During my holiday reading I came across an article in the Australian Financial Review Weekend Edition that offered its predictions for the five major workplace trends in 2016. The article can be read in its entirety here, but as a summary, I’ve listed below the major points:
1. Email will be Sacked
There is a growing trend amongst businesses to significantly reduce the amount of email, especially internally. Some companies now ban all internal email, instead insisting on personal meetings, telephone calls, and drop box for exchanging documents. Others have a moratorium each day (usually one hour) when email is shut down. Still others are offering employees the opportunity to sign a pledge that they won’t read or send emails between 7pm and 7am each day.
2. Performance Reviews Get a Makeover
Increasingly Australian companies are no longer using the full employee performance review on an annual or half-yearly basis. Alternatively companies are providing immediate feedback to employees, and training and trusting line supervisors and managers to do the job.
3. Data Dominates Decisions
Big data is on the rise, and the growth of data analytics as a tool and profession is ensuring greater scrutiny of data and decisions.
4. Employers Using LinkedIn
LinkedIn is now recognised as one of the most powerful social media tools available. Consequently employers are finding that it is often quicker and more efficient to communicate with their employees through LinkedIn. Organisations are increasingly using LinkedIn to advertise for jobs and to recruit prospective employees, and monitor existing ones.
5. Job titles
A growing worldwide trend is the decreasing use of titles. HR professionals see this as a flattening of organisational structures and implementing greater consistency throughout the organisation. Potentially, we are seeing the downsizing of the C-suite.
Are you keeping ahead of the waves of change coming your way? Or are you reacting and getting left in the wake? Maybe pick one of these trends and see if you can implement one in your workplace that puts you ahead.
The Avondale Business School can advise your organisation on being effective in these areas – find out how by contacting Warrick Long at the Avondale Business School.
P: 02 4980 2168