2023 trends: Key drivers shaping the world of work
Tapping into data and providing intuitive and personalized tools will help employers build meaningful connections with their people.
As employee experience emerges as the defining priority of employers in 2023, innovative, personalized data-driven HR solutions will become essential. Shifts in the labor market and global economy have demanded a level of adaptability that’s now become table stakes for employers, and those that respond with speed and urgency to the new demands, will persevere. Employee expectations have permanently shifted as workers rethink their priorities. This heightened focus on employee experience is influencing the way employers approach talent challenges in real-time, making the future of work even more fluid.
Work has always been about people, and this year, employers will respond to their employees’ evolving needs with greater urgency than ever before. It’s all about delivering an employee experience that integrates people’s full lives – from recruitment and hiring to career growth, development, workplace experience, and health and wellbeing. Tapping into data and providing intuitive and personalized tools will help employers build meaningful connections with their people.
Following are four trends that will shape the world of work in the year ahead:
Trend #1: The personalization of the workplace
The pandemic permanently shifted traditional expectations of the workplace, as workers – driven by social and economic stressors – have begun to rethink the notion of job security and how work fits into their lives. In fact, workers today have more choice in the labor market.
We will see personalization becoming much more prevalent across all facets of the world of work. Data-driven technologies will enable HR leaders to tailor solutions to the individual worker, managing each associate on a much more personal level.
New expectations of flexible work arrangements, career choices, job roles and even purpose will put pressure on HR and leadership. Take as an example how and when employees get paid. According to ADP research, over three quarters (76%) of workers across all ages, income and education levels want earned wage access. Going forward, the tools people use at work will be more individualized, from personalized pay options like earned wage access, to tailored career profiles that will enrich the employee experience and drive engagement.
Trend #2: Real-time feedback, Real-time response
Digitalization and constant change have created high expectations from today’s consumers and workers. People look for instant responses and immediate feedback. When issues arise, they expect a swift and thorough response.
Employers are working to meet those expectations by deploying survey tools and other real-time listening posts to tap into what’s on their workers’ minds so they can react and address feedback quickly. In fact, in a recent survey of ADP clients, employee survey capabilities surfaced as one of the top three priorities for HR practitioners. To respond meaningfully in real-time, employers must use data-driven technologies that ensure they’re asking the right questions at the right moments, and then acting on that data in a timely manner.
Trend #3: Using data to increase transparency
With so much data at our fingertips, there are greater expectations for companies to leverage it for good. Evolving legislation and compliance considerations around pay transparency and data privacy are demanding employers to consider how data can impact their workforce. This includes a heightened focus on closing pay equity gaps and driving progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion. As workers continue to show an increasing interest in a company’s ethics and values, employers need to consider the culture they’re building. To continue driving progress in DE&I, employers must find solutions that provide benchmarks and insights, that give them tools to take action, and help monitor for improvement.
Trend #4: Growing talent by unlocking innovation
Having honed the ability to adapt over the past few years, employees expect new approaches from employers on how work gets done and how they can advance in their career journeys. In fact, as they actively look to grow, employees complete 29 million learning courses through ADP each year.
Related: Employer/employee workplace experience ratings show the gap is closing
These expectations for growth and development mean that employers must explore ways to cultivate talent and unlock innovation at work, including AI-driven career pathing technologies to mine internal talent for development opportunities, prescriptive learning recommendations, and insights-driven team leader coaching to help employees stretch and develop needed skills. These tools will help HR attract, develop and retain quality talent as the talent landscape continues to shift.
Emma Phillips is division vice president of human resources at ADP.