Looking Ahead for 2023: What We’re Expecting to See This Year at Work
Looking Ahead for 2023
Happy New Year! We hope your holidays were everything they needed to be. We’re picking back up with our look ahead to this year and the leadership, culture, and workplace trends we expect to see as we make our way back to our desks. We’ve got some things cooking in our shop that we’re excited to share with you this year. Stay connected for new offerings, insights, and even some opportunities to test out a new product or two.
What We Expect to See This Year
We’ll get better at hybrid
This year, we anticipate a continued evolution of technology that supports hybrid. We’ll see way better hybrid conference tech. This tech will combine a lot of what we need to make hybrid work effective with fewer logins and more integrations.
Teams are going to get better at figuring out the right cadence for in-person connection and remote work. For some teams, it’s 2 days a week in the office. For other teams, it’ll be quarterly team experiences that focus on building social fabric. Some teams will have regional hubs for in-person gatherings, and others will invest in memberships at co-work spaces for anyone who is remote but wants an office to go to.
Leaders will get better at figuring out the “glue” that keeps hybrid teams together. What kinds of huddles, agreements, check-ins, and meetings fuel connection instead of draining it, and how we can create a feeling of proximity even when we’re not in the same office.
Community building is the new belonging
We’re going to see a shift from thinking about belonging to thinking about community building at work. Belonging is an outcome of a thriving community. Communities flourish through focusing on what people have in common by, learning and sharing, leveraging the strengths and gifts people have to offer, and supporting one another. One of the deep lessons from the pandemic is that humans are not wired to be alone, we’re wired to be in community. Work is no different. Hybrid and remote have left many workers feeling alone, and our work in the coming years is to figure out how we can intentionally design community at work no matter where work is getting done.
Recognition is an investment that pays off
We’ve seen a boom in recognition apps and platforms for workplaces. They are a work in progress, and many of them fall flat. What we know for sure is that being appreciated is unbelievably important for workers.
Just like any practice of gratitude, a few things have to be in place for recognition to be effective:
It needs to happen regularly
The appreciation has to be genuine and thoughtful
It’s best if it’s the kind of recognition that matches the way the person prefers to be recognized
We’ve also seen some new research on what kind of recognition is most meaningful. What seems to be emerging is no surprise: Generic awards and certificates don’t mean anything to anyone. Awards that are unique to a team or organization that connect with the identity and even quirkiness of the organization are highly effective. We just spent time with a client team brainstorming “quirky awards” and they were amazing. Just the act of coming up with the awards was fulfilling and connecting for this team.
Bottom line: Recognition is best when peers and leaders do it regularly, honor how the person likes to be recognized, and ensure it’s genuine and thoughtful. Gift cards and points that can be turned into rewards are second best. People appreciate them, but the thoughtful, personal recognition is even better.
Purpose is powerful
We’ve been predicting for a while that purpose is going to emerge as one of the most important aspects of organizational culture and engagement. We think this is the year that individual purpose at work starts to become more relevant. Workplaces that offer opportunities for people to understand and get connected to their sense of purpose are going to see big benefits. When someone understands their sense of purpose and can then connect it to the organizational purpose, the “meaning at work’o’meter” skyrockets.
Look out in the next year for new offerings from our team focused on connecting with personal purpose. We’ve been refining our approach and are excited to share it with you!
The 4-day workweek works
Early studies are in and they are unanimous so far in saying that a 4-day work week is good for everyone. Productivity seems to increase, people are less stressed, experience more well-being, and value their employers more when they work less. It also doesn’t seem to be about the 4 days, it seems to be more about the 32 hours a week being optimal for maximum quality, productivity, and well-being. We’re going to continue to see a lot more about this next year. We’ve been working with a few clients this year experimenting with designing 4-day weeks and compressed weeks, with goals of more balance and less stress and burnout. Stay tuned.
Spotlight on Managers
We’re coming for you, Managers! We expect a shift in leadership development to focus on the manager level of leadership in the coming couple of years. Managers are overloaded without the skills, strategies, and support they need to lead effectively. Managers also need skills and strategies that aren’t always offered in traditional leadership development programs. We’ve found that combining individual coaching with group learning and team problem-solving sessions creates the optimal kind of learning and support for managers who need solutions yesterday. Interested in learning more? Get in touch with us, we’ve got a coaching/learning/support package that’s right for your managers.
Cheers to the New Year
That’s all for now from our corner of the world. We wish you a healthy and easy start to the year. We’ve just topped off our coffee with the strong brew we’ll need to jump back into action after the holidays and we’re raising our mugs with you: Cheers to doing our very best to keep doing good work with good people this year and many years to come.
Looking to Connect?
If you’re looking for more help in any of these areas, send us an email or book a time to chat further. We love problem-solving with you!