Elevating the Employee Experience: Navigating Workplace Trends of 2024

There is so much scuttlebutt surrounding workplace trends. Is there a retention problem? Do we have workforce gaps? Are people finding it hard to secure work? Are some people actually “underemployed” (working below their competencies)? And what are the workforce trends of 2024? 

What are the workforce trends in 2024?

A few interesting things are happening at the same time. Inflation and layoffs mean some sectors have an abundance of options, and other sectors are still in dire straits. We have many workplaces with diversity, and they’re working to ensure they are inclusive for all while others are still incredibly underrepresented. Some workplaces have a bimodal curve with almost all new people and almost all heading for retirement, whereas in others, it’s a typical bell curve with most mid-career. In other words, there is no one “workplace of today.” Some sectors that have relied on the profession – trades, rail, medicine – being a generation-to-generation “family business” are finding that the next generation is choosing a different option.

Globalization, the technology “supercycle” (as coined by futurist Amy Webb), elections, political conflicts, and more are further complicating the business landscape and creating strain for individuals within it.

The Talent Lens

What we know is that to rectify past issues, meet current needs, and future-proof our workforce of tomorrow, we need to address the needs of our greatest competitive asset: talent. Gallup just released yet another dyer report that only 30% of the workforce is engaged; how do we manage the challenges of today and tomorrow with this reality? How do we weather the pressures if we don’t have folks who can feel they can perform at their best and know the difference they’re making every day?

Don’t let the workforce changes fool you into believing that we don’t need to keep our eyes on the people prize. Unless you like the reactionary ping-pong talent game that leads to disloyalty, distrust, and disengagement, a focus on the employee experience is the one thing every industry has in common.

How can we elevate the employee experience?

A key opportunity for all of us is to build and plan more meaningfully with an employee experience lens in mind. With so much having changed over the last five years, so too has our employee experience journey, which is why we’ve reinvented it.

Here’s our 10-phase employee experience model in brief. Use it as a quick gut check to determine whether any of these phases need a solid plan and strategy.

10-Phase Employee Experience Model

1. Explore: Actively engaging potential talent through early exposure events and information sharing.
2. Prepare: Providing tools, resources, and transparent information to guide prospective employees and eliminate barriers to entry.
3. Attract: Streamlining the application process to ensure a positive first impression and success.
4. Hire: Prioritizing the candidate experience by providing clear communication, feedback, and support throughout the hiring journey.
5. Onboard: Setting up new hires for success with engaging orientations, mentorship, and transparent communication. 
6. Contribute: Empowering employees with role clarity, recognition, a supportive environment and more for high engagement.
7. Influence: Encouraging discretionary effort by offering opportunities for involvement, development and growth.
8. Advance: Facilitating employee progression into leadership roles and supporting successful advancement.
9. Depart: Leaving a role or the organization (such as a retirement, resignation or promotion to a new role).
10. Transition: Shifting the employment relationship to ensure continued engagement and skill utilization.

People Planning for the Future

I recently read an article in the Harvard Business Review about the six generations in the workforce today. Wowzers! Join us next week when we discuss the power of using an employee experience lens to ensure there is intergenerational juice in how to recognize and retain your amazing folks.

We’re dedicating the next couple of articles to diving into the employee experience journey concept and how transformation it can be to planning, addressing, and elevating opportunities from chaos. 

In the meantime, did you know that you can create a super easy and actionable plan using an employee experience lens? Contact us, and we’ll be happy to tell you how.

For more insights and delicious tidbits about elevating your employee experience, check out these past blog posts:

• Reputation, Engagement & The Employee Experience: What Starbucks Has to Teach Us
• Shifting Your Hiring Practices to Create a Great Employee Experience
• Let’s Stop Talking about Employee Engagement…and Instead Build Employee Experiences

Disclaimer/Humble Brag Moment: 100% of this content was human-generated (by us folks here at Greatness Magnified). We are committed to authorship integrity and will inform you what percent, if any, is AI-generated.