Given the time of the year, I thought it might be interesting to share what I am reading regarding the future.  In the October 2011 Talent Management Magazine, David Rasmus wrote an article titled “10 Forces Shaping the Workplace of the Future.”  Read on to see if you are experiencing any of these trends.  First of all, fluid models and the ability to adapt are paramount. 

Rasmus explains that the first concept is Transparency and Trust.  Call me crazy, but I thought trust was a constant (not a new model!)  Out-tasking is the second concept.  In other words, outsourcing is dead.  Managing various resources takes a lot of effort and organization on the company’s part.  They will need to figure out how to manage external resources more effectively.  Needless to say, online reputations are increasingly important.  In the same vane, contractors will be seen as extensions of the organization, rather than independents.

Contract-to-Hire might be the happy medium between renting talent and filling a full-time employee position.  This is an effective way for an organization to “test a new market, experiment with a new technology or evaluate the difference between insourcing and outsourcing.”

Another concept set to evolve is On-boarding.  With increased distributed and global employees, organizations are going to have to reconsider how they onboard new hires.  Other changing concepts are:  Parallel promotions, Hire-to-automate, Business continuity, as well as, Demographic shifts.

 Finally, another huge force is Virtual Work.  As the standard becomes more and more virtual work, location will not be as important.  People will be hired based on knowledge and skills rather than where they are located.  Virtual work also will change how performance management is addressed.  Lots of things to think about as we progress in the working world!