There has been so much change over the past few years that employees and employers are struggling to catch up with the pace of modern working.
However, what we have learned from lockdown and remote working has shaped a new way in which office spaces will evolve to create a new kind of workspace.
This will take shape over the next decade and change forever the concept of the traditional office. Here are some ways in which this will evolve.
Middle management will have different responsibilities
Managers today must confront new realities. Social and political turbulence, work-life fusion and hybrid work have added a new layer of complexity (and pressure ) to their roles. Many employees are working in a hybrid world with more choices about where, when and how much they work.
The responsibilities of managers — and the number of workers who report to them — have skyrocketed, making it more difficult to provide hands-on assistance.
Traditional managerial success was based on the ability to manage and evaluate employee performance. This has shifted. HR executives will hire and develop managers who are poised to be great coaches and teachers, and operate with empathy.
Upskilling and digital dexterity will outweigh tenure and experience
In the future, the most high-value work will be cognitive in nature. Employees will have to apply creativity, critical thinking and constant digital upskilling to solve complex problems.
The digital economy demands new ideas, information and business models that continually expand, combine and shift into new ventures. Employees must consistently refresh their digital dexterity to meet these needs.
HR will have to establish and promote a continuous learning environment, meaning knowledge acquisition and transparency across the organization must become a part of day-to-day operations.
Smart machines will be our colleagues
Smart machines are getting smarter and more ubiquitous, not only completing tasks previously reserved for humans, but also doing what was thought to be impossible for machines.
Companies will start to increase the functions of smart machines, software, apps and avatars. Employees will develop personal toolkits of virtual doppelgangers — virtual counterparts, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI ) software and devices that are more accessible to their personal or team-based activities.
Remote work-life balance will reveal challenges
Employees working independently or in remote locations will face a dilemma — to fuel upskilling and manage better projects, they’ll take on more assignments, potentially to a point where they’ll feel like they’re working around the clock. In response, achieving work-life balance will no longer be enough; employees will strive to emphasize life over work.
But there are shadowy aspects of future work-life balance. As technology closes the divide between geographically separate people, it introduces cracks in relationships and cultures. The remote distribution of work means that many employees will not build the same social relationships in the workplace, leading to issues of disengagement and loneliness.
CEOs and HR leaders must work together to ensure work-life balance swings back and forth for each employee as their work distribution, time and life stages change. The ability to peer into the future will make work infinitely easier for HR leaders.
