We publish a lot of articles at TalentCulture by terrific HR practitioners, innovators, and thought leaders. In fact, we’ve been sharing useful ideas from diverse experts for over 14 years. When we started on this journey way back in 2010, I obviously had no idea what the future would hold. But with ongoing contributions from our community, we’ve built an incredible library of wisdom about key workplace trends.
Most of this content is perfectly on-trend when it is published. But recently, as I revisited a popular #WorkTrends podcast from several years ago, I began wondering about shelf life. How well do all the insights and advice hold up over time? Do articles still apply, say, a year later? Should industry blogs start adding “best if used by…” dates?
(By the way, if you’d like to know what inspired me to start asking these questions, check my fresh take on this 2021 conversation: “End of Jobs? Another Look at On-Demand Workers and Remote Work.”)
Well, after that podcast redux, I was hooked. I couldn’t stop there. So I started digging deeper into other TalentCulture content. And I found some gems that would benefit from a refresh in the light of today’s context. Here’s one example that deserves renewed attention:
4 Workplace Trends: Then and Now
In February, 2023, we published a popular post by work futurist Cheryl Cran: “What Hybrid Worker Preferences Reveal About the Future of Work.” The piece is based on a combination of primary and secondary research conducted in 2022 by Cheryl’s consulting firm, NextMapping.
The piece is packed with interesting statistics and analysis. But if we fast-forward to today, what’s still relevant and accurate? Here’s my updated take on several of Cheryl’s key observations:
1. What Has Changed
Work disruption was happening before 2020. The pandemic merely focused our attention and accelerated the rate of change.
Yes, and no. Clearly, organizations were experiencing pre-pandemic disruption as digital transformation ramped up. But when Covid struck, the rate of change wasn’t the only thing that accelerated. We also had to adapt to a whole new mode of working together and getting things done. No one saw that coming.
2. Flexibility Rules
Above all, people want work that is flexible enough to fit into their lifestyle. And they’re willing to make the necessary professional adjustments: 66% of workers worldwide prefer to participate in a hybrid workplace, and 52% prefer hybrid work over a fully remote model.
This is still fairly spot-on. Late in 2023, Gallup research found that 60% of employees with remote-capable jobs prefer a hybrid arrangement, while about 33% prefer fully remote work. Meanwhile, less than 10% prefer to work on-site. And wellbeing remains a core concern.
3. Meetings Are Madness
People want fewer meetings, and they want each meeting to be more effective. In fact, 66% say ineffective meetings reduce their overall productivity.
Meetings! Instead of jumping forward with this one, I’m going to press rewind. Sadly, this is an excellent example of a workplace trend repeating itself.
Meetings were certainly an issue long before the pandemic hit. For example, in late 2019, a Korn Ferry survey of nearly 2,000 employees found that 67% felt excessive meetings distracted them and kept them from doing their best work. What’s more, only 16% of respondents said meetings and calls help their teams achieve the greatest impact.
Unfortunately, not much has changed on this front. During the pandemic, meeting overload proliferated as videoconferencing became a staple of remote and hybrid work life. Zoom fatigue still plagues many of us. Yet, meetings remain a fundamental aspect of employee experience.
But there is one bright light here. As Cheryl wisely pointed out last year, organizations were increasingly replacing meetings with polling and survey tools to gather worker insights. Count me in! Who wouldn’t prefer a 10-second pulse survey to an hour on Zoom?
4. The Development Gap Persists
Workers prefer an employer that invests in their future plans, but only 55% of employees say their company provides learning roadmaps, growth opportunities, and succession plans.
First, I’ll point out the obvious gap between employee sentiment and employer action. 45% of those surveyed did not feel their organization was investing in their future. No wonder Cheryl called for employers to demonstrate their commitment by focusing on growth opportunities, talent mobility, and retention.
So, a year later, how are we doing? 1 in 3 workers lack the foundational digital skills needed for today’s business environment, and the lifespan of a work skill is shrinking at warp speed. Ouch.
The fact is, even if employees want to stay, they may not be up for the challenge. So, retention or not, we’ve got much more work to do when it comes to learning and development.
Foresight is a Relative Term
Is this commentary a harsh judgment? Not at all. If anything, it’s kudos with a small caveat — the future isn’t easy to predict and no one has a crystal ball.
That’s why many of our contributors adjust their worldview as circumstances unfold. It comes with the territory. Cheryl Cran knows this. That’s why she followed up with hybrid work guidance for leaders early this year.
And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with assertions that fit today’s circumstances but become less relevant within a year. Why? Just compare work snapshots from November 2022 and 2023 — before and after generative AI burst on the scene. In less than a year we saw an astonishing impact, with 73% of businesses already adopting GenAI in some form.
Often, we can see plot twists coming. But sometimes they blindside us.
The truth is, no matter how meticulously we try to futurecast, we can’t predict with certainty what will happen down the road. I think back to the pandemic outbreak 4 years ago. Only days before the lockdown, we published posts about how to build employee trust, the value of data accessibility for a strong work culture, and why globalization was triggering a need to improve workforce soft skills. In terms of the big picture, none of these were wrong. But we had no idea just how critical these issues would become.
Hindsight is 2020, as they say. But what I see with many of our blog contributors is that their observations usually remain on-target over time. Change is more a matter of how we perceive a phenomenon, and whether we see it as part of a broader, overarching trend. For example, consider concerns about how meetings continue to shape employee experience. Same issue, different day.
Of course everyone is entitled to their perspective, and we celebrate diversity of thought and a spirit of discovery here at TalentCulture. But from time to time, it’s helpful to step back and think about whether our assertions pass a litmus test.
Reality checks like this show us that yes, we are capable of change. Indeed, we are already changing. And in some ways, we’re seeing progress. That’s especially important now, in a complex and dynamic world that challenges us to stay focused and keep up.
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