So, essentially, we’re in for another year in which the Future of Work movement will continue to reshape and transform the very ways we think about how (and why) we work.

2023 was a watershed year. Artificial intelligence fully sped its hype train in circles around both business and consumer personas, while dire-then-rosy-then-dire-again-then-optimistic economic outlooks pushed all of us onto a nonstop financial rollercoaster. The labor market remained (and remains) a tad volatile, even though it’s showing signs of slowing steadily based on jobs data heading into the final five or six weeks of 2023 (with an approximate 12%-to-14% drop in job adds in December from November).

And then there’s cooling inflation, as well, which will (hopefully) contribute to a strong economic year as a better balance between supply and demand converges with a full year of economic and labor market consistency.

The Future of Work Exchange believes there are dozens of factors that will shape the foundation of 2024. Here are, however, four of the most critical trends:

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Workplace Humanization Arrives

How has business leadership transformed? Quite simply, leaders today have a newfound focus on “humanity,” and the need to be more talent-oriented to thrive during uncertain times. During the height of the pandemic, there was no separation between how leadership and employees experienced this global event. Everyone went through it together and had similar fears, anxiety, and concern for others. Many leaders recognized this fact and rebooted their workplaces by retaining employee flexibility and remote/hybrid models once the world started to normalize.

Bridging of Human and Skills-Based Objectives

Along with the humanization of the workplace, the need for skills-based talent became apparent as well. The criticality of enterprise agility, flexibility, and business continuity is now a central part of talent acquisition strategies. It is no longer about filling a job role, but rather hiring candidates that bring specific skills and competencies while also being a good cultural match. Business leaders today actively bridge the human aspect with skills-based execution. Understanding, for example, the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of the cultural fabric, leaders have integrated DE&I into hiring and operational objectives.

Business Leadership Evolves

The Future of Work Exchange and Ardent Partners have identified five ways business leadership is evolving.

Inclusivity Is Paramount

93% of business leaders state that they are focusing leadership efforts on developing and cultivating a more inclusive workplace culture. Not only does this invoke a sense of belonging within the workforce, but it can enhance brand reputation when promoted on recruitment portals and in the media. More job candidates are seeking employment with enterprises that place a premium on inclusivity.

Providing Purpose

Over the next 12 months, nearly 70% of business leaders plan to develop a vision and plan for making work more purposeful across the organization for its total workforce. In his Fast Company article, Raj Indupuri, CEO of digital clinical software and service provider eClinical Solutions, said it’s critical to have leadership goals that all employees can align with. “In my experience, it’s more enjoyable to come to work when surrounded by others who are equally passionate about your purpose.”

A Focus on Well-Being

Throughout 2023, nearly 75% of executive leaders anticipate enhancing the ways the business improves worker well-being and mental health. While the impacts of the pandemic have subsided, the emotional effects continue to linger. Monitor employee well-being and mental health through surveys and regular one-on-one check-ins with team members. Such feedback is crucial to identifying employees who may require specific mental health services or programs.

Empathy-Driven Leadership

Today, 65% of executives include empathy in their management styles, which reflects a flexibility-driven approach to leveraging more humanity in how they lead. This can lead to more open communication between employees and leadership, as well as a greater comfort level in presenting ideas that could result in untapped innovation.

The Conscious Leader

Over the past year, 73% of executives have moved towards more of a “conscious leadership” approach, which centers around the understanding of worker perspectives, emotions, and concerns. Conscious leadership brings the human aspect of leadership management full circle.

Is the current business leadership transformation sustainable? The outlook is hopeful. By modeling and promoting such behaviors as empathy, conscious leadership, and a focus on DE&I principles, it unifies the workforce to not only adopt those approaches but also hold business leaders accountable. That accountability will help sustain the Future of Work ideals and continue the evolution of an employee-centric workplace.

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We’ve experienced many Future of Work “accelerants” over the past year-and-a-half that have enabled new discussions on the best ways for enterprises to get work done. Yes, of course, remote and hybrid work have dominated those conversations, however, there’s so much more to the story that has a direct impact on how leaders, well, lead.

Future of Work Exchange research points to several expected shifts in business leadership over the next several months and into 2022:

• 83% of enterprises expect business leadership to prioritize an inclusive workplace environment. Diversity is just one (very big) piece of the arena known as “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Business leaders now seemingly understand that inclusion, which extends to how they structure a welcoming and open workplace environment, is the only path forward for both talent acquisition and talent retention. Potential candidates should feel at-ease knowing that they could potentially join an organization that welcomes their background, differences, disabilities, etc., while existing workers are more likely to stay if they know their workplace is safe, welcoming, and prioritizes openness and communication. Inclusion is just as critical for new talent as it is for current talent.
• 80% of companies anticipate more empathy-led leadership. Empathy is a routine, featured topic here at the Future of Work Exchange, and for good reason: empathy, quite literally, is the only way forward. Empathetic leadership is what is sorely needed for executives to earn required trust from their staff and for workers to feel “connected” to the greater organization and to also feel supported in their current roles. Empathy-led leadership involves organizational leaders asking questions, actively collaborating, and prioritizing communication with their workforce. In 2022, this will make or break the average enterprise, especially as conversations around worker burnout continue to dominate headlines.
• 77% of organizations believe business leaders will structure workforce management on flexibility. While we just highlighted how the Future of Work is more than “just flexibility,” the agile nature of today’s forward-thinking organizations provides a robust template from which today’s leaders can leverage to effectively plan for the year ahead. Yes, remote and hybrid work plays a valuable role in the greater concept of flexibility, however, it traverses much deeper than whether or not workers are physically in the office or at their kitchen table. Flexible work models, such as shorter work weeks, adjusted hours, or agile task-sharing, also play critical roles in how business leaders rethink the many ways to get work done.
• 72% of businesses expect business leadership will focus on understanding personal perspectives of workers. This attribute could be the most crucial of all, given where we are in the greater timeline of a public health crisis. When the pandemic hit, no one fully knew what to expect; what followed was tragedy, horror, and unease. From a business leadership perspective, it created a truly emotional toll on the workforce, forcing executives to enact cognitive empathy to fully understand what it was like to juggle a lack of daycare, remote learning for children, sick or dying relatives and family members, and general uncertainty regarding job security. If leaders truly understand “where” workers are mentally and emotionally, it allows them to be more flexible in their management style and how they support that talent. In the months and years ahead, this higher level of understanding will go a long in helping business leaders build a trusting workforce that feel like their leaders want to fully support them during uncertain times.

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