Six Top Workforce Trends

Successful businesses adapt to new market demands, the changing workforce and ever-evolving technology. They have to because companies that don’t adapt will fail. Understanding the trends that are driving change, creating talent challenges, and offering potential solutions can help pave the way to adaptability and success.

Many of the workplace trends prevalent in 2016, such as maximizing talent analytics and improving the candidate experience will continue to resonate in 2017 and beyond, coupled with other emerging trends that demand new ways of managing and planning for the future. The following are the top six workforce trends expected throughout the new year:

The blended workforce will continue to grow.

The gig economy, an environment in which organizations contract with workers for short-term engagements, has created a new kind of diversity with full-time permanent employees working side-by-side with freelancers and contractors. “As more companies hire on-demand to solve key problems and cut costs, more freelancers, contractors and full-time workers will team up to work on projects together as part of the blended workplace,” says Gary Bozza, managing partner at WorldBridge Partners Chicago NW. “And with many employees working at remote offices, the ability to manage without borders is going to become an increasingly critical skill.”

Companies will work to improve both candidate and employee experiences.

Companies create marketing experiences for customers and prospects in order to drive positive engagement, increase loyalty and grow their revenues. Now employers are recognizing they need to do the same thing for both their candidates and their employees. A recent study by Workplace Trends found that nearly 60 percent of job seekers have had a poor experience as a job applicant, and 72 percent of them have shared that experience on an online employer review site. “Every single candidate touchpoint, during the interview process, reflects on your potential employer brand. If you are missing the mark, due to sites like Glassdoor, your pool of candidates will shrink and your offer acceptance rates may suffer.” says Gary Bozza.

Aside from candidates, employee retention and engagement are also a major concern as companies recognize that top talent have numerous employment options and losing even a few of them drastically affects productivity. More organizations, for example, will focus on identifying and eliminating unnecessary workplace complexity. By putting the employee experience first, employers will be helping to improve productivity by designing simplified work processes. In addition, by creating a culture that is more cohesive, there will be more opportunities for idea sharing across the company, which results in a higher performing company.

Use of talent analytics will increase.

Analyzing and curating data to measure and improve hiring will become more prevalent as talent acquisition professionals feel the pressure to combine traditional recruitment methods that leverage instinct or gut feelings, with the ability to turn everyday data into recruiting intelligence. In fact, many companies are already using data to analyze competitor talent pools to find candidates with the right skills and potential to join their organization, and are examining data on whether full-time or part-time employees bring the highest return on investment. Employers will continue to seek better ways to interpret data and develop true insights about future and current employees, regarding whether they have the competencies, experiences, traits and drivers to succeed.

National average starting salaries are up.

For every job opening in 2008, there were 40 applicants. By 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Survey, the number of applicants for every open position had shriveled to 1.4. Two factors:

• increased demand for skilled workers
• historically low inflation

Both are driving wage growth and, as a result, average starting salaries will continue to rise in 2017.

When skilled professionals are both in high demand and in short supply, employers have to remain open about compensation for new hires and be informed about salary trends in their industry and in their geographic location. Failure to do so will mean losing top candidates to competitors.

More millennials will move into management roles.

This year, more than 3.6 million “baby boomers” or executive leaders are set to retire as younger professionals ascend to managerial slots. As millennials move into leadership roles, their management style is expected to bring a striking change in corporate America, with a focus on collaboration and transparency. Where previous generations adopted the traditional top-down corporate structure, millennials tend toward a flatter structure with fewer titled roles and a more democratic approach. Leadership will emerge in other forms because Millennials often believe you don’t need a title to be a leader. It can come from heading a project or campaign, or even taking an active role on your team.

The uptick in boomerang workers will continue.

The boomerang employee, one who leaves a company on good terms but then returns later, is on the upswing. According to a study conducted by the Workforce Institute at Kronos: The Corporate Culture and Boomerang Employee Study, 85 percent of HR professionals say they have received job applications from former employees, and 40 percent say their organization hired about half of those former employees who applied.One of the reasons for this trend is the fact that top professionals know how to effectively switch jobs within a short time. It’s also easy for companies to keep in touch with former employees through social media and to track and re-employ them. As the employment market continues to tighten, it will become increasingly difficult for employers to find the quality, skilled candidates to meet their needs. One of the advantages of hiring a boomerang workers is that they are already familiar with the company’s culture and tend to adapt to the new environment with a faster and more productive orientation.The above six trends already exist today, but their impact will increase as 2017 unfolds. Many companies are already under unprecedented threat of disruption, due to shrinking talent pools in many sectors, and employee expectations that are changing. This means employers have to be extremely sensitive and proactive to these changes. Understanding the trends that will profoundly affect the workplace next year and in the years ahead is critical to their success and their survival.

Gary Bozza opened the doors of WorldBridge Partners Chicago NW in 1997. Recognized for his ability to get results, he has been building real world leadership teams for four decades on both sides of the hiring process. Gary’s practice is dedicated to helping Owners, CEOs, Presidents, and Private Equity Firms drive revenue and maximize the effectiveness of human capital resources, while building enterprise value. “The WorldBridge Way” is a 26-year proven & rigorous search methodology that produces timely solutions, resulting in successful, high-performance teams. In 2022, Forbes recognized WorldBridge Partners as “America’s Best Recruiting Firm”. 

Contact Gary today at (847) 550-1300 ext. 33 or [email protected]