Trends Driving the Workforce in 2020
Cross-functional team support, personalization, compliance agility, data-informed decision making and adaptable technology are among leading trends driving the workforce.
Regardless of age, industry or geographic location, as the workforce continues to evolve, so do the needs of workers, businesses and HR leaders.
To better understand those needs, ADP® uncovered the five HCM realities that will shape the workplace in 2020 and beyond. Among these realities, personalization and the ability to provide relevant and actionable solutions will be increasingly sought by companies as they strive to engage their workforce and strategically propel their business forward.
"The world of work has reached an inflection point, punctuated by a tight labor market and stabilizing wage growth," said Don Weinstein, corporate vice president, global product and technology at ADP. "Amidst this landscape, we are seeing a business-critical convergence of technology and data in the workplace. In 2020, companies will look to leverage customizable tech solutions that meet the needs of their organization, their teams, and their workers to provide a more engaging and productive work environment."
Trends Impacting and Informing the Workforce in 2020:
- A team-based approach will change how work gets done.
Organizations of all sizes need to break down siloes to unlock potential and create a culture of connectivity predicated on engagement and performance. Even though work is often done on teams, HCM solutions to-date have not been architected in a way that supports dynamic teamwork. Expect that to change.
The future of work lies in a flat working structure that unlocks the potential of dynamic teams. The tight labor market will continue to fuel the war for talent, forcing employers to reevaluate their teams and seek alternative hiring solutions. Companies will increasingly look to meet their talent needs by supplementing their staff with highly specialized gig workers; former, returning workers; and retirees that can support nimble work.
- Personalization will become paramount.
Employers and workers alike will demand app-driven, consumer-grade HCM experiences – not monolithic software that is difficult to implement. Technology platforms will need to adapt to offer flexible options that companies, teams and even individual workers can configure. The worker experience will evolve through a confluence of emerging technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The evolution of natural language processing and more conversational chat "bots" will help reduce time to complete tasks and aid in promoting user adoption and system utilization for individual needs.
In the coming year, companies that harness data and action it against emerging technologies will not only survive but thrive.
With the rise of new fintech solutions for consumers, workers have grown more discerning about how and when they get paid. As a result, the pay experience will reach a new level of personalization, offering an easier way for workers to be paid, the way they want, anytime they want. Forward-thinking workplace perks, such as personalized, employer-driven financial wellness offerings will help workers manage their pay, savings and improve their financial well-being.
- Compliance complexity will grow.
Increasing regulatory demands throughout the world is sharpening the focus on a need for agile compliance solutions. To help companies navigate this landscape, HCM partners will need to deliver global localization – the ability to localize compliance tools that address changing policies, regulations and laws at all levels with ease. As organizations and teams continue to become more global – with workers logging in from around the world – businesses will be increasingly focused on uncovering new, compliant ways to support worker mobility, without creating unnecessary burden.
- Data scientists and business owners will adopt a shared mindset.
Organizations today crave information that can help them make informed decisions about their people. The talent war will be fought and won on the ability to unlock and apply actionable insights derived from reliable, decision-quality data. Companies, people and teams will benefit from timely, data-driven insights that power decisions. Predictive analytics will be table stakes for any successful business in 2020, providing critical workforce insights such as overtime spikes, excessive turnover, labor costs and pay equity. AI, machine learning, serverless computing, 5G connectivity – these macro trends drive innovation as businesses strive to optimize experiences for workers and clients.
In the coming year, companies that harness data and action it against emerging technologies will not only survive but thrive.
- Today's evolving workforce will require adaptable technology.
Just as teams will become more agile, so will technology platforms. This shift will enable HCM providers to deliver best-in-class levels of system uptime and scalability. As more and more businesses move workloads to the cloud, expect the HCM industry to follow suit. Cloud-native platforms will receive favorability, as they eliminate maintenance windows, provide an open ecosystem approach, drive scalability and performance, and require less technical fluency from users so they can tailor worker experiences and create their own workflows.
Companies will have greater access to technology that provides ever-evolving, personalized solutions to fit their organization. The ability to access a foundation designed for rapid change only further supports flexible, adaptable solutions that effectively respond to the changing needs of a company.
In addition to broad-based trends in the workforce, ADP has also identified several vertical-specific trends impacting the gig economy, accounting industry, franchise industry, benefits and brokers, etc. We'll be sharing those stories in the coming weeks, so bookmark this page!
To dive deeper on the trends listed in this article, click here.
