Regardless of your job title and position within the corporate ladder, chances are your professional role has evolved and transformed massively since the beginning of the pandemic. We’ve all been witnesses of the corporate disruption that has taken over the world during the past few years. What’s even wilder is that this is just the beginning of a digital transformation ride that’s due to change our corporate world completely. From saying goodbye to offices and hello to remote work to the vast adoption of new technologies, a lot is happening.

In an effort to embrace all the promises of 2022 and beyond, here are my top predictions for what’s to come this year in the world of work.

2022: The Year of Investing in Our Remote Reality

2020 was the year of settling into a whole new world of problem-solving to maintain existing operations. 2021 was about getting comfortable with those new methods – we all kind of knew what we were doing, and new work shifts became part of our daily lives. Now, 2022 will be the year of conquering the new workforce rhythm. Leaders will invest more comfortably in remote work technology while focusing heavily on equipping employees to master their new and existing tech tools.

As the digitally driven world continues to evolve, making technology work for us, fueling collaboration within hybrid and fully remote teams will be the engine that drives the workforce forward – and sets people for success beyond changing times.

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Start-Ups and Small Companies Will Skip Getting an Office

One of the key benefits of remote work is that it’s allowing employees to make long term decisions for their lives and wellbeing that no longer have to be tied to their occupation. You can now work in tech and buy a house by a lake in Utah, if that’s your calling and your Wi-Fi permits it. Employees are effectively committing to remote work for the long term with these big life changes. This is a great indicator that hybrid work is not a fad that will pass with the pandemic.

In fact, as the concept of hybrid work continues to evolve, many companies will choose to move to a completely remote set-up. In 2022 and beyond, we’ll see start-ups and smaller companies skip the traditional brick-and-mortar office approach altogether. Removing the cost of a physical office space, combined with the added attraction of remote work will save companies money and expand their talent pool, both of which will be a huge boost to those companies trying to make the most of their capital to get off the ground.

DE&I Will Lead in Priorities – Beyond Hybrid Work, this is a Critical Point

In 2022, powering the DE&I ecosystem will also be top of mind for business leaders. For instance, DE&I can no longer be just a talking point, or a PR move – it must be deeply ingrained in every company decision and should be baked into the foundation of culture, hiring, and leadership. McKinsey & Company reported diversity & inclusion in the workplace bring higher degrees of engagement, productivity, and innovation. Not only that, but Gartner reported 76% of employees and job seekers say a diverse workforce is important when evaluating companies and job offers, and 37% would not apply to a company that had negative satisfaction ratings among people of color. Establishing a diversity, equity, and inclusion program, promoting education, and offering HR training will continue to be a central goal for organizations as they navigate The Great Resignation and move the needle towards corporate and social success.

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Preferred Vendors Will Emerge for Each Vertical

While the market for engagement software has flourished during this unexpectedly long period of remote work, there has been little specialization between the various products. As this vast landscape emerged, companies attempted to horizontally integrate their products across all industries in need of engagement tech. As companies jumped into remote and hybrid work models, these products have been eagerly adopted.

However, in the coming year, we will see leaders in the industry begin to focus on specific segments or verticals, resulting in preferred vendors for each. For example, there will be a dominant vendor for the education industry and a different lead vendor for the healthcare industry. Companies currently using products that are suited for horizontal integration will turn to vendors that are specializing specifically for their industries. Like any other vertically targeted product, focused engagement software will allow greater outcomes than broadly targeted engagement software.

2022, We’re Ready

Truth be told, corporate disruption has been on an ongoing progressive cycle for decades, but the pandemic opened our eyes to how we can advance in a short period of time. So let’s get ready to transform and innovate as we make up the new rules of the corporate world.

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