The Top Five Workplace Trends in 2016 from Replicon

REDWOOD CITY, California—December 21, 2015—Replicon, the leading global provider of time asset management solutions, today outlined the top issues it believes will impact the workplace in 2016.

Based on observations and discussions with its partners and customers, these trends are:

1. Regulations impact an increasingly diversified workforce. The National Living Wage in the UK and the minimum wage debate in the US made headlines in 2015, and discussions about wage and hour obligations will continue next year thanks to ongoing developments in independent contractor classification, exemption regulations and other wage and hour rules. Businesses that hire a more diversified workforce – particularly “on-demand” companies with a significant number of independent contractors – must ensure they assess how they classify their workers to avoid the costly class action lawsuits that have punctuated this year.

2. Organizations tread a fine balance between a flexible work culture and compliance. Many companies have initiated employee benefits such as unlimited vacation policies, with the goal of attracting and retaining top talent. Unfortunately, people don’t always take time off from work – and a number of recent legal cases have exposed businesses to more costly and potentially brand-damaging consequences than anticipated. In 2016, companies will be more judicious in how to encourage work/life balance and implement employee benefit programs against corporate, financial, legal and human resources implications.

3. Smart devices and the Internet of Things spark a renewed BYOD wave. Expect there to be a continued bring your own device (BYOD) transformation as enterprise technology vendors capitalize on the popularity of wearables to build and collaborate on software that will support how people work, such as capturing data to support workforce efficiencies. This enterprise technology will be integrated with the Internet of Things, in an effort to automate processes, and capture, manage and optimize this data to support workforce efficiencies.

4. Hard-wired clocks continue to decline thanks to more cloud-based, automated technologies. In industries such as manufacturing and retail, workers still use hard wired time clocks to punch in and out of shifts. As companies continue to migrate to the cloud, these legacy technologies will become obsolete. Rather, businesses will focus on providing flexible, application-based tools with a more modern user interface for people to use, with built-in visuals and real-time data to deter time theft from employees potentially using a co-worker to “punch” time for them that was not worked.

5. Companies incorporate more agile project management processes. Many IT departments are establishing an “agile” culture and environment to build, test and release software more rapidly and reliably. This flexible and holistic product strategy requires constant collaboration between teams. In larger product-centric and project oriented businesses, expect the benefits of this approach to extend across the entire organization, emphasizing central access to real-time information throughout the project lifecycle to track critical hours and resources, and ensure projects are on-time and on-budget.

Raj Narayanaswamy, co-founder and co-CEO at Replicon, said, “As businesses develop their strategies for success in 2016, we see workplace trends sitting squarely in changes to how people work – whether that’s from a geographic or legislative perspective. Time is the one aspect everyone complains they lack and at Replicon, we’re committed to investing in innovative technologies that complement how a business gears for growth.”