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The workforce trends shaping 2024: Key takeaways for your organisation

Every year, we’re bombarded with talk of emerging and evolving workforce trends, each one vying for our attention and demanding immediate action.
 
Some are simply noise. Others will transform how we get work done. How do you identify the ‘hype’ from the high-impact?
 
In this latest episode of ‘The Executive Edge’, I’m joined by Christiaan Cumine, Chief Product Officer at Hays, and Bianca Stringuini, our Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to dig deeper into the trends that require real focus, enabling you to better prepare for tomorrow’s challenges.
 
I’ve detailed my key takeaways to give you a snapshot of their expertise in under five minutes. If you’re searching for more, head to the Hays YouTube channel to watch the latest from ‘The Edge’.
 
 

Flexibility needs to come first

 
The question over where work gets done continues to divide opinion. On the one hand, market sentiment suggests that the pendulum is swinging in favour of employer’s desires for mandated office times, with 64% of CEOs anticipating a full return to the office by 2026.
 
And yet employee desires stand at odds with this shift. A recent survey by Hays indicated that 66% would consider moving roles if hybrid options were removed.
 
For Bianca, the answer lies not in binary working arrangements, but in a truly flexible model. If CEOs use productivity as their ‘North Star’, then the challenge becomes far simpler; you need to find, build and enhance the spaces in which people are most productive.
 
Forward-thinking organisations are ensuring this flexibility is embedded into their value proposition. In a tough talent market, the businesses that can promise ‘fit’ over ‘balance’ will attract the skills needed.
 
 

Technology will transform the talent landscape

 
It will come as little surprise that technology earned a spot in our key trends' conversation.
 
For Christiaan, the technology he’ll be watching with interest over the next 12 months includes Generative Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing models and Robotic Process Automation. The prerequisite to all of these, Christiaan added, is a need to “have your data and architecture in place to really allow the benefits”.
 
We can also look to the data to guide our search for the skills needed to leverage these technologies, with buzzwords such as ‘Prompt Engineering’ and ‘ChatGPT’ recording meteoric growth across LinkedIn profiles.
 
But Christiaan warned against simply chasing the trends. Referencing this moment as the ‘epicentre’ of the skills change, he advocated for organisations to also search for candidates with the right core skills.
 
Combined with a strong appetite for learning, regular opportunities for microlearning and a carefully mapped company matrix that demonstrates the scope of possibility available within your business, organisations can develop and re-develop the talent they need to implement and optimise evolving technologies.
 
 

How do we solve the productivity paradox?

 
We are facing a global growth crisis.
 
October 2023 saw the World Economic Outlook forecast that global growth would slow from 3.5% in 2022, to just 2.9% in 2024. For advanced economies, the rate of growth is anticipated to be as low as just 1.4% this year.
 
But with talent in short supply, and cost-cutting measures at the top of most C-Suite agendas, organisations need to drive more from their available resource, rather than simply increasing capacity.
 
For Christiaan, part of the solution lies in being better at identifying untapped potential. While individuals or teams may have been brought in to execute a defined role, or solve a specific challenge, the impact of technology means that these roles are now changing. It’s up to organisations to redefine this scope – aligning critical thinking with Generative AI, for example, to remove bottlenecks, reallocate resource and add value to roles.
 
Bianca added that to combat the current decline, organisations need to take a ‘leap of faith’, creating a culture that encourages people to overflow their potential. Fundamental to this kind of innovation and agility is a shared sense of psychological safety, which encourages individuals to spot problems and shape new solutions. These are the most valuable people in your company, but you need to give them the permission to challenge.
 
Ultimately, Bianca concluded, ‘if you want growth, you need to focus on people’s growth’.
 
 

Unlock more insights

 
2024 is set to be diverse, disruptive and decisive – organisations need to stay informed in order to stay relevant. ‘The Executive Edge’ is our commitment to equipping leaders with the insights needed.
 
Still searching for more? Watch all three parts now, available via the Hays YouTube channel. Make sure to also check out Episode 1, where I was joined by colleagues David Spence and Ruth Munday to discuss evolving location strategies, balancing cost-efficiencies, navigating new technology and the importance of a resilient workforce.

 

AUTHORS

Nigel Kirkham
CEO of Enterprise Solutions at Hays

Nigel Kirkham has spent the last 30+ years driving growth in major global businesses. A strong, transformative Chief Growth Officer, he brings a Big 6 Consulting Partner background as well as large-scale BPO and outsource business experience. A blend of strong business acumen and C-level operating experience help deliver high revenue growth and business expansion. His most recent positions include TMF Group, the global Financial Services business where he sat on the ExCo as Chief Client Officer; Avanade, the JV between Accenture and Microsoft, a global tech giant and largest implementor of Microsoft technology in the world, where he was Global Head of Sales; CSC (Computer Science Corporation), the tech giant (now DXC Technology), where he ran several Industry Verticals, including Financial Services, Retail & Consumer Goods, Transport and Technology. Prior to this he ran Xansa’s consulting business in the US, where he was based in New York. He also spent 12 years in KPMG Management Consulting, the last 5 years as a Partner in KPMG Consulting in the UK. In this role he also spent c 4 years in the Middle East, setting up and running KPMG’s business in the Lower Gulf, where he was based in Abu Dhabi.

Outside of work, he spends his time between houses in Hampshire and Cornwall in the UK, with his partner Daisy. His son Toby works as an Account Executive for Sony Entertainment, and his daughter Milly has recently started a Graduate Management Training programme with tech giant DXC Technologies. .

 

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