Are you a small business owner, grappling with the rapid pace of unprecedented changes in the workplace? If you are feeling a little stressed, it’s only natural. While global corporations have the luxury of people, resources, and systems in place, as a small business owner, you know that the reality can be quite different.
If you’ve been feeling the heat in your business, now is a good time to have a cup of tea or coffee, and give yourself a few moments to reflect on what is coming in the next year. There have been so many rapid changes in the way we work, that you may be looking for relief. Let’s explore the 3 top trends that will establish the new world of work in 2022.
Hybrid is alive and well
In the last year, more small businesses transformed the workforce by embracing virtual teams, home offices, and hybrid arrangements. The thing that many owners and CEOs did not initially realize was that a temporary shift would become the new standard. They didn’t expect that employees would enjoy and prefer to work some or all of the time from home.
This trend seems to only be continuing. While some of the elements of public health seem to show no sign of abating, many people prefer to work from home for other reasons. Employees are enjoying having the luxury of no commuting, no office politics, and no interruptions of private creative time.
In addition to the things that they don’t have to do, employees also enjoy the things that they can do. These often include activities such as having family time, enjoying weekends, and being able to home-school their children.
Security is paramount
With a distributed workforce, the issues of security threats seem to only increase. Instead of having a single source of printers to focus on, tech teams are challenged to manage security across multiple locations and among a mixed selection of devices.
Many businesses are now seeing that print security is a larger issue than they originally thought. With the threat of cybercrimes, small business owners are now turning towards new solutions to improve print security. One of the hottest trends is to use a service provider to outsource the entire operations.
This move towards managed print enables business owners to have peace of mind about their IT security initiatives and protocols, without having the headaches of funding an internal IT department. Managed print services not only promises to maintain and manage security issues. Several cost-saving initiatives are appealing to small business owners.
These include options such as discounts on repair calls, subscription plans, seasonal maintenance, and strategic assessments. To stop having sleepless nights about security assessment and monitoring, consider your options for regaining your peace of mind.
Focus on inclusion and wellness
While many companies are continuing to offer work from home (WFH) solutions, employees are looking for ways to achieve work-life balance. Employers can help by helping teams manage their time, detach from work, and include each other on projects.
Inclusion is closely tied with a human need for communication and care. As office managers and teams find new solutions for promoting collaboration, they do much more than focus on working in the same space. Address the subtle issues of clear communication, notification of meetings, and equal access to technology.
Many professionals are coping with physical and mental health concerns. There has often been a stigma around mental health issues and fortunately, this seems to be changing. Fortunately, many organizations are now offering solutions directly to their employees to foster health and wellness.
These can include seminars, virtual training, webinars, apps, and direct confidential access to mental health professionals. If you aren’t sure what your employees would value, there is a simple solution. Ask them. Provide ways where people can respond anonymously so that you can get candid input about what your employees value.
In many instances, appointing an employee to take the lead on initiatives also provides a sense of safety for other members of the team. What signs and signals are you seeing in your business, industry, and region? For instance:
- Do you notice that more employees are working from home or choosing a hybrid arrangement?
- Do you feel confident about security systems within this new landscape?
- Do you feel certain that your organization is providing a sense of inclusion and support for wellness?
As you align your efforts and strategies with these trends, you’ll build a stronger company and a happier workforce in 2022 – and in the years to come, as well.