Flexible work and upskilling: The leading HR trends for 2024
THE YEAR 2024 is expected to usher in another phase of seismic shifts in the rapidly evolving landscapes of business, the future of work, and human resources (HR).
I have spent the last few weeks poring over the latest global reports, surveys, trend data, and projections in these areas to understand the most impactful influencers small businesses need to get a handle on to enhance their overall competitiveness and financial performance.
What I found most striking is that the foundation of practically every trend can be traced to two key pillars: Flexibility in work arrangements and upskilling employees. These pillars are necessary to contend with the other anticipated HR trends for 2024, such as adaptation of HR technology, widespread use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), and transformative talent attraction and retention.
Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has sounded the alarm that AI revolution is a double-edged sword which will have a negative impact on employee morale.
Forty-four per cent of tech companies surveyed by the consulting firm admitted that they will be laying off more people this year in favour of advanced AI.
Across the world, we are already seeing a slowdown in new job creation and tightening in the labour market. Of note is that some experts have also warned that this year will see an explosion of workplace tensions, strikes, and deepening employee/employer conflicts and hostility, as firms move to replace workers with technology.
In the face of the anticipated trends, there appears to be a major contradiction of progressive initiative versus popular practice, as 2023 saw many firms and organisations across industries taking what experts suggest is a regressive decision to impose return to office mandates.
In fact, Jamaica appears poised to shun flexible work arrangements as an unnecessary expense that provides no advantage in the current business environment.
Last Thursday, Radio Jamaica News reported that, amid the widespread phasing out of work from home by corporate firms and governments, Jamaica’s largest and most profitable financial outfit, NCB Financial Group, would end work from home arrangements effective February 1, 2024. According to the report, workers were issued a notice that, with the exception of instances of special approval, and depending on the availability of office accommodation, all employees would be required to return to office five days a week.
The group’s management also advised their staff that they would no longer receive a monthly allowance for benefit for remote work.
Radio Jamaica News also reported “a number of NCB staff members were not pleased with the announcement, as some employees tailored their living arrangements to the ‘work from home’ flexibility”.
On the current trajectory, Jamaica may very well realise some of the workplace tensions, hostility and deepening employee/employer conflicts that have been widely projected to be on the horizon for firms across the world as staff become restive and demoralised by reduced quality of life and the rapid adoption of technology that threatens to diminish their roles and earning potential.
Small business owners may now find themselves facing a strategic dilemma; should they embrace, as progressive, flexible work arrangements and upskilling of their teams to adapt and maximise generative AI, or should they follow the lead of the business giants and hold a firm grip on fixed work arrangements and the more traditional approach to organisational leadership and people development?
It’s possible that standing out
from the larger companies by taking on a more progressive leadership approach, and deepening rather than cutting back on flexible work arrangements will give small businesses a much-needed advantage as an employer of choice over other organisations.
Remote work options can help reduce overhead costs associated with office space, utilities, and even commuting allowances which can be reinvested in the business or reallocated to HR compensation and benefits. This may not only boost staff morale, but also enhance employee satisfaction and loyalty, which are established positive drivers of meeting performance targets, financial objectives and satisfying customer demands.
Another upside is that employees who are more content, less stressed because of unnecessary and costly commutes enjoy a better quality of life, are more open and welcoming of training and upskilling initiatives, and demonstrate better learning outcomes and practical application of new competencies.
In simple terms, when employees are content, they welcome new training opportunities, are less resistant to new technology and initiatives, and therefore work in sync, rather than in constant friction, with their employers.
Small businesses need to evaluate the data within the context of their unique goals, trajectory and circumstances, and then decide what’s best for their business. But from where I sit, if following the trend results in positive outcomes that deliver a strategic advantage, the choice should be crystal clear. One love.