7 trends dominating the future of work in 2022

Future of work trends 2022

Work that works for everyone

As businesses stop reacting to the pandemic and start deliberately planning their next move, seven trends are set to shape the way the world works in 2022.

1. Reinvention: Redesign to stay relevant

Life post-pandemic calls for a rethink: of what work looks like, how we get the most from tech and what we offer customers.

Luckily, innovation always follows disruption. So expect personalized products, industry mash-ups (think workspaces in shopping malls) hybrid working, and all the tech to make it happen.

2. Scarcity: Survive the Big Quit

As we leave lockdown, more and more people are leaving their organizations, too. It’s called The Big Quit and it’s set to be an even bigger problem next year – unless leaders do something about it now.

3. Individuality: Make business personal

While customers call for more personalised products, colleagues demand ever-more tailored experiences at work.

It’s time to replace personas with people. Have real conversations to set career paths, learning plans and ways of working that flex to fit everyone.

Your people know what they want. Can you give it to them?

4. Inclusivity: Unleash the power of all

Diverse and inclusive teams are better problem solvers. They are better innovators too (and we all need innovation right now).

We expect to see more businesses building the right structures and behaviors to beat bias, release the potential of everyone and build the best teams. 

5. Vitality: Beat burnout

The pandemic sucked the energy out of your teams. 89% of professionals say they’re more burned out now than at the start of the pandemic.

What can you do? Put wellbeing first. Make it part of your purpose. And bring flexibility into your working practices to give everyone a boost.

6. Sustainability: Shape the smarter future

It’s not just people who are burning out. The planet is in peril and the pressure on businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and address social inequities will only grow.

Act now by putting ESG front and centre in your purpose. Get your board and leaders to back it. Make working sustainably a fundamental part of your culture, processes and structure. And reward colleagues who develop and use their skills to help you get there.

7. Accountability: Stand by what you do

When work works for all of us, it’s on everyone to keep it that way. With more individual, inclusive and flexible working comes more personal responsibility.

But, as everyone seeks to be part of something bigger, it’s on leaders’ shoulders to move from talking to doing. After all, when it comes to measuring a business’s profits or the mark it makes on people and the planet, the buck still stops at the top. And the world is watching.