I know, I know — we’re only two weeks into the New Year and you have already gotten a boatload of workplace predictions and trends for 2015.
That’s what happens when we roll in to a new year, and if you haven’t had enough already, here is one more list of them, courtesy of the The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated:
Here are their Top Workplace Trends for 2015:
Minimum wage law changes and looming U.S. Affordable Care Act deadlines dominated 2014 headlines, but 2015 is when organizations will feel the impact of these and many other regulations.
Additionally, with continued public discourse on non-exempt workers and topics surrounding a living wage, new legislation is expected to arise in this final term of the Obama Administration.
With today’s regulations administered not only at the national and state levels but down to the city, municipal, and individualized union levels, new compliance requirements will shake up processes for organizations while adding another layer of complexity for national and multinational organizations.
Despite increasing health care and labor costs expected through 2015 and beyond, profitable organizations have learned that excellent financial returns do not have to come at the expense of the employee.
Research shows that employees – especially the front line, hourly workforce – should be seen as an asset, not a cost.
As competition tightens, successful organizations will invest more in their workforces to increase employee engagement and create a virtuous cycle that leads to happy customers.
Baby Boomers – the largest generation to ever hit the workforce – will begin retiring in droves as their children take on more workplace responsibility. As Baby Boomers exit the workplace, many Generation Xers could see increased opportunity, including long-awaited pay raises.
Millennials will take on management positions for the first time. Talent retention and career development will be key in 2015 as organizations train new managers while working to simultaneously shrink the skills gap and hold onto the knowledge assets of a retiring workforce.
Most organizations drowned in data in 2014, as few have unlocked the secret to analytical success.
However, organizations that have lagged behind will take notice of winning big data best practices from previous years, while workforce management tools will deliver analytics for evidence-based decision-making in 2015.
Industry-specific solutions, visualization technology, and new applications from specialized consultation and services vendors will utilize existing workforce management data to create actionable insight.
Human resources, operations, and management professionals would be wise to keep an eye on news from the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, as consumer technologies are poised to dramatically impact workforce management.
Mobile devices and social media have transformed the way employees and employers communicate, while gamification and wearable technologies are expected to win in the workplace.
Workforce management software suites and mobile platforms will continue to evolve with consumer software design concepts, including increased focus on the user experience (UX), responsive design, flat OS functionality, and drag-and-drop and touchscreen performance.
I enjoy informed speculation on possible workforce trends, but as I am fond of saying, my own crystal ball is pretty hazy. As much as I feel that I have a pretty good handle on where things are going, I frequently get surprised at how they actually turn out.
That’s what makes for an interesting world. None of us REALLY know what is going to happen during the next 12 months, and we don’t get any magical powers because a New Year has been.
So caveat emptor. No one else really knows where things are going either. We may have a pretty good sense of things, but I guarantee there will be plenty of surprises too. That’s what makes the workforce world go around.
Of course, there’s more than just more workplace predictions for 2015 in the news this week. Here are some HR and workplace-related items you may have missed. This is TLNT’s weekly round-up of news, trends, and insights from the world of talent management. I do it so you don’t have to.