The political, societal, economic situation and the lasting effects of the global pandemic have undoubtedly made their mark on our lives over the last three years. But it’s time to look forward and see what should be on the radar for 2024 according to our latest research.
Work Remastered highlighted four things that form the backdrop which we now need to operate within:
The role of a leader is harder than ever before and the expectation of them is almost beyond realistic.
If company's want to keep their people, they must invest in their line manager population.
As a society, and in the workplace, we are seeing a much more individualistic approach to life, so if we want to drive loyalty people want a much more personalised experience at work.
What we are doing in the workplace when it comes to DE&I isn’t even scratching the surface.
The expectation of leaders has changed
80% of those surveyed want leaders to be focused on business growth and the well-being of their employees. 37% said they want leaders to focus on developing and enabling the creation of an employee experience that is fit for the future.
The idea of leaders being responsible for creating an employee experience and driving well-being is a real shift from previous year's which highlighted that employee experience was critical for the future of businesses, but it scored low in terms of being a real priority. What is clear is people are starting to feel a disconnect between the experience and the purpose and strategy of a business.
Critically they believe leaders need to take the charge and connect the dots.
Line managers aren’t set up for success
The role of a line manager has dramatically expanded in the last five years.
They play an incredibly important role as the guardians of culture within a business, they can align people behind the company strategy, and help bring to life the difference an individual can make to the world or delivery of a company's purpose.
They operate in a work environment where the employee experience was designed for office-based staff. So, they are constantly having to interpret and make do. They are quite literally the glue holding it all together.
People told us that organisations still aren’t training or supporting them sufficiently for them to be able to make the impact they could. In fact, most people state that the support is negligible.
Unleashing line managers as a strategic driver of growth will take investment, training, and trust. Those that take the leap fully will see them play a strategically important role in the future of work.
The research identified that line managers:
The net result is they can manage day-to-day delivery of processes but are not able to add real value - often resorting to a traditional command and control style of management to get through.
1 in 6 employees said their line managers stop them from speaking up, so they are not giving a voice to people who want to feel part of the future or making changes.
Employee experience needs to be personalised
Employees value three things in work; security, flexibility, and work life balance. This again is a real shift from previous research which signalled shared values, recognition and community were top of their agenda.
When you think about reports like the one from the Surgeon General in the US, which talks to loneliness and lack of connection being the next pandemic to devastate society, something doesn’t feel quite right.
What people want and what they need are different. If wellbeing is a key priority for leaders how can community and connection come so low? When loneliness can have such a detrimental impact on someone well-being and health.
When we dug deeper into the stats, we were able to unpick the story behind these numbers.
It isn’t that people don’t value community, recognition, and values at all. They see them as critical, BUT they aren’t prepared to keep those things at the expense of their newfound work life balance, and flexibility.
What we are seeing is people saying loud and clear to businesses that the relationship between work and home has changed. And the contract between employee and employer has also shifted.
We believe we are seeing less of a shift in the workplace and more of a societal shift to being much more individualistic culture.
Moving forward we will need to demonstrate people can have a working life that is balanced, so it works for the business and the individual.
We are failing when it comes to diversity, equality and inclusion
Prioritising diversity, equality and inclusion is a must, but business and leaders aren’t doing enough.
85% want to work in a truly diverse workplace but a 1/3 of people don’t feel diverse perspectives are bought together to problem solve and collaborate, so they still aren’t seeing representation when and where it matters.
Affinity groups existed in most of the organisations that participated but only a 1/3 felt they were having a real impact, with many highlighting that they weren’t used to drive real systemic change, only to create a community within the minority group. Which just isn't going far enough.
So, what’s next?
What can we learn from all of this?
The honest answer is there is a huge amount we can take away, and we have only scratched the surface here, but there are four key messages that come out of Work Remastered loud and clear:
The employee experience of a business is firmly parked at the door of the CEO and their teams – people want to see them meaningfully redesigned to be fit for the future.
Stay tuned for more later this month as we dive into other key trends that will be impacting the world of work in 2024 and beyond.
