Neha Juwale

Trending 7 – HR Perspective of Workplace - Year 2017
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- Neha Juwale
As we enter 2017 – here are top trending 7 workplace phenomenon to watch out for. These phenomenon’s are derived from conversations with human resource professionals, a series of national surveys and secondary research from more than 120 different primary and secondary research sources, including think tanks, consulting companies, non-profits, the government and trade associations.
1. The blended workforce
As we enter an age wherein working population is on rise, 2017 sees a mix of Millennials and Gen Z; where a study indicated that 36% Millenials are in managerial roles or above and more than 10% companies have accelerated leadership programs to nurture them; where Gen Z are concerned its time for them to settle in their organizations thus both generations will continue to put pressures on companies to transform the office, reward employees, embrace flexibility, and align the companies interests with a cause. 2. Workplace wellness becomes critical employee benefits for attracting top talent A report indicated that a greater percentage of adults than last year report experiencing at least one symptom of stress (78 percent vs. 75 percent in 2015) this is estimated to rise to 82% in 2017 as compared to 2016. Therefore companies are using wellness programs to lower absenteeism, attract talent, and save on healthcare costs, to create a more relaxing and healthier environment for employees.
3. Attire and Workplace to – Keep it Casual Several years ago, Virgin Founder Richard Branson was on the cover of Forbes Magazine with a scissors cutting off his tie, calling for the end of business formal attire. In 2017, companies to see a continuation of this trend, with more employees demanding to drop their suits and ties in exchange for jeans and shirts and Bean Bags to replace the traditional desk.
4. Free lancers and Full time Employees At the SHRM 2016 Annual Conference in Washington DC, Henry Jackson, the President of SHRM, noted that the "rise of freelance workers" was one of the top five biggest employment trends. Companies to hire – on demand employees to save on healthcare coverage, statutory and other employee benefits. Blurring office borders wherein many freelancers working at remote offices, in sync with full time employees and consultants to become a critical skill globally.
5. Performance Reviews to shift from ‘Annual’ to ‘Continuous’
HR’s blue eyed baby - ‘Performance Review’ to move from ‘Annual to Continuous’ to implement strategies that serve managers and employees to enhance performance. In today’s age of ‘Instant Gratification’ a behavior adopted from social networks like Twitter and Facebook, professionals are willing to learn about their strengths and areas of improvement on a regular basis rather than waiting for one full year. World’s top organizations - GE and Adobe, have already replaced their annual review process for regular feedback. Adobe, the first major company to step away from annual performance reviews, created a "Check-In" system, where expectations are set annually but feedback is given regularly, resulting in a 2% decrease in voluntary attrition. GE followed suit by creating "Touchpoints," where there is a daily development focusing on results and changing business demands, which has resulted in five times increase in productivity in the past year.
6. Gamification, Augmented, Virtual Reality to revolutionalize Workplace Estimated virtual reality revenue to hit 8 billion in the next 2 years, investments will be over four hundred million with 25 million users by that time; with such promising figures by this side companies to take virtual reality seriously. Current success of Pokémon GO's augmented reality app, Acquisition of Oculus by Facebook - promises 2017 to be a year of these technologies; Top organizations in retail, ITES, IT sectors have started using Gamification in Training; General Mills has a virtual reality tour of their offices, The British Army is already using VR in their recruitment process 7. Organizational restructuring – An initiative to focus on team over individual performance
Although individuals have their own career agenda, organizations are structuring and restructuring teams for several reasons; one of them being rise in millennials and Gen Z mix as their expectations from organizations have been observed to be on similar lines also because high performing teams will enable companies to compete for the future in these times of high market volatility.