
Communication
With traditional methods for communication limited, remote teams must have reliable ways to exchange ideas and keep each other up to date.
- Slack – a messaging application that enables teams to form channels to instantly discuss important matters.
- Teams – a Microsoft platform that includes messaging and conferencing tools.
- Zoom – a highly popular video chat application that can be used for everything from brief one-on-one conversations to more involved meetings with multiple people.
Project Management
Team leaders can use project management solutions to plan projects and keep everyone on track.
- Trello – an application that uses a simple but effective card-based interface to assign tasks.
- Wrike – a software program based on the Kanban project management method.
- Asana – a tool that offers users different ways to visualize project progress.
Document Storage and Management
Many projects involve the development of text documents, spreadsheets, presentation decks, and other written communication.
- Workspace – a suite of tools from Google that enables teams to work together within documents.
- Dropbox – a document storage solution that enables workers to easily share files.
- Loop – a collaboration application that helps teams reduce the volume of email they send and receive.
Metaverse
According to futurist Bernard Marr, “Within enterprise environments [the impact of the metaverse] will take the form of increasingly immersive collaborative working environments.” Meta’s Horizon Workrooms is one example of a platform that supports this immersive collaboration. Zoom, Nvidia, and Microsoft are also offering more ways for teams to connect. These immersive digital workplaces will become more ubiquitous and more common in the coming years.
Workplace Surveillance
Marr observes that with remote work comes the need for companies to monitor employee output and standards through the use of tools like employee tracking software. While business leaders promote a more open and trusting environment when they find other ways to track output, this type of technology is sometimes necessary.
Yet, Marr advises, employers must be careful to perform surveillance fairly and without infringing on privacy or personal freedom. Because of the many benefits, and despite drawbacks, workplace surveillance will likely continue to grow in use in the coming years.
Flexible Hours
With a decreased need for team members to be physically together or remotely available at the same time, flexible hours are becoming more common. Work being done at different times by each team member is known as asynchronous working.
For example, many parents like to have the ability to be available when their kids get home from school, so they may opt to start their day early enough to be done by 2:00 or 3:00, perhaps even making up time on weekends. That means they may be working as early as 6:00 AM, while other team members may not start until 12:00 PM to accommodate their personal needs.
Workers who take advantage of such arrangements are just as productive as those working typical 8:00 to 5:00 schedules yet are much happier with their work-life balance and, therefore, with their job overall. Companies that can help team members figure out such arrangements get all the benefits of more satisfied employees, including greater productivity and reduced attrition.
Given that workers are demanding more flexible work schedules and that the technology to support such arrangements is readily available, this practice will continue to become more common in the coming years.
Four-day Work Weeks
In the near future, the four-day workweek may no longer be a fantasy for many workers. According to Marr, some countries, including England, Belgium, Sweden, and Iceland, are testing out the four-day workweek to learn its pros and cons. Others are getting on board with this trend, including the U.S., Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and New Zealand. The secret to success for the four-day workweek is optimizing efficiency by cutting down on unproductive activities such as unnecessary meetings.
Benefits of this approach include better mental and physical health for workers and gains in productivity for companies. The following news report states that this practice can actually increase revenue and profits.
Emphasis on Diversity and Inclusion
The generation now coming into the workforce, Gen Z, is more diverse than any previous one, including by ethnicity, family structure, and inclusion in the LGBTQ+ community. They expect workplaces to be not just welcoming but also sensitive to their unique needs. While focusing on diversity is important for attracting those workers, members of other generations will appreciate them as well, leading to a happier and, therefore, more loyal and productive workforce.
Diversity benefits employers in other ways as well. According to a blog post by corporate coaching platform BetterUp, “Avoiding groupthink is one of the biggest benefits of workplace diversity.” The post further states that “groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals avoid disagreeing with a group or expressing doubt.” This phenomenon is more likely to occur when group members are alike. “Having a diverse team provides access to a wider range of skill sets and experiences…[which] facilitates the growth of new ideas and reduces groupthink.”
Employers can build a more diverse workplace in the following ways:
- Understand what diversity really means. It goes beyond race to characteristics like gender, religion, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity, early life experiences, and education.
- Evaluate the current level of diversity. Task HR with developing a survey or other method to find out where the gaps are.
- Set goals. Determine an ideal mix of characteristics among workers and how to attract them as employees.
