With the Coronavirus having such a big impact on how businesses are being run, now more than ever it will require that business owners must be resourceful and think on their feet when it comes to maintaining their financial stability. While many people would have assumed that this situation would have completely shut down our economy, this could not be furthest from the truth.
Many major organizations have made the successful transition to working from home and while it may not be ideal, for the most part, companies are still being highly productive. That being said, management and leadership are looking to future business trends that can help them innovate how they operate their organization as well as how they bring new products and services to market. Things such as smart technology, software, remote work, corporate culture, and more are completely changing how we will do business in the next ten years.
Remote Work
In 2020, remote work will continue to establish itself in the culture of the company, until the new places popular with remote workers are extensions of the professional environment. Companies that implement it for their employees praise the added value that this practice brings to productivity as well as its benefits on employee retention. The recent episodes of strikes show moreover that the practice of teleworking will continue to expand, although it is necessary to prepare for it.
According to some business gurus, most companies still operate in a pyramid scheme with appointed managers. They can help with the implementation of processes with teams, but also plan events, or choose the collaboration tools to set up and adopt.
In 2020, companies are going to need to put their employees at the center of decisions and start treating remote employees not as exceptions or one-offs, but as a full-fledged extension of the more traditional office. We will therefore begin to see the emergence of managers for teleworkers, who will organize remote work for the company.
Innovative Tools
Employees will be at the heart of the reflection on the adoption of collaborative tools. Today, employees expect to use, both professionally and personally, intuitive solutions that are innovative to help them in their daily tasks (video interactions, voice commands, etc.). These everyday practices have become so common to simplify daily life, that similar uses are expected in the professional space.
The challenge, of course, for companies is to provide simple solutions that their employees will adopt. These tools, of course, must at the same time meet certain IT security standards. IT teams should be expected to collaborate more with team managers and HR on technology decision-making, and ultimately to improve the day-to-day employee experience.
With the emergence of these new technologies, it will be necessary for managers to bring in innovation experts who can train employees in new tools, sometimes unknown to some, because they are responsible for the success of their teams. Obviously, the adoption of new tools must be monitored, in order to assess the good progress of employees in terms of their familiarization with these tools and their use. Employees will become the vectors of strategic investments for the adoption of these collaborative systems.
Flexible Corporate Culture
Corporate culture is a set of knowledge, values and practices that facilitate the functioning of a company and that employees share. Through this definition, we therefore understand that this culture is defined according to collaborative work on the part of all employees. Previously, decisions about where and how to work were the responsibility of HR or company managers.
All of that is changing and according to many business experts, companies which by 2020 “will adopt the culture of ‘free choice of working conditions’, will see their employee retention rate increase by more than 10%”. It is therefore to be expected that these decision-making roles will be shared with managers, in collaboration with their teams to redefine the organization and collaboration.
As these new paradigms will continue to democratize, new behaviors related to management and work flexibility will accelerate. Taking into account the needs of employees will become a standard if you want to keep them motivated. In a recent survey conducted by Motivation Ping, they found that over 70% of employees require that their organization be more flexible if they want to keep them happy and satisfied at work.
For example, another study has shown that humans naturally lose their full focus, energy, motivation, and physiological fatigue increases approximately every 90 minutes. Therefore, quick 15-minute breaks allow the brain to better consolidate and retain information. We will therefore see initiatives hatch to continue to improve working conditions, promote a flexible corporate culture, and satisfy employees, especially the new generations (Millennials and Generation Z), who are calling for significant upheavals in the company.
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