Unum has recently compiled a list of trends that will hit the British workplace pretty soon.
Their Future Laboratory “used a mixed research approach involving interviews with a range of experts from its Futures100 network” and also conducted “an online survey of British employees to quantify their awareness, involvement and future interest relating to trends in this report”.
Here is what they found:
It’s all about being getting away
No one can deny that work and digital devices have taken over our lives. However, more workers are turning away from their “busy, hyper-connected lifestyles” and prioritising personal fulfilment and well-being instead.
Workers are feeling increasingly overwhelmed by the tools and amount of work they need to use and do on a daily basis.
73 per cent of British workers feel they are expected to always be available for work, which, according to the report, “significantly increases stress levels and the likelihood of leaving a job”.
It is even suggested that employee’s “feel a desire for digital disconnection, and feel a sense of relief when they are in a place where they are unable to receive a phone signal or connect to the internet.”
British workers involved in this trend stress the importance of regular breaks to improve productivity and allow them to relax their minds for a while. It was also found that “workers wish for a degree of flexibility from employers in order to accommodate a balanced life with a proportion downtime. “
We’re all connected
It is believed that by 2030, there will be no wasted energy, people or resources.
According to Deloitte, by 2020 all UK consumers will have a smartphone. This growth of personal technology, including the use of smart devices, will mean that employers will be able to track their employee’s health and behaviour.
Indeed, our habits will be translated into metrics by 30bn autonomously connected objects wired to the internet in 2020. But, surprisingly, workers themselves seek “an open environment where they can share information and see that of others.”
This will boost creativity and collaboration.
However, it also means that people expect experiences to be personalised, whether at work or in a store.
The Intuitive Workplace has the lowest uptake of all four trends, with employees not seeming eager for it to happen and employers not currently facilitating it.
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