The future of work and how technology will lead the way

Whilst many workers and workplaces pivoted when the new lockdown measures came into play, the technology industry is thriving, with Covid-19 accelerating digitisation and enhancing the need for digital solutions further.

To fully understand the rising and shifting expectations of both employees and managers in this new era of work, the Adecco Group commissioned a study into attitudes, behaviours, and outlooks of office-based workers on the future of work. Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work which you can download here, builds upon our original research of 2020, and expands on the outlook for the future of work for 2021 and beyond. Five key themes have emerged from the research. 

HYBRID WORKING

Globally, workers want a hybrid working model where more than half of their time spent working is remote. The challenge for leaders is to build the right structures, technology, and resources to ensure this new way of working is future proof, looking beyond the location of their employees.

Technology is a key enabler to make hybrid work: Cloud infrastructures, cybersecurity, and digital transformation are key foundations for a successful next normal. To enable businesses to offer hybrid working, technology needs to be ready. 

• How does your technology roadmap prepare your Infrastructure?
• Do you have the right Technology and Tools to enable the hybrid work trend?
• Are your systems set-up for remote work to enable people to work from Home Office, Corporate Office or on the road? Workers will more regularly transition from working at home to office to travel. Can your workers seamlessly access the information and resources they need to maintain productivity whenever and wherever they need it?
• People and teams will access data from more points than ever before – are your systems prepared and protected to provide access without making your data vulnerable to hackers and jeopardizing your proprietary information and market position?

THE NEW WORK WEEK

More workers want to shift from hours to an outcome-based culture, but companies and leaders struggle with performance management based on results. Measuring performance based on activity and time spent online is outdated and inadequate in the next normal. Companies must transition from evaluating work and workers on an hours input basis, to a results output criteria. Using technology and creating resources such as clear score cards, ongoing analysis, feedback processes, and collaborative and adapted actions will be key to link the success of teams and individuals to company success.

• How is your technology roadmap planning to equip your business with the smart technologies needed to increase productivity and enable your teams to work smarter not longer?
• Are you reducing repetitive work and increasing thought-based work and innovation that will allow workers to make a bigger contribution to developing competitive advantages for your business?
• Are you helping workers enhance their productivity by leveraging Smart technologies including AI, Machine learning, predictive analytics and others?
• The results-based management that's on the horizon will require developing and measuring new success criteria. Is your business equipped to support this emerging model with data driven analytics to cover everything from space planning, to performance activity and financial analysis, and everything in between?

BURNOUT

Workers want companies and leaders to increase their focus on supporting their wellbeing. Mental health is a global and universal issue, spanning all workers, regardless of age or gender. Compared to the 2020 survey, more people are saying their mental health has suffered. It is therefore a key future challenge for companies and leaders.

The usage of cognitive technologies for employee wellbeing can provide increased visibility into burn-out warning indicators and generate awareness amongst individuals and leaders to address the issue.

• Does your business have the right tech in place to provide visibility into and address burn-out warning activity level indicators? Is your technology roadmap ready for this journey?
• In the hybrid work world, burnout signals are not as visible to managers who don't see their workers every day. How are you Increasing visibility into burnout warning indicators like continued after-hours emails, regular weekend work, and other levels of activity that don’t support work-life-balance?  Are you fully leveraging tools that support collaboration and workload balancing?
• How are you Incorporating tech-based health and well-being tech tools to help gauge and support workers physical and mental health?

RECONNECT THE DISCONNECT

At a time when we are connected all the time, the workforce has never felt more disconnected and leaders must work had at reconnecting employees and re-inventing culture. With worker motivation, relationships, feelings of recognition and sense of team and culture deteriorating, leaders hold the key to re-connecting people to the company purpose, helping them feel like they belong, and providing them with motivational development and career opportunities.

Equipping leaders with upskilling, coaching, resources, and technology that will help them to better listen to and manage their teams, increase, and nurture motivation, and set a strong team morale and culture is a priority for businesses in the new hybrid working model.

• How does your technology roadmap leverage tech to build the strong and supportive culture that workers need in hybrid work environments?
• Feedback is a key element in reconnecting the disconnect between workers and leaders. Technologies that gather feedback to drive actions that create better team cultures. How is your technology roadmap planning to support the business culture?
• Workers get more done and feel more satisfied when working together. Are you effectively leveraging Enterprise tools including Team, Google Workspace, Slack to enable teams to work together better and more closely to build / maintain a sense of community?
• As tech became the survival mechanism for every business, workers do more things in more ways than businesses believed were possible. Workers are eager to continue this professional growth. Does your technology roadmap provide the resources to help workers continue to develop new skills and grow their careers?

JOB / CAREER RE-EVALUATION

Two-thirds of workers are confident that companies will start significant hiring again, and less than half are satisfied with career prospects at their company. Security, agency, culture, wellbeing, and development are most important to people going forward.

People have become more autonomous, agile, and proactive, taking it upon themselves to update their skills. They are ready for change, and they are looking at employers for more agency. Career development upskilling and reskilling opportunities are also key factors in the next chapters of their careers. In the future security, agency, a positive culture that nurtures good mental health and development are most important to workers. Companies must prioritize these to keep workers engaged. Nurturing stronger relationships and instilling a stronger sense of culture is key.

• Is your business prepared with the tech to address the 5 Key Factors - security, agency, culture, wellbeing, and professional development - that workers weigh when deciding to stay or switch jobs?
• Workers pushed themselves to develop the new skills that were needed to be productive in the remote work environment during Covid. They are eager to continue growing their skills and careers and want to work for companies that will commit to investing in that growth.  How are you planning to upskill / reskill your tech teams to help provide career development and ensure retention?
• Workers have shown that culture is a key factor in their decision to stay or make a change. The options for tools and resources to build culture and support collaboration have exploded in the last 18 months. Does your technology roadmap have the right suite of solutions for your team’s needs?

Further Insights 

To continue to thrive in the new normal, organisations need to evolve and adapt to better meet the needs of their employees. Modis stands ready to help organisations navigate this new path. To read further insights from the 2021 Resetting Normal report, download report and white paper here.