- According to the 2020 annual report from The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a study from SimplyHealth, 89% of employees and employers in the U.S. have observed "presenteeism" (people working when unwell) in their workplace over the last year, and 73% noticed "leaveism" (employees working when on annual leave or outside work hours). Furthermore, 37% have recorded an increase in workplace absences as a result of stress, and 60% have noticed an increase in common mental health conditions. Based on these findings, the CIPD expects greater value to be placed upon mental health and well being by employers down the road, which could result in a change of workplace culture and setup, among other attributes.
- Information Services Group (ISG) suggests that the structure of the future workplace will be fueled by digital products and services that integrate seamlessly. Digitization has already been noted as a driving force of workplace evolution, but as the number of available technologies widens, employers and businesses are more interested in products that can work together with minimal effort.
- The COVID-19 pandemic helped many businesses come to the realization that an emphasis on "human skills" (i.e. initiative, creativity, emotional intelligence, etc.) cannot be achieved by AI, despite the efficiency that the technology offers. Because of this, the future workplace will consider job placement based on more than just job skills and qualifications, but also on character and intent to nurture a more supportive and inviting workplace.
- According to the Gensler US Workplace Survey 2020, employees desire to have a hybrid work model is likely to prevail, as consumers believe it offers a balance of productivity, convenience, and safety in their work-life split. Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced many employers to test out a hybrid or fully remote workplace setup, at least 19% of employees were already working in this model, and it is likely to stick around post-pandemic.
- Based on the Deloitte "Transitioning to the Future of Work and the Workplace" white paper, 69.1% of employers believe that workplace culture has a "critically important impact" on the ability of the business to recognize its mission and vision. This study also found that for 42% of business leaders, implementing a more efficient decision-making structure is an important change to be made in the coming years. The most important outcomes that business leaders expect from increased collaboration include:
- Identifying and taking advantage of new business opportunities: 57.3%
- Increasing innovation rates: 48.0%
- Improving attraction and retention of top talent: 47.6%
- Improving cost-effectiveness: 44.3%
- Accelerating time to market: 41.9%
- Improving customer loyalty: 41.1%
- More effectively exploiting the power of new technology: 35.8%
- Increasing operational resilience: 31.7%
Summary of Early Findings
Within our first hour of research, we first began searching for credible information detailing what the future workplace in the years to come is likely to look like. We opted to begin our search there as understanding future predictions and rationale can ease the process for identifying potential trends and evolutions. Based on this first step, we noted that experts believe the workplace will likely remain hybrid and remote for many, but with a greater focus on workplace cultures, work-life balances, and overall employee satisfaction.
From there, we transitioned our search to what developments and trends experts believe could impact the workplace structure in the years to come. This led us to multiple industry studies and reports detailing the values of employers in workplace development and emphasis placed on certain workplace values, including collaboration, culture, and productivity.
Based on these early findings, we are confident that the proposals suggested below can offer a more comprehensive look into the transformation of the workplace in the future, with a focus on key areas, including collaboration, productivity, teamwork, culture, performance, digitization, talent acquisition, and more.