The Future of Work – continuing trends for 2024

Rehumanisation

According to a study by Bain, 58% of people surveyed said the pandemic had made them question both their commitment to their employer and their desire for more work/life balance. With that balance being towards life, not work. There is a sense of wanting to belong, have a sense of common purpose and community, and to be given more empowerment and trust. Be outcome focused and allow a level of flexibility. Tools like pulse surveys can be invaluable if they are not too frequent and ask sensible questions.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

There is much talk around AI as a new concept, but do we realise how much we’re already engaging with AI daily? Hello Siri, predictive text (now so old tech!), numberplate recognition at the car park (my husband still struggles with that one), customer service chatbots. Communication about AI must be clear in terms of defining the purpose of the introduction thus negating fear. In most work scenarios, AI will, at this stage, simply function to eradicate repetitive tasks allowing focus on more meaningful contribution. This communicated well works well.

Employee Engagement

We have moved beyond pool/table tennis tables and free beer. Engaged employees are those who have a sense of personal purpose contributing to a defined common goal ergo feel successful and have a sense of belonging. As people leaders, ask employees what they are wanting to achieve over short-, medium- and long-term cycles. If you use tools to record this, ensure there is still 1:1 time to discuss, calibrate and evaluate progress against goals. Make sure goals are tangible and achievable. Celebrate and recognize the small wins with with your entire team from recent hires to tenured employees. Too often one or the other cohort is overlooked.

Diversity & Inclusion

If, as we are led to believe, we have now entered a ‘buyers’ job market, avoid hiring the obvious. Without diversity in your people, you will not have diversity of thought which leads to stagnation rather than evolution. In simple terms, don’t make the ‘obvious’ hire of the person in the same/similar role from a competitor. Sure, they may have market intelligence but how innovative has that competitor been? Similarly, don’t exclude people from different geographies or industries who may have diverse perspectives around challenges.

Disclaimer: these are my views. For far more expert insights, please refer to some great articles below:

• https://www.bain.com/insights/the-working-future-more-human-not-less-future-of-work-report/
• https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-shape-of-talent-in-2023-and-2024
• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-fit-future-work-introduction-dr-marianne-erasmus-roux-3vzke/
• https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/9-future-of-work-trends-for-202

About Maidlin Mistry

Maidlin has enjoyed a 25+ year career in recruitment from the UK to Australia to Singapore and South-east Asia. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion, new technology and the impact of both on human capital decisions in organisations of all sizes and stages of evolution. Loving being back in Melbourne for the food and sport, she isn’t so convinced about the weather. Connect with Maidlin on requirements or insights in HR, Finance or Financial Services or any diversity hiring needs.