- Adjust hiring practices. Consider using methods of evaluation that don’t reveal applicants’ characteristics. Remove barriers such as experience with certain firms.
- Enhance employee resources. They may include increased access to therapy or groups centered around certain characteristics, such as women in tech.
- Provide leadership opportunities. A diverse leadership team makes better decisions and shows new employees there is no glass ceiling.
Emphasis on ESG
Another area in which Gen Z is calling the shots is environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues within the companies they work for. These employees (as well as many others) want to work for organizations that care about the world they live in and the people they live in it with. For that reason, companies looking for the best talent should move toward improving these areas. Strong ESG policies also improve brand perception and trust, meaning more business from customers who care about these issues.
Further, strong ESG policies are required to comply with regulations, which are becoming stricter. And they prevent companies from inadvertently greenwashing—that is, claiming environmental concern, yet not having the actual policies to back it up. In addition to following the tips regarding diversity above, employers can improve ESG policies in the following ways:
- Set up a team dedicated to ESG issues. The team should be as diverse as possible, and members should come from different levels and divisions within the company.
- Assess current impact. One of the first things the ESG team should do is determine the areas in which the company is having the biggest negative environmental and social impacts.
- Create goals. The first goal should be to ensure proper reporting is taking place. After that, prioritize the negative impacts and work toward reducing or eliminating each one.
- Communicate. Be transparent about efforts and communicate them in ways that are easy for stakeholders to understand.
- Don’t forget about the “G.” According to a recent Forbes Business Council post, the 5 pillars of good corporate governance are effectiveness of the board, compensations and remunerations, risk and crisis management, relationships with stakeholders, and ethics and transparency.
Focus on Mental Health and Well-being
In 2023, it’s not uncommon to hear people mention their therapist in casual conversations. That’s because attending to mental health is much less stigmatized than it has been in the past, and this trend will continue. Even the government is making the connection between mental health and the workplace.
Working conditions such as long hours, limited autonomy, and low wages “may be at the heart of the nation’s mental health crisis,” according to the U.S. surgeon general. Those suffering from poor mental health tend to be less productive and miss days of work more frequently than their peers. Therefore, employers have an interest in supporting their employees’ emotional needs.
According to the American Psychological Association, employers can take the following actions:
- Train managers to promote health and well-being.
- Increase employees’ options for where, when, and how they work.
- Reexamine health insurance policies with a focus on employee mental health.
- Listen to what employees need and act on it.
- Take a critical look at equity, diversity, and inclusion policies.
- Develop programs and policies that support employee mental health.
Data Analytics
The area of data analytics has already seen tremendous growth and change as companies use it to learn more about their customers, find new markets, achieve greater efficiency, and much more. But more change is on the way.
For one thing, with a sharp increase in the number of connected devices and sensors, much more data will be generated. That increase will bring the need for more advanced tools to analyze it, particularly within specific industries. For example, data analysts in healthcare will have access to healthcare-specific systems that are useful for the types of data generated in that field.
While those data analysts will still be needed, the process will also benefit from increased automation and systems that will be able to perform some of the work. Humans will likely perform higher-order work and tasks that involve interfacing with other people to collaborate and improve results.
Artificial Intelligence
According to a recent Forbes Technology Council post, 2023 will be a turning point in how the workplace is impacted by AI. It states, “Artificial intelligence is ready to perform at scale. Its full implementation cannot be predicted at this point, but it promises real-time actionable insights and offers newfound agility in an uncertain world.”
In addition to helping companies solve problems, AI will also likely create some of them. The post states, “Early adopters will undoubtedly push the AI envelope into untested moral, ethical, and legal waters.” One example is bias in hiring and other business practices.
However, many innovations throughout the ages have presented initial challenges, yet turned out to do more good than harm, so companies shouldn’t shy away from experimenting with AI solutions. The post recommends that business leaders attach business objectives to AI implementation, hire and train subject matter experts, and collaborate with reputable service providers.
Embrace Change
Reading this list may be somewhat overwhelming for business leaders who are interested in ensuring the longevity and success of their companies. But keep in mind that the sooner these areas can be improved, the sooner employees and organizations can start reaping the benefits. At the same time, leaders need not adopt all the changes at once. Choose 2 or 3 that seem most important and use those initial successes to launch additional initiatives that will make the future a better place to be.
