- Return to Office efforts ain’t going away. For those companies considering requiring more time in the office, learn from the mistakes that some of the large companies have already made. For example, when pressed on why this policy was being implemented, the Amazon CEO anecdotally recalled many conversations with employees that wanted to return to the office. Not great. Instead, give the business rationale and make it credible. Innovation processes being better done in person , or setting a proper example for front line manufacturing associates who have no option to work from home are better reasons, but don’t expect them to be accepted easily. Keep it polite and succinct and don’t be surprised with push back. For employees that detest the office, be sure you have another home-based gig lined up before publicly griping about returning to it. Good old competition for talent should provide such options.
- Speaking of Return to Office, the need to revisit job design, industrial engineering and ergonomics is overdue. Years of couch, bed and other non-optimal seating positions will come home to roost as Work-From-Homers realize their backs, postures and skeletal structures have taken a beating. How, where, how long and when we work will be elements of an overall return to work analysis. Further, more intentional efforts to define units of work and deliverables for office workers will be necessary with the advent of AI in most jobs. Smart HR executives will look at adding this capability to their people analytics function.
- Artificial Intelligence has manifested as a job assistant or enhancement for the knowledge workers that choose to use it in the short term. Companies are naturally focused on how it may benefit them commercially, but those involved with functional training should be focused on AI and how it will evolve job design, job performance and work outcomes.
- The trend toward customized benefits at the individual level will continue. Not many have this right yet so there are opportunities for those that get there first. It is hard for companies to weigh the cost tradeoffs between various levels of 401K match, rich or bare bones medical coverage, bonus opportunities vs student loan repayment, but those who get this right may have a distinct advantage over their competitors for talent. AI should enable advanced costing work on this topic, ultimately enabling a true cafeteria style selection of ‘total rewards’.
- Building on that customization point, further gains in the area of Employee Experience will require extreme customization. Knowing your employees’ preferences for…just about everything will enable you to better provide them with an environment that is fun, rewarding and enjoyable. What music do they like? What are their hobbies? What inspires them? Which non-profits do they support? Thoughtful HR and People leaders can work these data points into a very interesting employee experience.
- In the benefits arena, while more and more companies will cover drugs like Ozembic, there may be a return to more aggressive strategies to incent healthy behaviors. Much like non-smokers are given discounts on their medical coverage, look for non-drinkers and those that commit to low sugar consumption and healthy habits that lead to lower BMI to be offered discounts in future health offerings. Those who do will be offered complimentary coaching and food management advice. Mental Health is evolving into the most important workplace issue in the first several decades of the 21st century; companies should review their coverage, ensure onsite resources are available if the scale of the operation merits it and build a supportive culture that does not exacerbate the mental health challenges already faced by your employees.
- The recruiting function is well into an evolve or die era, and any organization that recruits regularly must adapt to the existence of AI tools and how they affect finding/evaluating talent. Resume fakes, online interview impostors, fake offshore talent, and yet to be seen types of fraud are upon us. Blending traditional ‘in person’ evaluations with advanced fraud detection will be critical elements of any future recruitment strategy. The ability to present portfolios of work may become as important as resume’s or navigating an interview.
- With regard to the new administration and it’s likely effect on the workplace, let’s start with organized labor. The traditional enmity between republicans and labor has softened. Watch for the newly ‘working class’ oriented republican party to quietly drop it’s traditional focus on Right to Work and other ‘anti-labor’ polices, in search of union endorsements and their share of labor money. In fact as this is being written, Trump has just announced his pick for Labor Secretary and in a major departure with past republicans in the role, the new one, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is actually favored by Teamster’s President Sean O’Brien. With AI, robots and more automation coming, it’s likely that both parties will be courting Big labor going forward as a signal to workers that they are on their side. This may result in more aggressive unionization efforts for companies to contend with as the new Labor Secretary finds ways to make organizing easier.
- Look for more ‘federalization’ of law, meaning sending more regulation back to the states as the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (aka DOGE) begins eliminating federal workers and potentially entire agencies. Added regulatory complexity, state by state, is likely for organizations that have national footprints. More work is coming to your compliance professionals in HR and Legal.
- Final point on the new administration, all businesses, but especially those in high turnover industries should review and improve their immigration compliance procedures, and simultaneously prepare for a full employment scenario where many who have dropped out of the workforce come back, as those without citizenship depart. In-house functional training will become more important as will the need to engage previously ignored work pools like the disabled, an underappreciated and willing group. Partnering with community employment agencies, non-profits that serve those who are underemployed and industry apprenticeship initiatives are ideas to consider. Coaching your managers on patience, empathy and persistence may be the most important idea of all.
10 Trends for Your 2025 People/HR/Business Radar
Steve Degnan
Speaker, Author, Advisor, CHRO Executive, Non-Profit Board Member, Military Veteran
- November 24, 2024
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