The scale of change wrought by COVID-19 has shifted our mindset around how work is done. What we do for work hasn’t changed, but the how and where have experienced a significant shift. The immediacy of this change forced companies to adjust business models and rapidly uptake technology to enable remote working, challenging traditional notions of the working week and physical office.
As employees return to offices, many are still clinging to all or part of their pandemic working routines. As leaders try to strike a balance between what works well for the business and employees, we anticipate that disruptions to the way work is done in Australia will continue into 2022 and beyond.
Businesses leaders have an opportunity to define how an ongoing hybrid working climate will impact their workplace and overall business, to support employee productivity and well-being.
I had the pleasure of exploring what is on the horizon for Australian workplaces in 2022 with industry experts — Associate Professor John Hopkins from Swinburne University and Kylee Stone, founder of The Performance Code — and here are the five trends we predict will take centre stage.
1) Moving closer to being more productive on our own terms
It’s ironic that the tools business leaders are being given to eliminate distractions and streamline work are more sophisticated than ever before, but the ‘working week’ model has remained relatively intact over the past 70 years. A trend not only extremely harmful to an employee’s health, but it is also detrimental to their productivity gains and engagement in the workplace.
By eliminating the mindset that equates working long-hours or rigid 9-to-5 workdays with success, and moving towards work arrangements that allows employees more control over not just where they work but when they work — like a four-day work week or unfixed working hours — we can achieve more effective outcomes for both businesses and employees, and better address the rise in ‘connected fatigue’.
2) Five distinct employment models will emerge from the pandemic as offices in Australia re-open.
Hopkins, from Swinburne University, says in 2022, remote work is expected to be far more commonplace than it was two years ago, as Australians seek to balance lifestyle responsibilities with their work lives. As a result, we will see businesses experiment with different work arrangements as they seek to discover what will work best for them as a business, and for their employees, in the post-pandemic work environment.
Five distinct employment models are set to emerge next year, which include working from offices full time again, or working remotely full time. However, three hybrid-work models are set to be the most common arrangements for knowledge workers, which balance their time between home and the office, with varying degrees of flexibility on location, days, and frequency.
3) More businesses will adopt a ‘remote-first’ philosophy, with time together in the office reserved for important planned collaboration and new idea generation.
With many workers becoming accustomed to working remotely, there has been an emergence of new ways of efficient working. The traditional concept of an office still has its purpose — from incidental moments of conversation to planned collaboration and idea generation, bringing people together in person can provide those important touchpoints.
A hybrid model may provide the best of both working practices, but can be challenging to manage — a ‘remote-first’ philosophy to hybrid can help to preserve time spent in the office for important connection, culture building, and collaboration events, whilst deep work and administrative tasks are performed remotely. This positions the office as a central point for coming together for key moments of purpose, whilst simultaneously supporting a level of flexibility for how, where and when employees conduct their work tasks.
4) There will be a redefinition of how employees and their employers frame workplace resilience.
Stone of The Performance Code says that in days past, the ability for an employee to show determination, persistence and grit in the face of large workloads or challenging situations has been held up as a badge of honour by employers. However, thanks to the wisdom of neuroscience we are now starting to understand the potential lasting impact some types of resilience can have on our mental health.
With the intensity of the contemporary work culture likely to continue into 2022 as the economy starts to recover, employers must recognise the difference between ‘healthy’ stress that boosts motivation and productivity versus ‘unhealthy’ stress which can cause burnout and fatigue.
To help employees stay motivated and perform at their best, physically and mentally, leaders need to champion well-being programs that redefine resilience, create an environment of collaboration and build a compassionate and purpose-aligned work culture.
5) After the disruptions of the last two years, mentorship of tomorrow’s business leaders will be at the forefront of an organisation’s priorities.
There has always been an imperative to share knowledge across organisations to support the next generation of business leaders. However, due to onboarding or working exclusively from home in the last two years, there has been a diminished focus on how we nurture those who need it most — tomorrow’s leaders.
Over centuries, Aboriginal communities have placed great emphasis on the importance of knowledge transfer from elders, as well as creating open lines of communication within the community — and this is a mantra that businesses should take on in 2022. Whether through extensive programs that encourage this transfer of knowledge, to technology solutions that assist in connecting individuals within an organisation — how we support our people will play a crucial role in how we nurture and retain our future business leaders.
As we’re uncovering a new era in how Australian businesses approach the concept of work, it’s clear that lessons learnt over the last two years can inform future productivity. It’s important for leaders to understand the needs of their people, different workstyles, and how these impact the way their business operates. This will be key to delving into 2022 with great success.
