Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2023

• Over 10,000 survey respondents in 105 countries rank leadership among the top barriers in the majority of reported trends

Nearly three years after the pandemic, business leaders still face a slew of global, economic and societal changes, all impacting work and workers at a blistering pace. Deloitte's 2023 Global Human Capital Trends report "New Fundamentals for a Boundaryless World”, examines how leaders are managing these challenges and how their organisations may succeed in a constantly evolving environment.

Overall, respondents to the study, which include more than 1,500 executives and board members, recognise the boundaries that have traditionally governed the rules of work; the way jobs are organised, where work happens and who qualifies for specific roles, are falling away. However, while many understand the need for new fundamentals in today's world of work, only 24% feel their organisations are ready to address this trend. In the near term, 59% of respondents report focusing on the next steps for reimagining their workforce models.

Reimagining work

Even though work today is primarily defined by jobs and descriptions of specific tasks, many see this as an outdated notion. According to Deloitte's skills-based organisation survey, only 19% of executives and 23% of workers stated that work is best structured that way. This reflects what many are already seeing in their workplaces, with 63% of executives reporting that workers are focused on team and project work outside their current job descriptions.

Reimagining workforce

In today's online and interconnected world, the public awareness and impact an organisation has on society, is playing an ever-growing role in workers' decisions on where to work. For example, two in five Gen Z and millennial respondents to the survey, have rejected a job or assignment because it did not align with their values. Additionally, organisations need to rethink the boundaries which dictate the access to worker data, which 83% of executives believe is important for their organisation's success.

Designing work for a boundaryless world

While only 15% of respondents agree that the way work is designed is one of the most important attributes for creating the future of the workplace, other factors point to how crucial it can be. Additionally, respondents indicate that increased worker engagement and wellbeing are among the most significant benefits they have seen from a future workplace approach. It seems that people consider the ability to determine where they complete their work, whether in the office, at home, or elsewhere, to be an inalienable right. People perceive this as one of the best opportunities to co-create the future of work with their organisation's leaders, as evidenced by 94% of respondents who believe leadership capabilities and effectiveness are important to their organisation's success.

“In a constantly evolving business environment, human capital continues to be the driving force of every organisation. Strict job definitions are replaced with a skills-based approach, in an effort to unlock peoples’ full potential and create a workplace where they have more choice, growth, innovation and autonomy. Todays’ skills are not limited on functional or technical; on the contrary capabilities that enable people to navigate near-constant change and disruption are prioritised and present a necessary tool for the up-coming working framework. Organisations need to abandon the idea of complete control and form an alliance based on trust and clear values with their people, in order to co-crate and shape the new rules and boundaries that will define how they operate’’, highlights George Pantelides, Consulting Services Leader at Deloitte Cyprus.