With a constantly changing workplace, Converge HR Solutions
will satisfy your HR needs to keep your company up to date with the latest workplace
trends you could experience in the upcoming year.  

1. Leaders encourage more human interaction

In such a digital world, people have lost touch on the
importance of truer human connections. The modern work place will change to
facilitate more natural interactions between employees. “One study found that moments of
conversation between co-workers increases performance by 20% and another study uncovered that 72% of
employees who have a best friend at work are more satisfied with their
job. In Dan Schawbel’s research,
in partnership with Randstad, found that Gen Z’s and millennials choose
in-person conversations over using technology and prefer corporate offices over
telecommuting.” Not only does human interaction help employee morale, it will
help increase output by employees.

2. The next wave of learning credentials

With the ever-increasing cost of college, people are now
beginning to take different learning paths to avoid the extreme costs of higher
education. Now third part educators offer free learning initiates that can be
found online. People obtaining these credentials can demonstrate their worth to
a company by proving their self-driven nature to learn independently from a
higher education institution. Many companies are beginning to accept these
non-traditional learning credentials as they can help them develop a more
diverse talent pool.

3. Companies focus on upskilling and retraining
current workers

Companies are running into difficulties of not being able to
fill job positions due to the lack of skills within their companies or in their
talent searches. “The National Federation of Independent Business
reports that 45% of small businesses were unable to find qualified candidates
to fill job openings and 60% of all employers have
job openings that stay vacant for twelve weeks or longer, which costs them
$800,000 annually in lost productivity and advertising fees.” Due to the heavy advertising
expenses to find quality employees, companies are making use of up-skilling
their current workers. This can aid in employee morale by helping employees feel
more secure in their positions.

4. Artificial intelligence becomes embedded in the
workplace

Almost everything we do in the digital space is now
surrounded around artificial intelligence; everything from Google to Facebook
to Amazon. Artificial intelligence will help to change the work force by
optimizing already functioning areas of your business. For example, within the
HR world, there is talk to potentially utilize Artificial Intelligence to help
HR functions with the use of Chatbots. A Chatbot is essentially a program that
an employee can have text conversations with in regard to any HR function or to
satisfy any workplace questions. Chatbots are expected to begin showing a role
in the HR realm as many companies are already implementing this technology in
areas such as Customer Support.

5. Financial and mental wellness gets prioritized

Financial stress deteriorates the mental and physical health
of employees and the quality of work that is produced in result continues to
fall short of employer expectation. “Nearly half of employees have
financial concerns, causing them to lose an average of six productive work days
per year.” As a result of extreme financial stressors, employers are beginning
to help their employees overcome their financial burdens. Not only is financial
wellness becoming even more important, the mental health of employees is also
taking a top spot on the list of priorities. Many HR professionals are now
taking the role of mental health councilors as “84% of employees have
experienced physical, psychological or behavioral symptoms of poor mental
health.” Positive practices for mental and financial will help your employees
which in return will help to increase your business’s productivity.

6. Employee burnout causes more turnover

Burn out can be described as overworking employees to the
point where they can’t continue on working with your company. “In a study, in partnership with Kronos,
[Dan Scawbel] found that almost half of HR leaders say employee burnout is
responsibility for up to half of their annual workforce turnover. They believe
burnout is caused by unfair compensation, an unreasonable workload and too much
after-hours work.” Ways to avoid employee burnout are to give your employees
their personal time. If an employee is out of the office, only contact them in
the event of an emergency. Make sure employees are justly compensated and feel
important in their work.  

7. Workforce decisions sway consumers behavior

HR teams are helping to prove to business leaders the
importance of HR and the positive effects they have on a company and its sales.
Not only do positive employee and potential candidate relations help positive
interactions within your company, it also will help you company drive sales due
to the positive experience associated with your company.

8. Companies take diversity more seriously

There currently are issues across the United States with
under representation of minority groups in business and pay discrepancies
between men and women. With these issues, many companies are challenging
themselves to rise to the issue and make changes in their business practices to
be more inclusive and fair to all current and future employees.

9. The deregulation of labor laws

With the current administration, we can expect to see many
laws being deregulated during 2018. With deregulation, companies are starting
to see increasing costs to the companies which is then affecting workplace
diversity as well as worker’s rights. With the current deregulations that we
are experiencing, “64% said
they anticipate the labor-related regulations will be more complex”.

10. The
aging workforce

With an older work force, companies need to prepare
themselves for expenses that will come in the shape of retirement plans,
healthcare costs and equal opportunity. Also, the Baby Boomers are beginning a
trend to work well past the retirement age due to increasing life expectancy.
Companies will also start to see a trend of the Millennial generation finding
it difficult to land or hold a job due to the Baby Boomer generation continuing
to maintain their leadership roles within companies.

All ten of the preceding trends will potentially affect your
company’s function in 2018.  With
changing laws and culture, your company can benefit from the help of an
outsourced HR team dedicated to the well-being, performance, and profitability
of your company. At Converge HR Solutions, we take care of all your HR needs to
help your company adapt to the ever-changing trends that the modern workplace
experiences. For more information about how Converge HR Solutions can best
serve you, please visit our website at https://convergehrsolutions.com/
or contact us directly by email at info@convergehrsolutions.com
or phone at 610-296-8550

Article Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2017/11/01/10-workplace-trends-youll-see-in-2018/#58fc16204bf2

Image Source: https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/739508131